What's Around the Corner?

I wanted to take a few moments to make sure you know what is coming in the next few months. As we approach the summer, many things are happening.

Backpacks
I hope you will continue to pray and give for our backpack giveaway at Pinewood Elementary for their Open House. We are asking you to give $11 per backpack to help those who need it. Since we are buying in bulk, we need the donations by the end of May. At this point, we have received enough to purchase 30 backpacks. We have a lot of work to do, but I know our church will come through.

Vacation Bible School
VBS is right around the corner. The theme this year is Galactic Starveyors, and the dates are June 11-15 from 6:00-8:30pm. You can register by clicking here.

M-Fuge
M-Fuge is a camp for our students, and it isn't too late to sign up. Please talk to Tim if you are interested. He is hosting a meeting this Sunday, May 21, after at noon.

Children's Camp
This is our first year taking children to camp. The dates are June 23-26, at Camp Paron. It is for children who have completed 3rd-5th grades, and the cost is $40 per child. Registration deadline is May 28, so please see Kerry if you are interested.

Wednesday Meal
Due to the kitchen staff's inability to consistently be here during the summer months, we will not have the Wednesday Night Meal June 14-July 26.

In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR

Annual Backpack Giveaway

Over the past few years, we have collected backpacks filled with supplies to give to families as they start back to school. Last year we made a couple of changes for the better in how we organize our annual backpack giveaway. First, we adopted a local elementary school so we could specifically help one school. We are doing the same thing this year, but we will be at Pinewood Elementary School. We have begun a partnership with them, and this would be a blessing for them. Second, we collected money instead of individuals purchasing backpacks and supplies because we can order in bulk and have twice as many backpacks to give away. As we approach the Fall, we will let you know how you can specifically help at the event. Right now, we need to begin collecting the funds for the backpacks. To order in bulk, we need to place our order by June 10. I hope and pray you will consider giving for this opportunity. Each backpack you donate for costs $11.

In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR

Modern Worship Pastor Update

If you were unable to be here on Sunday, I wanted to update you on our search for a Modern Worship Pastor. Jonah Bynum was here in view of a call. He sang the special music in the first service, and then he lead the modern worship service. The vote was 68-0 in favor of calling him to serve with us here at FBC. Jonah accepted, and his first Sunday will be May 21. We look forward to his serving alongside us, and I hope you will be in prayer for him.

In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor FBC Jacksonville, AR

Modern Worship Pastor Search Update

If you have been unable to be with us the past few weeks, I wanted to bring you up to speed on our search for a new modern worship pastor. Jackson Barton had his last Sunday with us on April 2. We are thankful for his service as he was instrumental in helping us launch our modern worship service. In our search to find someone to fill this position, we were pointed to Jonah Bynum. He is currently a student at UCA, and he leads worship for the BCM. After several conversations with him and listening to him lead worship, we are convinced God is leading us to call Jonah as our next modern worship pastor.

Jonah will come in view of a call on April 23. We want to give those who attend the first service an opportunity to listen to him, so he will sing the special music during the first service. He will then lead worship for the modern worship service. At noon, we will have a luncheon in fellowship hall to give our members the chance to ask Jonah questions. He will share his testimony and call to ministry as part of the meeting. We will then transition into a business meeting and vote by secret ballot. I hope you will be here to help us be a part of this process.

In Christ,

Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR

Disciples Making Disciples: Shepherding

This past Sunday we learned how discipleship cannot happen without relationship. God has designed us to be in relationship with Him, but we were also created to be in relationship with one another. We saw how Rules - Relationship = Rebellion, while Rules + Relationship = Obedience. We are called to Grow in our walk, or another way of describing this is that we are to become like Jesus. Becoming like Jesus means we have to live out (obey) His commands (rules). Without relationship we will merely rebel. I also shared our vision for creating Connect groups that are centered around relationship. These groups will meet in homes and will not exceed 12-14 people. Once a small group grows beyond those numbers, it is no longer a small group. When a group grows to that size, people can't be known relationally in a way that encourages them to grow into mature disciples of Christ.

This coming Sunday will be the final sermon about discipleship. We will talk about the role of shepherding. This is the idea of us taking care of the needs of one another. This was modeled by the early church in Acts 2:42-47. In fact, lost people were attracted to them because of how they loved one another. We will look in Ezekiel 34:2-5 and understand the failure of the religious leaders because they weren't good shepherds. Then, we will study 1 John 3:16-19 and see that we all have a responsibility to shepherd (take care of) one another. This is rarely effective in a large group. Shepherding (taking care of each other) happens best in small groups where through relationship we grow to love one another.

In Christ,

Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR

Disciples Making Disciples: Relationship

This past Sunday we spent our time together looking at the stages of spiritual growth. Where am I in terms of spiritual maturity? Am I ready to be a person who makes disciples who makes disciples? We learned that our words and actions reveal where we are in our spiritual growth process. The five stages are Spiritual Death, Spiritual Infant, Spiritual Child, Spiritual Young Adult, and Spiritual Parent. If you were not able to be here this past Sunday, I encourage you to go to our website, www.fbcgo.com, and listen to it.

This coming Sunday we will see that discipleship cannot happen without relationship. God has designed us to be in relationship with Him, but we were also created to be in relationship with one another. Often in church, we lack depth in our relationships with one another that lead to discipleship. We will also see that Rules - Relationship = Rebellion, while Rules + Relationship = Obedience. We are called to Grow in our walk, or another way of describing this is that we are to become like Jesus. Becoming like Jesus means we have to live out (obey) His commands (rules). Without relationship we will merely rebel. We will understand that the type of relationship we were intended to have can only happen in small groups (less than 14). As a part of this sermon, I will explain in greater detail what we feel God is calling us to do long-term. I hope you will be here.

In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR

Disciples Making Disciples: Stages of Spiritual Growth

Last week we asked how Jesus made disciples. We saw from the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 that Jesus did not make disciples in a classroom or use any curriculum--at least not how we would define classroom and curriculum. His classroom was life and happened wherever He was. With Zacchaeus the classroom was on the road and in a house. The "curriculum" was based on the needs of the individual because each of us is unique, and we cannot put people in a box to learn how to follow Jesus. Remember, we cannot separate the results of Jesus from the methods of Jesus. Therefore, disciple making has to be done the way Jesus did it. It happens through relationship as we intentionally model what it means to follow Jesus.

This next Sunday we will look at the stages of spiritual growth. Where am I in terms of spiritual maturity? Am I ready to be a person who makes disciples who makes disciples? We will understand that our words and actions reveal where we are in our spiritual growth process. We will delve into the five stages of spiritual growth, and you will have the opportunity to evaluate your life to see where you are. This will not be designed to discourage you, but I hope you will learn where you are spiritually and what needs to happen next to become a spiritually mature parent who makes disciples who make disciples.