The Woodmont Word

E-Newsletter

A Family of Faith on Mission

February 2014

God's Not Dead, He Is Surely Alive!!!

Come and celebrate with us in these Easter Events!

From the Pastor

The Door is Called Jesus

In China there is a city called Beijing. The city consists of two large rectangular areas called the outer city and the inner city. Now, inside the Inner City there is another place called "the Forbidden City."

The Forbidden City includes the palaces of former Chinese emperors. It is called "forbidden" because only the emperor's household could enter.

My Bible tells me about another city - a heavenly city. And, in that great palace my Savior is now preparing a mansion for me. He said to the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in Paradise. The word "paradise" is a Persian word for a special walled garden that was only accessible to the king and his select few. So to all but the king's special friends it was a "forbidden city."

Now all may enter heaven - but all who do enter, must go in through the door. .. And the door is called JESUS. God has provided a doorway so that we may be with Him for eternity!

Bro. Jerry

Thompson's Text

$1,000,697.69 Committed to Finishing the Vision.Praise the Lord!

197 Commitment cards received

By reaching our Glory goal of 1,000,000 we will be able to pay off the East Campus, make our monthly payments on the Worship Center, and pay off over half of the remaining debt on the Worship Center.

Plus, ten percent of the funds given to Finishing the Vision will go to local special church and area missions causes.

We will owe approximately $300,000 on the worship center at the end of the Finishing The Vision Campaign three year campaign.

Some of our options for retiring the debt at that time include:

Take any available funds at the end of each year and apply it to the remaining debt as we have done in the past to reduce the principal on the loan.
Take the remaining balance and term it out in a new loan and add it to the church's regular annual budget.
Extending the campaign an extra year to allow those that have not completed their commitments to finish up and allow others that are willing to continue giving to do so.

I want to thank the "Finishing the Vision" campaign team for the great job they did. Thank you WBC for your support and commitment to our church.

Steve

Reese's Pieces

One of my favorite Easter quotes comes from the great thinker and writer, Frederick Beuchner. He said, "Resurrection means the worst thing is not the last thing." Wow. Could there be a more hopeful time in the believer's life than Resurrection Day?

It's a time to take heart, to peer beyond the hopelessness of our present circumstances, to know that our Redeemer lives, and to remember that life is worth the living just because He lives. It's a time to say, "Just ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart!"

It's also a time to celebrate, to sing and make music. (You see where this is leading.)

On Palm Sunday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m., our Woodmont Choir & Orchestra, with special guests, our Woodmont Youth Choir, will present a concert of songs that will remind you of the greatest love ever poured out on your behalf, lift your spirits, and magnify our conquering Savior. I am really excited about it, and all of us involved would be so thrilled and honored if you would share in this celebration with us. It would make hours upon hours of rehearsal seem worthwhile. And if you were to invite someone to come with you? Well, that would really make our day.

I will let the words of the opening song in our concert serve as your special, personal invitation to join us. It's called "Come, People Of The Risen King" (that's you!), composed by the wonderful songwriting team of Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend.

Come, people of the risen King who delight to bring Him praise;

Come, all, and tune your hearts to sing to the Morning Star of grace.

From the shifting shadows of the earth we will lift our eyes to Him,

Where steady arms of mercy reach to gather children in.

Come, those whose joy is morning sun and those weeping through the night;

Come, those who tell of battles won and those struggling in the fight;

For His perfect love will never change, and His mercies never cease

But follow us through all our days with the certain hope of peace.

Come, young and old from every land, men and women of the faith;

Come, those with full or empty hands, find the riches of His grace.

Over all the world His people sing; shore to shore we hear them call

The truth that cries through every age: "Our God is all in all."

REJOICE! REJOICE!

LET EVERY TONGUE REJOICE!

ONE HEART, ONE VOICE,

O CHURCH OF CHRIST, REJOICE!

