Word and singing and playing wonderful music at our

THE REPORTER

WINTER 2016 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS 2

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 3

CHRISTMAS CAROL RIDDLE &

PRAYER FEATURE

4

Missionary feature &

sniffles: the church mouse 5

Youth camping activity &

new members 6

LADIES BIBLE STUDY &

SNIFFLES: THE CHURCH MOUSE

CONTINUED

7

TESTIMONY FEATURE 8

Testimony feature contin-

ued & Joy Bell Choir 9

HYMN HISTORY 10

Sunday School Christ-

mas Banquet & Pastor’s

COLUMN

11

Coming events 12

The DeGarde family ministered to us by preaching God’s Word and singing and playing wonderful music at our

Evangelistic Meetings the week of November 8-13.

Believers showed up at the November 8-13 evangelistic meetings anticipat-ing to learn more about God’s prom-ises by the preaching of Evangelist Ron DeGarde. Many made plans to have perfect attendance for all 6 days. Others planned to bring a friend or family member so they could know how to have a home in Heaven.

For the past several months, the De-Garde family have been without an earthly home because they needed to replace their trailer and surprisingly sold it within the first week’s listing. Traditionally, the way for most evan-gelist to make their home is in a 50 ft. plus long trailer towed by a really big truck. That is how Ron, his wife, Kristin and their children travel to 40 to 50 churches every year to minister to God’s people. Their fall 2015 ministry itinerary was scheduled to go up and down the eastern states. While waiting for their house on wheels to be built, church families invited them to stay in their homes for each week of evangelistic meetings. Delivery of the new trailer is ex-pected by Thanksgiving. A gracious couple from our church invited the DeGardes to stay in their vacant home while they were on a week’s vacation.

Also, some of our ladies lovingly de-livered a noon meal for them each day.

Ron DeGarde worked tirelessly all week preaching God’s Word. He preached about death, eternal life, judgment day, end times prophecy, and exclaimed that Christ is the theme of the Bible from Genesis to Revela-tion. Adults, children, parents, and old folks were encouraged to trust in the Lord and do good. He prayed that there would be a sweeping movement of the Holy Spirit and that believers would have boldness to share the Gos-pel. At every meeting we heard won-derful music and song that was joyful-ly orchestrated by Kristin DeGarde with children, Abigail, Alyssa, An-drew and Austin, and their father. Each evening Kristin invited all chil-dren in the congregation to go down-stairs to participate in a special pro-gram of Bible lessons, games, and mu-sic. Our church family gave an in-credibly large offering to the evange-list in thankfulness for their ministry. We will remember to pray to the Lord for their safety and for their con-tinued willingness to tell the lost how to have eternal life with Jesus.

RON DEGARDE EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS—NOVEMBER 8-13, 2015

PAGE 2 THE REPORTER

Our church choirs, play cast, directors, pianist and crew created a musical drama to tell the story of a live radio broadcast from Beth-lehem, PA. Featured were actors who portrayed characters work-

ing at Radio Station W.A.R.M., 88.5 FM ,who experienced a modern day lesson in giving and receiving. The voices of the chil-dren and adult choirs, combined with beautiful piano music, filled the air to warm the hearts of all who listened. A festive fellow-

ship followed the program for about 160 attenders.

“CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR” - DECEMBER 20, 2015

PAGE 3 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1

1. Member of the round table with missing areas

2. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis

3. A small Israel urban center

4. Far off in a hay bin

5. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully

6. As the guardians of the wooly animals protected their charges in the dark hours

7. I beheld a trio of nautical vessels moving in this direction

8. Jubilation to the entire terrestrial globe

9. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to mild male humans

10. Decorate the entryways

11. Midwinter Blues

12. Midnight vision

CHRISTMAS CAROLS R IDDLE

ENCOURAGING THE BRETHREN THROUGH PRAYER AND CARING

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.” Proverbs 12:25 Your encouraging words can lift up someone's spirit who needs to know that you are praying for them.

Paul challenges us to “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 En-couraging words of prayer and con-cern can help to strengthen and support one another when times are hard.

In today’s digital and social media world, the simple act of writing and sending a greeting card has been for-gotten. It is an act of care and kind-ness and shows the love of God to oth-ers. Receiving a special card and note makes people feel like they are not forgotten – it is something they can

hold in their hand and read many times which brings encouragement to them.

