November 2019 Witness
What does it mean when the Bible says that Jesus is able to “empathize” or “sympathize” with our weaknesses? Years ago, a man put up a sign in his yard that read: “Puppies for Sale.” Among those who came to inquire was a young boy. “Please, Mister,” he said, “I’d like to buy one of your puppies if they don’t cost too much.” “Well, son, they’re $25.”
The boy looked crushed. “I’ve only got two dollars and five cents. Could I see them anyway?” “Of course. Maybe we can work something out,” said the man. The boy’s eyes danced at the sight of those five little balls of fur.“I heard that one has a bad leg,” he said.“Yes,” said the salesman,“I’m afraid she’ll be crippled for life.” “Well, that’s the puppy I want. Could I pay for her a little at a time?”
The man responded, “But she’ll always have a limp.” Smiling bravely, the boy pulled up one pant leg, revealing a brace. “I don’t walk too good either.” Then, looking at the puppy sympathetically, he continued, “I guess she’ll need a lot of love and help. I sure did. It’s not so easy being crippled.” “Here, take her,” said the man. “I know you’ll give her a good home. And just forget about the money.”
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that, like the boy with that puppy, our Lord Jesus can empathize and sympathize with us because He experienced every kind of difficulty which we oursleves experience, yet He never sinned! He experienced every kind of tempation and tribulation, every kind of hardship and heartache, every kind of sadness and sorrow, yet He never sinned! What a wonderful and compassionate Savior we have!
October has been a good month with 349 in Bible Study. Hope Night to benefit the ministry of Little Children of the World was an inspirational night for us all. Our kick-off for Operation Christmas Child gave us much to look forward to as we prepare for National Collection Week. We took 150 backpacks for children in South Georgia to the Fall Meeting of Centennial Baptist Association. The first gathering of The Summit was a great event with lots of help from lots of people, and Hutch Matteson did a great job as our speaker. We ended the month of September with a total of $788,084 given toward our GENERATIONS FOLLOWING campaign!
November has some very special emphases:
- TRUNK OR TREAT takes place at the end of the month of October, on 10/30 from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M. on our west side parking lot. Let me thank all the Sunday School classes that are helping with the candy and all the volunteers that will once again make this a great event!
- UPWARD BASKETBALL & CHEERLEADING is now registering through Friday, November 15th, for players ages 4 through 14 (8th grade). Evaluations will be Thursday, November 7th, from 6-8 PM and Saturday, November 9th, from 10AM – Noon. All games will be here in our gym on Friday nights and Saturdays from January through February.
- OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD’S NATIONAL COLLECTION WEEK is November 18th-25th. We are looking for any volunteers will help our church pack 1,000 shoe boxes as we again serve as a collection center for our area.
- Our COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE and DOWNTOWN ILLUMINATION take place on Wednesday night, November 27th, beginning at 6:30 at First United Methodist Church.
November is going to be a great month! COME EXPECTANTLY!