Hello First Family,
I have been amused by a very small sign on Highway
97. It is a very simple white, 5X8 card with
an arrow pointing into the Edgewood community.
That’s all. I have yet to turn in order to investigate. It gives some direction I guess. “Turn Left.” It poses for me some real
imperatives concerning direction.
Direction is vitally important to all of us in every aspect of our
lives. A child needs direction to learn
and grow in each environment. Students
are encouraged at increasingly younger ages to nail down their career
path. Couples are wise to agree to the
direction of their lives merged together by agreeing to a plan so that they
grow in their marriage together.
To stand and point in a direction is to fall short. I am sure I am not the only driver coming
into Camden to ignore the sign. I
dismiss it as an old sign for runners in a road race. I disregard it as a sign placed by someone
having a yard sale many Saturdays past.
Just a sign with an arrow leaves me satisfied with driving past
unaffected and unmoved.
We have charted a course for First Baptist Camden. God has brought together a team that loves
you and is gifted in so many unique ways.
We have a common passion for reaching this community. God has given the team a love for one another
that has been cemented in our work and fellowship together, and we marvel that
He has accomplished this in such a brief time together.
We have charted our course with four points on the
compass lending us direction. To the
North we are reminded that our ship must be strong and its people trained,
equipped and impassioned. Our North
heading values a church family that loves and serves one another with an equal
eye to the other. We live beyond
ourselves. Our Bible study, our
fellowship, our small groups, and our ministry is not just to and for
ourselves, but we exist also for those who have yet to hear of Christ Jesus. We encourage you to join a Discipleship
Group, a Sunday school class or a ministry group today.
Our South heading is the community of Camden and
beyond. We realize that It’s Not About
Me (INAM). We exist for something bigger
than ourselves. This reminds us that
Jesus spoke more about the kingdom than He did about the church. When Jesus heard Peter’s faith statement He
proclaimed that on such faith He would build His church. His marching commands to the church is about
adding to the Kingdom of God. We often
sum Matthew 28:19-20 up with “Go and make disciples.” We want each member to
adopt that same INAM mentality as we think of FBC and our surrounding
community. There is a plethora of opportunities to serve our community through
FBC ministries. Ask us today!
Our West heading reminds us that we intend to sail this
ship with humility and cooperation. We
exist in cooperation with other churches and with the KBA—Kershaw Baptist
Association. Whenever possible we want
to encourage other churches and pastors.
We want to lead in many areas but with our eyes always alert to how we
can be a help to all churches regardless of denomination. An opportunity this month is to join KBA at
the Cup March 30. We have been asked to
volunteer at the Cup 8:30-Noon to assist in parking. We have promised to bring 20 volunteers to
fulfill two of our objectives both in this community and among sister
churches. Please communicate to any of
our staff so we can coordinate your helping with that event. I will be giving the invocation at the Cup
that morning. What an opportunity we
have to be a flagship church in our community and state this month!
Our East heading is not a new one. Our church has a rich history of living on
mission for Christ in the world. We just
received our Machachi team back from Ecuador.
Another team and I are planning now for the next trip July 9-17. I am anxious to meet our brothers and sisters
in Machachi. We have another team
heading to Central Asia March 7 to help our workers there. Your role for now is to pray for these
teams. We prayerfully support eleven
mission teams serving around the world as well as the thousands we support
through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Annie Armstrong Easter
Offering. Ask God when He would have you
to go. Then be willing to say as Isaiah,
“Here am I. Send me.”
Love God! Love
others! Serve!
Pastor John
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