If you are not in the habit of sending cards, this would be a good time to begin. You can show someone who cannot be a part of the weekly family gatherings at church that they are missed and that you are praying for them. We are all busy but it really takes a short amount of time to ad-dress the card and send it. This is a ministry and you can fulfill God’s command to love one another and to pray for them.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through

the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one an-other with a pure heart fervently.”

I Peter 1:22

We see from this verse, that we are to love the brethren fervently. When we are at church for the services, we can encourage the brethren in person. When someone misses church because of sickness, they may not feel like they are still a part of the congrega-tion. The elderly shut-ins who for one reason or another are not able to make the trip to church – they miss the fel-lowship. Another forgotten group are our college students far from home - a card would encourage them.

PAGE 4 THE REPORTER


“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to

speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:”

Colossians 4:2-3 Some specific prayer requests:

Pray for open doors

Pray for boldness in witness

Pray that God’s Word will spread

Pray for protection

Pray for their ministry

Pray for God’s guidance

Pray for fellowship with other be-lievers and physical refreshment

Partners in prayer

Our Missionaries Need our Prayers to be Effective in Spreading the Gospel

Don and Christine Dillman—Edinburgh, Scotland

Chris and Yolanda Eckels—Australia

Jonathan and Tina Gorman—Fort Dix, New Jersey

Stan and Brenda Kamps—Netherlands

Vitally and Alexandra Keller—Russia

Steve and Gayle King—Cote d’Ivoire West Africa

Lawrence and Rebecca Lantz—Uganda

Jeremy and Laura Markle—Puerto Rico

Bob and Terri Metze—Latin America

Josh and Annie Moore—Ireland

Garth and Lynette Piper—New Zealand

BJ and Cathy Schultz—Tanzania

Jon and Hannah Speights—Brazil

Chris and Darcy Vergiels—Brazil

Joel and Sarah Wagner—Field Translation Consultant

Rob and Beth Worthington—Church Planters

A Family Ministering in Special Mission Projects and a Fami-ly Ministering in Western Asia who we cannot name because

of safety precautions.

MISSIONARY FEATURE

Sniffles: The

Church Mouse

This Sniffles, your mouse on the scene reporter, has been given the assignment to report on our fall work day this year. As I approach this dangerous job, I need strength. Usually, about 30 or so people come over and tear the place apart cleaning, polishing, and fixing up necessary repairs. Not a good place for a mouse to be with all that activity. Normally the family and I just leave for the day and avoid trouble. This spring work day, I took the kids on a field trip over to the Orkin Man’s house to show them how to chew a hole in his truck tires. This can be dangerous too as you don’t want to bite through that last layer of cords. I remember my Uncle Charlie was chewing on a democratic congress-man’s tire when he went too far and “POW”! When he woke up the tire was flat and all four of his front teeth were gone. Poor Uncle Charlie, he never was quite right after that. Last I heard he was living on a dairy farm on a diet of milk and cottage cheese. Well, I di-gress, back to work day. (continued on page 7)

CAMPING ACTIVITY AT THE ALTOMONTE’S

PAGE 6 THE REPORTER

We welcomed Matt and Missy Grady into our church

membership on October 28th. They have 4 children, Christian, Brook, Megan and Katie. The Grady’s live in Ivyland with their two dog-

gies, Jake and Harley. (pictured on left)

Truth Tracker kids, leaders, teens and friends brought pillows, sleep-ing bags, and great expectations to have fun at a campout hosted by

the Altomonte’s in their Perkasie home back yard. The event was held on Friday, 4:00 PM till Saturday, 10:00 AM on September 18 & 19.

NEW MEMBERS WELCOMED INTO FELLOWSHIP

We welcomed Anthony Gartland into our church member-ship. Anthony was baptized on September 13, 2015.

Michael and Shannon Grady joined our church family on November 1st. They live in

Hatboro and have two boys, Joey 5 years and

Sean 10 months. (pictured on the right)

Every other Tuesday ladies meet in the church basement classroom and bring a Bible and study book. This year’s book is titled “Walking in the Spirit” written by Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. On November 10th, they came prepared to discuss their written answers to questions made in chapter 5 concerning the “Law and the Believer”. For this particular lesson, several ladies mentioned that their answers to some deep questions were left unfinished until class discussion. Before the study began, requests for prayer and praise were made to the Lord. Leader, Terri Stew-ard prayed for those mentioned who are in great need and prayed for the group to be lead by the Holy Spirit as the Bible passages are studied.

