New Beginnings

January 6, 2009

In the New International translation of the Bible the word “new” is found 192 times. Most of the passages where this intriguing word is located are words of encouragement and challenge. One of my favorite messages of encouragement is found in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV) WOW! I can’t even fathom what that truly means. I do understand that to really know fresh living we can only find it in a relationship with Jesus. All else might seem to offer the same but only Jesus can be counted on…all other relationships are falsely advertising. I also understand that Jesus offers us this newness by telling us that through a relationship with Him we can put all our past failures behind us and not be held back or sidetracked by them. We really can start all over again!

The three part sermon series which is being offered during these first weeks of 2009 is aimed at the opportunities of a new, fresh start. Last week we talked about the Road to Newness being the road to becoming a Follower of Jesus and how we can take the first step in that journey. This Sunday, January 11, we will answer the question, “Which Rule Will You Live By This Year?” We don’t like to talk about rules but we all live by them whether we know it or not. There is one rule though that is a freeing revelation of relationship based on the kind of love God continues to show us. I hope you will be present for this message. It has the potential to revolutionize your life.

Great things are happening at First Baptist Church Chattahoochee these days. We received more than our budget goal for 2008 for the first time in people’s memory. When other churches and “not for profits” are having to cut their budgets and are cutting back services, God has been so gracious to us that we have increased our budget goal for 2009 by 6.4%. This does not mean that we are in any way better or more faithful than others it simply communicates that God is entrusting us with an opportunity with which we must be faithful stewards of priorities, resources and vision. We also were ecstatic that we were allowed to be a helper in our community filling 4 barrels of food for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. And our Christmas Eve Service was well attended with at least five families attending that have never attended any of our services before.

The year 2009 offers some great and challenging opportunities. My prayer is that we will soon have the money needed to proceed with the playground at Scott Elementary School on Hollywood. We are helping to facilitate a Saturday work day for the cleanup of the Spink-Collins Park, just down the road from where the Barnetts live. It will be a joint effort of the Georgia Tech Baptist Campus Ministry (BSU) and neighborhood groups. It is also open to anyone else that might be interested in helping. It will take place the last Saturday of January, February or March. We are working out the date at the present time. We will also be providing refreshments for about 100 Tech students after the BCM Worship Service on Tuesday night March 3rd. If you would like to help me with this please let me know. Another opportunity we are praying about and trying to discover if there is a community desire for it is to offer an Upper West Side Easter Egg Hunt the Saturday before Easter. The ladies in our WMU and Circles will be leading out with this if we feel there is adequate interest from our neighbors.

Another great idea that we are looking into is to make our library more accessible to our neighbors. We are going to get some help to know how to best make our library more children friendly then possibly this summer have open hours and “story telling” times. Please be thinking how you might be able to plug into this promising venture. Another Idea that I am nursing along right now is how we might have some Sunday Evening concert type events off the porch in the back of fellowship hall that might be a super time for our neighbors to gather on our back lawn on blankets and even picnic baskets. Chastain Park “Upper West Side” if you get my drift.

Whatever happens in 2009, I’m sure it will be some kind of ride!

Expectantly,
Jim