2013-2014 Annual Reports

Here are links to the Annual Reports from Windham Baptist Church 2013-2014:

• Pastor’s Report
• Elder’s Report
• Deacon’s Report
• Music Ministry Report
• Ladies’s Ministry Report
• Salt n Light ( teens) Report
• Boulevard’s (childrens) Report

 

Teaching Them to Obey

The gospel is the power of God for salvation – justification, sanctification, and glorification. We were saved, we are being saved, and we will one day be finally saved. Christianity is not about rule following – we don’t earn our approval from God. Jesus made a way for us to repent, believe the gospel, and follow Jesus.

So how does this all work in Christian parenting? Does the gospel get in the way of calling our two year old to obey us? Owen Strachen (a Maine boy) pulled together a brief post that helps answer that question.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtlife/2013/11/the-gospel-and-obedience-in-christian-parenting/

23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert

23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert

At Windham Baptist Church we love introverts! We certainly have enough of them – and we thank God for making you the way He made you.

One thing we need to remember – our personality never gives us an excuse to sin. We are made by God to be led by God. So an introvert led by the Spirit is an incredible resource, but an introvert can also be under the control of the flesh.

What is a Missional Community?

Our friends at Soma Communities have helped us a lot. Here’s a two minute video explaining what a missional community is – perhaps it will help you.

If we’ve been c…

If we’ve been called to represent the character of God, we need to reevaluate how we think about his anger. Sometimes we can treat God’s anger like the embarrassing uncle in our extended family. It’s as if we’re working hard to keep this attribute of God away from public exposure. Are we secretly worried about causing undue embarrassment to the family of faith? We’re tempted to act as if anger were the dark side of God’s character. – Paul Tripp

How in the world can God’s anger be one of God’s most beautiful characteristics? Check out this post by Paul Tripp.

http://www.paultripp.com/articles/posts/if-god-wasnt-angry

God’s Word Changes Us – Thankfully

Facebook is not very good for the soul. It’s fun to connect and see some pictures. We can touch base with our family spread across the miles. But Facebook has some real drawbacks, too. Let’s highlight one – Facebook doesn’t give us much hope. At least, its not always the hope we need. 

I guess it is easy for people to say what they think we want to hear when we feel blue. But we were made for so much more – for real hope.

Don’t give up Facebook (not necessarily). Be sure your have God’s word with you. Not just on your phone, but where it does its deepest work – in the heart. 

David Mathis of Desiring God suggests “Ten Gospel Verses to Keep Warm”. These are brief verses that we can grab hold of easily – they are short but, oh so powerful.

When you memorize a “gospel verse,” and keep it warm, you have hidden in your heart a divinely inspired and inerrant expression, in human language, of the very point of the whole Bible and all of history. You carry with you the sword of the Spirit in its strongest alloy. One-sentence encapsulations of the Bible’s central message strengthen our spiritual backbone and solidify our core, rooting us deep down in the bedrock of God’s heart and the nature of the world he made, and sending us into confident combat with unbelief, whether our own or someone’s else. “Gospel verses” are invaluable in both evangelism and discipleship.

So, alongside other Scripture memorization efforts, sprinkle in some “gospel verses” that guide and shape and flavor your whole reservoir. By “gospel verses,” we have in mind verses like John 3:16 (don’t begrudge this verse its fame — it’s for good reason), verses that communicate succinctly that Jesus saves sinners.

Wonder which verses he suggests? You can find them here.

 

Talking about Same-sex Marriage With Our Children

It’s been all over the news, so you’re children have probably heard something about it. Whether its the local news reporting about the Supreme Court, or the national news celebrating that a straight actress from Hollywood finally proposed to her boyfriend last night, or a Facebook post decrying the evils of society, our kids catch way more than we think… at way younger ages than we realize.

So how do we discuss the same-sex marriage debate with our children? Dr. Johnny Moore has a brief but helpful article you should read.

“How Should You Explain the Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Your children?”

Hearing His Father’s Voice…

When I saw this clip this morning I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ work in our lives – giving us ears to hear.

“…but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8.14-15.

When was the last time you heard the Spirit saying, “Daddy loves you” to you?

A Mission’s Opportunity for Elisabeth

The elders wanted to make you aware of a unique opportunity for Elisabeth Sepulvida. We’ll let her describe it in her own words.

Parents of teens or pre-teens should read this to see the challenges that await our kids – even the ones we would think will be fine when they get to college.

Hello Pastor Mark,

How are you? I hope everything is going well in Maine at WBC!
I just wanted to email to share with you about a ministry I will be serving with this summer, to see if you know of anyone who has a heart for this type of ministry who would be interested in either praying for or financially supporting me this summer.

College this year has been tough with challenges to my faith from professors during classes, and I have watched classmates completely leave their faith after one semester. We have first-year religion courses here, but because the college is quite liberal, most classes serve to critique and criticize the Bible rather than support it. During high school I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a camp called Worldview Academy which focuses on spiritual depth and training in apologetics. This program equipped me with sound knowledge so that I could think critically and clearly when the professors were making claims against the Bible, and helped me to encourage classmates who were doubting. I now feel that every young person should experience this training before college, and in prayer felt that I was supposed to apply to staff Worldview this year. I did and was accepted, and because it is a mission program which travels between states (one week of camp in each state), I need to raise supporters within the next few days to be able to serve with this mission trip.

I am confident that this is God’s plan for me this summer, but have never raised support before.

If you know of anyone who has a heart for this type of ministry with young people and would be willing to pray or financially support me in any amount, I would be so thankful! Posting a facebook status with a link to my support page can be incredibly helpful as well: http://elisabethwva.blogspot.com/

This page explains my heart, the ministry, and my role this summer.
Also, here is a video clip from one of the weeks of camp which gives a good explanation of what happens in a week of camp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PjunexQb7C4

I would appreciate any type of support or passing the word along!

God bless you!
-Elisabeth

WBC Annual Reports for 2012-13

Each year we take time to look back at all that God has done for us and through us, then we write that down. We write it down because it is encouraging. We write it down so we know our history. We write it down so we have a proper record. But ultimately, we write it down so that others would join us in thanking God for being so GREAT!

Now you might look at what is happening and think it is not that big of a deal – if the numbers were bigger or we were featured on TV a few more times then that would be worth talking about… if you think that, then you don’t know us. We’re amazed that God refuses to keep a safe distance and chooses poor, hapless, not too bright type people like us to be part of the work He is doing in our world. That’s awesome.

Here are our reports:

• Pastor’s report
• Elder’s report
• Gathered Worship report
• Missions report
• Christian Ed report
• Salt and Light report
• Boulevards report
• Children’s church report
• Missional Communities report
• Ladies Ministry report
• Men’s Ministry report