First Baptist Church

Evangel Stephen Laughlin, Pastor

John Holland, Minister of Music & Senior Adults

Colin Trisler, Student/Family Life Minister

Jason Mercer, Minister of Children

First Baptist Church

201 East Court St.

Winnfield, LA 71483

Volume 81…..December 22…..Number 51

Candlelight Christmas

Eve Service

Tuesday, December 24

6 PM

The Lord’s Supper

Will Be Observed

A Celebration of

Carols

Presented by

The FBC Sanctuary Choir & the

FBC Jonesboro Chancel Choir

At First Baptist Church

Jonesboro

December 22

6 PM

PLEASE NOTE:

The evening

worship service on

Sunday, December

22 will be held in

the Fireside Room

at 6 p.m.

The December 29th issue of the

Evangel will not be printed due

to the Christmas Holidays. The

next issue to be printed will be

the January 5, 2014 issue.

A Word From Bro. Stephen

Music & Sr. Adult

Ministry

I can only think of one word to describe

last week’s performance of A Celebration

of Carols. The word is WOW! Let me say

that backwards…WOW! I have to say that

the presentation was one of the highlights

of my ministry here at First Baptist Church.

I look forward to what the Lord has in store

for the music ministries at FBC Winnfield

and FBC Jonesboro.

There are so many people that I need to

thank for making A Celebration of Carols a

success. First, a word of thanks to Clovis

Sturdivant for his work combining the two

associations into the North Central Baptist

Association. Next, thanks to Russ Givens

for the great idea of combining the two

church choirs for this performance. A

word of appreciation goes to the members

of the choir and the narrators for the time

they have spent working overtime on the

music. I believe John and Donna Grider

have found a new calling in life! Finally a

word of appreciation to Chris Adams and

Harry Foster for the countless hours of

overtime they have poured into the perfor-

mance. All I can say is “To God Be the

Glory Great Things He Has Done.”

Upcoming Events

A Celebration of Carols – Sunday,

December 22 at 6:00 p.m. at First

Baptist Church in Jonesboro.

Candlelight Christmas Eve Service –

Tuesday, December 24 at 6:00 p.m.

Senior Adult Luncheon – Thursday,

January 16 at 11:30 a.m. Bill Cox,

from Ruston, will be the guest speaker.

Sign up in the church office.

The Reason for the Season:

We are challenged from many angles every year

to “remember the reason for the season”. The way I have

always done this is to listen to Handel’s “Messiah”. As a

child of a music teacher, I have been exposed to the Messi-

ah since I was a child. Some of the music is not exactly

what we’d consider modern, but the music and the mes-

sage is beautiful!

My favorite song in the Messiah is the one that

deals with the passage from Isaiah 53:4-5, which says,

“Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows!

He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised

for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon

Him.”

We celebrate Christ’s birth this time of year, as

well we should. But let us not ever forget that reason He

was born: so that He could shoulder our sins upon Him-

self!

Merry Christmas!

My family & I have now been here for a little

over five years. We have gotten to know and love the good

people of Winnfield and First Baptist Church. You have

taught us so much about who Jesus is and how He can be

found in everyday life, both big things and small.

We have had some wonderful times as a family

here, and we have also endured some challenging ones. So

many of you have shown us great compassion and love,

and for this we are forever grateful.

Our prayer is that God will come alive in each of

our hearts this Christmas and into 2014. May all of you

have fellowship with family and friends, safe travels, and

the “peace that passes understanding”.

Love,

Stephen, Kimmerly, Jordan, Lauren, & Ben Laughlin

Welcome New Members

By Baptism

Dillon Caldwell

& Eli Little

Nursery

Worker

Needed For Sunday Mornings. If you

would like to apply for this position,

please contact the church at 628-3544.

Youth Ministry

The Duck Dynasty themed Christ-

mas party scheduled for Friday,

Dec. 20, at 7p.m. (or whenever the

Christmas parade ends) will be held

in the CLC Café. Students are en-

couraged to dress up as their favor-

ite Duck Dynasty character. A

grand prize will be awarded to the

student with the best costume. We

also will hand out some other priz-

es, and everyone will go home with

a special Christmas present courtesy

of their fearless youth leader. Sup-

per and hot chocolate will be served

that night as well. I look forward to

seeing everyone there.

I want to encourage everyone to

attend the Christmas Eve service on

Tuesday; also, we will not have

services on Wednesday, Dec. 25.

Y’all are the best!

Colin

Children’s Ministry

I would like to take this opportunity

to wish everyone a Merry Christ-

mas! I hope you have taken a mo-

ment to read this month's "Raising

Christian Kids Newsletter" on

the www.fbcwinn.com website.

Raising Christian Kids is the month-

ly newsletter and calendar for

firstKIDS. This month's newsletter

is full of ideas for families to teach

their children that Christmas is

about giving. There are so many

opportunities around us each day to

give. This month's teachable mo-

ments has examples of ideas for

parents to demonstrate a giving spir-

it to their children. I hope you will

be encouraged and find an oppor-

tunity to fulfill Acts 20:35 as we

celebrate the good news of Christ

birth!

We will be having the "Tackiest

Children's Christmas Party Ever"

on Wednesday, December 18. Chil-

dren are encouraged to wear their

most extreme Christmas outfit to

RAs and GAs this night. Prizes for

each child that wears a Christmas

outfit or accessory. So get out the

ugly sweater, Santa hat, gowdy holi-

day jewelry, or any other accessory

you may have and come have a

good time as we celebrate Christ

birth and close out our last chapter

meeting for 2013.

