Category Archives: Uncategorized
God Communitycating in My Life
Communitycations. Yes, that is a made up word, but it is the perfect word to describe what I do. Being Director of Communitycations (sounds official doesn’t it?) is a two-fold job. The first part of my job is simply communicating what’s going on at First Baptist Raytown, but it’s the second part of my job that I get excited about. I get to spend my workday hearing, reading, writing, and sharing about the community of First Baptist Raytown.
Sharing about the community here has been on the forefront of my mind for several months now, and often times, when God is prodding me to share something with the church he immerses me in it to see it’s true importance. In the past month God has been doing just that. Had I written this article yesterday, I would not have anything truly remarkable to say about community, but today, my eyes were opened to the beauty that community can bring.
Almost four weeks ago, I went out to my parents’ house to spend the day. I let my dog, Jim Bob, out of the car to play with his best friend, Kate, my family’s dog. I took my keys inside and came right back out to bring the dogs in, but they had run off to play. They had done this numerous times before, but this time it was different. My parents and I spent hours calling their names, but they didn’t return. The next day my dad and I walked miles of woods trying to find them with no success.
Over the next few days, I asked the FBR staff, orchestra, and friends on Facebook to pray for Kate and Jim Bob, but I received much more. I had so many people giving encouraging words and offering up prayers over the past few weeks, I became overwhelmed. Even after weeks of believing the dogs were dead, I still had people sharing words of hope. Through the countless hugs, smiles, and moments when people just let me cry, I felt an overwhelming sense of community, but I’ve only shared half the story.
This morning I woke up to a phone call from my mom. “Jim Bob is curled up
outside.” I was in shock, so I had to ask her to repeat herself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. After I wrapped my head around the idea of my precious dog returning, I called Frank and Laura and let them each know that I would be late to work. From the sound of their voices on the phone, I think they were almost as excited as I was. Next I sent texts to James and Jesse to receive equally excited responses. Pretty soon, the news had spread around the church offices and on Facebook. It has been a day of celebration! It has been a day of community.
You see, in this community we call church, we cry when others cry, we pray when a friend asks, we give encouragement when others have none, and we celebrate when others are experiencing joy. I hope you feel that way about First Baptist Raytown. I pray that you have experienced that same sense of community. I want to ask you to share your experience with us. This is a great time in the life of our church to come together and share our stories to tell each other about our community we love so much. Email me at abrowning@firstbaptistraytown.com or, if you prefer to write it long hand, mail it to me at the church attn: Alyson Browning 10500 E 350 Hwy, Raytown, MO 64138.
It’s Pageant Time Again!
If you don’t know what “pageant” is, it’s our annual Heart of America Christmas Pageant, a church-wide effort to provide a wonderful Christmas gift to the community. Every year, 400-500 church members join together to create, perform, and support this musical drama to 20,000 people.
The choir and drama cast are the “visible” parts of Pageant, but there are so many “behind the scenes” positions that are integral parts as well. How effective would the Pageant be without those beautiful costumes? How many of our members would be able to participate if there were no childcare available? No matter that you cannot sing or act – we can use your talent somewhere else!
Check out the list of opportunities below, but be sure to take note of the deadline for each opportunity! Head to the website to find out more about the ways to get involved in this year’s pageant or to sign up! Don’t forget! Pageant Kickoff is Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Atrium. Everyone is welcome!
Sign up by August 22
Choir
Cast (speaking)
Childcare
Costumes
Sewing
Sign up by September 26
Cast (non-speaking)
Celestial Angels
Cherub Angels
Jewish Dancer
Office help (daytime)
Prayer Team
Prop Crew8
Sign up by October 17
Backstage Crew
Set decoration crew
Stage construction
Tickets
Unload trailer
Sign up by November 21
Cleanup Crew
Costume laundry
Lobby Decorations
Food Services – Buffet
Food Services – Pageant Crew
Parking
Security
Ushers/Ticket Takers
Joplin Tornado Disaster Relief
First Baptist Raytown will be taking vehicles filled with disaster relief supplies accompanied by a group of workers to help Joplin recover from the damage caused by Sunday’s tornado. We hope you will partner with us in any way you can.