Everyone then opened their books and took turns reading out loud to respond to the lesson. A beginning instruction in the lesson book was: Galatians 5:18, “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law”. Rewrite the verse in your own words to show how Paul

expresses the balance between legal-isms and license”. Some ladies shared their written interpretations. The author’s explanation was “God’s Spirit is imparted to our hearts, and we experience a present, ongoing relationship with His Spirit, who enables us to walk in obedience to God’s law”.

When we regularly read and study our Bible, we receive instruction from God. Mary Grace Hauler gra-ciously agreed to have her photo-graph taken at her kitchen table where she does her Bible study. She has a steady daytime job and has to discipline herself to take time to work on the Bible lesson during the week. She was asked about her first name and she explained that the name Grace came from her mother and the name Mary from her two grandmothers and the two names should be used as one but separated by a space.

For the first Tuesday of the bi-weekly Bible study everyone brings in a homemade lunch treat and all have a pleasant time sharing food and fellowship.

placed the wires for our out-side lighting. The best part is that someone put on a pot of coffee and ladies brought snacks to keep us all going. This time there was a deli-cious crumb cake too. Now what could be better for yours truly than a cake made out of crumbs? I didn’t know how much fun it would be with all those people working together and enjoying the fellowship of God’s people as

This fall the Saturday work day started on Thursday, when I was wakened by strong vibrations. Two guys were outside sanding and painting the handicap ramp. Saturday morning the herd descended and the cleaning and polishing began. Vacu-uming, dusting, the piano keys were re-glued, the front doors were washed, and a group of men dug out old electrical conduit and re-

work was accomplished and God’s house was made ready for Sunday services. From now on, I will try to attend every work day and encour-age others to do the same.

Watch out! Here comes that Orkin man again. Oh, who will rid me of this meddle-some beast.

Your mouse on the scene,

Sniffles

LADIES BIBLE STUDY

Sniffles: The Church Mouse Continued


Sniffles’ Family

Born to very young teenaged parents, I was cared for primarily by my maternal Grand-mother until her sudden passing at the age of 48 years young. I was just 8 years old and began living permanently with my Mother, Step-father, and my 5 siblings. During these years, I don’t recall any specific spiritual instruction other than going to “Pioneer Girls”. This was a girl’s club at The Brother-hood Mission in Philadelphia (Fishtown area) where Bible verses were taught and games played. I memorized John 3:3, “Jesus an-swered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The seeds of God’s Word was planted in my heart! Just after two years, my siblings (now 6) and I were placed into either foster care or boys and girls homes.

While living in a large girl’s home in Ger-mantown that was run by Catholic Social Services, I was exposed to and instructed in Catholicism. I remember having a desire to know God and tried to study very hard and to be good. I remember being asked if I wanted to become Catholic and I declined. I can vividly remember sitting in a Catholic service and staring at the large crucifix on the wall and just knowing something wasn’t right here. I would recite John 3:3 over and over again in my mind but couldn’t understand what “born again” meant. I just knew this was what I needed to see the kingdom of God (Heaven) and was sure I wasn’t going there if I died. After leaving the girl’s home at the age of sixteen, I became a single parent. I was looking for love and acceptance the wrong way. I began working hard to make a better life for my daughter and me. This is when I met my wonderful husband, Michael.

I worked three jobs while going to nursing school and Michael worked seven days a week establishing his business with his broth-er, Matthew. In the meantime, God was doing a work in my biological father’s heart. He had trusted in Christ and his life began to change. Just after I completed nursing school, through divine intervention, I was able to meet my earthly father. He was driv-ing a Septa bus and I noticed a Bible on the ledge of the bus window so I FINALLY asked, “Do you know what John 3:3 means?” He said he did! Oh, how my heart leaped for joy! Finally an answer! I don't recall ever

asking anyone else. He promised to explain it to me when we could sit with an open Bible.

After speaking for a few weeks and getting to know one another, The Lord used my earthly father to lead me to my Heavenly Father as I saw my need through scripture to be “born again”. 1 Peter 2:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” It was a spir-itual rebirth my wicked sinful heart needed that could only be completed by Jesus Christ. John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,…” I un-derstood that I was a sinner that de-served hell but that God in His mercy and love sent ME the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Revelation 20:14, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” I accepted that precious gift from God and was “born again” July 6, 1990. John1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” I now had a Heavenly Father. In1994, I obeyed the Lord in believer’s baptism and have been fighting the good fight of faith by God's grace. Praise the Lord, He’s been doing a work in me ever since. Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing,

TESTIMONY FEATURE—MIKE AND ELSA GRADY

PAGE 8 THE REPORTER

he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is true to His Word!

