Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

What is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®?

Southern Baptist churches collect the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for the sole purpose of supporting international missions. Every penny of the offering goes to the International Mission Board’s overseas budget, thus supporting our missionaries and their work.

What is the 2010 theme?

The 2010 theme is "Are we there yet?" For the first time in history, we can identify the people groups that remain untouched by the Gospel. We can get there in our generation! But that last part of the journey may be the hardest. It will take all of us - our churches, our missionaries, our national partners, our Great Commission partners.

What Can Our Church Do?

 Our church members’ dollars in the offering plate translate to souls saved for the kingdom of heaven. It’s the biggest reason to celebrate the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®. Join us on (date) at (time) as we celebrate our offering with a (dinner, festival etc.). We’ll have (video, drama, music, testimonies, etc.) as we witness God’s hand at work around the world.  The goal for our church is $4,000.00. 

Activities This Week

This Wednesday night will be our monthly Family Meal.  The meal this month will feature a festive flair and you are asked to bring your favorite Christmas food to share!  Dinner will begin at 6:00 PM and will be followed by activities for the entire family.  Come, be a part of some great fellowship, food and a time to hear and receive God's Word.

Friday night the youth will have their Christmas party at the home of Buddy and Liz H.  There will be a bonfire and time of fun and fellowship.  All youth are encouraged to be at the H. home at 5:30 and to bring a fun Dollar Tree gift to exchange.  Please see Liz for more information.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Can you believe it will be December this week?  This year seems to have flown by!  Before the rush and frantic pace of the holidays come upon us, may we quiet our hearts and purpose to make this a meaningful Christmas - where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  Here is a list of dates in December where we can enjoy some church festivities and fellowship with one another.  Please mark the dates of those you can attend. 

December Events:

December 3 ~ Youth Christmas Party

December 10 ~ Adult (all adult classes) Sunday School Party

December 11 ~ Choir Fellowship

December 17 ~ Deacon’s Christmas Banquet

December 18 ~ Children’s Dress Rehearsal/Party

December 19 ~ Christmas Cantata (AM service)

December 19 ~ Children’s Christmas Program (PM service)

December 22 ~ Church wide Christmas Caroling

Choose the activities that you can participate in, but remember to keep our JOY this season -

Jesus
Others
Yourself

Happy Thanksgiving

It is our hope and prayer that this will be a blessed Thanksgiving for you and your family.  There won't be much blog posting this week, but come back next week to keep up with the activities at Antioch. 
Happy Thanksgiving!

Ten Commandments For Marriage

The Ten Commandments of Marriage:

1. Do not place others before one another. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

2. Let nothing on earth become more important than your marriage. Seek first God’s will in your marriage and the other things will come as He desired.

3. Speak to one another with kindness and love. Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word kindly spoken.

4. Remember to worship together. Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God.

5. Love and accept one another’s family as your own. Your people shall be my people.

6. Do not harm one another with words, attitudes, or action. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you…and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you.

7. Be faithful to one another. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And the two shall become one flesh.

8. Never take joy for one another. Above all things put on love, which holds everything together in perfect harmony.

9. Always speak the truth in love. The Lord will show you what is right and true, that you may always speak with integrity.

10. Do not desire or be envious of what others may have. I have learned that in whatsoever state I may be, to be content.

Community Thanksgiving Service

This week's prayer meeting will be held on Tuesday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  We will be joining some other local churches for a Community Thanksgiving Service which will be held at Wellborn Baptist at 6:30 PM on Tuesday.  There will be a time of praise and thankful testimony and a message from God's Word.  Following the service there will be a time of refreshments.  If you plan to stay for the fellowship, you are encouraged to bring a dessert to share. 

We hope you will take advantage of this great opportunity to fellowship and express our gratitude.  The church van will be leaving at 5:45 PM from Antioch. 

Church Thanksgiving Lunch

Sunday after morning worship will be a Church Thanksgiving Lunch.  All are welcome to stay and enjoy some great fellowship as we reflect on God's goodness and blessings on Antioch.  This is always a special time to share with the church family.  The church will provide the ham and turkery and you are asked to bring a traditional Thanksgiving food dish or dessert to share.  Make plans to stay Sunday and enjoy a great time together.

Operation Christmas Child

Hope you have planned to pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child!  Please bring the shoe boxes in this Sunday.  There will be a special prayer of dedication for the boxes to reach and share the gospel with children.  The boxes will be delivered to our local distribution site on Monday. 

Prayer Requests

You are encouraged to keep some needs from our church family in your prayers:

Liz H.'s father is recovering from surgery at home and being treated for cancer.
Janet W.'s mom had a stay in the hospital last week and has been having a lot of pain.
Nancy B. and many others are battling sickness.
Lavon M.'s granddaughter has been diagnosed with mono.
Roy L. has received the diagnosis of lung cancer in both lungs. He and his family surely need our prayers.
Bridget M. is undergoing chemo treatments this week.

Please continue to show love, prayers and support for one another.

ABC's of Marriage

Sunday morning our church heard a sermon based on Ephesians 5 relating to marriage.  God has created a beautiful harmony and balance in marriage, parenting, the chain of authority for us to follow.  Here are some "ABC's" for marriage:

Accept one another as he or she is
Be sensitive to each other's needs
Compliment each other regularly
Don't go to bed angry or with an argument unsettled
Express your love and appreciation for each other daily
Forgive one another totally and unconditionally
Give 100% of yourself to the marriage relationship
Honor one another
Identify areas of conflict and work on root causes
Judge not
Keep courting
Listen to one another
Measure up to your God-assigned role in the marriage
Never drag up past mistakes
Open your heart to one another in honesty and understanding
Pray together
Quit nagging
Renew your commitment to God and to each other
Speak the truth in love
Treat each other as friends and lovers
Undergird one another in child-rearing, work and responsibilities
View your marriage as a covenant before God
Worship together and become involved in a local Bible believing church
X-ray your heart with the prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me,
and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Yield yourselves daily to the will of God
Zero in on common goals and interests and enjoy each other for life

"Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it"

(Psalm 127:1).

