December 2012 Lamplighter

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D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2Vol. 5 Issue 12

This Months HighlightsOctober Highlights p. 1

Note from the Pastor p. 1

Note from Landon p. 2

Announcements p. 3

December Calendar P. 4

Financials p. 5

A Note from Debbe p. 5

Extended Session p. 5

Birthdays p. 6

Anniversaries p. 6

January Small Group Studies P.6

Our Church Sta

Gary BurdenSenior Pastor

919-631-6789

Landon OrrMinister to Students

919-229-9379

Debbe LangdonMusic Director/Pianist

919-410-0271

Chasty Comeau

Admin. AssistantFinances

Pat BaucomAdmin. Assistant - Publicaons

Continued on page 2

Well, at our household we recently got the noce that our year-long

promoonal bundle program through our cable company had run its

course; so now the rules change, the prices go up, the frustraon

factor to decide what to do next intensies. Whatever happened to

the days of TV antennas, only three or four channels to choose

from, and NO costs just for tuning in? In this day of mulple opons, channels, media-

communicaon technologies, whats a soul to do? The big queson now is: to bundle,

or not to bundle? Or the quesonIs there a beer bundle than all these?

There is an excing answer. Think with me about a bundle beer than any media pro-

moon. Its the biblical bundle of Christmas and Missions. As Southern Bapsts we

certainly have an historical precedent for the connecon, going back to 1888 when it

was suggested we take our foreign missions oerings at this me when hearts are

tender. The Christmas/Missions theme was accentuated by one of our rst mission-

aries to China, Miss Loe Moon of Virginia. She strongly advocated for this oering

from the day she arrived on her mission eldChristmas Eve 1873to the day she

died on that eldChristmas Eve 1912. It was only ng that our annual oering for

Foreign (now called Internaonal) Missions be named in honor of her service AND to

remind us of this Christmas/Missions bundle.

Celebrang Christmas at Bethesda

December 2ndChristmas Open House at the Pastors Home

3:00 - 5:00 PM

December 9thHome School Choir Musical- 6:00 PM

December 16thAdult Choir Christmas Musical - 10:30 AM

Childrens Christmas Musical- 6:00 PM

Childrens Christmas Party- 7:00 PM

December 19thChurch-wide Christmas Caroling - 6:00 PM

December 25th

Birthday of our Savior
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Page 2T h e L a m p l i g h t e r

Discipleship. This word,

while not new, has become

a "fad" word in certain

church circles over the past

10-15 years. People mean

dierent things when they

say it, and I thought it would be good for me to clarifyhow I dene it as I begin to spend more me in the com-

ing months with this word, focusing on leading the

church in its discipleship ministries.

Colossians 1:28 says this: "Him we proclaim, warning eve-

ryone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we

may present everyone mature in Christ." This has be-

come a theme verse of sorts for me over the past few

months. When we look at this verse we see that Paul has

a very clear end goal for his ministry, the spiritual maturi-

ty of others. This is typically called sanccaon, a life-

long transformaon of ourselves into the image of Christ.This process is fullled in several dierent ways. It is ful-

lled by personal me with God's Word, by corporate

and personal worship, and by the preaching of the Word.

It is also fullled by our relaonships with each other,

through encouragement and correcon that occurs when

we simply live life together. To me, that is discipleship,

relaonships that sancfy.

As a minister of discipleship, my job is not to have these

types of relaonships with everyone in the

church. Instead my job is to make sure that our members

are creang these relaonships with others. We do manythings to facilitate these relaonships, but the primary

place they occur is in our Sunday school and other small

groups. If you are not involved in one of these groups I

encourage you to join one, and build some of these rela-

onships. Don't underesmate the value of Chrisan

relaonships; they are vitally important in all of our

lives.

The connecon is patently obviousHis mission and our

mission are inseparably linked. We have no mission but to

proclaim His glorious mission. Jesus, sinless God-in-human-

esh, the penulmate missionary came into our fallen,

broken, sinful world, fully bore the consequences of our

sin, victoriously arose from deaths blow, in order that we

may by faith receive Him as our Redeemer-Forgiver into

our fallen, broken, sinful life. His mission was a rescue

mission and more. Those He rescues He receives, restores,

and then sends out into that same world to proclaim the

message. This is our mission.

Jesus summed up this link when He clearly announced:

As the Father has sent Me [Christmas-His mission],I also

send you [our mission] (John 20:21). Now the queson

comes down to this: He was totally obedient to His mis-

sion; how obedient will we be to ours? OBEDIENTto BE

His Heart/ His Hands/ His Voice! He did the hardest part.

Now our part is the privileged part of yielding to His heart,

hands, and voice. Our responsibility is to respond to His

ability. Nothing makes the Christmas season come more

alive than the joy of Gospel giving, going, and praying in

very intenonal ways.

