Ferguson Avenue Baptist Church 10050 Ferguson Avenue ❖ Savannah, Georgia 31406
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April 25, 2021 Ferguson Avenue Baptist Church 10050 Ferguson Avenue ❖ Savannah, Georgia 31406 Where Christ Is Exalted and the Fellowship Is Exciting Announcements Masks Only in Overflow Rooms The overflow rooms are reserved for those wearing masks who also prefer to maintain social distancing. If you would like to sit in the overflow room, you must wear a mask. Thank you! Joy Class All women are invited for crafts and fellowship on Tuesday, April 27, at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday Night Bible Study Join us in the Fellowship Hall as Bob continues his study of Romans on Wednesday night, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. Senior Saints’ Bible Study Join Tom Keller for the Thursday Morning Bible Study in the Fellowship Hall on Thursday, April 29, from 10:00 a.m.to 12:00 noon. Homeless Ministry Tom Keller serves lunch at the Old Savannah City Mission on the first Saturday of each month. May 1 is the next date. Contact Tom if you would like to help! Ladies’ Tea D-Group is hosting a Ladies’ Tea on Saturday, May 1, at 3:00 p.m. A sign up sheet is in the hall. Seating is limited to 20. Limited childcare is available upon request. New Member’s Class Tom Keller will be teaching a new member’s class during Sunday School on May 2, 9, 16, and 23. This class has as its goal to introduce new members to FABC and assist in helping them to get acclimated. Here are several questions to consider to decide if you should take this class: 1.) Are you interested in being a member at FABC? 2.) Are you interested in seeing where you fit in and where you can serve as a member? 3.) Do you want to teach a future class? 4.) Do you want to offer suggestions on how to improve the class? Class will meet in Room 28. Please use the sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the hallway. More announcements on p. 4 FABC Elders Bob Dimmitt Tom Keller Steve Posner Church Phone: Senior Pastor Assoc. Pastor/ Elder 912-355-0949 912-398-4363 Senior Adults 912-704-5617 [email protected] [email protected] 912-308-3767 [email protected] www.fabchurch.com [email protected] April 25, 2021 Welcome and Announcements Call to Worship Psalm 145:17-21 Pew Bible p. 525 Hymn, bulletin p. 6 “Psalm 150:Praise Him!” Prayer of General Confession Bob Dimmitt Acts 5:30-32 Pew Bible p. 913 Hymn, bulletin p. 7 “Good and Gracious King” Scripture Reading Mark 10:46-11:11 Napoleon Martin Pew Bible p. 847 Hymn, bulletin p. 8 “All I Have Is Christ” Message Bob Dimmitt Understanding Tongues, Part 5: A Mini-Study on the Truth & Ministry of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, Pew Bible p. 960 1 Corinthians #97 Hymn, below “Doxology” Old Hundred Tune Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen 2 A.M. Notes Understanding Tongues, Part 5 A Mini-Study on the Truth & Ministry of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians #97 Two questions: 1. How can I know for sure if I have the Holy Spirit in me? 2. How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? Romans 8:9 Ephesians 1:13-14 & 5:18–20 Acts 4:31 Is speaking in tongues evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit? – No Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 7:55-56; Acts 13:9-10; Acts 13:47-52 Galatians 5:16-17 Is speaking in tongues the sign of baptism of the Holy Spirit? 1 Corinthians 14:4-19 3 Women of Light Spring Banquet This ministry to our women is ramping back up, beginning with a Spring Banquet on Friday, May 21, at 6:00 p.m. There is a sign-up sheet in the hall. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Keller. VBS - Mystery Island We are holding a live, in person, VBS this summer, June 21 - 25! You may register your child(ren) for our VBS online at fabc.myanswers.com/mystery-island/. Women’s D-Group The next 6-week session, Thessalonians Part 2 (T2), begins the week of May 9. Please contact Jessica Dimmitt, Savannah Martin, or Emily Wise if you are interested in joining the next session! We have a group Monday mornings at 10, Tuesday evenings at 6:30 and Thurs- day evenings at 6:00. You must make arrangements to join beforehand. Men’s D-Group We would like to start a Men’s D-Group study here at FABC! Men, please consider getting involved. The sessions are only six weeks long, the homework is minimal, and you can try it out and see if it is something that will benefit you. (Spoiler: it will.) In order to make this happen, we