Greetings Church,

Like most of you, when I think of the month of February, I think of love. Love is one of those really overused words today. We might say, I love seafood, or I love my football team, or I love chocolate ice cream. Is this really love? No, I think we can all agree that is simply prefernce. Love is something deeper, something more. Love puts you before me, requires sacrifice and is clearly defined in Scripture. Paul defined love for us in I Cor. 13.

He said:

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Church Events

Feb 3rd

Deacons Meeting

No Small Groups

Youth Super Bowl Party

Feb 7th

Joy Group

Feb 10th

Core Leader Luncheon

Feb17th

Brotherhood

Sunday School

Lord’s Supper

Quarterly Business Meeting

Lifeline

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | MBC |

FEBRUARY 2019 – VOLUME 28

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote 62 words in 4 verses and gave us the most repeated definition of love in history! You hear the words during nearly every wedding ceremony, and this kind of love should be a part of our marriage. I certainly want to love Tammie with that kind of love. She is God’s gift to me, and is an amazing wife, mom, daughter, and partner in ministry. However, marriage is not the context of these verses. This kind of love is meant for the church…our church. It gives me joy to tell you that I see this love lived out daily at Macedonia. Read those words again, and thank God that our church lives them out every day! I know that as this love spills out of our church and into our community we will continue to see God do remarkable things! Now let me tell you what is happening at Macedonia.

February 3

3 PM, Deacons will Meet in the conference room

PM Small Groups will meet for Fellowship or enjoy family time

5 PM, Student Ministry will Have Super Bowl Fellowship @ the church

February 7

10:30 AM, Joy Group (Sr. Adults) will head to Rowan Oak and lunch

February 10

11 AM, Core leader luncheon catered by Kathy Kinghton

February 17

7 AM, Brotherhood Breakfast

9 AM, Sunday School

10 AM, Lord’s Supper

6 PM, Quarterly Business Meeting

Remember, we are trying to build a culture of serious Discipleship at Macedonia. Paul said,

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” -Rom. 10:17

You see, that why it is so important. If we want to increase our faith, we do so by hearing the Word. I cannot grow my faith apart from His word. But in addition to that, I believe that the Christian life is lived best when we have support and accountability within the Body of Christ. Simply put, we need each other. If I am going to grow in Christ, I need you and you need me. We find these words in Hebrews 10:24-25:

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

So, that is why I keep talking about connecting in Sunday School and PM Small Groups. These verses are lived out with other believers who are connected by our common faith and love for God’s Word. It matters…because “the day of His return is drawing near.” That is why we focus on our purpose “To Lead Union County and Beyond to a Life-Changing Relationship with Christ.”

I love you all,

Bro. David

WORSHIP MINISTRY:

Hello Church Family,

I thought this was very inspiring in light

of being injured and unable to fulfill my

duty’s as worship leader. Going through

a struggle is tough and it can’t be done

without God by any means. I’m sure

each of you have gone through your own

struggles. Many of you have done so

much to help us in so many ways! From

prayers, to calls and texts, to visits with

food. We do appreciate each of you and

love you immensely. Thank you Church

for being the Church!

Psalm 66:1-4 (NLT) says....

1 Shout joyful praises to God, all the

earth! 2 Sing about the glory of his

name! Tell the world how glorious he is.

3 Say to God, “how awesome are your

deeds! Your enemies cringe before your

mighty power. 4 Everything on earth

will worship you; they will sing your

praises, shouting your name in glorious

songs.” God desires our praises our

worship and our devotion to him! Seek

you first the kingdom of God and all

these things shall be added unto you!

Read Psalm 139 and then listen to the song by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/t7owFiihXgg Then rejoice to know that....He Knows Our Name!

With much love,

Bro. David B.

TEAMKID:

Purpose: Catching Air teaches kids to soar in

God's strength, as He helps them live for Him

and tell others about His love. TeamKid is

for the next generation of kids - with high

energy games, a greater emphasis on

missions, and more memory verses that help

kids apply Bible truths to real life - while kids

learn Bible truths foundational for every

Christian.

Questions addressed include:

-How great is our God?

-What went wrong?

-Why is the Bible important?

-What is unique about Jesus?

-What happened on the cross?

-Do I have a mission?

Verse: "Then, together with them, we who

are still alive and remain on the earth will be

caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in

the air. Then we will be with the Lord

forever."

1 Thessalonians 4:17

We kicked back off with TeamKid on

Wednesday, January 9th. All the kids and

volunteers were excited to get back

together. On March 27th we will have High

Attendance for TeamKid. More information

will be announced closer to time. Also,

please keep this program in your prayers. We

have an opportunity to reach out to so many

young kids and therefore reach out to

parents. Parents, if you have a child from Pre

-K through 6th grade that has no where to go

on Wednesday nights, we would love to have

them join us. If you have any questions,

please call Jack McQuary at (662) 266-0122.

