The MOST Wonderful Time of the Year to INVITE A FRIEND to church!

What's Happening...

THIS WEEK... A SUNDAY LIKE NO OTHER! The Morning Message- It's Not Complicated... It's Christmas (click the picture above for a sneak peek at Dr Don with our FBS kids) And Sunday Night... A Musical Experience Like No Other The Sanctuary Orchestra, Genesis Band and Praise Team present a Sight and Sound Experience Christmas on Main Don't miss it! No Wednesday Night Activities until January 8th ThrowBackThursday Click above for a look at the Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra of 1991 with The Passion of Christ Look for a new video every Thursday in December!

First Baptist Spartanburg Weekly Update December 19, 2013

Greetings!
Don_BlueButtonDown

It is a joy to wish you all a very happy Christmas. Karyn joins me in this wish as do all the wonderful folks who serve together in this great church called First Baptist. My prayer this Christmas is one of extreme thankfulness, above all else, for this Savior, who is Christ the Lord. I have always loved the fact that the Bible tells all people that "His name is Jesus" and that "He would save His people from their sins!" There is no one who can compare to Him and certainly we owe the Lord Jesus our everything in praise and worship as we approach this wonderful time of celebration. All around the world people will celebrate the birth of this Savior. And it is truly incredible to think that people all over the world are coming to know God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A few suggestions as we celebrate this week. Be sure to acknowledge Him in and around your tree. Perhaps read the Christmas story. A few great Bible passages are Matthew 1: 18-24 or Luke 2:1-20. Have a time of prayer. If you have little ones ask one of them (or two or three) to say a prayer to Jesus on His birthday. Before you open any gifts get out your check book or computer or whatever means by which you give to the Lord and do it in front of all who gather. Tell your kids what you are doing and why you are giving your tithe to the Lord's work. You may even want to read the story of how the three Wise Men came and brought their gifts to Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12) Your children will never forget this life lesson and you will teach them the value of putting Jesus first in everything. Some big people will be "blown away" too! When you have your Christmas meal you may want to liken this to a wonderful birthday feast. Some Moms may even want to have a Happy Birthday Jesus cake! Anyway, just thinking out loud on paper. Have a blessed time!

I sure do love you all so much.

Your friend and pastor,

December Prayer Focus

FBS supports the Lottie Moon Christmas offering through our ongoing Global MPACT Offering, which supports international workers and families, including those who have gone out from our congregation, to serve and share the love of Jesus Christ, including Lee and Beth C who are serving in South America. Please pray for their continued language learning and cultural understanding. Pray for partnering opportunities with colleagues in their country for church planting, and for opportunities to share within a large tennis community through training and competitions in international events with their daughter Anna. Pray for additional opportunities to share the Good News, and for those who have heard the Word, but have yet to come to know Jesus.

MPACT iPhone APP

The MPACT App is a unique tool to use as we pray for the nations and for those serving around the world and here in the US. There are daily guides with photos, prayer requests, and general information about each family serving. There is also information about the upcoming missions opportunities through FBS in the coming year. The MPACT app also provides prayer guides for Refuge, the Marghi people group, and more! Click here for an easy to use guide to connect with the MPACT ministry and will help you impact the nations.

Charleston Church Plant: Awaken

Keep up with all that's taking place in this exciting missions outreach!
Sign up for the weekly E-blast from Brandon and the team at www.awakencharleston.com.

MEN: WE NEED YOU!

If you want a blessing, consider helping out with the widow ministry a few hours a month. We kick off each month on the second Saturday at 8 a.m. in the dining hall with fellowship, prayer and a hot biscuit. If you can't make it, you can still help out on "your own free time." Please call Jack Johannes (680.7334) or Jeff Young (706.0939) for more information.

International Mission Board

A Message from the President of the IMB

Click the picture to the left to watch the video to our First Baptist about what God is doing with FBS involvement around the globe!

Dr. Wilton's books and the Charlie Miller Christmas CD

Great Christmas Gifts to help focus our hearts on the Christ of Christmas

Pick up your copies in the Hub, Hangar and Welcome Center between all services. Praying for a Miracle, See you at the Finish Line, the amazing Absolute Certainty of Life after Death and more. You can even purchase a copy of The Story or Charlie Miller's new disc Christmas Reflections.

Parent Teen Night

Sunday, January 5 at 5:00 p.m.

