950 Self Street Franklinton, LA 70438

Phone: (985) 839-3427Fax: (985) 839-3572

E-mail:fbc.natasha@gmail.com www.fbcfranklinton.org

Sunday Bible Study 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Worship 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Evening Worship6:00 p.m.

Wednesday Evening Worship5:00 p.m. Family Supper6:00 p.m. Activities

The BridgeAugust 2014Monthly Newsletter of First Baptist Church Franklinton

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of

righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—19 and for me, that utterance may

be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:10-20

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the

wiles of the devil.

Paul Watts, Pastorfbc.paulwatts@gmail.com

Baptists are part of a larger group of Protestant denominations that would characterize themselves as “evangelicals.” The simplest definition for evangelicals would be, “bearers of the Gospel.” The Encarta Dictionary gave a little longer definition: “relating to or belonging to any Protestant Christian church that emphasizes the authority of the Bible and salvation through the personal acceptance of Jesus Christ.” There is little doubt we belong to an evangelical church. We teach and preach the authority of the scripture and encourage others to make that step of faith to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but do we embrace the weight of the simpler, shorter definition? Do you and I see ourselves as “bearers of the Gospel”? An in depth Bible study is not necessary to reveal Jesus intended for this to be woven into the DNA of His disciples. Jesus admonished His disciples to be salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus commissioned His disciples to be about the task of carrying on His Gospel-proclaiming, disciple-making ministry. Often times we will read or hear a statement like this one, and the task seems too large or overwhelming. Paul gave encouragement to the church at Colossae which brought the Gospel-bearing task of the local church member to a place of practical application when he stated: “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it as I am required to speak. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person” (Colossians 4:2-5).

Paul gave us a very simple outline of instruction for every believer who is willing to embrace the task of bearing the Gospel amongst a world in need.

1. PRAY: Prayer is the foundation of evangelism. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is glorious to those of us who believe, but the unbeliever must be prepared by the Holy Spirit to recognize and appropriate its truth. Paul not only told the church to pray, but to stay alert in prayer. We have all been guilty of falling asleep at our watch post. Our faith will be seen as we persist in prayer in the times of ease and the times of trial. There is an unseen battle being fought for the heart of those who are presently bound for destruction. Will we continually intercede for them in prayer?

2. PRAY FOR US: Who are those tasked with the particular ministry of evangelism? We are all to evangelize, but there are some who are on the frontlines. Our church supports missionaries all over the world through the Lottie Moon Christmas offering and the Cooperative Program. Are we lifting them up in prayer? Are you praying for our missionaries in India who are seeking to advance the Gospel in a very dark place? Are you praying for the Darzi people of India, an unreached, unengaged people group in need of the Gospel? Are you praying for your staff and church leaders as we seek, along with your help, to advance the Gospel right here in Franklinton?

3. ACT WISELY, MAKE THE MOST OF THE TIME: We ought to ask the Lord to help us to live missionally. Our time, money, and energy should be spent with intention. The use of these resources should reflect a desire to advance the Gospel -sharing, disciple-making mission of the Body of Christ.

4. SPEAK WITH GRACIOUS, SALT-FILLED SPEECH: Words are in great abundance. Messages abound. None are more vital or life giving than the message of Jesus Christ. We are not tasked with selling a product. We have the opportunity to share the Good News. It is really not that difficult to enter into a spiritual conversation. If sharing the grace of Jesus is not top priority, it will never happen. If it is, you will find opportunities presenting themselves constantly and have a life filled with God-ordained purpose and meaning.

Please pray for our week of outreach, August 17-21. Ask the Lord how He would have you participate in this effort.

Discipleship 101 Schedule

Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m.

August 3rd Sharing the Gospel: Equipped for Battle

August 10thSharpening the Sword:

Training for Battle

August 17thEvangelistic Prayer Service

August 24thA Night of Praise and

Thanksgiving

August 31stChurch Service:

Your Place in the Body

A Cup with Pastor Paul

http://acupwiththepastor.blogspot.com

Check out Brother Paul’s Blog for more insightful wisdom

throughout the month!

