200 S. Church St.

Rocky Mount, NC 27804

Church Office Hours: Monday—Thursday 8:00 am—5:00 pm Friday 8:00 am—2:30 pm

Church Office (252) 446-9113

Fax (252) 446-5025

Website www.fbcrm.org

Prayer Room (252) 446-5993

First Baptist Child Care Center (252) 446-7416

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Pastor’s

Article

2

Church

Staff

2

Operation

Christmas Child

3

Thanksgiving

Schedule

4

Family Fun Night 4

Budget Planning 4

Time Change 4

Calendar 5

First Baptist News N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 R O C K Y M O U N T , N C

Knowing God, Making God Known, and Becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ, through Worship, Bible Study, and Ministry

First

Baptist

Church

Combined Worship November 23—December 28

Join us as we worship together for the Thanksgiving & Christmas Seasons

Sunday School—9:00 am Worship—10:30 am

You are invited to join

Rocky Mount Seniors

in a WORSHIP EXPERIENCE

Sunday, November 16

6:30 p.m. FBC Sanctuary

P A G E 2

Second only to Billy Graham . . .

For most of us, it takes only a nudge to

cause us to remember certain commercials

long out of circulation. Years ago, E.F. Hut-

ton, a revered investment house, had a

television campaign built around a simple

but time-honored tradition—listening. The

tag line went like this, “when E.F. Hutton

talks, people listen.” A few years later,

Nike ran a campaign that was itself simple.

I guess when you are given thirty seconds,

you better keep it simple and, of course,

memorable. Their campaign was built

around the then iconic basketball player,

Michael Jordan. That particular commer-

cial—peddling basketball shoes—simply

echoed what every kid in the driveway

dreamt of becoming: “I want to be like

Mike.”

It is quite normal to look up to those who

have accomplished great things in various

fields. It was entirely appropriate for us to

recognize the basketball prowess of “MJ.”

For a young cellist, it would be entirely

understandable to aspire to play like Itzhak

Perlman. If you are an aspiring soccer play-

er, clearly you would want to “bend it like

Beckham,” right?

I have my heroes too. One of which we’ve

been looking at for more than a few

months. His name is Francis Schaeffer. He

died in 1984, leaving an enormous legacy of

books, men and women who came to

Christ under his ministry (both directly and

indirectly), and his beloved L’Abri (French

for shelter) in the Swiss Alps. L’Abri has

been the destination of thousands of young

men and women from all over the world

looking for meaning in life from the sixties

to the present day.

Of all the things that stand out to me

about his life—and we’ve looked at a num-

ber of characteristics over the past many

months—this final recognition is one that

resonates deeply in my heart. J.I. Packer,

commenting on his life, said, “…he cele-

brated the wholeness of created reality

under God and stressed that the Christian

life must be a corresponding whole….”

What is it that Packer is calling our attention

to in this observation? It is this—Schaeffer

understood, rightly, that all of Creation is

the object of Christ’s redemptive efforts. It

is not, according to Schaeffer, that Christ

only redeems the soul and ignores the other

dimension of humanity. Redemption, for

Schaeffer, must be as far and wide as Crea-

tion. Or as one scholar put it, “redemption

must be as ‘far as the curse is found.’ ”

Francis knew his Bible. He certainly knew

how to lead

someone to

Christ. But he

also, for instance,

knew how to

enjoy the opera.

He would spend

hours studying

and enjoying clas-

sical music or

observing the

finest paintings at

the Louvre. In

short, for Francis,

Christ came to

redeem all of

humanity and the entirety of Creation; not

merely to recreate our hearts and get us to

heaven. For Schaeffer, art was at the center

of this redemptive initiative.

Of the many lasting contributions that he

and his wife, Edith, bequeathed to us, none is

more important than his compelling vision

to see Christ’s redemptive power heal the

brokenness of our creativity. He wanted us

to paint to the glory of God. He, rightly,

encouraged us to write fiction and non-

fiction to the glory of God. He was insistent

that the Church take the lead in the arts.

His life was one long and compelling case

that Christ should be rightly and excellently

represented in all the arts. May we be a part

of a glorious, world-wide movement that

once again engages the world in all its won-

der and majesty with expression of Christ

through the manifold witness of the arts.

F I R S T B A P T I S T N E W S

Church Staff

Dennis Darville

Lead Pastor

Larry Curtis

Pastor of Education & Admin.