With about 5,000 of our Southern Bapst missionaries

serving around the globe, for us as a church to collect at

least $5,000 (only one dollar per missionary) for our Loe

Moon Christmas Oering for Internaonal Missions should

be more than doableit should be abundantly doable,

plus! This special annual oering directly funds our mis-

sionaries on the eld, making up nearly half of our Interna-

onal Mission Boards annual budget. I know we can do it!

Whatever your feelings about the latest cable companys

bundle program, this is a bundle we all can get excited

about! Yes, in this regard, we can joyfully say as Bapsts

We All Bundle.

Merry Christmas

From your church

Ministry Sta

Gary, Landon,

Debbe, Chasty & Pat

Christmas Open House

At the

Pastors Home

Sunday, December 2, 2012

3:005:00 PM

(Drop in any me)
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Page 3The Lamplighter

Pictured above are the children who participatedin the Childrens Packing Party (packing Christ-

mas Child Boxes).

Samaritans Purse has changed the lives of chil-

dren through Operation Christmas Child since

1993. Every year, generous people across the

world lovingly pack shoe boxes with gifts sim-

ple, yet powerful messages of Gods uncondition-

al love.

And when a child opens a shoe box, theyre open-

ing more than a present lovingly prepared just for

them. Theyre opening up their community to a

world of life-changing opportunities.

We met and exceeded our goal of 250 shoe box-

es this year. We collected a total of 255 boxes.

Please continue to pray for these shoe boxes and

the children all over the world who will be receiv-

ing them.

2012 LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERINGTHEME: BE His Heart, His Hands, His Voice

Southern Baptist churches collect the Lottie Moon

Christmas Offering for the sole purpose of sup-

porting our international missions. Every penny of

the offering goes to the International Mission

Boards overseas budget, thus supporting our

missionaries and their work.

Matthew 16:24-25

Engaging people groups in the hard places comes

with risk and sacrifice for all who obediently choose

to be . Most of us

arent threatened because of our faith, but we need

to be in prayer for those who are not that persecu-

tion will end but that believers in persecution will

stay courageous and bold.

A young, unbelieving Lottie Moon told classmates

her middle initial stood for Devil. She pulled

pranks, missed chapel and scoffed at religion.

Eventually, her questioning nature led her to

choose Christ and to obey her Lords calling to

China.

We will be Christmas Caroling on

December 19th at 6:30 PM. We

will be taking fruit baskets for our

home bound and rest home residents. If you

would like to help in preparing these baskets,

please meet at the church at 6:00 PM (prior to

caroling).


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Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

Christmas

Eve

29

New Years

Eve

The Lamplighter Page 4

6:30pm .......................................................... Awana, Youth Bible Study

6:45 pm......................................................Adult Prayer and Bible Study

Choir Rehearsal

9:15 am ................................................................... Bible Study Fellowship

10:30 am .........................................................Morning Worship Celebraon

6:00 pm ..........................................LifeLine...Get Connected (Small Groups)

Student LifeLine
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T h e L a m p l i g h t e r Page 5

DECEMBER EXTENDED SESSION

AND KIDS CHURCH

Sunday, Dec. 2 - AM

Babies: Kathleen McLamb

& Cherilyn Murphy

2s: Heather Henry &

Tori Smith

3s/4s: Julie Brueggen &

Kristen Duncan

K-3rd Kids Church

Frances Burden &

Angel Duncan

Sunday, Dec. 2 - PM

No Acvies

Wednesday, Dec. 5

Frances Burden &

Louise Gilmore

Sunday, Dec. 9 - AM

Babies: Brigie Creech &

Jan Culpepper

2s: Tobi & Brandi Sauer

3s/4s: Mandy &

Brianna Windham

K-3rd Kids Church

Nicole & Michael Ritchie

Sunday, Dec. 9 - PM

Jane & Johnnie Gatlin

Wednesday, Dec. 12

Jennifer Harrison &

Terry Gatewood

Sunday, Dec. 16 - AM

Babies: Sondra Gatewood &

Jane Gatlin

2s: Briany &

Andrew Arant

3s/4 s: Wendy & Chris

Gatewood

K-3rd Kids Church

Terry Gatewood &

David Duncan

Sunday, Dec. 16 - PM

Seth & Nicole Langdon

Wednesday, Dec. 19

Christmas Caroling

Sunday, Dec. 23 - AM

Babies: Faye Wells &

Shalee Sams

2s: Wendy Beasley &

Diane Duncan

3s/4s: Kristol &

Nick Flanigan

K-3rd Kids Church

Will & Leigh Smith


No Evening Acvies

Wednesday, Dec. 26

No Acvies

Sunday, 30 - AM

Babies: Faye Parrish &

Elvis Farr

2s: Sondra Gatewood &

Louise Gilmore

3s/4s: Laura Benson &

Sara Orr

K-3rd Kids Church

Sabrina & Trenton

Seagroves


No Evening Acvies

Wednesday, January 1

No Acvies

Do you hear what I hear? The sounds of

Christmas music bring joy to my heart, re-

minding me of favorite Christmas tradions

and the most wonderful gi of all the birth

of Jesus! There are lots of musical celebra-

ons on the calendarplease invite your

friends and families to join us!!

