Boothbay Baptist Buzz
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
Sue Burge, Communications Coordinator, welcomes your announcements until Thursday at noon. Thanks!
Phone: 633-7049 or e mail to: vanmanbill@roadrunner.com
Contact Information for Interim Pastor: Rev. Stuart (Stu) Taylor (wife – Anita)
Email: fstaet@suscom-Maine.net
Phone: 207-729-5460 Cell: 207-449-8711
Church Secretary: Maggie Brown – Office hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Office closed on Tuesday
You may reach Maggie at: 633-7378 or email at boothbaybaptistchurch1@myfairpoint.net
Week of November 1 – Nov 8, 2009
Vote, Tuesday, November 3rd
Yes or No on One?
On August 19, 2009 at 2:00pm in the afternoon, a tornado touched down in the city of Minneapolis, toppling about 250 trees and causing other major damage. It was the first tornado to hit the area in nearly 90 years and no severe weather was predicted this day. At precisely the same moment, in the same city, discussion began at the convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America concerning the ordination of noncelibate U.S. homosexuals. Was this a mark of God’s approval, or maybe disapproval? It’s interesting that one piece of damage was the sponsoring neighboring church steeple, as a huge cross was knocked off and flipped upside down. Later, the bill was passed by exactly a two-thirds majority….66.6%.
God’s interjection or just a coincidence?
Recently, the only openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, Gene Robinson, came to Maine to speak against question 1. He stated that there was nothing in the Bible that argues against committed same sex couples joining together. Maybe he has a different Bible than I, but I don’t think so.
I Corinthians 6:9,10: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals … will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Or
Romans 1: 22-28 “Professing to be wise, they became fools, …for this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, …And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,”
There are others that reiterate the same thing.
If the all-knowing and all-wise God, who lovingly desires to bless each of His precious creations, gives such a stern warning on this subject, what should be our position on Question One?
Submitted by: Barb House
God ordained marriage to be between one man & one woman. He set this special relationship in play not only for the populating of the world, but also as a symbol of Christ’s relationship with the church; ergo- bride of Christ. How it is possible that some churches can condone a physical relationship that God calls an abomination to be taken to the level of marriage as ordained by God and not see the obvious problem is beyond my ability to grasp. I know that all of us are on different levels spiritually, but God’s Word is very clear on this issue. We must do all that is in our power to not allow the defamation of God’s holy ordinances. As Christians we must all vote YES ON 1. To vote no would be tantamount to putting goat’s blood in the communion cups. And we must do more than vote properly; we need to be well educated and talking about this issue in attempt to sway those who may be on the fence. On top of all that, we believers must recognize God’s hand in this and be on our faces in fervent prayer asking God to take this matter to a holy end. This is my opinion.
Submitted by: Sam Michael, Chair; Elder Board
THIS WEEK
Lights of Love – will meet on Thursday, Nov. 5th at 9:30 a.m. in Fellowship Hall.
Join us for coffee/goodies and time to “Catch Up”. Devotions/prayer requests, fellowship.
DAYTIME BIBLE STUDY – every Wednesday from 10 a.m. – noon. There’s room for more to join us. Leader: Vickie Pinkham
NIGHTLIGHTS – BON FIRE at Newagen Seaside Inn, Southport – Nov. 6th, 7 p.m.
Calling all women – come – enjoy a night of fellowship, relaxation, stories around the campfire, s’mores and more. Dress warm and bring your favorite campfire “blankie”. Hostess: Brigitte Schlosser
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. How are you doing getting your shoe boxes packed for needy children throughout the world? There are plenty of empty boxes available for you in the church. Deadline is coming in November. Questions – you can call Tom and Kathy Wilson 633 – 4942.
BABY SHOWER for Meredith Fowlie: Ladies you are invited to attend a baby shower at the home of Becky Roberts (her Mom) on Sat. Nov. 7th, 11 a.m. Meredith is expecting her second son. Please R.S.V.P. Becky at 633-0757 or Caroline Roberts at 633-7772. The Roberts live on Robert’s Circle off Bayville Rd. If you need directions please ask when you R.S.V.P.
NEXT SUNDAY
We say so-long to Pastor Stu and Anita Taylor. These dear people have come to be with us for just over a year in an Interim pastorate role. Their love and kindness to our church family has been overwhelming. Please be sure to join us next Sunday as we bid them a very fond farewell.
Stepping in their place on Sunday, Nov. 15th, is Pastor Jim Beliasov and his wife Jan. Another faithful couple who will guide us well until we hire a permanent pastor.
COMING
Candidate Pastor Steven Nash and his wife Mary Ann will be with us on Sunday, Nov. 15th through
Sunday, Nov. 22nd. Details of events of the week to follow next Sunday.
MISSIONARY NEWS
Uganda Missionaries return to Kaabale Village, on Wednesday, November 18th.
Meet our Fall 2009 Team: Nancy VanDyke, Joanne Rigas, Rev. Bob Emrich, from Plymouth church, Sean Welton, owner of Community Oxygen, Damariscotta, and two teenage girls (one being Sean’s daughter. Nancy and Sean are the medical team. Rev. Bob will be training young pastors. Joanne and the teen gals will be conducting Vacation Bible School . Your prayers for their long journey to and from and for their work in the village will be very appreciated.
Continue to pray for Ross and Cathy Hodsdon as they work on translating the Bible in the country of Myanmar (Burma). They will be in that country until December.
The work being done for the Lord in the country of Togo, West Africa – Judy Bowen is the missionary we support in that country. She is still in the states on furlough, but she shared with us the following information about the medical work being done in Togo – the mission (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) sponsors a hospital in the southern part of the country – it is a fully equipped surgical facility with outpatient care. They are currently planning a hospital ministry in the north part of Togo – it is called Mongo, Togo. They recently had a ground-breaking ceremony for this new proposed hospital facility. A recent e-mail gave a report of the ground-breaking ceremonies – “Bill Hanson, ABWE Project Office director spoke about the various ministries of the hospital, and there was loud cheer from the women in the crowd when he said there would be separate wards for women and men. The local hospital mixes everyone together, which has to be embarrassing for Muslim women, or for that matter, for any women. There was another loud cheer when he said there would be three operating theatres. There is no surgery in the government hospital, and that means in emergency situations people have to travel to Kara, 140 km south of here, or even over to a Catholic hospital in Tanguieta, Benin, several hours to the east on a dirt road that is impassible during the rainy season. Understandably, people sometimes die before help is available.”