Hess's Headlines

Dear Church,

Recently our church hosted a simulcast. A simulcast, just in case you were wondering, is an event that is broadcast through the internet to various places as it is happening live. In order to prep for this event, we needed to make sure that our computers were ready to handle the web traffic. So we checked the website, entered the password, and the site came up on the screen, but the video would not play. This left us with a problem. The event could not go on unless people could see and hear what was being taught at the conference through the simulcast technology. The solution was easy. All we had to do was download a different web browser. So we downloaded the new web browser, entered the site and password, and suddenly there was video and sound! We could see and hear!

So often in church we can find ourselves in similar situations. We do not look tthrough the right lenses or hear with the right set of ears to understand the gospel. 1 Corinthians describes the cross of Jesus as being foolishness to some and a stumbling block to others. However, to us who are being saved, it is the power of God! (1 Corinthians 1) When we are saved, our eyes are opened and our ears are suddenly receptive to God's word. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah is commissioned to go and preach to a group of people that will, "be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving." This means, literally, they heard and saw but could not understand or perceive the truth of God's word. Just as our church needed a new browser to experience the simulcast, lost people need the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to see their need for Jesus and to be receptive to the good news!

Also, along the way, our computers can slow down or crash. This happens as we become stagnant in our Christian growth. We become less loving and less accepting of people. There are countless things you can do to speed up your computer, but the best is to allow someone to check the hard-drive. Let them see if there are any viruses in your computer and remove them before a crash. The same is true of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to show you areas that you may have a virus leading to a potential crash in your life. Allow God to expose these, and through repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit, remove these from your life in order to expand the Kingdom of God!

Thankful for you, Woodmont Baptist Church!

Chad Hess

Children's Ministry

Can you be a Christian and not go to church? What does it mean to be a Christian? The best place to look is at one of the people who Jesus said was a Christian. I have been reading about the resurrection while getting ready for Easter. Jesus promised the thief on the cross, "today you will be with Me in paradise." That man never went to church and yet he is a Christian. The minute we say we have to do something to be a Christian we are in denial of the gospel truth. So, if we look at Romans 8:28-30; we see that God is in the business of making a family. Our new family should be other Christians. It is so near impossible to live a Christian life solo. When we go to church we can serve alongside fellow believers, and we can use our gifts and talents to further God's family. I even read lately that going to church weekly is good for you, it boosts your immune system and lowers your blood pressure. Where else can you serve and minister alongside fellow believers and grow as a Christian, except church? We do have a choice where the thief did not; we should become a part of God's church and get involved.

God Bless You

Denise

Kids Kamp June 2-6

Vacation Bible School June 23-27

Congratulations to the boys for raising the most money for Ingathering. Way to take one for the team Denise!!

Singles Ministry

Thank You Note

The Singles Ministry would like to express our appreciation to everyone who supported the Whole Hog fundraiser. We enjoyed serving you all.

Single Parent Families Retreat: July 23-27 more details and sign up will be coming soon.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!

Women's Ministry Team

2014 Upcoming Events!

April 26 (Saturday) - "Single Mom's Ministry Event".

Please invite the single moms you know to this wonderful event, which includes separate activities for their children. The Women's Ministry team is pleased to join with several of Woodmont's ministry organizations to host this event under the leadership of Belinda Green.

May 2 (Friday night) - "BUNCO - Lights, Camera, Cure". Enjoy a great time playing Bunco. A silent auction will be held with proceeds going to Shoals Relay for Life in the fight against cancer. We're looking for items to offer in the silent auction. Please contact a member of the team if you have something you would like to donate for the cause (i.e. handmade items, jewelry, nice baked goods, decorative accessories, etc.)

Coming in July (Sunday afternoon)

"Share the Comfort"

Theme verse is 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

September 13, (Saturday luncheon)

"The Garden"

with speaker/musician Rebecca Lay Owen of Calhoun, Georgia. This event will include "tablescapes". Please consider decorating a table and / or a tablescape for this festive event.

October / November

Operation Christmas Child (Please save your two-piece shoe boxes.)

December 14, (Saturday)

Ladies Christmas Luncheon

Ministry Team (Brenda Bailes, Karen Beaver, Charlotte Cramer, Marleen Dortch, Marcia Gartman, Annette Menne, Denise Olive, Loletha Simmons and Kathy Austin, Dir.)