From the Pastor's Desk
John 17:6 "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”
You are a gift. I did not say you are gifted, though you are. You are a gift. Specifically, you are a gift from the Father to the Son.Look again at verse six….“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of this world….” Jesus is saying that the Father gave him, Jesus, a gift of his people. You are a gift. He goes further….“Yours they were, and you gave them to me….”This is an incredible truth.
The Father has prepared you as a gift to the Son. That means you have very important value. Our value is marred by sin, but the Son works to restore us, forgive us, redeemus so as to restore our incredible value and make us worthy gifts for himself!There are days when the sin of self and Satan and the world work to convince me that I do not matter. That is how the enemy works. He wants to convince us that we are worthless, useless. But Christ has received us as a gift and redeemed us as a worthy gift and is now using us for his glory and the Father’s glory. You are valuable. You have infinite worth. All because of the work of the Father and the Son. You need to hear this truth today. You are a gift.I heard this truth in a message recently. It was an encouragement to me, and I pray it is an encouragement to you today.
Go be the gift the Son made you to be. Pastor Jef
Mission Team:
October proved to be a tremendous success as GBC honored and celebrated Mission Month.
We hosted Jamie Work, International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, October 8th and he shared with us the value of strategic prayer. Going to the Lord with specifically planned and well thought out requests helps us to focus on the critical needs within the world-wide church. Jamie challenged us to stay informed concerning mission needs as well as our local congregational needs to keep our focus on kingdom building. What brother Jamie shared with us perfectly aligned with what our Thursday morning small group is studying concerning prayer,revealing God’s divine guidance in His work at GBC.
Mark Millman of Southern Wisconsin Baptist Association (SWBC) filled the pulpit on October 15th,sharing with us how and where God is at work in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Mark is the executive director of SWBA and has his finger on the pulse of church planting and growth in our state. His message was very encouraging as the number of Southern Baptist Churches within our state has grown despite a number of churches closing over the past decade. Mark provided resources for our use in reaching into our community and he stands ready to help as needs arise.
The GBC Mission Month Planning Team hosted a Mission Banquet on the 28th of October, serving a wonderful dinner to about thirty guests. Our youth provided excellent tableside service throughout the evening. Fantastic job, kids! A big "Thank you" to all who came and participated and thank you especially to the ones who worked so hard to make it happen. We raised $1,163 for the various missions that we support at GBC from the baskets that were so thoughtfully put together and donated. We had eleven baskets in total and three of the baskets went for over $200 each!!!
Brian and Lisa Young shared their missionary experience with us following dinner. They gave us a peek into life in Russia for a young, eager couple engaged in ministry far from the comforts of home. Sharing their journey into a recently opened nation, with limited resources opened our eyes to what missionaries’ face in poverty-stricken countries. Thank you, Brian and Lisa for giving us a glimpse into your journey.
The Basket Raffle brought the evening to a close. Following a month-long bidding event, the bids closed at 5:30 p.m. on the 28th and baskets were distributed to the winners. This entire effort was a resounding success, and the folks are already looking forward to Mission Month 2024!
We closed out Mission Month with Jason and Aleshia Kopp as our Missionary guests on Sunday,October 29th. The Kopps serve the International Mission Board of SBC in Central Asia. They have been on the field for 23+ years and are currently home in the States until January 2024. Jason gave an informative overview of the area they are serving, sharing the challenges and blessings of daily living there. He also provided a terrific geography lesson for our children (and us adults, too). He involved the children in a very lively quiz concerning Central Asia, engaging their interest and involvement. I am sure they will remember this for a long time. We look forward to growing our relationship with the Kopps as they return to their assignment.
Small Groups:
Thursday Morning Small Group continues meeting each Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. and is currently studying the role of prayer in the life of a believer. We are looking at the prayers of the early church in the Book of Acts and delving into just how critical communication with the Heavenly Father is to a daily faith walk. If you want to improve your own prayer life, come join us on Thursday mornings.
The West Salem Small Group meets on Thursday evening at the Todd & Tarri Vandeleest home at 6:30 p.m. This group is studying Thessalonians and welcomes any who wish to join them.
Youth:
GBC Youth is having their last Mystery Night of the year this coming Sunday, November 5th.
The theme for this event is "Drive-In Movie"! The kids had such a fun time last year that we decided to repeat it this year. Have your child decorate a box that is big enough to sit in, to look like a car. Line the box with pillows and blankets for comfort, put on comfy pj's, and join us for our feature show....The Prince of Egypt! We will have popcorn, pizza, cookies, and drinks. This is our third to last meeting of this year before we break for the holidays and regroup for next year. The last meeting for 2023 is on November 19th.
We have enjoyed watching our youth grow in Christ and learn the Word through GBC Youth. We cannot wait to see what next year brings.
Coming Events:
Nov 5 – Lord’s Supper during Morning Worship Service
Nov 23 – Community Thanksgiving Meal @ American Legion 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Dec 3 – Senior Adults Christmas Party GBC following Morning Worship Service
Dec 17 - Mission Team meeting following morning worship service.