All parents and teens are asked to attend the Parent Teen Night on Sunday night, Jan 5 in The Hangar as we welcome USC Gamecock Quarterback Dylan Thompson and his family. Everyone will meet in the Hangar beginning at 5:00 and then at 6:15, student and parents will be able to pay for the curriculum for the Spring Semester for Discipleship at our D-Group sign in tables as students briefly huddle with their D-groups in prep for the new year.

Winter Jam Weekend for Students 7th-12th Grades

February 7-9, 2014

Cost: $40.00 and bring $10.00 CASH for the concert! Sign up online at www.fbs.org/winterjam14

Spring Break 2014 for 7th-12th Grade

April 4-8 / Garden City

Guest Speaker: Adrian Despres Music Guests: Heath Williams Band

First 100 students who pay deposit get $25 discount!

Cost: $235 includes lodging, meals, transportation, and t-shirt. Sign up at C-life, Crossfire or the Student Office.

Sign up online at www.fbs.org/springbreak14

Children's New Believer's Class begins

January 12 Sunday morning at 10:30 in room 111
Join us for this special 3 week class, please note the children need to be able to read and write to participate.
Call 699.4308 for more information or to sign up!

See the World Like Jesus Does

Tuesdays,
January 7 - April 22, 2014

FBS Dining Hall,
6 - 9 p.m.

Gain insight from this special study. Register at Perspectives.org

Sunday December 22, 2013

Celebration Service 9:00 a.m.

Prelude

Call to Worship................................Choir & Orchestra

"O Holy Night"

Gena Hammett, soloist

Carol 87 "Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come"

Worship in Song...............................Choir & Orchestra

"Glory to God in the Highest"

Quartet: Scott Morris, Steve Skinner, Douglas Wiley, Steve Woodard

Welcome.........................................Greg Springsteen

Carol 100 "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Offertory Prayer.................................Greg Springsteen

Choral Worship........................................Praise Team

"Unexpected Love"

Steve Woodard, soloist

Worship in Song....................................Steve Skinner

"Sweet Little Jesus Boy"

Message.................................................Don Wilton

Carol 121 "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne"

Benediction

Postlude

Classic Service 10:30 a.m.

Prelude

Call to Worship................................Choir & Orchestra

"O Holy Night"

Gena Hammett, soloist

Carol 87 "Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come"

Worship in Song...............................Choir & Orchestra

"Glory to God in the Highest"

Quartet: Scott Morris, Steve Skinner, Douglas Wiley, Steve Woodard

Welcome.........................................Greg Springsteen

Carol 100 "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Offertory Prayer.................................Greg Springsteen

Choral Worship........................................Praise Team

"Unexpected Love"

Steve Woodard, soloist

Worship in Song....................................Steve Skinner

"Sweet Little Jesus Boy"

Message.................................................Don Wilton

Carol 121 "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne"

Benediction

Postlude

This Sunday a Love Offering for our Maintenance Staff
will be taken up at the end of each morning Worship Service. Join us as we share in the spirit of Christmas with these special servant hearted members of our team!

Visit www.fbs.org/giving for more information.

2013 Year-End Giving

Thank you for your faithful giving to the Ministries of First Baptist Spartanburg. In order for you to receive contribution credit for the current tax year (2013), your gift must be postmarked or brought to the Finance Office no later than December 31st . We gladly accept online and electronic gifts. However, please allow plenty of time for the transfer to be completed on or before December 31st . In some cases this can take up to 7-10 business days.

Also, if you choose to give a gift of stock, please notify the Finance Office of your gift in order to receive proper contribution credit. Because of the Privacy Act, it is no longer possible for the brokerage firm to identify individual givers. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Church Administrator, David Dennis at 699-4443. Thank you for your generosity.

The Women's Ministry

Heart to Heart Mentoring - Discover more this Sunday!

Profile Sheets will be available this Sunday in Life Groups and the Welcome Center, Hangar, North Entrance and church office. Call 699-4207 for more information. At each location you will discover a box to drop the profiles due January 12th.

click here for more

Hope and Help for the Single Mom

Most single moms are over-worked, under-paid, and under-appreciated. Single moms all have different stories. Some are divorced, some never married, while others lost their husbands by death. But no matter how they became single mothers, they face the same struggles. Through the Single Moms' Ministry we lend a hand to single moms and their families. Here's how it works- We offer the following opportunities at the present time.

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Single Moms' Bible Study - Led by Tonja Smith

Every Wednesday from 6:15-7:30 p.m. in Room 149

Adult Women's Life Group of All Ages - Led by Julie Dry

Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. in Room 147

For more information call Kathy Hurry at 699.4207.

New Testament Ministry to help Single Moms

Every 2nd Saturday of the Month

Every single mom needs special assistance around the house from time to time. The New Testament Ministry provides help for specific projects that are difficult for women to accomplish. To apply for assistance, please call Kathy Hurry at 699.4207.

Winter/Spring Bible Studies

All Bible studies can be found listed on our website by clicking here! www.fbs.org/BibleStudies

A new semester will begin in January, 2014 with Bible Studies for Ladies, Men, and Coed studies. Childcare available on Wednesday nights, and also on Tuesday mornings, but it is limited, so reserve your spot early with registration

Join us as we remember those who have gone before us-

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us...Hebrews 12:1

Theodore R. Adams, Jr.

Susan Bailey

Connie Barone

Kent A. Beeson

Beth Bogan

Ruby H. Bowles

Meredith Brower

Mr. & Mrs. Allen O. Clark, Sr.

Blanch N. Coker

Mel Davenport

Frank E. Dillard

Sandy Edwards

Martha Emory

William D. & Nora Estepp

Margaret Everington

Brittany Lynne Fogg

Jerry L. & Doris Fowler

Charles Funk

Mr. & Mrs. A.K. Gilbert

Eugene O. Hall

Thomas E. Hooper

Elmo K. Hughes, Jr.

Mignon S. Jeffords

Mr. & Mrs. Jack Jolley, Sr.

Bobbie Hendrix

John C. Kirkland

Ruth Martinez

Ben Mason, Sr.

Jeffrey L. Mason

Alliene McCallister

Aleena Hope Miller

Laura Hart Miller

Mr. & Mrs. Robert O. Pickens, Jr.

Frances Rice

Helen Turner Rodgers

Dennis Rogers

Terri Rogers

Geraldine Sizemore

E.J. & Lucille Slemons

Oliver G. & Margaret Smith

Oliver G. Smith, Jr.

Hannah Sobeski

Fulton Tate

Mrs. Ginny Walker

Rev. & Mrs. James Walker

Margaret Wallington

Mr. & Mrs. Marvin R. Webb

Vernon M. Williams

Randy Wilson

Cager Wingo

Steven W. Wolfe

Caroline Woody

Leland Woody

Rachel W. Woody

Tommy Wright

John Young

Ministry for children and adults with special needs and their families!

We have a special needs class for children at 10:30 a.m. in Room 203. For more information call the Children's Ministry Office at 699-4308. P139 ministry offers services to all ages on Sunday mornings in Room 144 from 10:30-11:45 a.m.

P139 is a ministry to individuals with special needs, their families, and their caregivers. We celebrate that by design we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Our passion is to demonstrate God's love by offering a nurturing, accepting, and appropriate environment to friends with special needs. Our hope is that families will have a time of respite and an opportunity to worship and engage at FBS. We will have volunteer "shadows" or "buddies" to accompany students into a age-typical Life Group where appropriate. If you have a child or family that this would be appropriate for, please email Cecilia Knight, knight.cecilia@gmail.com. or call Larry McCullough at 804.3106 for more information.
*We still need a few more volunteers to commit to one Sunday a month to be a "shadow" or "buddy" to a student who may go into an age-typical classroom or to help in the special needs Life Group. Please contact us if you are interested.

Please Pray for:

Spartanburg Regional
Debbie Gault (surg. 12/19)
Betsy Call and baby girl
Restorative Hospital
Emily Alverson (mother of Natalie Stinson)
Hoyle Brown
Miriam Vickery
Rutherford Regional Hospital
Diane Allen
Village at Pelham
Angela Jerecki (daughter of Marie Lipscomb)(surg. 1/8
Mary Alice Mangum (surg. 1/13)
Greenville Memorial Hospital
Charles Ian Greene
St Francis Downtown, Greenville
Sylvia Haley (mother of Angela Haley)(surg. 12/17)

Brookview Healthcare Center, Gaffney
Penny Pennington (father of Rick Pennington)
NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, NY
Barbara Satterfield
Ronald Reagan Medical Center, LA, CA
Carl Jensen (surg. 12/3)

Members in Rehab Facilities
Summit Hills Skilled Nursing
Mary Anne Temple
White Oak Estates
Lucille Jernigan (mother of Barbara Vess)
White Oak Manor
Ray Jarrett
Magnolia Manor, Inman
Mary Phillips

FAMILY MEMBERS in out of area hospitals
Kershaw County Memorial Hospital
Pat Sims (mother of Robyn Bales)
Hospital in Columbia, SC
Douglas Hollifield (brother of Peggy Griner)
Hospital in Tyler, TX
Eugene Alaniz (father of Cheryl Lucas)(surg. 12/2)
Johnson City Hospital, TN
Brenda Mosely (sister of Louise Ackerman)
Hospital in Houston, TX
Jobeth Young (sister-in-law of Debbie Young)
Hospital in Lady Lake, Fl
Robert Combs (father of Kelli Suits)
Hospital in Denver, Co
Drew Brady (son of Jim Brady)
Hospice House of Rutherford County
Susie Henson (mother of Patrick Henson)

SYMPATHY

Jerry Griffin and Mary Arrowood in the passing of their sister Betty Griffin on 12/1.
Avis Anderson in the passing of her father Kenneth Weathers on 12/5.
Sylvia Gregory in the passing of her mother on 12/4.
The family of Carol Meyer who passed away on 12/11. She was the daughter of Doris Burns.
Marvin Bales in the passing of his father Grady Bales on 12/11.
Steve Sizemore in the passing of his grandmother Marlene Stephens on 12/12.
Chris Hammett in the passing of his grandmother Ann Jones on 12/11.
Susan Huey in the passing of her brother in TX on 12/14.

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS

(Due to the many requests for prayer, we try to leave names on this list for 45 days. Please feel free to request a name to be listed again)

Jimmy Painter (cousin of Randy Willingham), Danny Robertson (father of Renae Shelton), Chuck Lowery (son of Jean Lowery), Harry & Linda Lewis, Jim Searcey (relative of Ron Dillingham), Don Patterson, Jaimie Grant, Lou Chastain, Faye Vinson (sister of Becky Free), Jean Lowery, Tiffany Edwards, Buddy Price, Robert and Sharon Leopard, Ben Sawyer, Ken Fox (brother-in-law of Carl Jensen), Suzanne Proctor, Brittany Starnes, David Fisher (husband of Suzanne Fisher), Rachel Thompson, Gene Simmons (father of Kelli Wolfe), Vernon Clemmons, Bruce Cash, Carla Foy, David Hollifield (nephew of Peggy Griner), Nancy Welch, Barbara Satterfield, Don McGinty (friend of Jerry Fogg), Sharon Hill, Greg Mills (son of Ferna Mills), Audrey Hampton, Patrick Cogdill & stepmother Lisa Cogdill, Martha Stanley, David Huffstettler & Mickey Robinson (family of Doris Hardin), Dee Dee Hooker, Larry Huffman (TEW Viewer), Debbie Gault, Angiela Jarecki (daughter of Marie Lipscomb), Glenn & Mary Marlow, Gene Bunt, Sonja Trimmier, Frankie Foster, Johnny Lathan, Juanita Stepp, Rebecca Marlow, Bill Brown, Irene Long (mother of Anna Nicholls), Roy Smith, Ray Smith (brother of Roy 'Mac' Smith), Betty Eaddy Smith, Maria Sumner, Roger Smith (cousin of Robin Buckley), Rena Byrant, Jenny Johnson, Harry & Gwen Christopher, Virginia Proctor (friend of Sue Wilson), Roy Hall (friend of Carolyn Eubanks), Charlotte Shuler (mother of Kyle Shuler), DL Brown, Suzanne Merritt, John Hansel, Lee Lasnier, Rhett & Carole Riddle, Peggy Scoggins, Lee Ann Greene, Carolyn Epperly (niece of Sal Barone), Kayla Padgett, Ross Erwin (friend of Randy Willingham), Bill & Lil Swale (family of Jenny Johnson), Sue Watson

Pray for Our Military

Ssgt. Christopher Bennett BMU-1 DETA Unit 46010 FPO, AP-96427-6010
Dustin K Horton, Med Dept. USS Nimitz CVN 68C HM-2SMS STO-AP-966-202-820

Candidates for Membership

Kevin and Mitzi Bragg
Ansleigh Bragg
Abigail Bragg

Missionaries with birthdays and anniversaries the next two months:
Josie (NA)           12/1                Gresh Anniv.      12/29
Eli (EAf)              12/29              Sherree (CA)         1/5
Kelly (CA)           1/8                Esther (NA)          1/11
Weston (CA)        1/23