Visit www.FirstBaptistRaytown.com for updated details on donations and volunteering.
Israel Mission Report: Day 5
So today we had another learning/travel day. We left the Sea of Galilee to head toward Jerusalem. We made it half way today and are staying in Ari’el. It is a city in the middle of Israel in the West Bank. Half way to Ari’el is Nazareth and of course we stopped. Nazareth is a very large, populated, very modern city. There is a small area in the middle of the city that is not developed. There are no houses and construction happening like everywhere else in Nazareth. In fact, the land was given to the YMCA by the hospital that sits next door. When the YMCA was deciding what to do with the land, they found a wine press and that told them that undoubtedly this land was a farm. Based on the proximity and the history of Christ’s life, it is very likely that He worked with his father on this farm. The YMCA decided to recreate the farm village using only local materials and built the village in the same manor they would have in Christ’s time.
This visit to the Nazareth Village was very informative and cool and neat and all those things that you would expect. But people kept saying how scripture would make more sense and come to life when you go to the Holy Land and see it with your own eyes. Today, that came to life. They would do the farming on hillsides. Since a sideways hill was not the best way to grow a crop, they created terraces on the hillside so that there were flat strips all down the hillside to grow the crops on. As a result, the terraces and homes and shops and everything were in a “donkey path” (zigzag across the hillside). As you sit and look at the path winding around the hill and the terrace walls and the large bedrock stones they made the winepress and the cisterns out of, and the fertile soil in the terraces, it made this scripture come to life in a whole new way:
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Matthew 13:4-8
Israel Mission Report – Day 3
Today we had the experience of visitng Capernum, where Jesus spent so much of his time. According to guides, it was in or around Capernum where Jesus did most of the 35 miracles he performed. We visited the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. In fact, Jesse Land, Larry Jones, and James Harding stood on the terrace of the church that has been built on the mountain and read Christ’s very sermon from Matthew. We ended our day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilea and an opportunity to baptize in the Jordan River. Tonight, we will perform our Heart to Heart concert in the lobby of Maga’an for the employees, guests, and surrounding townspeople that have been invited.
Israel Mission Trip Report: Day 2
From James Harding:
Today, May 2, we did our first ministry visit in Tel Aviv. There is a ministry located in the heart of downtown Tel Aviv just blocks from the Mediterranean Sea called Dugit. Dugit means “boat” in Hebrew and the name reflects the mission of the ministry, to be fishers of men. They do two ministries, one is a coffee shop featuring live music and the other provides food and clothing for those in need in Tel Aviv. We delivered 6 suitcases loaded with children’s clothing that was collected by FBR and the Hope Network. It was exciting to hear about the growing congregation of worshipers (Messianic Jews) and how they are working with Arab Christians in Tel Aviv. The city of Tel Aviv is a very secular place and this ministry located in the heart of the community was an incredible opportunity to share the gospel in a lost world.
Pictures from Wayne Wheeler:
Something wonderful at local elementary school
Did you know that something wonderful took place yesterday afternoon at Robinson Elementary in Raytown?
You probably are aware that our WaM children’s choir will be performing the musical Happily Forever After this coming Sunday. What some of you may not know is that a team from our church has been going over to Robinson Elementary every Wednesday afternoon to teach a group of about 35 kids the musical. Yesterday, these kids had the opportunity to perform a mini-version of the musical after school.
What a blessing it was to witness God’s amazing grace and, in many ways, a miracle yesterday afternoon as we watched these kids praise our Lord through the music of Happily Forever After and to see a gym filled with parents and school faculty! The kids did an amazing job – but the most amazing part was that it was within the walls of a public school rather than a church building. Seeds were planted and through God’s power, lives will be changed!
The Lord put together a series of events to make this happen and now the kids from Robinson have been invited to join us this Sunday to perform the musical with the full WaM children’s choir. Please pray for each child and family, through this outreach opportunity, that they would hear and receive the truth of God’s Word.
Isaiah 55:11 – So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Praising God for His glory,
Robin Moore
(WaM mother, FBR church member, and staff member)
Did you miss the Plug yesterday? Everyda
Did you miss the Plug yesterday? Everyday with Clay is now on the FBR YouTube channel at http://ow.ly/4COad