I will be attending the Xtreme Win-

ter Conference December 30 -

January 3 in Gatlinburg, TN. I am

looking forward to this time of spir-

itual renewal and hearing from

some of the leading evangelist,

speakers, and Christian artist. Our

children's ministry evening activi-

ties schedule will resume January

8th. I hope you have a Merry Christ-

mas and a Happy New Year!

Education Ministry

What is the best birthday party you

ever had or gave to someone else. ?

When our children were small, we

spent months planning and preparing

for their birthday parties. We chose

a theme. We planned activities. We

sought out just the right refresh-

ments. We searched for the best

party favors. We spent time and

money to make every birthday the

best for our children.

Christmas is the birthday of our

Savior. What do we do to celebrate

this most precious day of the year?

Most of us focus more on our family

and ourselves than on Christ. If God

gave a party for His Son, would we

even make time to attend? Before

you answer, remember that He es-

tablished a day each week to offer

our worship to Him. How do we do

with that opportunity?

To be perfectly honest, the vast

majority of believers will give a few

minutes at Christmas to Christ. The

rest will be about ourselves. Maybe

we could make an effort to at least

find a "hands and feet" project for

our families to accomplish during

this season. People need the Lord.

People can see Him through our

service. There are needs all

around us. Let us be bold this

season. Let us visibly serve oth-

ers in the name of Jesus. Let us

celebrate the reason for the sea-

son.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Theresa

The 2014 OFFERING

ENVELOPES ARE

IN THE PARLOR

First Baptist Church Serving Christ in the Heart of the Forest

December 22 & 29

2’s & 3’s

Kim Caldwell (22nd) Donna Pickett (29th)

4’s & 5’s

Al & Lesley Simmons (22nd) Phillip & Jill Riggs (29th)

Schedule

For 12/22 - 1/4

In Memory of :

Chester Derr given by Raymond & Betty Carpenter, Mr. & Mrs. John F. Lovell

Betty Turner given by Mr. & Mrs. John F. Lovell

Emma Davis given by Friends

James (Buddy) Jordan James Hardy Smith given by Jeanette Warner

In Honor of :

Joyce Walker given by Faith Sunday School Class

FOR THE RECORD (DEC. 15)

Sunday School Enr. Att.

Adults 332 174

Youth 74 30

Children 67 27

Pre School 25 16

___ ___

Total 498 247 Tithes & Offerings

Budget Required $16,033.24

Budget $13,546.00

Designated $ 4,119.59

Total $17,665.59

Giving to

Remodel Plan $ 440.00

Year-to-Date

Budget Required $801,662.00

Year-to-Date

Budget Receipts $761,834.50

Over (Under) Budget ($ 39,827.50)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22

Janette Clark

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24

June Griffin, Brooklyn Jordan, Brenda Kelley

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25

Karly Avant, Christopher Bedgood

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26

Joe Collins, Marvin Harrell, Chuck Jurek

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27

SpencerBrunson, Kimberly McCarty

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28

Jerry Berry, Nicholas Page, Crystal Stewart

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29

Jordan Mercer, Frank Mobley, Mary Parker, Judy Posey,

Harold Tarver, Natalee Vines

MONDAY, DECEMBER 30

Jaime Blake, Nicole McCarty, Travis Morton,

Alyssa VanBlaricum

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31

Melanie Bartlett, Magen Frederick, LaVerne Jordan,

Dawn Shelton

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1

Carl Greer

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2

Barbara Austin, Jared Tarver

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3

Levi Cummings

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4

Tina Long, Jonathan McDow

First Baptist Church EVANGEL (USPS 042-320) is

published weekly by First Baptist Church, 201 E.

Court St., Winnfield, LA 71483-0230. “Periodicals”

Postage paid at Winnfield, LA. POSTMASTER: Send

address changes to FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

EVANGEL, P.O. Box 230, Winnfield, LA 71483-

0230

DAILY BIBLE READINGS

Sun. Dec. 22 James 1-5

Mon. Dec. 23 1 Pet. 1-5

Tues. Dec. 24 2 Pet. 1-3

Wed. Dec. 25 1 John 1-5

Thurs. Dec. 26 2 & 3 John: Jude

Fri. Dec. 27 Rev. 1-4

Sat. Dec. 28 Rev. 5-9

Sun. Dec. 29 Rev. 10-14

Mon. Dec. 30 Rev. 15-18

Tues. Dec. 31 Rev. 19-22

Wed. Jan. 1 Gen. 1-3

Thurs. Jan. 2 Gen. 4-7

Fri. Jan. 3 Gen. 8-11

Sat. Jan. 4 Gen. 12-15

Sun. Jan. 5 Gen. 16-18

Sunday, December 22

9:00 - 9:45 AM Library open

9:40 AM Sunday School

10:40 AM Preschool Worship

11:00 AM Morning Worship

6:00 PM Evening Worship/Sanctuary Choir @ FBC Jonesboro for concert

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

December 24 & 25

FBC Office and Daycare Closed

Sunday, December 29

9:00 - 9:45 AM Library open

9:40 AM Sunday School

10:40 AM Preschool Worship

11:00 AM Morning Worship

6:00 PM Evening Worship

Tuesday, December 31

7:00 AM Men’s Prayer Breakfast

Wednesday, January 1

New Year’s Day

FBC Office and Daycare Closed