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Sometimes when we ask about a person’s salvation experience we hear, “It’s really no big deal. I grew up going to church because my parents always went to church, and one day I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, or I asked Jesus into my heart.” First of all, when I hear something like that there’s a voice inside of me that screams, “Noooooo! Don’t say that because it sounds like you’re saying that you could’ve saved yourself, that God didn’t need to bother with you. Don’t slander God that way! Don’t mock Jesus’ death on the cross!” Every time someone gets saved, it is a big deal. We were once hell-bound sinners, and now we are heaven-bound saints. We were children of God’s wrath, and now we are His adopted sons and daughters. Christ died (undeservedly) on the cross for our sin. Angels rejoice in heaven because we are saved. It is a big deal! I get what they’re trying to say. Not everyone is a drunken, lying, cheating, axe-murdering, thieving, drug- addicted, dog-kicking, gambling, prostituting terrorist. But every one of us is born in sin. We inherited Adam’s sin and its curse of death, and even though we may deny that fact, we know it deep down inside. God gives us a conscience that acts like salt in a wound, reminding us of what’s wrong in our lives, so that we are all without excuse.

But God doesn’t want us to stay that way. We are His creation, created by Him to worship and fellow-ship with Him. He loves us and doesn’t want any of us to perish. He chose us out of all creation to be able to have a personal relationship with Him. He didn’t choose dogs and cats, giraffes or elephants, the birds of the air or the fish of the sea, the moon and stars and planets. He chose us and created us for salvation. And because of His divine love for us, He gives us the choice to choose Him or not. To choose God means that we have to change, and we have to choose to want to change. But we can’t change ourselves; only God can do that. Ironically, many don’t choose God because of His terms. What are His terms? We must acknowledge that we are sinners and that we have sinned against God. In doing that we are recognizing that He is Lord. And as Lord He has paid the penalty for our sin on the cross. We also must place our faith in what He did for us on the cross over 2000 years ago. We must surrender our ways and our lives to Him, trusting that He will forgive our sin and bring us into a right relationship with Him. Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It is a big deal!

Brother Dale

Dale Parker,Minister to Senior Adults& Discipleship Training

fbc.daleparker@gmail.com

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Cody Thomas, Student Pastor

fbc.codythomas@gmail.com

WOW … what a great summer in the life of the Student Ministry. This summer has probably been the busiest summer of my life and yet one of the most rewarding. In the midst of all the crazy activities and busyness of the summer, the Lord moved! The Lord worked and moved in my life personally, in my marriage, and in the Student Ministry. Students came to know the Lord this summer; how awesome is that? Students began to really follow after the Lord this summer; how awesome is that? Students grew in their understanding of purity this summer; how awesome is that? The Student Ministry grew stronger together this summer; how awesome is that? All of these awesome movements of the Lord are due to the fact that our Lord is awesome. We serve and worship an awesome GOD! I’m so thankful that you as a church body sought to be used by our awesome God and supported the Student Ministry. Thank you, thank you … THANK YOU. Our God is good! Now that the summer is over, keeping the momentum up within the Student Ministry will be a challenge. Students get back into their school routine, back in world-ly relationships, back into the world, and thus their faith in the Lord is sometimes shaken. What if we as a church body kept supporting our Student Ministry even after the summer? What if men and women who walk with the Lord even in the midst of this crazy world came alongside students and prayed for them daily? What if those men or woman told the students, that they were praying for them and asked the students specifically how they could pray for them? … I know what would happen; the Lord would be glorified. He would move in our hearts as a church body. Our students live in a crazy, messed-up world, and they don’t know how to deal with it. They need people who are dedicated to the Lord to pray for them. Here is what I’m looking for, just in case you missed it … I’m looking for people that are not connected with any teenager on a regular basis and who are committed to the Lord and to prayer to volunteer to pray daily for a specific teenager. Once you volunteer, I’ll give you a name of a teenager the same gender as you and his/her phone number. You will make contact with that teenager, basically tell who you are and ask how you can pray for him. Then you pray. After about a month, you call him again and ask how you can pray for him. You pray for him and the cycle repeats itself. Pray yourself about the opportunity of praying for a specific teenager. Pray about your involvement in the Student Ministry. 14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” 2 Chronicles 7:14-15. Let us be a generation that humbles ourselves and prays for the next generation so that God will move in our hearts and in the hearts of these students. Thank you!