Thank You, Veterans

Veterans Day was originally established to honor Americans who had served in World War I. The national holiday is celebrated on November 11, the anniversary of the day World War I ended in 1918. Today Veterans Day honors veterans of all wars for their patriotism and willingness to serve in the military and sacrifice for our country.

Beautiful Inside and Out

Ladies, remember the retreat this Friday night.  "Beautiful Inside and Out" is the theme for an evening full of fellowship and spiritual and physical refreshment.  There will be opportunities to enhance your physical beauty with manicures, facials, massages etc. along with encouragement to enhance and bring out the inner spiritual beauty that the Lord gives to each one. 

A dinner will be served of delicious soup and you are asked to bring a complimentary salad to share.  If you have not signed the sign up sheet, please let Caroline know that you will be attending to help with the proper amount of food preparation. 

Make Me A Blessing

Our church is blessed to have so many who share God's love, grace and kindness to one another.  In our day and time, life demands and drains us at times.  Every now and again, it may benefit us to reflect on ways to be a blessing to one another.  Here is a little checklist to assess your success in being a blessing at church.  May it motivate us to seek out and purposefully be a blessing.

1. Do you take the time to greet other church members warmly?
2.  Do you regularly share a friendly hug or hearty handshake?
3.  Do you pray for members of the congregation?
4.  Do you let the pastor and other leaders know when they have done a good job?
5.  Do you encourage the younger members?
6.  Do you fellowship (socialize) with any members outside of church?
7.  Do you bring others to church?
8.  Do you share what you are learning in Sunday School/church with others?
9.  Does someone in the congregation make you feel important?
10.  Is there someone whom you feel could benefit from you being a blessing to them?

"The blessing of a church is only as strong as each member's commitment. "

Prayer and Updates This Week

As we begin a new week (don't they just seem to fly by?), there are a few updates and prayer requests to share.

• Chip C. suffered an injury to his hip and is having some trouble with his sugar levels.
• Rufus S. has cancer and also some blood clots they need to treat.
• Beulah S.'s niece will undergo a chemo treatment this week.
• Beulah is having some hip and knee trouble while Robert is sick and Mark is trying to get his sugar levels regulated.  Please keep the family in your prayers.
• Kay B. is recovering from surgery at home, but has doctor appointments this week to determine a course of treatment for her.
• Ida D.'s son's wife passed away suddenly this weekend.  Please pray for this family in their time of loss.
• Bro. Dave and  Caroline are attending the Florida Baptist Convention this week.  Please keep this in your prayers.

Remember how powerful love expressed through our prayers and actions is to those in our church family and community.  May the loving kindness and grace of God flow from our lives into the lives of those around us.

Verse of the Day

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.  James 3:18

Imitating Our Heavenly Father

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.  As followers of God, we should imitate God and live our lives as to reflect the things of God to the world around us.

Ephesians 5:1-3 gives encouragement to:

Walk In Love - Love is the fundamental basis in a Christian's life.

a. We are God's children, our new nature as Christians should be to show God's love to others.

b.  We are God's beloved children.  We should show our love to God by the way we live our life.

c.  We have been purchased by a great cost.

Walk As Children of the Light

Christians should not have anything to do with darkness.  We should be set apart.  Through salvation, we have been called out of darkness and into the light of Christ.  It is important to gage what we allow into our lives and homes.  Our lives should be different from those who do not know Christ.  Light produces righteousness, reveals truth and when we walk in God's light, it reveals God's light to others.

Beautiful Inside and Out

Ladies, you won't want to miss the Ladies Retreat on November 12.  There are lots of great plans being made to create a special evening.  There will be a guest speaker, pampering for the face and nails, food and some great fellowship.

There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board for you to sign.  This is an overnight retreat, or you can leave early after the activities.

Hope you will make plans to attend!

Jefferson's Ten Rules

Never put off until tomorrow  what you can do today.

Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

Never spend your money before you earned it.

Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.

Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.

We seldom repent of having eaten too little.

Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

How much pain the evils have cost us
that have never happened.

Take things always by the smooth handle.

When angry, count ten before you speak
if very angry, count a hundred.

President Thomas Jefferson

Welcome, November

 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1,2

Today is recognized as All Saint's Day where the church has traditionally set aside to honor the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in the faith.  God's Word shares a number of ordinary people equipped with God's power and presence to do extra ordinary things for God's glory.  These men and women of God are examples to us today of diligence, faithfulness, boldness and wisdom.  

Here is a brief look at the coming events in November for our church.  Traditionally, this month jump starts the busiest time of the year.   Before that starts, may be begin cultivating a heart of gratitude for all of God's blessings and enjoy the beauty of opportunity with our church family.

• November 3 ~ Family Meal ~ Soup, Salad, Sandwich Night!  6:00 PM
• November 6 ~ Daylight Saving Time ends - set clocks back one hour
• November 12 ~ Ladies Retreat - Beautiful Inside and Out ~ 6:30 PM
• November 13 ~ Cross Heirs men's event - Branford
• November 21 ~ Church Thanksgiving Meal
• November 21 ~ Bring in Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes
• November 23 ~ Prayer Meeting (Tuesday night)

Mark your calendars and take part in the activities you are able to.