BVCOB The Lamplighter - November 2007

In This Issue ...

Fall Church Council Meeting - Sun, Nov 4, 2007, 2:00 PM

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS NEEDED! The proposed budget for 2008 is the major agenda item. Please review the informational packet found in your mail boxes in late October and then bring it along to the meeting.

Church Council is the congregation coming together to make decisions for the church with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. All members and interested persons are invited to this important time in the life of the church. Child care is provided to make attendance easier for parents with small children.

Eli Mast
Moderator

Help Make A Child Smile!
Operation Christmas Child Update

We are nearing the end of the Shoebox Collection for Operation Christmas Child with several good things to report:

The Children’s Sunday school exceeded their goal by collecting over 300 bars of bath soap in one month! Congratulations to the 4th/5th grade class who brought in the most bars. On Sunday, November 4th, they will celebrate with an ice cream party.
The final collections for the rest of the shoebox items are going well.
We will continue to receive needed items through November 4.

Our goal has been to prepare and send 300 shoeboxes that will be sent to children in over 60 countries. Because of your generosity, we will be able to reach our goal!

Shoeboxes will be collected and those which were put together at home should be brought to the church on November 11 and 18. We will be dedicating all the shoeboxes on Sunday, November 18. Don't forget the $7 shipping fee for each shoebox.

If you have any questions, please talk to any member of the Mission Team for further information. Remember this may be the only Christmas many children experience. Let’s let Christ’s love shine through!

Serving Him,
Vicki Bastian, Mission Team Leader

Striving Toward The Goal

45% of $60,000 Goal Our second payment for the land purchase ($60,000) is due in January 2008. As of the week of October 7, the balance in the Building Fund was $27,256.46. We need to receive approximately $33,000 more by the beginning of 2008. This would be approximately $2,750 per week to reach that goal by the end of the year. Your gifts to the Building Fund should be above and beyond your giving to the General Fund, which supports the ongoing ministry of our church.

Building for Ministry II

A Capital Fund Campaign Committee has been meeting and plans are being developed to raise both short term and long term funds in support of building and ministry expansion.

As a faith community, (the Buffalo Valley Church of the Brethren) we have experienced God’s blessing and significant ministry growth as a result of the first Building for Ministry project completed about 15 years ago. Completion of the Building for Ministry II project is expected to allow continued growth and spur new visions of ministry just like the first project.

Expanding ministry and proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ is a responsibility we all bear and as a result all active participants of our church are being asked to be involved both financially and otherwise.

By the time you read this, Church leadership including the Ministry Coordinating Team; Pastoral staff and all members of the Capital Campaign Team will have made their financial and non - financial service pledges to the campaign.

Some individuals will be visited to help us kick off the campaign, but everyone is asked to attend one of two dessert events; Thursday night, November 8 at 7 pm or Sunday November 11 at 5 pm. The events will last only an hour and will give you the opportunity to hear all the details of the project required for you to pledge your support.
This is not a high pressured fund raiser; it is an opportunity to invest your self in the ministry of our local congregation. How you respond will be between you and God. We are asking you to come, hear the vision and return a pledge card within a few weeks. Because we believe that the entire church family should be involved in ministry, we are striving for 100% participation and will be following up with all individuals.

Please assist us by coming to one of the two dessert events and returning a pledge card. The pledge card has been designed that everyone should feel comfortable making a financial and/or non financial pledge of support. Your participation is important.

It is an exciting time and we thank you for your prayers for this project as we continue to build our future of ministry here at Buffalo Valley.

Steve Richard

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’"
Luke 14:28-30

Small Groups Ministry

Hello Everyone. I’m back from Willow Creek Church with all sorts of new ideas and thoughts. I am excited to find out what we can do at Buffalo Valley to revitalize the Small Groups Ministry. I’m ready to go, but it takes more than my excitement to get anything accomplished.

As it stands there are two sign-up sheets in the Narthex. One is for a Small Group Bible Study on “Facing Your Giants,” the movie we watched in the park. The other is a Bible Study Group on the subject of “Certainty”. This study delves into the subjects of knowing why you believe. If anyone has any suggestions to make these groups something that they would want to attend. Please feel free to give me a call, write me a note and put it in my Church mailbox, or e-mail me. I’d be very happy to hear from anyone and will consider all reasonable suggestions.

God Bless you all very much.
Jerry Shields

ARE YOU A SERVANT? Servants put others first. Do you? There is a continued need to offer all spaces in the paved parking lot to visitors or individuals with difficulty walking. This is one small way you can serve others. Are you keeping the welcome mat out?

From the Pastor,

“Give thanks for all things at all times to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20

To be sure, all of us are grateful for some things some of the time; but Paul commands us to be thankful for all things all the time.

This command proves our need for the Holy Spirit, because in our own strength we could never obey it.

Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe writes – "When a Christian finds himself in a difficult situation, he should immediately give thanks to the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, to keep his heart from complaining and fretting. The devil moves in when a Christian starts to complain, but thanksgiving in the Spirit defeats the devil and glorifies the Lord."

Chrysostom, a great preacher of the early church, had the curious thought that a Christian could give thanks even for Hell, because Hell was a warning to keep him in the right way.

Let us remember Paul’s words in I Thessalonians 5:18 – “… give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

“Now children,” said the teacher just before Thanksgiving, “tell me something you’re thankful for.”“I’m thankful,” said one little boy, “that I’m not a turkey!”

Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Randy

Website Update

We’ve been working on a website makeover (www.bvcob.com) and would like to incorporate “News” on our main website. Some of the messages received through the email news list and select articles in the monthly Lamplighter will be posted to the website when they are received.

We would also like to share more detailed information about upcoming events, with follow up articles when possible. If you are organizing an event or involved in event planning, please consider sharing your information with the congregation and our community.

In addition, event photos would be a great way to share what our church is doing. In order to protect the privacy of our church members, children and youth being photographed, will not include identification. Photos of children who do not attend our church will require a photo release before being posted online. If for any reason, you or your loved ones do not wish to be included in online photos, please let me know. We always wish to respect your privacy.

All articles, photos and photo releases can be emailed to Peggy Shields at

Serving Him,
Peggy Shields, Church Webmaster

Imagine the Impact that Americans of faith could have on the future of our nation, the character of its leadership and the moral health of its people if we all applied biblical principles to every aspect of our lives – including our participation in the democratic process. - Focus on the Family

Cans for A Cause

Everyone has been doing a great job bringing in their empty cans for recycling. Thank you! Such an easy way to earn some extra money for a need and also to help our environment. Please continue to bring your empty aluminum cans and place them in the barrel by the BBQ pit. Presently the money received from these cans will go toward the cost of shipping the shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Any questions please talk with Dave Stamm, can coordinator.

Vicki Bastian
Mission Team

The “Who’s in Charge” Principle
God’s the owner, I am the manager.

Stewardship begins with the realization that everything we have was given to us, and ownership still is in God’s name.

Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.”

If God owns it all, what am I doing with it? A steward is one who owns nothing but is responsible for everything.

CAN THEY BE TRUSTED? Do you have questions about who receives your money? You might want to checkout a website like www.ministrywatch.com. MinistryWatch also has links to other websites where you can check out charities and ministries.

LARGE PRINT AVAILABLE - If you or someone you know would like to receive The Lamplighter as a large print version, please contact Jeff and Vicki Bastian.