First Baptist Church

Evangel Stephen Laughlin, Pastor John Holland, Minister of Music & Senior Adults Colin Trisler, Student/Family Life Minister Jason Mercer, Minister of Children

First Baptist Church 201 East Court St.

Winnfield, LA 71483 318-628-3544

Volume 82…..February 23, 2014…..Number 8

All hunters and anglers are invited to join us in the Family Life Center on

Thursday, February 27 at 6:00 p.m. for the annual

Wild Game & Seafood Banquet.

For this year’s entertainment at the Wild Game & Seafood Banquet, we will have

“Show and Tell” where several of our church members hopefully will share their

special experiences during the past hunting season. If you bagged a really nice

deer during the past hunting season and would be willing to share that with the

group, email pictures you have to Delane Adams

at adams2623@bellsouth.net and be prepared to tell us about it.

Cook up your best “road kill”

and come share it with us!

Beginning this Sunday, February 23,

morning and evening worship services

will be held in the gym until

“Restoring God’s House”

is completed.

Please note that the Sanctuary Class

will meet in the Fireside Room.

From the Pastor

“Restoring God’s House” Begins! Sunday night, our church voted over-

whelmingly in favor of completing the proposed

renovations to our sanctuary. Work has already

begun! Our Gym is already set up for our wor-

ship services, and we will begin having both ser-

vices there this Sunday.

As with any change, there will surely be

some bumps along the way. One change will be

access to the Gym for worship services. This is

when it is so nice to attend church not only with

people you know, but also with people you love

and respect.

We will have a relatively short window

between Sunday School and Morning Worship.

A number of our people will not be able to use

the stairs to get to the 2nd floor. They will need to

use the elevator. I’m asking everyone who is

able to use the stairs so we can reserve the eleva-

tor for those unable to climb stairs.

In the weeks ahead you will hear many

different ways you can help with “Restoring

God’s House”. Please keep an eye on your Evan-

gel for the most up-to-date information. As al-

ways, if you have any questions, you can call the

church office (628-3544), my cell (318-729-

4992), or email me at stephen@fbcwinn.com.

“Love Makes the World Go ‘Round” My family & I had a great time at our

Valentine’s Banquet last Wednesday night! I’m

so grateful for everyone who brought food,

helped serve, and participated in any other way.

Special thanks go to Steve & Meredith

Bates, Steve & Tammy Adams, Dwight &

Wadean Callender, and Jerry & Denise Hebert

for being good sports and participating in our

“Unruly Wed Game”.

Finally, congratulations to Colin &

Amanda Trisler for being named our Valentine’s

King & Queen this year!

Music & Sr. Adult Ministry

Christian Sympathy is offered to

Jan Clark & family on the loss of her mother

Attention All Hunters and Anglers!

Make plans to join us in the Fireside Assembly Room on Thursday, February 27 at 6:00 p.m. Cook up enough of this year’s “road kill” to share with a friend and come

join us for an evening of food, fun and fellowship.

Senior Adult Luncheon

We will gather in the Fireside Assembly Room on

Thursday, March 20 at 11:30 a.m. for our regularly

scheduled monthly meeting. This will be a

“pot-luck” style luncheon, so come join us!

Sanctuary Choir Easter Cantata

The Sanctuary Choir will present an Easter Cantata entitled Wondrous Love on Sunday,

April 13 at 11:00 a.m. If you have ever considered being a part of the choir, now would be the perfect time to come join us.

Dr. Jerry Williams and Alvin Cox

families wish to express their sincere

appreciation for the numerous

expressions of Christian concern. Your

acts of kindness shown during the

recent illness and bereavement of my

beloved wife Guendill (Gwyn) Williams are

evidence of your love and support. The prayers,

cards, visits, phone calls and food are gratefully

acknowledged. We covet your continued

prayers with sincerity and gratefulness.

Thank You

Youth Ministry

We had a great trip to the Women’s Resource Center in

Natchitoches this past Monday. We delivered a busload of much

-needed supplies, and the center’s director, Beverly, gave us a

full tour of the facility. We all learned a lot and had a great time

supporting such a worthy cause.

The Women’s Resource Center is a great pro-life ministry that

ministers to women not just in Natchitoches but in the surround-

ing parishes as well, including Winn Parish.

Thanks so much to everyone who gave of their time and their

resources to help support the Women’s Resource Center. No

matter how the mainstream media frames the issue, the fact is

abortions are at their lowest levels since 1973, the year the Su-

preme Court decided Roe v. Wade. According to the latest report

by the Guttmacher Institute, U.S. abortions dropped to a ratio of

16.9 abortions per 1,000 women ages of 15 to 44. For compari-

son, 1981 saw the highest rate of 29.3 abortions per 1,000 wom-

en.

We are winning the war against the evil practice of abortion.

Abortion clinics are closing at record rates and pro-life crisis

pregnancy centers are springing up at the same pace.

We often ask how we can help fight abortion. Supporting pro-

life facilities like the Women’s Resource Center is one easy way

we all can fight to defend these vulnerable children who can’t

defend themselves.

God created us in His image. That means we are to reflect the

righteousness of God in everything we do. Life is important to

God. Life is His greatest blessing. He gave us life when He cre-

ated us, and through Jesus Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the

Life—He gave us a second chance at life when we rejected Him.

If life is of the utmost importance to God, then as beings created

in His image, we should share in His passion for life. Jesus

fought to defend life, and we should do the same.

We are winning the war against abortion. Never lose sight of our

purpose, and never give up hope. As Paul said, “Let us not lose

heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not

grow weary” (Galatians 6:9).

