Christmas Events @ CTBC

There are many exciting events taking place in the month of December at CTBC. If you need more info drop us an email or call the church @ 725-5917.

Everyone is welcome to join in the festivities!

See you there!

November 30th

Youth Lock-in - Practicing Christmas Program
6:00 p.m.

December 1st

Antietam Battlefield Tailgate Picnic 4:00 p.m.

December 2nd

Decorating Chrismon Tree Service 6:30 p.m.

Dec 2nd – Dec. 24th

Advent Season – Anticipation of & Preparation
for the Christ Child

December 7th

Trip to view Christmas Lights & Fireworks
Clearbrook, VA 4:30 p.m.

December 9th

Children’s Choir Program 11:00 a.m.
Youth Program 7:00 p.m.

December 16th

Christmas Cantata Program – Choir/Handbells
7:00 p.m.

December 21st

Christmas Caroling Party @ CTBC 6:00 p.m.

December 24th

Cookies & Milk Fellowship 5:45 p.m.
Family Christmas Eve Service 6:00 p.m.
Candlelight Communion Service 10:00 p.m.

Thanksgiving Day

Today is the day in which many of us gather with family and friends to eat a Thanksgiving feast and watch football games. (The Lions just lost to the Packers and the Cowboys are tied with the Jets 0-0 with 10 minutes left in the 1st quarter...wait...the 'Boys just scored so it is 7-0 with 10:00 minutes left in the 1st quarter). There are so many things to be thankful for and I tried to name all the things that I am thankful for it would fill volumes of books.

Today started with a wonderful worship service as we gathered to worship our LORD and thank Him for all our many blessings. Over the past year God has blessed CTBC tremendously. Over the past year CTBC has participated in two mission trips, one to the MS Gulf Coast and one to Maine; Vacation Bible School which reached approximately 150 children and adults with the gospel message; Music and Drama Day Camp which not only taught children about music and drama but the love of Christ; and a leadership training weekend. In addition to these special ministries and events there were the ongoing ministries and events such as Sunday worship; Discipleship Training, Sunday evenings, Thursday mornings, and Men in Training; Children missions; Sunday School; Youth Ministry; and Children's Ministry. And I would be remiss not to mention the numerous volunteer hours logged by members of CTBC. We have persons who volunteer with Jefferson County Community Ministries (http://www.jccm.us/), Race Track Chaplaincy, Good Shepherd Interfaith Caregivers (http://www.gsivc.org/), Meals on Wheels, as well as several others. The LORD has truly blessed and continues to bless CTBC.

A highlight of every Thanksgiving Day is the Thanksgiving lunch served by the Lottie Moon Group of the Women's Missionary Union (http://www.wmu.com/). In addition to those pictured who enjoyed the meal there were at least 12 others who enjoyed the meal via meals delivered to their homes. What a blessing!

FYI...the Cowboys are still winning 7-0 with 1:18 left in the 1st quarter.

P.S. if you find any mistakes in this blog then chalk it up to way too much turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pecan pie!

Happy Thanksgiving

Trusting God as Savior, we can be thankful for the following:

Transforming power - Psalm 40:2

Holiness - Revelations 4:8b

A present salvation- Rom 10:9-10; Colossians 1:12

New life - II Corinthians 5:17

Keeping power - John 10:28

Shelter from the stormy blast - Psalm 61:3

Gift of His Son - II Corinthians 9: 15

Inner Peace - John 14:27

Victory - I Corinthians 15:57

Inheritance - Colossians 1:12

Nearness for the alien - Ephesians 2: 13

God's goodness - I Chronicles 16:34

Our thanks to God, who keeps on giving.

B.J. Stone

Senior Adult Sunday

Genesis 48

15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
"May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,

16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
upon the earth."

This is the blessing that Jacob pronounced on his son Joseph and his two sons. In ancient times the idea of the blessing is a powerful symbol of "passing the torch" to future generations. Older generations served as mentors and examples of faith for the younger generations. Yesterday CTBC celebrated and honored its Senior Adults. They led the congregation in worship while allowing the younger generations to hear their words of faith and testimony. In order for any church or organization to be healthy there must be the smooth passing of the leadership mantle. Senior Adult Sunday was a terrific way for the younger generations to honor the older generations as the mantle of leadership is passed in prayer, service, mentoring, and worship.

Jean Dodson shares her testimony

Paul Chidister shares about his
journey on the road of life.