The Mission Statement for the Children’s Ministry is: To provide children with the necessary tools to grow – • Their faith in Jesus Christ; • Their desire to be obedient to Him; • Their fullest potential through Christ-like attitudes; and • Their love for Him that remains throughout their lifetime. Happy New Year from the children’s ministry here at Macedonia Baptist Church. Each New Year brings about New Year’s resolutions. It’s no different for us than it is for each of you. With some we succeed, with others we fail. This year, in Children’s Worship, we came up with a list of resolutions that we wanted to succeed at this church year. I was so very proud of our children, they really thought long and hard before coming up with these 15 New Year’s resolutions. I am going to list our resolutions below and I hope you, as parents and grandparents, will encourage your children regarding these new suggestions to make us better people and servants to our community and our church. Maybe you could create a checklist at home and as these things are done, consistently, help your children mark them off the list. 1. Invite someone to church. (I specifically encouraged them to invite their friends who do not

attend any church to our fun monthly events.) High Attendance day for children’s worship is March 31, and our goal is 60 kids!

2. Read our Bibles more. 3. Strive to see more people saved. 4. Tell more people about Jesus. 5. Be nicer to everyone, not just our friends. 6. Be more respectful to our teachers. 7. Stand up for those being bullied. 8. Raise money to help those left fortunate. 9. Always do your best and never give up. 10. Pray more for others. 11. Participating in worship by song (at least once a month). 12. Celebrate birthdays. (This will be done on the 1st Sunday of each month. We will celebrate

all of the birthdays that are occurring that month. We also agreed to tie our celebration in with #8. When you attend someone’s birthday celebration, a gift is usually brought. We decided on the 1st Sunday of every month, we would bring as our “gifts” for those we are celebrating, either a canned food item (to be donated to the food pantry) or either an item that could be donated to the clothes closet. It doesn’t have to be an item of their clothing. It can be an item of clothing from anyone in the household. Parents please encourage this, it will teach our children that we should be open to helping others in their times of need.)

13. Make a more conscious effort to bring an offering to church. (Our offerings go to the Save-A-Life Clinic of Union County. Parents, please try to remember to send an offering with your children.)

14. Keep a prayer journal and pray over our requests. 15. Memorize one Bible verse each month. (If they memorize 11 verses by the end of 2019, they

will receive a special prize.) I am super proud of our children for coming up with these resolutions. Also, we have a very exciting event coming for February. Final details are still being worked out but more information with soon be forthcoming. So, please keep a lookout in the bulletin for more details.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

I am super excited about all of the new things that are going on inside our youth

ministry. Our basic purpose is to reach as many youth in Union County and beyond through

Christ, community, service, and by having fun. We had our high attendance Wednesday on

January 23 and our goal was 50. We had 52. I could not be more proud of our youth for their

dedication to this youth group and to this ministry. We are still growing spiritually and

numerically. If you are reading this I challenge you to pray for our youth. Pray that they make

godly decisions. Pray that they will not fall into temptation. Pray that they will be focused on

the gospel ministry and pray, if they’re going through a hard time, that they would seek out

guidance from Christ. I also encourage you to encourage the youth because they really are

facing a lot.

On February 3, we will have a Super Bowl party at the church, starting at 5pm. We will

have lots of food, fun, and fellowship. Students are supposed to bring their favorite game

time/tailgate food.

On February 9, we will have a Valentine’s Banquet Fundraiser for the youth mission trip

as they go back to New Orleans this summer. Couples are welcome to join us for a fun

date night out – including childcare. You will be served by the students & enjoy some

really good food. It starts at 6pm. Tickets are $30 per couple and kids tickets are $5. Come

out and enjoy a romantic date while supporting our kids.

March 1-3 is our DNOW. Registration will be $40 and if you register before February 16,

you will get a shirt. If you would like to volunteer to help in anyway, please see James or

Carie.

July 20-26 is our inner-city mission trip to New Orleans. The registration deadline for

church camp is May 1. There is a $75 non-refundable deposit due before May 1st. We

look forward to seeing what God is going to do in New Orleans this year.

STUDENT MINISTRY

R.E.A.L. Life Women's Ministry:

R-relationships

E-encouragement

A-accountability

L-laughter

Purpose: Women connecting with other women to help one another grow in their commitment to Christ, through relationships, encouragement and accountability.

Verse: "I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself." Colossians 2:2

Be on the lookout for upcoming events as we meet to make plans for our next time of fellowship. We are so excited about friendships that are being made in this ministry and please invite any ladies that may not know about this ministry. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as women connect with each other and grow together in their faith with Christ.

WOM:

We exist to help involve our members in missions by providing opportunities

for them to learn about, pray for, give to, and do mission. Our February meeting

will be the 4th in the fellowship hall at 6:30PM. Anyone interested in missions is

welcome.

Joy Group: Our meeting will be February 7th. We will be going to Rowan Oak in Oxford. The bus will leave the church at 10:00 AM. Our March meeting will be March 6th and

we will again have Malcom Lindsey sing for us. The Joy Group exists to engage in fellowship events, to minister to one another and to reach those who need Christ in

Union County and beyond.