Our Christmas season begins with a Hanging of the Greensservice on November 25 at 6pm. We will decorate the

church, remembering the tradions and preparing ourselves

for the coming of the Christ Child.

On Sunday evening, December 9, we have a special treat in

store. You may remember that the HomeSchool Concert

Choir is rehearsing weekly in our building; as a maer of fact,

some of our own Bethesda families are members of this

choir. The group will present a mini-concert at 6pm in our

Worship Center. Following the concert, we will connue our

celebraon with a me of sharing . Sharing what, you say??

Thats where you come in ---- do you have a special Christ-

mas memory or story or poem or song that youd like toshare with your Bethesda family? If so, please let me know!

Then we will sing some favorite carols together to close our

evening.

Sunday, December 16, will bring a day full of Christmas music

and celebraon. The Adult Choir will present our Christmas

musical Christmas Joy during the morning worship service,

and the ShoutPraiseKids Choir will present Every Lile An-

gel at 6pm.

And of course, we will join for our annual Christmas Carol-

ing to our Bethesda home-bound on Wednesday, December

19.

Do you hear what I hear? The sounds of Christmas music?

Rejoice! Rejoice! Born is the King of Israel! O come, let us

adore Him! Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn

King! God bless!

Date S.S.AM

Worship

Budget

Oering

His Vision

Our Mission

Nov. 4

125

199

9,222.47

3,005.00

Nov. 11 113 165 5,547.85 2,100.00

Nov. 18 96 158 5,160.51 695.00

Nov. 25 107 159 4,446.41 455.00

Total 441 681 24,377.24 6,255.00

Avg. 110 170 6,094.31 1,564.00

Average Aendance & Oerings for November 2011

Avg. 120 173 5,734.56 1,013.25

Facts & Figures for November 2012


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4967 Highway 70 West Business

Clayton, NC 27520

Phone: 919-553-7678

Address Service Guaranteed

December Birthdays

Rebecca Johnson 2nd

Kaye Peele 2nd

Ann Harper 3rd

Ray Carroll 5th

Linda Lile 5th

Bobby Godwin 10th

Brian McLamb 13th

Judy Beal 17th

Bob Jones 17th

Jean Wilkins 19th

Kristol Flanigan 22nd

Briany Arant 24th

Edward Sasser 27th

Andrew Arant

31st

Shelton Johnson 31st

Dennis Kennedy 31st

Were on the web!

www.bethesdaclayton.com

The Lamplighter Page 6

NEW SMALL GROUP STUDIES COMING JANUARY!

Introductory Large Group Gathering

Sunday, January 6, 2013, 6:00 PM

We all meet together to introduce the three new studies

Then each small group meets for further introducons and discussion

Three New Six Week Studies Begin January 13

For Men: Sleeping Giant, by Kenny Luck

As our culture decays around us...a giant sleepsthe men of your

church,This Sleeping Giant mens strategy is a clarion call to acon

...encouraging men to awaken, to mover from the audience to

the army Study Leader: Gary Burden. (Study Book -$11.00)

For Women: Jonah: Navigang a Life Interrupted, by Priscilla Shirer

Whether big or small, life is lled with interrupons and detours.How do you navigate your life through it all successfully? This study

of Jonah will help provide perspecve and encouragement. Study

Leader: Leigh Smith. (Study Book - $12.00)

For All Others: An excing study topic to be announced. No study book

to purchase. Study Leader: Landon Orr.

Johnston County Medical Mall

November 29December 5

Regular Working Hours

Keep Johnston County Beauful, Inc. is planning its Ninth Annual Fesval of Trees,

a display of live, NC-grown, premium grade Christmas Trees decorated in various

themes appropriate for the Christmas Season. This is our Gi to the County dur-

ing the week of November 29 through December 5, 2012 at the Johnston Medical

Mall in Smitheld. There is no admission charge so families can enjoy a fesve ex-

perience as the Christmas Season begins. Even though the Bethesda Choir will

not be singing this year, this event is an enjoyable, fesve event for everyone.

Chris & Wendy Gatewood 9th

Tobi & Brandi Sauer 13th

Tommy & Bey Jones 15th

Larkin & Brigie Creech 21st

Jerry & Bey Jo Dalton 21st

Gary & Frances Burden 29th

Bob & Brenda Jones 29th
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December 2012 Lamplighter

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