Children’s Ministry Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to

travel throughout North, Central and South Louisiana

conducting volunteer training for the Louisiana Baptist

Convention and churches. The workshops that have been

most requested have been "Kid Discipline 101" and

"Don't Lose Your Marbles Serving in Children's Minis-

try." In the coming weeks, I plan to share some sections

from these workshops in my Evangel article.

In Don't Lose Your Marbles, I share with volunteers that

what they each do matters. This workshop is based on

Reggie Joiner's book "Playing for Keeps." Volunteers

are asked to consider how the giving of their time over a

period of time impacts the lives of those they serve. Reg-

gie Joiner's points out that Time over Time equals Histo-

ry. Each week when we show up to perform our role in

serving in the local church, we have the opportunity to

create "history" with those we serve. I'm thankful for the

many volunteers in the children's ministry that have giv-

en their time for many years to develop a rich history

with the children of firstKIDS. Over the past year, we

have lost a few of our long-term and faithful volunteers

in firstKIDS. It was a privilege to witness servant leader-

ship that was faithful right up until the ends of their lives

in both Mrs. Gwyn Williams and Mr. Rudolph Foster.

I'm thankful for the time they invested in the children of

firstKIDS over the years to create a unique, powerful,

lasting, rich and meaningful history that will not soon be

forgotten. What you do this week MATTERS!

Education Ministry

As the work begins to “Restore God’s House”, this would be a great time to ask God to restore the hearts of God’s people at

FBC. After decades of use, our Sanctuary needs to be updated and spruced up. How many decades has the Holy Spirit been

inhabiting your heart as His Sanctuary? Perhaps He would like to restore it to the glory of those early days of belief.

The tools used by the hired workmen in the church Sanctuary will include hammers, screwdrivers, drills, paint brushes, and

a variety of other complicated tools. The work on our hearts will be accomplished by the Holy Spirit and the individual be-

liever. Tools will be very simple - the Bible, prayer, and a surrendered servant.

This church restoration project will assure many more years of use for God’s purposes through His people. This heart resto-

ration project will accomplish a like result.

Will you be a part of both?

See you in Sunday School,

Theresa

NEW

BELIEVER’S

CLASS

FEB. 23!

First Baptist Church...Serving Christ in the Heart of the Forest

Schedule

For

2/23 - 3/1

First Baptist Church EVANGEL (USPS 042-320) is

published weekly by First Baptist Church, 201 E.

Court St., Winnfield, LA 71483-0230. “Periodicals”

Postage paid at Winnfield, LA. POSTMASTER: Send

address changes to FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

EVANGEL, P.O. Box 230, Winnfield, LA 71483-

0230

Editor......................................FBC STAFF

DAILY BIBLE READINGS

Sun. Feb. 23 Num. 22-24

Mon. Feb. 24 Num. 25-26

Tues. Feb. 25 Num. 27-29

Wed. Feb. 26 Num. 30-31

Thurs. Feb. 27 Num. 32-33

Fri. Feb. 28 Num. 34-36

Sat. Mar. 1 Deut. 1-2

Sun. Mar. 2 Deut. 3-4

February 23, 2014

2’s & 3’s Jerry & Denise Hebert

4’s & 5’s Ricky & Theresa Hendrix

In Memory of :

Leo Shelton given by Ann Sowers Brittain

Ms. Linda Bamburg The John H. Mitchell Family (Louise, Jana & Joan)

Mr. Tracy L. Harrel, Jr.

Stacey Gardner given by Ann Sowers Brittain Ms. Linda Bamburg, Mr. Tracy L. Harrel, Jr.

Gwyn Williams given by Sonny, Robby, Terry & Melissa Warner Mrs. Missy Smith

Pat & Leroy James & Employees of James Drill-ing Company Dr. & Mrs. Edward Gilcrease

Ms. Linda Bamburg

Sam Bass given by Mrs. Missy Smith

Andy Peters Ruby Keaton given by Ann Sowers Brittain

Cathy Franks Rev. Willie James given by Ms. Linda Bamburg

Ruby Keaton given by Mrs. Geneva Brewton Mr. & Mrs. Charles D. Parker

James Machen given by Mr. & Mrs. John Lutes

Gwyn Williams, Jeb & Robert Williams given by Mr. Tracy L. Harrel, Jr.

SUNDAY,FEBRUARY 23

Natalie Evans, Mary Mercer, Donna Pickett

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Claudia McBride, Steve Shelton

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25

Blake Audirsch

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26

Kandi Crawford, Jo Gresham, John Holland,

Micah Hubbard, Dianne Jordan,

Daniel Roberts

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

Alison Mayes, Faris Wyatt

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Freddi Berry, Hollie Frederick, Shelby Green,

Bryan Price

SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Patsy Martin

FOR THE RECORD (FEB. 16)

Sunday School Enr. Att. Adults 334 154 Youth 67 15 Children 66 24 Pre School 25 15 ___ ___ Total 492 208 Tithes & Offerings Budget Required $15,471.22 Budget $12,015.88 Designated $ 1,914.00 Total $13,929.88 Giving to Restoring God’s House $ 185.00 Year-to-Date Budget Required $108,298.54 Year-to-Date Budget Receipts $ 85,080.28 Over (Under) Budget ($ 23,218.26)

Sunday, February 23

9:00 - 9:45 AM Library open

9:40 AM Sunday School

10:40 AM Preschool Worship

11:00 AM Morning Worship

4:30 PM Christian Life College, New

Believer’s Class

6:00 PM Evening Worship

Tuesday, February 25

7:00 AM Men’s Prayer Breakfast

Wednesday, February 26

9:00 - 1:00 PM Library open

5:30 PM Gym Opens

6:15 PM Prayer Mtg., M & M,

S.T.O.M.P.

7:00 PM Sanctuary Choir

Rehearsal

Thursday, February 27

6:00 PM Wild Game & Seafood

Banquet