- Brother Cody

REACHING In & REACHING Out

Student Ministry Events

Sunday, August 10th at 5:00 p.m.

Youth Committee & Parent Meeting

Senior Adult Center

Friday, August 15th at 6:00 p.m.

Adult Friday ForumFBC Covington

Wednesday Nights at 6:00 p.m.

“The Gospel and Our Lives”

Sunday, September 7that 9:30 a.m.

Pancake Promotion Sunday

Photos from World Changers 2014 on Page 7.

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Butch Reviere Minister of Music

fbc.butch@gmail.com

Note from Brother Butch

This photo was taken by the Hubbel space satellite. The spiral nebulae is estimated to be 170,000 light years across and TWICE the diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy. Incidentally, a light year is

the distance it takes light to travel in a year in a vacuum (5.88 trillion miles). Do the math!! Scientists think it contains at least a trillion stars, 100 billion of which could be similar to our sun.

Folks, that is really, really BIG; and it is just one of perhaps tens (hundreds?) of thousands of galaxies. All the superlatives of all the languages of men could never adequately describe the majesty

of Almighty God; but HIS CREATION CAN!! “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Psalm 19:1 (NASB)

One of our church’s children posed this question to a parent: How big is God? As you may know, supplying an answer satisfactory to a child can be a challenge. So, how would you answer? I recall a song from years ago containing this phrase: “He’s big enough to rule the universe but small enough to live in our hearts.” Let’s expand that thought. He’s not only big enough to rule, but He is big enough to have CREATED the universe by simply speaking all that is into existence. Yet He is personal and intimate to all who will receive Him. We simply cannot get our minds around the expanse that is the universe, yet our God is big enough to be present everywhere at the same time throughout the infinite universe. Truly mind-boggling!! Sadly, most of the scientific community does not embrace God as Creator. Seems to me it takes a considerable amount of “blind faith” to believe that all came from nothing by accident as opposed to accepting that a Master Architect designed and built the universe by an act of His will. Would you agree that these considerations of the cosmos make our worship of Almighty God seem wholly insufficient? Maybe we should go outside on a clear evening, look into the night sky, and pray that God would expand our worship, individually and corporately, to a place that is worthy of Who He is. It just might make our singing of songs like “Awesome God” profoundly more passionate.

Since we’re on the subject of worship, consider a few definitions: Louie Giglio: Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live. John Piper: Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory, and He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. The church needs to build a common vision of what worship is and what she is gathering to do on Sunday morning and scattering to do on Monday morning. William Temple: To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God. John Piper: Strong affections for God, rooted in and shaped by the truth of Scripture – this is the bone and marrow of biblical worship. Let us repent of shallow, half-hearted (no-hearted!), dispassionate, in-a-hurry, programmatic, bulletin-bound, spiritless, unbiblical, displeasing-to-God….worship. Amen? Amen!

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Children’s Ministry

Happy Birthday!4th - Sean Bowman

7th- Jacob Crain10th - Lily Hen

12th - Wesley Crain17th- Cooper Breland18th - Olivia James

20th - Mason Varnado26th - Christian Ciolino

& Allie Schilling30th - Emma Knight

Are you in 6th grade or below? Let me know so I can add

you to my list!

Wow!! Time flies when you’re having fun, and that is definitely the case with this summer! I have had the most wonderful time with your beautiful children and am looking forward to spending more time with them in God’s Word as the new school year unfolds.

As I am writing this, we have had one group of 23 children just returned from CentriKid camp, and we have another group of 17 preparing to leave. Each Tuesday on our outings, we have had an average of 24 children.

I am so excited about returning to the Wednesday night program and am so thankful for each of our volunteers! We will be continu-ing in our “Living Inside Out” curriculum each Wednesday night and hope to be adding a choir element to our mid-week program from 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. following supper. More details about that to follow!

