Experiencing and expressing God's unconditional love.
Featured Events
Souper Bowl Sunday - February 7, 2010
World Hunger Emphasis
Please bring small CANS OF SOUP which will be donated to the Franklin County Emergency Food Pantry.
- Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.
- Worship at 10:30 a.m.
Speaker: Joshua Speight, Associate Coordinator for Missions, Kentucky Baptist Fellowship - Lunch following worship
Menu: homemade soups, sandwiches & desserts; There will be no charge for lunch but monetary donations will be accepted for world hunger relief. - Following lunch, there will be a “Service Auction” to raise funds for additional improvements to the children’s play yard.
Centri-Kid Camp - Sign Ups
Parents, the sign up sheet is out for Centri-Kid Camp, June 14-18, 2010, at Georgetown College. If your child (who will have completed 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade by camp time) is interested in going, please plan to attend the PARENT MEETING following the morning worship service on Sunday, January 24. There is a $100 deposit that must be paid in order to hold your child’s place, and the remaining $150 is due by May 24. As always, we are planning a couple of fundraisers to help with scholarships.
Youth Ski trip at Perfect North - Friday, February 5 & Saturday, February 6
We will leave the church on Friday evening (time to be announced) and return by about 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. You will have the option to ski, snow board or tube. Anyone interested in going should contact Rebecca and turn in your deposit of $50.00 by January 27th. There are also forms that you MUST fill out if you plan to ski.
Choir Opportunities
Children's Choir
All children in grade 4-6 are invited to audition for the KBC All-State Choir. Parents, please let Naomi know as soon as possible if your child would like to audition. Deadline for submission is early February.
Youth Choir Retreat
This is the first time Kentucky Baptist Fellowship has tried this and all youth from KBF churches are encouraged to participate. The main event will be an overnight retreat and performance April 23 and 24, but there will be a preliminary rehearsal (and youth fellowship activities) with the Lexington area cluster on Sunday, February 28. Dr. John Campbell, Music Professor at Georgetown College, will be guest conductor. Sounds like fun! See Naomi for further details.
Fellowship suppers - Each Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.
Adults: $4.00, Children: $3.00
Maximum per family $10.00
- February 3: Chicken, green beans, macaroni & cheese, biscuits, dessert
- February 10: Lasagna, tossed salad, bread, dessert
For more about our events, visit our Event Scrapbook Archives, view our calendar to the right, or contact us.
From the Pastoral Staff
Chuck's Column
In my sermon last Sunday, drawing from James 1, I talked about how God can use suffering to grow our souls. What James says about the redemptive value of the trials we encounter, however, does not cover all forms and expressions of suffering. More
There are sufferings of such a tragic nature that it is difficult to see any redemptive value at all. The atrocities committed against “the other” as we have witnessed in Nazi Germany and more recently in Rwanda and Darfur cannot be described in a redemptive way. Even the suffering that follows natures’ upheaval such as we are witnessing in Haiti seems to make no sense whatsoever.
Last night one of the “world news” programs did a piece on the humanitarian efforts of a 78 year old doctor, who is in Haiti now doing all he can to assist and comfort the hurting. The coverage showed a traumatized boy, 13 or 14, maybe older, who lost his entire family. He had nothing or no one, but his life. He was so traumatized he couldn’t speak. The doctor mentioned that the best treatment for him was to have someone with him at all times, to make human contact.
It would be hard to find any redemptive value in such pain. There is no clear answer to the suffering caused by such calamities as the earthquake in Haiti and the horrendous evil human beings can do to one another.
No one will ever be able to figure out how God’s power, God’s love, and human freedom all interact and connect. I sometimes wonder with the process theologians if God is not in a process of growth and development like the creation. The idea of an absolute infinite and all powerful God is derived more from Greek philosophy than the Hebrew Bible. The God of Israel is a God who sometimes changes his mind, regrets actions, alters course, etc.(You don’t have to take my word for it, read those stories for yourself like Exodus 32; you might be amazed at some of the things you find in the Bible if you take the time to read it.)
Do I question the goodness of God in light of such suffering? I question a lot of things, but the basic nature of God’s goodness is a non-negotiable for me. I believe God suffers with the creation.
Eli Wiesel, a survivor of Auschwitz, writes in his book Night: “The SS hung two Jewish men and a boy before the assembled inhabitants of the camp. The men died quickly but the death struggle of the boy lasted half an hour. “Where is God? Where is he?” a man behind me asked. As the boy, after a long time, was still in agony on the rope, I heard the man cry again, “Where is God now?” and I heard a voice within me answer, “Here he is—he is hanging here on the gallows . . .”
God is not a spectator in our suffering; God is a full participant. I believe that we have in the Christian tradition, in the suffering and death of Jesus, the resources to live and cope with suffering. On the cross we have God incarnationally present in the life of Jesus, bearing the hate and cruelty and suffering of the world.
Somehow God is large enough to know both suffering and joy simultaneously. God is able to hold these opposites together—the horrible suffering of the world and immense beauty and goodness of the world—in ways that we cannot due to our creaturely limitations. We can rarely hold such tensions together, though I have had experiences of joy in times of trial and hardship that I cannot explain other than the Spirit of God.
I sometimes question the extent of God’s power, but I do not question God’s goodness.
Naomi's Notes
Technology & Worship, part 2:
In my last column I told of a hi-tech, multi-site church in GA that uses cutting-edge technology for their loud, high energy, "praise & worship" style services.*
Some might say, “Wow! How cool is that!” We know of congregations who (literally) buy into the philosophy that they must use extreme cutting-edge, over-the-top technology in their worship services in order to attract people—and many are successful in drawing a crowd. Besides the issue of stewardship of resources, the question every church must ask is, "Does extreme use of technology really help people worship God....or is it mostly an expensive novelty?” More
Despite appearances, innovation and media-manipulated “excitement” are not reliable gauges of a worshiping congregation (any more than low-tech, “quiet” services are a reliable gauge of reverence). When people leave a worship service more wowed by novelty and innovation than they are awed by God, then technology has gone too far. It becomes a distraction, a barrier to personal, authentic worship. It's not a matter of worship style preferences; it's a matter of honoring God.
Technology does have its place in our modern world and in our worship, but it must be used judiciously as an effective tool, not an end in itself. Remember that "everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial" (1 Cor. 10:23). Just because we can doesn't mean we should.
We can all agree that our worship is definitely aided by the technology of heat, air conditioning, and lighting systems every Sunday! The technology of microphones and other sound equipment helps us with hearing prayers and scripture, sermons and soloists.
Our faithful Tech Team uses visual technology tastefully and creatively to enhance our services when they post pre-service announcements, put scripture and song texts on the screens, stream pastoral scenes during the offertory, etc. (We're also appreciative of their skills in creating quality DVDs and commercials for broadcast in our community.)
It's hard to define "good taste," but folks generally know it when they see it...and our Tech Team has it! We need to support their ministry as they continue to improve our worship and ministry projects through technology. ...(cont'd. in my next column) See you in worship this Sunday.
*Correction: The pastor does not appear as a hologram in 2 of the 3 worship sites each week; the church receptionist said that rumor persists because the pastor's full-body, life-sized image appears on a large high-definition screen that is lowered to center stage. The image is very realistic, especially since the decor of all 3 sites is set up the same, and two raised screens on either side show close-ups of his face as he preaches.