Below please find my Newsletter Article for the January 2020 Church Newsletter. It's hard to believe it's nearly the year 2020. I remember as a child thinking there was no way I'd live to see the year 2000... after all, I'd be forty in 2000... and who could live to be that old?
But, here we are closing quickly on a new year and a new decade. May these new things bring you all only the best. And may first and foremost among those wonderful things, may it bring you a closer and more fulfilling relationship with your Lord.
God bless and as always...
Be a blessing to someone today!
In Christ,
Roy
Pastor's Ponderings
As I write this we are drawing ever closer to Christmas... perhaps, by the time you're reading this the Christmas Eve Program has already passed. I want to thank in advance Jodi and all of her helpers, the kids always love putting the program on and the families always enjoy this annual event. Hopefully, being involved in this annual celebration of Christ's birth will help to instill in these young minds a love for Christ that will remain with them for a lifetime. We can only pray that our efforts will be a success and continue working for our Lord. Thank you again, Jodi and all the rest of you who work so hard to teach the children.
December was an amazing month for us at Woodlawn, we need to thank all of the new and returning members of the Church's two Councils. Thank you to all of you for all that you do and for stepping forward to lead the Church into a new decade. But even beyond celebrating the new leaders, we need to celebrate the new members! We baptized three adults into our fold last Sunday. During our morning service, we were so very pleased to baptize Stephanie Blunt. Stephanie is the daughter of Steve Wine and the granddaughter of Shirley Wine. Shirley and Steve were both there to witness her baptism and we all were proud to witness this long-awaited blessing for the Wine family. During the evening gathering, we then baptized both Tiffany and Paul McCoy. Tiffany's parents came to witness their daughter and son-in-law take the 'plunge' and embrace a life of service and following Christ. What an amazing day! Praise God! Please make sure to congratulate and welcome to Woodlawn, Stephanie, Tiffany, and Paul.
Soon it will be a new year and a new decade, and we can only imagine what lies ahead of us... let's do our very best to stay focused upon our calling and accomplishing all that God leads us to do on His behalf here in His Creation. Shortly after you read this, Gail and I will be heading off on the trip of a lifetime. Thanks to the very gracious blessing of a group that I believe prefers to remain anonymous, Gail and I along with three other ministers and their spouses will be taking a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We will be spending nearly a week and a half touring the Holy sites and walking roads and viewing scenery that the Lord Himself walked upon and gazed upon. There is no way to fully appreciate in advance what impact this trip will have upon Gail and I but we look forward to it with great anticipation and no small amount of joy. Thank you to those who have so kindly and lovingly made this experience possible... God's love and blessings upon you.
I also want to thank in advance Ryan Daisy for agreeing to preach on the two Sundays that we'll be away. Ryan jumped at the chance to fill the pulpit on both dates offered and I can't thank him enough for doing so! It's very much appreciated! Gail and I also thank Clyde and Donna for watching our 'girls' (the dogs) while we're gone and Kathryn for agreeing to keep an eye on our cats. Knowing that our babies are being so well watched over means the world to both Gail and I.
Our prayer is that everyone has a wonderful and meaningful Christmas and that each of you is blessed and is a blessing to others. Let us not only strive to remember the true meaning of Christmas but to be certain to share it with others...
John 3:16-17
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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy
I've updated the blog today with my Newsletter Article for the January 2018 Newsletter.
Be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy
Pastor's Ponderings:
Well, it won't be long now, a new year is looming before us and will be here in just a few short days. Another year has passed for each of us, we look back over the past year and we think of those that are no longer here with us, we lift each of them up in our prayers and though we mourn their passing from us we celebrate their birth into God's Kingdom. As I sit and write this we have just concluded another funeral here at Woodlawn. Just today we laid to rest on this very, very cold day one of our very best souls, Doris Hanks. Doris will be greatly missed and even though it's been a number of years since she has been able to be an active part of our Church many, many remember when she was very involved with the functions of the congregation.
Funerals and funeral lunches are one of the ministries that we provide here at Woodlawn. Recently we hosted the funeral for Jeremy Caldeira. Jeremy wasn't a member here (though his mother had a loose affiliation with the Church having come to Bible Study and Sunday Night Group several years ago), but none-the-less, when asked we opened our doors to the family in their hour of need. Later, I heard from one of our members that a member of the community had thanked them for our being so open and willing to bless others. I thank you all for being the church in Lake City that doesn't shy away from opening our doors to any and all that are suffering. You all are truly a blessing! Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who worked on either or both of these funerals! You are the saints among us!
A big thank you to Clyde for cleaning up the sidewalks and parking before Sunday service this past week! Often Clyde doesn't get the recognition that he deserves as he's always here working hard on keeping this old Church building and grounds going, THANK YOU CLYDE!
Our new sign is up along the Hi-Way, our thanks to Clyde and to Jesse Gorden for getting the sign erected. Also, we all need to thank Scott Gorden for sandblasting, welding, and repainting the sign's bracket as a donation to the Church. The new sign with “Disciples of Christ & American Baptist” looks great and again a big thank you to all three of these fine men for getting it ready and installed!
The Chapel will be completely finished on January 9th when the organ is set up and ready to play. Make sure you thank Bill Hungate and Clyde Westcott for all the labor they put into that project. If you're yet to take a peek inside the Chapel, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, take a look! It looks fantastic!
Once the Chapel is all ready to go we will be starting to use it for a worship service during the week. We still have a couple of final details to work out with this service but we're hoping to kick off these services in January. Keep your ears open for more information coming VERY soon! (also pray that the weather in January is cooperative with trying to launch this new ministry)
Gail and I do want to thank each and everyone here at Woodlawn for your generous Christmas gifts. We were overwhelmed! Thank you all SO MUCH! We are so very, very blessed that God led us here to Lake City and to Woodlawn. Praise God for His guidance and praise God for all of you!
2017 was a wild ride for all of us, not the least of which was the merging of the First Baptist Church with Woodlawn. What an incredible blessing that has become, if you haven't been up to worship for a while, come on in and join us. There's a new energy and a new sense of devotion and joy that has developed. Especially this last week's service was just a wonderful experience, don't miss out, JOIN US!
For those that are physically unable to join us, we have started “live streaming” the worship on Facebook. If you'd like to try and view the service this way and don't understand the internet or Facebook but you have an internet connection and a computer, let me know and I or one of the other members can help explain it to you and get you set up so you can watch the service “live” on Sunday mornings. You can also watch the sermons later in the week on my blog at: www.thepathtothepulpit.blogspot.com
With that I need to wrap this up so Brittanie can finish off this newsletter, please remember!
To be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy
