This Sunday in the morning services I will begin a new sermon series: C S I: Critical Spirit Investigation.   How do I know when a critcal spirit has overtaken my life?  We will be looking at an episode in the life of Jesus that will help us spot when "critical" has become a way of life.   Children of the World this Sunday, August 28 @ 6 PM Children of the World International Children’s Choir . . . a special group of orphaned and disadvantaged children from several different countries around the world. Children of the World travels across the U.S. for 10 months, putting a voice and face to the desperate needs of children whose lives have been devastated by civil war, famine, poverty, unclean water, and preventable diseases. Working in 64 countries, World Help has seen firsthand the desperate needs of children around the world. Our desire is to create compassion and inspire individuals to get involved in helping to change the world . . . one child at a time. In my world. . .  Praise the Lord for our newest church members:Melissa & Timothy Huffman, Tara Linkenhoker, Brette Linkenhoker Deacon on Deck for August: Mike Wade Do you love your church? Celebrate with us then on Sunday September 11, Fred and Cindy Stromberg will be our special guests Missionary family of the week:John and Donna Wyatt Prisoners for Christ (prison ministry based in West Virginia) Join me on Wednesdays, 7 PM, in the Victory Bible Class for the series: Crazy Love, based on the book by Francis Chan This summer we were able to send 32 children to camp because of our camp scholarship fund We hand five people take our membership class last Sunday Check out our help wanted board in the McAllister Addition close to the office door Larry Woodward was voted in as a Trustee at Faith last Sunday night, pray for our building team as we plan to develop the land across the street You can now watch or listen to the sermons from Faith on the Internet just follow this link to watch a recent sermon. http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showSermon=35980 You can also watch or listen to sermons on your ipod or ipad.  You have to download the Truthcasting app for your device. http://www.truthcasting.com/   Chris  Wanted to clear up a little confusion about Chris and his future plans.  He will remain on staff here at Faith until we find a replacement.  The search will not begin until August of 2012.     "The Hut" Our first home was affectionately called the Hut.  It was the American Legion building located at the city playground.  We had a meeting area that would handle about 75 people, a kitchen, hallway and bathrooms that we could use as a church.  It was quite a challenge meeting in the Hut.   We were so limited for space we had to use the bathrooms as counseling rooms, I don't know how many people were led to the Lord in the bathrooms?  The nursery was located in the kitchen where toddlers would sometime turn on the gas range, it kind of makes me tremble to think what could have happened.  When it was raining we had to set out buckets to catch the leaks and there were many of them. I can still remember preaching to sound of rain popping in the buckets.  On Wednesdays during the summer there was another challenge, softball was in full swing and I had to compete with the yells, "Hit the ball", coming through the open windows.  In spite of all the challenges it was a great start for Faith.  Many people came to know Christ while we were meeting in the Hut.  There is a very special spot to me in front of the Hut, it was there I prayed before the first service that someone would just show up for this new church.  Those fifty people were one of the best sights I have ever seen.  Help us celebrate on September 11, 36 years of blessings.

Connecting you to Faith through our update

Is this email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser.

This Sunday in the morning services I will begin a new sermon series: C S I: Critical Spirit Investigation.  In this series I want to explore  the orgin and danger of a critical spirit. This Sunday we are looking at the topic, "What's Satan Got To Do With It?"Satan started the ball rolling when he was critical of God and convinced other angels to criticize God and eventually he and his fellow angels were cast out of heaven.  A critical spirit can color ever area of our lives, rob us of our joy and destroy what we have worked so hard to build.     "The Potter and The Clay"- Chris Chesley (this Sunday night 6 PM)     Children of the World Next Sunday, August 28 @ 6 PM In my world. . .  Praise the Lord last Sunday we went over the top on our goal to hire a firm to do our master plan Deacon on Deck for August: Mike Wade Do you love your church? Celebrate with us then on Sunday September 11 Missionary family of the week:Romeo and Kay Capuli (Southeast Asia Director with Advancing Native Missions) We will begin a new series in the Victory Bible Class this Wednesday: Crazy Love I want to thank Caleb Vance for the good job he did as our church janitor, he is heading off to school Bud Shires is taking over as church janitor Check out our help wanted board in the McAllister Addition close to the office door Larry Woodward has agreed to serve on our building team as a Trustee, vote this Sunday night You can now watch or listen to the sermons from Faith on the Internet just follow this link to watch a recent sermon. http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showSermon=35980 You can also watch or listen to sermons on your ipod or ipad.  You have to download the Truthcasting app for your device. http://www.truthcasting.com/   Chris  This past Sunday night Chris announced to the church that He feels God leading him to start a church.  When I first heard this news I had mixed emotions, I was excited that a new church would be formed, yet I was sad to know Chris would be leaving Faith.  Chris has been a real blessing to our church and we hate to see him go, but we must trust the wisdom of the Lord.  Please pray for Chris, LeAnn and the girls as they start this adventure.  Chris will continue on staff here at Faith for at least another year, the search for a replacement for Chris will not begin until August 2012.     God and the Front End Loader Jim McAllister was a key part of the story of Faith in the early days.  He was a hard worker who knew much about construction.  But above all he loved the Lord.  In the early days of the church after experiencing rapid growth, we needed a building and we needed it fast.   We found some property in town that seemed like a possiblity and we got permission to begin clearing it even before the deal was finished.  Bro. McAllister took his front end loader up to the land to begin clearing it, he worked for the railroad and they agreed he could use their equipment.  That's when things got interesting. As soon as he arrived at the site the loader just quit and wouldn't start.  Bro. McAllister took it to the railroad shop and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.  So he tried a second time, but the results were the same.  After three attemps and three mysterious breakdowns,  Bro. McAllister came to me and said, "Bro. Billy do you think God is trying to tell us something?" To this day I think God caused that front end loader to die each time on that property because that was not His will for our church.  Later God opened the property at Jackson Drive which eventually became the permanent home for Faith.  God has truly been faithful to Faith.  Come help us celebrate 36 years of God's goodness on the second Sunday in September.

Update 081211

This Sunday in the morning services we will have as our special guests our missionariesJeff and Kim Abernethy.  After years of service in Africa, Jeff and Kim returned home to establish a ministry with college students in North Carolina.  Kim has written a book about their life and will copies available and she will be glad to sign your copy.  While Jeff is speaking in the main service Kim will be speaking in the Sparklers Sunday School class (9 AM) and Crossroads ladies group (10:30 AM).  The Abernethys have the opportunity to impact the lives of students from around the world.  Chris' B. A. G. Chris has some exciting news to share with the congregation and he will doing that in a sermon called Chris' B.A.G. Next Sunday I will begin a new sermon series: C S I: Critical Spirit Investigation. In this series I want to explore  the orgin and danger of a critical spirit.  Satan started the ball rolling when he was critical of God and convinced other angels to criticize God and eventually he and his fellow angels were cast out of heaven.  A critical spirit can color ever area of our lives, rob us of our joy and destroy what we have worked so hard to build.  I hope you can join us as we begin this series next Sunday and continue through September 4.   In my world. . .  Praise the Lord for the five people who have been baptized recently at Faith Deacon on Deck for August: Mike Wade Christian Concert at Jackson River Sports Complex Christian Guitarist Richard Keyser August 12 7 PM Missionary family of the week: Weekday Religious Education We will begin a new series in the Victory Bible Class this Wednesday: Crazy Love I want to thank Tim and Luke Bradley for jumping in and taking care of the church lawn for August Check out our help wanted board in the McAllister Addition close to the office door Children of the World coming in August 28 @ 6 PM You can now watch or listen to the sermons from Faith on the Internet just follow this link to watch a recent sermon. http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showSermon=35980 You can also watch or listen to sermons on your ipod or ipad.  You have to download the Truthcasting app for your device. http://www.truthcasting.com/ This week I had an experience that drove home the impact that just one life can have.  I traveled to North Carolina to take part in the funeral service for Tamara Loan Overcash.  I was not prepared for what I found there.  Hundreds of people had gathered to honor the memory of this young lady.  In her short lifetime Tamara had impacted the lives of many people.  The long line of friends, the huge group of people at the service and the many comments on Facebook all pointed to one fact; this young lady had touch many more people than some do in a much longer lifetime.   As Tamara grew up in our church I had no idea that this young blonde haired girl would have such a huge influence on those around her.  Can one person really make a difference?  I think the answer is yes.  Tamara did.    Tuesday several men from the church formed a work crew to build a ramp for Nancy Seabolt who is battling cancer.  It was great to see these guys come together for such a worthy cause.  One of our goals as a church is to connect our members with service and this is exactly what happened Tuesday night, thanks guys.