Jim Alley

Pastor of Music & Worship

Mike Avery

Pastor of Families with Students

Tim Griffin

Pastor of Families with Children

Stephen Weeks

Pastor of College Students

Bob Britt

Homebound Visitation

Mary Helen Batten

Receptionist/ Admin. Assistant

Nina Daughtridge

Music Assistant

Kayla Dozier

Admin. Assistant

Jewell Pullen

Financial Secretary

Faye Strickland

Facilities Director

Beth Thompson

Office Manager

“His life was one

long compelling

case that Christ

should be rightly

and excellently

represented

in all the arts.

Francis Schaeffer Rev. Dennis Darville

P A G E 3

FBC Goal: 500 boxes!

FBC Collection Deadline

November 16

Packing Party Saturday, November 2

2:00-5:00 pm. We have all

the basics covered, just

bring a special item for

the boxes you pack. More info

fbcrm.org

P A G E 4

Wednesday, November 12

2015 Proposed Budget Presented

Wednesday, November 19

Quarterly Church Conference

2015 Proposed Budget Discussion

Sunday, December 7

Vote on 2015 Budget during AM Service

Sunday, November 30

Combined Worship Schedule No PM Activities

Wednesday, November 19

Thanksgiving Meal Quarterly Church Conference (Budget Discussion)

Sunday, November 23

Combined Worship Schedule Family Fun Night at 5:00 pm

Wednesday, November 26

No meal or other evening activities

Thursday & Friday, November 27-28

Church office closed

THANKSGIVING SCHEDULE

Food, Fun & Games 5:00 pm In the FMC

w w w . f b c r m . o r g

Sundays 8:00 am Televised Morning Worship

(WHIG Channel 17)

8:15 am Contemporary Worship Service

9:00 am Church Library open until 10:00 am

9:30 am Bible Study

11:00 am Worship Service

6:00 pm (Nov. 2, 9) Creation & Evolution Series

TeamKID & KOGS (FMC)

Mondays 10:45 am Inspiration Singers (Choir suite)

7:00 pm Praise Team Rehearsal

Tuesdays 6:30 am Women’s Prayer Groups

9:00 am Staff meeting

Women’s Bible Study

10:00 am Women’s Prayer Group

1:00 pm Stephen Ministry (1st & 3rd Wks M103)

6:00 pm Handbell Rehearsal

6:30 pm Trail Life USA & Am. Heritage Girls (FMC)

Wednesdays 10:00 am EQUIP for Interns (E200)

3:00 pm Church Library open until 6:00 pm

COOL Kids (FMC)

5:00 pm Fellowship Meal

6:00 pm Nursery for Birth—1 yr. (M105 & M101)

Mission Friends for 2 yrs.—3 yrs.

Cherub Choir for 4 yrs.—K (E202)

Sonshine Choir for Grades 1 &2 (E201a)

Music Makers for Grade 3 (E300)

Young Musicians for Grades 4-5 (E307)

Crossroads for Grades 6-12 (M301)

Prayer Meeting for adults (Fell. Hall)

7:10 pm Adult Choir Rehearsal

Women’s Bible Study (M203)

Thursdays 6:30 am Men’s Prayer Group (Choir room)

12:30 pm Prison Ministry

3:00 pm COOL Kids (FMC)

7:30 pm The Bridge (Wesleyan College)

REGULAR WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Operation Faithful Men—Camp Willow Run

P A G E 5

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Operation Christmas Child Packing Party (2-5 pm—Fell. Hall)

2 Daylight Saving Time

Ends Creation & Evolution

(6 pm—Sanctuary)

3 4

5 6 7 8

9 Deacons’ Meeting

(4 pm—M201a) Creation & Evolution (6 pm—Sanctuary)

10 Forever Young

Lunch. (11:30 am—Fell. Hall)

Chaplaincy Plan. Mtg. (6 pm—AT Rocm)

11Veteran’s Day

Sr. Adult Council (2 pm—AT Room)

MOPS (7 pm—Fell. Hall)

12

Budget Presentation No Discussion (6 pm—Fell. Hall)

13 14 15

16 Operation Christmas

Child Collection Ends Alleluia—A Praise Gathering (6:30 pm—Sanctuary)

17 18 19 Quarterly Church

Conference - Budget Dis.

(6 pm—Fell. Hall) Thanksgiving Meal

20 21 22

23 Combined

Worship Schedule Family Fun Night (5 pm—FMC)

24 25

MOPS (7 pm—Fell. Hall)

26

Meals on Wheels No Meal or Regular PM Activities

27 Thanksgiving

Church office closed

28

Church office closed

29

30 1st Sunday of

Advent Combined Worship Schedule No PM Activities

November 2014

Ecuador Mission Trip November 4-11