October 2015
A Monthly Newsletter of First Baptist Church
The How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! (Psalm 133:1, HCSB)
Washington Baptist Association Annual Meeting The cooperation of Southern Baptist churches for Great Commission work has been one of the mainstays of our denomination. We are independent, autonomous local churches who have chosen, as led by the Holy Spirit, to come together to work globally through the Southern Baptist Convention, statewide through the Louisiana Baptist Convention, and locally through the Washington Baptist Association. Each level of cooperation is vital to fulfilling the Acts 1:8 Challenge to bear witness to Christ in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I am so pleased our church has been selected to host our Annual Meeting of the WBA on Sunday night, October 4th at 5:30 p.m. This year’s Annual Meeting will be informative, worshipful, and inspiring. It will begin with a Ministry Missions Fair at 5:00 p.m. in our Family Life Center. There will be displays detailing different ministries within our Association and how churches can get involved. There will also be refreshments and a great time of fellowship. The Annual Meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. Worship will be led by the Seminarians
Mission India 2015 of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The sermon will be preached by Dr. Chuck Kelley, President of NOBTS. Dr. Kelley has a heart for evangelism and missions. Under his leadership, the seminary has reached out to the city of New Orleans, planting churches and reaching people for Christ. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has become one of the leading seminaries in preparing ministers for the Gospel ministry and the mission field. I look forward to being inspired and encouraged to greater service through Dr. Kelley’s message. It has been a blessing and a privilege to serve as the moderator for WBA for the past two years. I look forward to turning the gavel over to Bro. Chad Jenkins at the end of our Annual Meeting. He will serve as our moderator for the next year. Please make every effort to attend and encourage those from our sister churches to be in attendance as well.
You will find a prayer guide in The Bridge on Page 8 for the Darzi Muslim people of India. We have a team that will be working in India October 19th-31st, seeking to identify and engage Darzi Muslims and any others the Lord may put in their path with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The International Mission Board has identified the Darzi Muslims as an unreached, unengaged people group. We have only recently heard of the first Darzi to profess Jesus Christ.
Please pray for our team heading to India. We covet your prayers for safe travel, but our prayer should be for the Lord to be glorified in this nation of more than 1.2 billion people. Pray the light of Jesus Christ would shine brightly through the darkness of Hinduism and Islam. Pray for the approximately 5 million Darzi scattered through northern India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Pray they would turn to the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ.