HERE’S WHAT’S NEW

Pastor's Pen

Bro. Richard Piles, Pastor

Ready or not, August is here, and it still feels like we are wandering in the dark trying to figure out our new normal.  At the time of print, we’re moving forward with resumption of our normal August events.  However, we may pivot if the need were to arise at any time.

Please plan to get back in the game with our “Back in the Game” Revival Meeting August 2-5.  That is Sunday morning through Wednesday night, 10:30 AM and 6:30 PM.  
 

It is our privilege to host Bro. Richard Taylor and the McNeil Family Singers.  They will be leading us for each of our meetings.  While we will be paying our guest preacher out of our church budget, we will be collecting a love offering for the McNeil Family each meeting.  I hope you’ll be generous and kind in your giving.
 

Also, “Back in the Game” Sunday will be August 16  As has been our practice in the previous years, we will look back at what God did at EBC in 2019-2020 and look forward to 2020-2021.
 

Please continue to pray for a vaccine for COVID-19 and for protection for our church and our community and county.  It seems inevitable that someone from EBC will test positive, but I pray that it is later rather than sooner.  
 

Thank you for being such a faithful and generous body of believers!  I am honored and grateful to be your pastor.  Please pray for me regularly as I pray for you as well.  God bless you!

Choir Corner with Chris

Bro. Chris Henderson, Minister of Music and Senior Adults

August is here, and with it, summer begins to close and usher in fall. With so much uncertainty in what is going to come next for our church, for our community, for the state of Texas, and for the nation, I want to remind you of something that never changes, never fails: God’s sovereignty and his ability to provide for his people. 
    
“Therefore I say to you, do not   worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Therefore do not  worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”           Matthew 6:25-26, 34 NKJV

As we approach the unknown, church family, I urge you to not worry about the things that are going on in the world. Trust God to have it under control, and pray for His Peace to bring an end to the unrest and the chaos in our world. Remember, for the believer in Christ, this world is not our home.

As for Music Ministries in August, be on the lookout for announcements concerning Joyful Noise Ukulele Choir. Celebration Choir will begin meeting again August 19th.

Student Ministry Spot

Ronnie Witt, Minister of Youth & Education

When I was a kid, my parents told me they would take me to Chuck-E-Cheese’s for my birthday one year. But, as time drew closer, they changed their minds. We were going to go to Six Flags with my aunt, uncle, and cousins instead. Mom tried to convince me that even though we wouldn’t eat at Chuck-E-Cheese’s, we would eat at Cheddar’s, which has a cheese-based name. “So, it’s basically the same.” But I was unconvinced. Moreover until recently, I told that story as “why I never went to Chuck-E-Cheese’s.” Having been to Chuck-E-Cheese’s, now, I can see how much better what I got was than what I wanted. 
 

When this summer started, we had four different church camp opportunities canceled on us. So, we scratched together a plan for a couple of retreats with just our group at a cabin in Oklahoma. I wasn’t sure it was going to work. I wasn’t sure if it would even be worth the time and energy we put into planning it. 
 

To my surprise, God’s plan was so much better than ours. Instead of our original plan to take 30 people in total to camp with us, We ended up taking 37 students and 6 adults over the two weeks of retreats. Moreover, I feel like I was able to spend more time with the people in our groups since we were together more often in study, discussion, and playing games together. And from the feedback I have received from students, it was absolutely an effective and fruitful week of Bible study and personal spiritual growth. 
 

Like many things during this time, none of this is what I would have chosen. However, in retrospect, I have been able to see God’s faithfulness even in the midst of this. God is still faithful in the midst of struggle and difficult times. But more than that, God has always been faithful to answer those who seek Him.

Nursery Rhymes

Dena Westmoreland, Preschool Ministry Coordinator

August is here, which means a new school year.  It also means we will have  Sunday School students moving to different classes and we will lose a few as they move up to the Children’s Department.  I am excited for them, but a little sad also.  I have grown to love these children and will miss them, but I know they are in good hands with our teachers in the Children’s Department.

VBS is over, so now comes a transition time, a time to rearrange the Preschool Department to prepare classrooms for Sunday School and classrooms for Sonbeam.  Each Sunday School class will have a classroom uniquely their own as will Sonbeam. God has truly blessed Emory Baptist Church with facilities to accommodate both ministries.
 

I ask you to pray for our Preschool Department.  We are in need of two paid childcare workers for Sunday and Wednesday evenings. I know that God has the people chosen, we just have to trust Him to lead us to them.  
 

Also, please pray for our children during this unsettled time. It is hard for adults, but it is especially hard on our children.  May we always be mindful of them and their fears and strive to show them love, understanding, and our faith in God.