With just one Tuesday in August before the children return to school, our final I <3 Tuesdays event for 2014 will be on Tuesday, August 5th. We will be going to the movies in Covington to watch Planes and learn more about how God Is...Moving In Our Lives. Each week we have explored more about God in our God Is... series, and we will wrap it up by revisiting what God has done this summer and what He seeks to continue to do as we return to school. Cost and times for the outing will be announced as soon as they become available.

Also, on Wednesday, August 6th from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. we will have a Back To School Kick-Off for our Preschool and Children’s Departments. We will have pizza and popcorn, a jump for the preschoolers, and we will play OMC with the first-sixth graders.

A couple of reminders: As you become aware of events that your child is involved in (football, cheer, etc.), please bring me copies of his or her schedules. I can’t wait to see how God is moving in their lives outside of the walls of our church! Also, as more events are planned for the fall, please be sure to join our group text-messaging service. To join, simply text FBCKIDS to 245-87. You can unsubscribe at any time.

On behalf of everyone involved in our Children’s Ministries, we ask our church family to pray for our students as they return to school in the next week or so.

It is my prayer that each of them will be aware that Jesus is with them wherever they go...that His reign does not end at the school house door. He is alive, and His Holy Spirit is with them wherever they may go.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In His Service,

Kelly McElveen

Kelly McElveen Director of Preschool/ Children’s Ministriesfbc.playschool@gmail.com

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CentriKid Camps 2014

Kelly McElveen Director of Preschool/ Children’s Ministriesfbc.playschool@gmail.com

World Changers Jr./Sr. Camp 2014 7

Leslie Westmoreland WINGS Coordinator

lwestmoreland.ees@wpsb.org

WINGS Ministry

Mark your calendars now

for a Living Proof SIMULCAST EVENT with Beth Moore -

September 13, 2014. More info next month.

Just a reminder, we have an Intercessory Prayer Room

(Located behind the sanctuary) that is available for prayer 24 hours

a day, 7 days a week.

You can submit a prayer re-

Our Casserole Ministry is in need of some casseroles! If you could donate a dish or two, please bring them to the freezer in the kitchen.For more information on this ministry please contact Beverly Cooke.

Mugs and MuffinsThe WINGS Ministry will be hosting a Mugs and Muffins on Saturday, August 2nd at 9:00 a.m.

This event will take place in the Family Life Center.

The guest speaker will be Katie Breland. Breakfast will be biscuits, sausage, and grits. Bring your favorite mug and a friend!

Beth Moore Living Proof Simulcast

September 13th at FBC McComb, MS

8:00 a.m. Broadcast Begins9:30 a.m. Event Begins with

Worship10:00 a.m. Teaching Session 1

11:30 a.m. Lunch1:00 p.m. Worship with

Travis Cottrell1:30 p.m. Teaching Session 23:00 p.m. Invitation / Break

3:30 p.m. Worship with Travis Cottrell

3:40 p.m. Teaching Session 34:10 p.m. Closing Worship4:15 p.m. Event Concludes

Can we talk?

Ladies’ Bible Study beginningon Wednesday, August 6th at 6:00 p.m.

This study will take place in the Senior Adult Center.

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Just as our bodies need oxygen, our souls need truth flowing

steadily in and out.

Children’s Church

Month of August

Leslie Westmoreland &

Youth Girls

for ages 3 to

Kindergarten

Nursery

8/3 Carolyn Knight & Kathy McElveen

8/10 Hallene Magee & Lou Fussell

8/17 Jennifer Walle & Kelly McElveen

8/24JoAnn Luizza & Gayle Rester

8/31Anita McNeal & Sandra McDaniel

Sunday Night Supper

8/3Cruce, Cowart,Westmoreland, McDaniel, Varnado, Barber, & Thomas8/10 Watts, Schilling, Varnado, Bell, McElveen, & Thomas8/17 Schilling, Bankston, Burris, Galloway, Waskom, McElveen, Raybourn, & Sandifer8/24 Morgan, Cooke, Sylvest, Cooke, Morgan, & Mobley8/31 Fifth Sunday Pot LuckBarber, Stringfield, Parent, Perez, & Russell

8/3 Rusty Knight & Robby Stringfield

8/10 Jimmy Stafford & B. Burris

8/17 Stuart Varnado & Warren Cooke, Jr.

