The Messenger January 2020 Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association “The Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association is a network of Churches committed to evangelizing, teaching and ministering to our World.” “Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts, Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! Psalm 150 As we start another year together as an association, I’m encouraged by many things that unite us. One of the blessings of my position is that every Sunday I get to worship with a different church or two within our Asso- ciation. As we just concluded the last month of the year, I’m reminded that December is one of my favorite months to worship with each of you. I try my best to attend as many of the Christmas programs as I can. What a joy and privilege to hear from our children’s choirs, our youth dramas and musicals, and our adult Christmas programs. The variety of worship that our churches offer in praise to the Lord is amazingly wonderful and I believe pleasing to God. You might be surprised at the diversity within our churches. I have witnessed our churches singing Christmas Hymns by the simple sound of the piano. Many gifted musicians in several of our churches lead by the unplugged variety of guitars and stringed instruments while others plug them in and lift the volume to the heavens; both Praising the Lord! During this most recent Christmas season, I have heard the soft sound of the harp, beautiful ringing of bells and hand chimes, percussion instruments too many to number, various woodwind instruments and brass horns, and some instruments I’ve yet to discover their names. Yet, they all have had one thing in common; sounding out beautiful Praise to the Lord! I have listened as children sang their innocent songs of the Christ child in a manger. I joined in with the joy of parents as their children remembered their lines for the Christmas play. I have watched youth worship as they introduced interpretive movement or sign language. The adults of our churches have presented different Christmas specials. Every one of these worship experiences has led me and others to Praise the Lord! As we enter into a New Year and dare I say a new decade, continue the enthusiasm of your praise and worship from December. Remember, December is not the only month that we Praise the Lord and I hope Sunday is not the only day. Take advantage this year of the many times you have to worship and praise the Lord. Ap- preciate that He has given us many instruments and voices. The Psalmist reminds us to “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” As we approach this New Year and new decade, may we be encouraged by the Psalmist in a variety of ways to Praise the Lord! I look forward to praising and worshipping God with each of you this year, Kirk
Transcript
The Messenger
January 2020
Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association
“The Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association is a network of Churches committed to evangelizing, teaching and
ministering to our World.”
“Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts, Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! Psalm 150
As we start another year together as an association, I’m encouraged by many things that unite us. One of the blessings of my position is that every Sunday I get to worship with a different church or two within our Asso-ciation. As we just concluded the last month of the year, I’m reminded that December is one of my favorite months to worship with each of you. I try my best to attend as many of the Christmas programs as I can. What a joy and privilege to hear from our children’s choirs, our youth dramas and musicals, and our adult Christmas programs.
The variety of worship that our churches offer in praise to the Lord is amazingly wonderful and I believe pleasing to God. You might be surprised at the diversity within our churches. I have witnessed our churches singing Christmas Hymns by the simple sound of the piano. Many gifted musicians in several of our churches lead by the unplugged variety of guitars and stringed instruments while others plug them in and lift the volume to the heavens; both Praising the Lord! During this most recent Christmas season, I have heard the soft sound of the harp, beautiful ringing of bells and hand chimes, percussion instruments too many to number, various woodwind instruments and brass horns, and some instruments I’ve yet to discover their names. Yet, they all have had one thing in common; sounding out beautiful Praise to the Lord!
I have listened as children sang their innocent songs of the Christ child in a manger. I joined in with the joy of parents as their children remembered their lines for the Christmas play. I have watched youth worship as they introduced interpretive movement or sign language. The adults of our churches have presented different Christmas specials. Every one of these worship experiences has led me and others to Praise the Lord!
As we enter into a New Year and dare I say a new decade, continue the enthusiasm of your praise and worship from December. Remember, December is not the only month that we Praise the Lord and I hope Sunday is not the only day. Take advantage this year of the many times you have to worship and praise the Lord. Ap-preciate that He has given us many instruments and voices. The Psalmist reminds us to “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” As we approach this New Year and new decade, may we be encouraged by the Psalmist in a variety of ways to Praise the Lord!
I look forward to praising and worshipping God with each of you this year,
Kirk
The Messenger
Page 2
Cooperating Churches 47,456
Total membership in the SBC net-
work of churches
14,813,234
Weekly worship attendance 5,297,788
Total baptisms reported by Southern Baptist churches
246,442
Cooperating state conventions 41
Cooperating local associations 1,126
The Messenger
Page 3
Submitted by Yolanda Heuser
2020 WMU Missions Emphasis Meetings
► MARCH 12TH. -?-
► JULY 16TH, @ FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH FAIR-FIELD GLADE– 130 Town Centre Way, (behind Food City on Peavine Rd)
► NOVEMBER 19TH -?-
ALL MEETINGS ARE 60/65-EAT MEETINGS- [last no longer than 60/65 minutes, then we EAT.] MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN ARE WELCOME..