need a man willing to lead a session. You would be merely a facilitator to guide the meeting and the discussion of the homework questions. This is a non-teaching role, so there is no pressure to prepare a lecture. If you would like to do this, talk to Bob Dimmitt. You need to go through an online session group (because there is not a session meeting in the area), then do some online training. The Women’s D-Group is going very well and growing. You can ask any one of them how it is going. Attention, Graduates! Each Spring, we recognize our graduates from High School and College and congratu- late them on their milestones! If you are graduating this year, please send a picture, where you are graduating from, and a few words about your future plans to [email protected]! hristianity is not only intellectual….Christianity is being born again on the basis of the finished work of Christ, His substitutionary death in real C history. Christianity is the reality of communion with God in the present life; it is the understanding that there is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; it is the understanding that there is the moment-by-moment empowering of the Holy Spirit. Christianity is the understanding that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” It is the understanding that the fruit of the Spirit is meant to mean something real to all Christians. It is understanding that prayer is real and not just a devotional exercise. God means for us to affirm life and not negate life. May God show us the living balance and help us to live, by His grace, in that balance. Francis Schaeffer 4 More details will be available as these dates approach. May: 1 Ladies’ Tea hosted by D-Group 3:00 p.m. 2 New Members’ Class begins during Sunday School 21 Women of Light Spring Banquet 6:00 p.m. June: 1 Lifeline Screening 21-25 VBS Mystery Island 28-7/1 D3 Youth Camp 30 Children’s Choir Begins July: 14 Red Cross Blood Drive 20 Savannah Bananas Game 26-29 Children’s Camp November: 14 Homecoming 5 6 7 8 Articles China Turns Churches into Factories, “Cultural Centers” to Ensure Christians Can’t Meet To ensure Christians are unable to meet, China’s Communist Party reportedly demolishes churches and repurposes places of worship, turning them into entertain- ment venues, factories, or “cultural centers” promoting President Xi Jinping's so- cialist values. Bitter Winter, a publication that monitors religious liberty violations in China, reports that in April, the Guangxin district government in Shangrao city shut down an old local church venue for “organizing illegal gathering” and refusing to join the Three-Self Church. The next month, it was converted into a “Civilization Practice Station for a New Era,” a nationwide project launched by the CCP to encourage people of faith to abandon religions & follow the Party. “Party propaganda posters were posted everywhere in the venue, and table-tennis tables were brought inside,” a church member told Bitter Winter, adding that the church congregation is now forced to gather in homes of believers. The church was just one of many shuttered by the CCP in recent months. According to Bitter Winter, last year, more than 70 Protestant venues — including state-approved Three-Self churches — were shut down in Jiangsu Prov- ince’s prefecture-level cities of Lianyungang & Suqian. In August, at a meeting of Three-Self Church directors in Bailu, a town in Lian- yungang’s Guannan county, town officials explained that empty churches must be rented or sold. One of the churches, which had been unused since its closure in June last year, was rented out in August, while another was sold the same month. Another church, Chenzhuang Church was sold for a mere 20,000 RMB (about $ 3,000.) “The government is eradicating churches,” the church director said. In Suqian city’s Shuyang county, a shut-down church was converted into a me- morial hall for China’s revolutionary heroes. Government-hired workers removed a cross from the building, replacing it with a large pillar. A signboard, saying “Huaihai District’s Military and Political Auditorium,” was displayed above the church entrance. “The church will now be used to teach the young generation about China’s revo- lutionary spirit,” a village official explained. In Suqian’s Siyang county, at least three shut-down Three-Self churches were demolished, and a clinic and clothing factory were built in their place. “People of faith outnumber Communist Party members, & the Party is not win- ning people’s hearts,” a village official explained.