My twin brother, Matt and I grew up traveling the world. Our Father was a Master Sergeant in the air force (and at home). Our journey started with our birth in Taipei, Taiwan. Yes, we were air force brats. We would usually move every 2 ½ years; I saw this as a curse at the time but now see it as a blessing. We lived in places like Washington DC, Flor-ida, and Japan. It has helped me to be able to talk to people of all walks of life. My parents taught us the importance of integrity, good manners, and hard work. I learned the value of being around older folks. I appreciate the care and sacrifices my parents made - especially the time my Mom would take to explain things to us. Finally at the age of 11, we moved into our first permanent home.

Life was good. I had good friends in our neighborhood that became like family. I grew up playing all kinds of sports. My Dad was a devout Catholic and I went to CCD classes but I always felt there was a void in my relationship with God but I didn’t know what it was. I thought I was a good person because of my own efforts. In my own eyes, I valued being a person of character because that was something that no one could ever take from me. My life changed in a great way in 1985 when I met Elsa.

We dated for several years and were planning on getting married. In 1990, Elsa met her biological Father and got saved. I understood him to be a born again Christian which I didn’t look at favorably at the time because of false preachers I had seen on television. He asked me, “If you died today, would you go to heaven?” I told him, “Sure”, because I thought I was a good person. He read to me Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved by faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”.

Continued on page 9

He also went through the Romans Road (Romans 3:23, 6:23, and 10:9-13). If I was in a court of law that night, I would’ve lost hands down based on the Scripture. I didn’t get saved that night. Elsa and I got married and agreed that we would search for answers. As we tried to lead our chil-dren, we felt the weight of the responsibil-ity to teach them the truth. I began caring for a church property and spoke with the Pastor regularly and began to see my need for a Savior. The Lord was patiently open-ing my eyes from darkness to the light of His Word.

The summer of 1993, Matt and I began talking to the Pastor as our crew began cutting the church’s lawn. We would

speak to him regularly and had been searching for answers since I had been challenged by Elsa’s dad. The Pastor invit-ed us to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior. Matt and I joined hands with him and prayed to get saved. For the first time in my life, I realized I had a purpose: the rest of my family needed to know and I had a job to do.

Several months later, in 1994, after an afternoon in Bible study, Elsa and I were biblically baptized at the same time by immersion and joined a Bible believing church. The Lord has helped us grow and teach our children His truths. We have had many opportunities to share the truth of God’s salvation through Jesus with many family members; some have gone home to

heaven. It’s been a great journey since the days we were saved and it has been a privilege to serve our Lord. We can’t imagine life without being saved and having God’s promises to claim.

In 2011, by God’s grace we were led to join Lighthouse Baptist Church. We have had the joy of being blessed with three children and eleven grandchildren, so far! Our goal has been to influence their lives for Christ. We are thankful that the Lord has allowed us the blessing of seeing our children get saved and some of our grandchildren. Our Chris-tian life has been full of times of trials and testings and each time the Lord has shown himself faithful. Psalm 23 has been a special scripture passage to us because it reminds us of His ever loving care for us.

TESTIMONY CONTINUED

JOY BELL CHOIR

The Joy Bell Choir received an invitation to play their bells at the Bucks County Play-house in New Hope on Saturday evening, December 12. They had a joyous experience out-

side the playhouse ministering with hymns and carols to all who would listen.


This not so familiar carol was written by the celebrated poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas, 1863. It is a carol written out of pain and hope. Henry’s oldest son, Charley, left home and boarded a train for Washington, DC, at the age of 18, in order to join President Lincoln’s Union Army to fight in the Civil War.

Two years earlier, Charley’s mother Fannie had died after her dress caught on fire. Awakened from his nap, Wadsworth tried to extinguish the flames as best he could, first with a rug and then his own body. She had already suf-fered severe burns and passed away the following morning. Longfellow grew a beard to cover the scarring he received from his burns.

Longfellow received a request for permission for Charley to become a soldier. Permission granted, Charley rose to the status of Second Lieutenant in the 1st Massachusetts Caval-ry. After participating on the fringe of the Battle of Chan-cellorsville in Virginia (April, 1863), Charley fell ill with typhoid and was sent home to recover. He rejoined his unit on August 15, 1863, missing the Battle of Gettysburg. Dur-

ing a skirmish on November 27, 1863, Charley was shot through the shoulder. The bullet had traveled across his back and skimmed his spine. Charley avoided being paralyzed by less than an inch.

Upon receiving word of Charley’s injury, Longfellow and an-other son left for Washington, DC to join Charley. Longfel-low received word, at first, that the injury “was very serious” and that “paralysis might ensue.” A more favorable report was received that evening, suggesting a long recovery of at least six months.

On Christmas day, 1863, Longfellow—a 57 year old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly para-lyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem endeavoring to capture the dissonance in his own heart and world he observed around him. He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of “peace on earth” but in-stead saw the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. The theme of listening recurs throughout the poem, leading to a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of war’s despair.

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day. A voice, a chime, a chant sublime of peace on earth good will to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth the cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound the carols drowned of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent the hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn the households born to peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth, “ I said; For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth , good will to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.”

HYMN HISTORY—I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

PAGE 10 THE REPORTER

The saints of Lighthouse Baptist adult Sunday school

assembled on the Spring Mill Country Club lobby

steps to pose for the tradi-tional Christmas photo tak-

en by Dr. Ruddell. The group enjoyed Christian fellowship, a full course

diner, and live music played by the Tohickon Creek Orchestra.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS BANQUET—DECEMBER 10, 2015

THE PASTOR’S COLUMN BY PASTOR DAN STEWARD

the Anti-Christ is only one crisis away, based not only on the national debt and irresponsible stewardship of our own nation, but also that of nations around the world. The Bible also tells us there will be moral com-placency and depravity. One can't help but wonder if the "giving in mar-riage" mentioned in Jesus' Olivet dis-course was not a reference to the ap-proval of homosexual marriage in our culture.

Well, believer, if the news around the world is getting you distressed and discouraged, take heart! Jesus also tells us that "this gospel of the king-dom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matt 24:14) That means that if the future is here, then the opportunity for shar-ing the gospel is also here! As we have studied John's Gospel, we've been reminded that Jesus came to be the Light shining in darkness. We ought to recognize that it is in the darkness that the light shines the brightest!

The Future is Here - and we have the Gospel Light to shine forth as the days grow darker! We have the calling of Christ to "be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:15)

As we face 2016, let's make a commit-ment to live in the future, believing in not only the difficulties we will en-counter, but also the opportunities we will be afforded to impact others for eternity!

The Future is Here!

In October of this year much atten-tion was paid to the predictions of the 80's movie, "Back to the Fu-ture." There were many humorous news reports of the expectations of certain technological advancements, such as hover boards, flying cars, and man-made weather, alongside a few surprisingly accurate predictions, such as computer tablets, video-conferencing, and professional base-ball teams in Florida.

Men have always been fascinated by the prospects of the future. Well, I have news to share with you: the Future is Here! We are living in what the Bible terms the "last days." There are events taking place that look like precursors to many of the events prophesied for the Tribula-tion. The "days of Noah", refer-enced by Jesus in Matthew 24 were days of violence - and our world has become a very violent place! Eco-nomic collapse that will prepare men to accept the deliverance offered by


Coming Events

January 9—Men’s Prayer Breakfast

January 12 & 26—Ladies Bible Study

February 6—Men’s Prayer Breakfast

February 9 & 23—Ladies Bible Study

March 5—Men’s Prayer Breakfast

March 8 & 22—Ladies Bible Study

March 19—Mission’s Banquet

March 27—Sunrise and Easter Sunday Services

April 2—Men’s Prayer Breakfast

April 12 & 26—Ladies Bible Study

April 17—20—Evangelist Gary Gillmore

Sunday School—9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship—10:30 AM

Sunday Evening Service—6:00 PM Wednesday Prayer Meeting—7:00 PM

ADDRESS: 2622 Durham Road, PO Box 574

Buckingham, PA 18912 Phone: 215-794-7764

E-mail: [email protected] www.lighthousebaptistpa.com

DEACONS Mr. John Erickson Mr. Gary Ralston Dr. Mill Ruddell Mr. Ryan Shedal

C O- EDITORS OF THE REPORTER :

MRS . R AI NE VON H OH EN

MRS . N ANCY K ENNA

CHURCH SERVICES

PAGE 12 ___ _________ ___ THE REPORTER

News and Notes ANSWERS TO RIDDLE ON PAGE 4

1. Oh Holy Night

2. Silent Night

3. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

4. Away In A manger

5. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

6. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night

7. I Saw Three Ships

8. Joy to the World

9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

10. Deck the Halls

11. In the Bleak Midwinter

12. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Our 20 year old sign on the side of Durham Road was

replaced by a brand new one on November 30th.

Documents

Word and singing and playing wonderful music at our