World Missions Day is near!

Special Offering—Dec. 6^th

A special thank you for giving in Sept/Oct to the Ingathering Offering. We received almost $50,000 in gifts to Ingathering Offering, all of which helps us toward the goal of paying off our building mortgage.

One member recently told me, “my favorite offering of the year is the World Missions Offering (aka Lottie Moon Offering). I have always loved giving to missions.” I agree. Though the majority of ministry needs are met through the faithful monthly contributions of tithes, our Special Offering Sundays are also very important, and especially the WMO Sunday. Every penny given to the WMO offering goes directly to the mission field and helps our missionaries around the world to share the gospel. Churches that give well to the WMO are unselfish and Kingdom focused, so I challenge you to prepare to give well on Dec. 6^th for missions.

Today I also wish to focus on saying thank you for giving well. Keep it up! Yes, it is so important, and it pleases the Lord when we give generously from a heart of thanks and praise!

“Be generous,” the wise author of Ecclesiastes declares (Ecc. 11:1-2).  “God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done” (2 Cor. 9:7-8, The Message). 

Ryan E. Jennings: Stay Positive

Ryan E. Jennings: Stay Positive: I’m sure many of you could stand up and say and say you’ve had awful days; where you felt like you couldn’t make it to the end of the...

Stay Positive

I’m sure many of you could stand up and say and say you’ve had awful days; where you felt like you couldn’t make it to the end of the day. Why does that happen to Christians? There is a false

perception some people hold that says once you are a Christian everything will be smooth sailing; you won’t have any more problems or difficulties.

That is not true…so not true!

When Paul wrote His letter to the Philippians I’m sure there were lots of other things he would rather be doing than sitting in jail chained to a guard (read Philippians 1:1-11). Yet, even then he persisted to be positive…so much so that his letter to the Philippians is the most joyous of all his letters written…and he was in chains.

How can you stay positive like Paul?

First you must REMEMBER THE POSITIVE. We judge ourselves and other people too harshly. We see the flaws first and focus there. That is the wrong attitude and it is trouble for relationships. Instead, you need to practice minimizing mistakes, for you and others, and remember the good. Have you ever noticed how when you go down memory lane that it is your bad memories that ambush you? I love what Billy Graham says about this to help us—“there is healing power in selective memory; as humans we cannot forget our sins and hurts, but through forgiveness we can choose not to remember them.” Pray, and ask God to help you forgive yourself & others!

Paul agrees and when he wrote Philippians he focused on remembering the good in them because he put the church first and himself second. Later in the letter Paul writes, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Learn from the Apostle Paul’s wisdom. Filter out the mire and work hard to focus on the positive! Be blessed!

Celebrating the McKinney Family

Tyler McKinney was officially voted in last Sunday night as our Interim Youth Pastor. We are thrilled to have Tyler on the team and ask you to pray for him, his wife Lindsey and son Cooper. Also, pray for little baby McKinney #2 who is “on the way” right now.

Let us also celebrate the great team of volunteers who have supported our youth over the past year and helped keep our Youth Ministry (YM) going well. Alongside Tyler, Danny Himmel, Galen Beck and Bre’anne Northcutt have made major contributions. Also, our summer intern Patrick McGowan and present intern Kaitlyn Baker have been wonderful for our YM.

Youth Ministry is hard work and time consuming work, and extremely valuable to our church’s mission. 85% of people who choose to follow Christ do so on or before the age of 18. This makes YM critical for the church and makes outreach to children and youth in our community an absolute necessity.

Tyler has a great vision for leading our YM toward accomplishing the mission of sharing the gospel and serving the youth of our city. He has a great team of volunteers who are also big believers in this mission. Therefore, the future is bright for our YM. So, as Tyler transitions from volunteer to the important role of leading our YM, I urge you all to support him, pray for him, and help him wherever and whenever you are able. Keep in mind that Tyler has accepted this role because He has a call on His life that is from the LORD. He recognizes this and recognizes that God’s calling on His life is for this time and this place, at Shadycrest Baptist Church. We glorify God by recognizing this and agreeing with the LORD. May the LORD continue to bless the work of our YM.