CTBC Adult Choir

Bill Custer preaching


And what would any Baptist gathering be without food?!!?

Do U Know Ur ABC's?

In yesterday's post I spoke about Facing The Giants and what a wonderful story of faith it is. Also, I mentioned Mark Richt's statement to Grant "You became a winner the day you accepted Jesus Christ." I hope all of you who are reading this blog are winners. I pray that you have accepted Christ as your Savior. It is such and easy thing to do. So simple yet with eternal implications. Becoming a Christian is as easy as ABC.

The ABC’S of Salvation

A—ADMIT that YOU are a sinner. Everyone has done things that are displeasing to a Holy God. Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” God tells us that no sin can enter heaven. Revelation 21:25-27 “Its [Heaven’s] gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in." Something must be done to get rid of your sin.

B—BELIEVE that Jesus died on the cross for YOU. Jesus shed his blood to save YOU from YOUR sins. He took YOUR place on the cross, and suffered punishment for YOUR sin. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

C—CONFESS your sinfulness to God, and turn from it. Tell God you’re sorry for your sins and that you believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Savior from sin. This may be a simple but sincere cry from your heart, or it may be expressed out loud. Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." When you do this (and mean it!) you are “saved.” You, along with all the others who believe in Jesus, will spend eternity in heaven with Him.

Will you now call upon Jesus to save you from your sin so that you can know God’s love and forgiveness?

Pray like this: “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry. I need a Savior. I know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He arose from the grave to live as my Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to forgive my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior and receive you as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me.”

If you prayed that prayer then welcome to the Kingdom of God. You are now a child of God. If you prayed that prayer then please drop us an email to let us know of your decision so we can rejoice with you.

Maybe you read over the ABC's and have questions then please feel free to contact us. Or you may want to check out http://theinvitation.tv/ and if you still have questions again contact us. And especially contact us if you make the decision to become a winner by accepting Jesus Christ.

Facing the Giants + Tailgate Fellowship

What an unbelievable great time we had on Saturday night as CTBC showed the movie Facing The Giants and followed it up with a Tailgate Fellowship. Being a good Baptist I will start with the Tailgate...there were hot dogs, chips, nachos, popcorn, ice cream, drinks, laughter, silliness and fun! The only thing missing was a guy with his chest paint with Go Team! on it. We tried to get someone to do it, but had on takers. The closest we came was Ed B. wearing his print yellow WVU sweatshirt. (see if you can spot him below)

The movie is absolutely a phenomenal movie. It is well written, acted, and filled with humor and drama. It is a great story of faith and football.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805526/

In six years of coaching, Grant Taylor has never led his Shiloh Eagles to a winning season. After learning that he and his wife Brooke face infertility, Grant discovers that a group of fathers are secretly organizing to have him dismissed as head coach. Devastated by his circumstances, he cries out to God in desperation. When Grant receives a message from an unexpected visitor, he searches for a stronger purpose for his football team. He dares to challenge his players to believe God for the impossible on and off the field. When faced with unbelievable odds, the Eagles must step up to their greatest test of strength and courage. What transpires is a dynamic story of the fight between faith and fear. Facing the Giants is a powerful experience for the whole family inspiring viewers to live with faith, hope, and love (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805526/plotsummary)

One of the pivotal moments in the movie has Grant calling out the LORD in his time of need with these words of the Psalmist.

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

The second powerful moment comes in the movie when Grant is alone in the locker room before the state championship game. There is a knock on the door and Mark Richt the head football coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Grant was an ex-player for Richt (in the movie) and Richt came to offer support. They spoke of the game and what it would be like to be state champions. Grant stated that he so much wanted to be a winner. Richt respond, "Grant, you became a winner the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior." What truth! In our world we all long to be winners, but for many of us we already have become winners...we know Christ as our Savior.

Be sure to Check our Mark Richts bio:

http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=307706

More importantly check out Richts testimony here: http://www.uga.edu/teamunited/testimonies/mark_richt.htm

There were tears and cheers in the CTBC sanctuary as I believe that everyone's heart was touched by the movie and their faith strengthened by its message. And what a great thing at the end of the movie to have our Children's Choir consisting of children from our summer Music and Drama Day Camp to sing for us. their song challenged us to go out and tell others about Jesus and to accept Him as our Savior.

And now our parting shots:

Check out the official Facing the Giants website: http://www.facingthegiants.com/