8/24Jeff Driskill & David Sylvest

8/31Tommy Wood & Richard McElveen

Volunteers for August

Sound Schedule

8/3 Stephen McElveen

8/10 Darren Schilling

8/17 Jordan Dale

8/24Johnny Burris

8/31Matt Westmoreland

Wednesday Night Supper

8/6Back to School Kick Off

8/13 Group A - Pulled Pork

8/20 Group B - Fried Chicken

8/27 Group C - Meatballs & Spaghetti

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AnnouncementsCOLORADO FLOOD RECOVERYVolunteers from across the country came to Colorado in the fall of 2013 to help help homeowners along the Northern Colorado Front Range clean out their flooded homes.

Now Colorado Baptists invite you to come help them help residents complete the recovery process and share the love of Christ with their neighbors.

Registrations are now being accepted for Estes Park Baptist Church in Estes Park, Colorado. If you are interested, contact Ben Fussell for more information. We have a group going August 8th - 16th!

Sunday school Classes, This year FBC is committed to increasing the number of under privileged children around the world who will receive gifts and hear about Jesus Christ perhaps for the first time ever through Operation Christmas Child. Last year we packed 200 boxes, and, along with boxes packed by individuals, we contributed a total of 408 boxes. In order to reach the goal of packing 500 boxes at our November 9th packing party, Sunday school classes are being urged to “adopt” an item on the needs list and provide the total number needed. Smaller classes

may decide to combine to provide one category of items. Additional toys tocomplete the boxes were collect at VBS and will be added at the packing party. A sign-up sheet is on the “Missions” bulletin board outside the entrance to the fellowship hall near the coffee service. Sign up right away, because items are on a first-come, first-taken basis. Also, please begin to pray for this world-wide missions effort and the children who will receive the boxes.

Evangelistic Emphasis Week of Outreach

The week of August 17th-21st our church will be engaged in a Week of Outreach. Groups will be heading out on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights

with the intention of making evangelistic visits to homes in our community.

This effort will only bear fruit as the Holy Spirit moves in response to the prayers of God’s people. Please join us in praying for the lost of our community, submitting names of those in need of a visit through our Sunday evening service, and committing to share Christ as part of this effort.

WEEK OF OUTREACH: August 17th-21st, 2014

Sunday: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Dr. Stanley Statham, Director of Missions, will be preaching in both of the morning services.

On Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. we will have an Evangelistic Prayer Service.

On Monday we will meet at 6:00 p.m. Prayer and visitation teams meet in the sanctuary each evening.

On Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. we will have Prayer and visitation teams will meet in the sanctuary.

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It’s Time for Operation Chrismas Child

Birth Announcements

Congratulations to ........................

William & Brittany Bell on the birth of their daughter, Allison Shanlee Bell.

Proud grandparents are Mark & Shandle Waskom and Charlie & Katherine Berryhill. Great grandpaw is Earl Spears.

Allison was born July 16th and was 7 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches long. Her big brothers are Dawson & Gavin Bell.

........................Chesley & Becky Spears on the birth of their

daughter, Grace Karen Spears.Proud grandparents are Karen & Fred Spears

Grace was born July 1st and was 8 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches long. Her big sister is Brynlee.

........................Amanda Parfait on the birth of her

son, Nicholas Ward Parfait.

Nicholas was born July 2nd and was 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long.

His siblings are:Kailyn, Zachary, Jonathan, and Alyssa.

........................Nate & Michelle Murrary on the birth of their

son, Eli William MurrayEli was born July 18th and was 8 lbs and 20 1/2 inches.

Proud grandparents are Bill & Lisa Murray and Gerald & Joannah Davis.

Nate Lebo

Baptism

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Ty Miller

Baptism

Jacob Reeves

Baptism

Elijah Schilling

Baptism

PRSRT STDNONPROFIT

ORGANIZATIONUS POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 27

950 Self StreetFranklinton, LA 70438www.fbcfranklinton.org

First Baptist Church Franklinton

August 2014For

Discipleship 101

Schedule See Page 2