Delivered-Christmas Meal and More boxes
“thank you, because of you”...
The 12 Christmas Meal and More boxes were delivered on Decem-
ber 16th and December 18th. They were running over with food
items, thank you, because of you 12 families in Cumberland County
had a Christmas meal and are still enjoying food because you gave.
Our 2018-2020 Emphasis “Unshakable Pursuit”, Chasing the God
that chases us” The words Paul wrote to the Corinthian church are
just as pertinent today as they were when he wrote them. In fact, I
would say they may be even more pertinent today as we face such
disregard for God and His word in the world we are now living in.
Our call as Christians is to live in an Unshakable Pursuit of His Mis-
sion, His Word, and His Glory at all times. When we chase God
back today and do His will, we will face people with no belief and
they will taunt us for our belief. We will be challenged with perse-
cution and may find ourselves in a degree of persecution-that is
when we must decide is it worth the cost? Yes, emphatically, YES it
is worth it!!! Why, to make disciples that make disciples who make
disciples and so on and so on. We must continue to chase God so
that we can know Him better and know what His plans for us are!
When God’s unconditional love fills our lives, then we reflect His
love to others and that is what you did by giving so generously to
our Annual Offering Project. Again, thank you!
The Messenger
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TN WMU EVENTS…..
JAN 2020
► 25 WMU scholarship applications must be postmarked by this date
LOOKING AHEAD….
ALL MEETINGS ARE 60-65/EAT MEETINGS @ 6:00 PM
PLEASE, PRAYFULLY CONSIDER HOSTING EITHER MARCH OR NOVEMBER MEETINGS.
►MARCH 12TH. -?-
►THEME: Sharing God’s Glory
►VERSE: He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! Romans 5:2 (GNT)
►SPEAKER: waiting on response ►MISSION PROJECT: gift cards for baskets for Silent Auction @ Get Together & Connection
—————————————————————————————-
►JULY 16th. First Baptist Church Fairfield Glade
►THEME: Sharing God!
►VERSE: but Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the children come
to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as
these. Luke 18:16 (GNT)
►Speaker: Kim Margrave-Mission Director at ClearView Baptist Church, former Volunteer Missions Specialist at TBC 1997-2018.
►MISSION PROJECT: Christian books, CD’s & Movies for Children and adults for the Baby Comfort Station
———————————————————————————————
►NOVEMBER 19th. -?-
►THEME: “Just as I am”
►VERSE: May you always be joyful in your union with the LORD. I say it
CANS of soup-any variety- except Cream of mushroom ANNUAL OFFERING MIS-
SION PROJECT: Christmas Meal & More Box 2020– a complete Christmas meal for one student’s family per Cumberland County school. The guidance counselor from each of the 9 elementary and 3 high schools, will determine a student in need for each of boxes.
Gift cards for the Get-Together & Connection Silent Auction Baskets.
The following are AVAILABLE: Dollar Tree, Dollar General Store, Kohl’s, Burkes, LifeWay, O’Charley's, Red Lobster, Staples, Lowes, Home Depot, Wendy's, Target Steak and Shake Kroger Big Lots, Sonic Cheddars, Logan's, Longhorn’s, Papa John’s
Please, call or text me with the gift card/cards your church would like to pur-chase to support the Silent Auction at this year’s Get-Together & Connecting in
Gatlinburg, March 20-22.
ALL CARDS ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH, 2020
The Messenger
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MISSION OPPORTUNITY….
HELP BELIZE BAPTIST CONVENTION BUILD A CHURCH!!
Spring 2020 Mission Trip
Approximate dates are February 22-March 7. The exact dates within this time
span are to be announced.
Approximate Cost is $1,000.00
For further information, contact Kirk Casey,
931-787-6565 or 931 484 1858
FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!
We have received a donation of 7 offering plates. They are gold metal with red
velvet lining like the picture to the left (money not included). If your church
could use some or all of these plates, please contact Alta at 931 484 1858.
Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association’s Spring Mission Trip
with Sequatchie Valley Baptist Association
We are returning to Cherry Hill in North Carolina to continue
with the reconstruction caused by Hurricane Florence.
