God continues to bless the ministries at Franconia Baptist. This time he has blessed our church with two new additions to the church staff.
Kati Love has just begun as the church's new administrative assistant. Kati and her husband, Trevor, are recent graduates of Cedarville University. In the short time that Kati has been working in the office it is apparent that her gifts and talents coupled with a passion for ministry are going to greatly bless Franconia Baptist Church.
Jessica Eaglin has joined the team as our new director of the Child Development Center. The CDC is a Christ-centered preschool program that has been serving our community for more than 20 years. Jessica is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and is currently pursuing an MA in Educational Leadership from George Washington University.
I am completely blown away by the talented and passionate people that God continues to bring to our congregation and now our staff. Maybe our church is the place that God wants to use your gifts and talents?
-Aaron
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Be On Guard
My brother and I used to run around the house with anything that even closely resembled a sword yelling “On Guard!” This was the gentlemanly way of telling the other person to pay attention because the battle was about to begin. In the battle that we fight with the devil we never hear those words. Satan never warns us to be prepared before he attacks. The apostle Peter warns us to be on the alert because the devil is like a prowling lion, seeking someone to devour.
It has been very exciting to see how much God has blessed the church these last few months. At the same time this reminded me that we need to be prepared for the battle to come. I can't imagine Satan allowing this ministry to grow unopposed.
It has been very exciting to see how much God has blessed the church these last few months. At the same time this reminded me that we need to be prepared for the battle to come. I can't imagine Satan allowing this ministry to grow unopposed.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
New Members, New Leaders, and New Ministries
God is doing good things at Franconia Baptist Church. I wanted to share with everyone that in the last few weeks he has brought new members, new leaders, and new ministries to our church.
To be honest it hasn't been the easiest thing for me to learn patience, to wait on God's timing. It sure is exciting to a sometimes impatient person when the timing is right and things start happening.
Not only is God brining new people to be members of the church, He is identifying biblicall-sound, spiritually-mature people who see the vision of what God can do with this strategically located church. If you go back to the earliest posts in this blog you will find that specific thing as a prayer request. Praise Him for answering prayer!
Some of the new ministries that we are thinking about are: Vacation Bible School, Small Groups, and some Outreach/Evangelism opportunities.
We need your continued prayers for Franconia Baptist Church as we ask God to finish bringing it back to life.
- Aaron
To be honest it hasn't been the easiest thing for me to learn patience, to wait on God's timing. It sure is exciting to a sometimes impatient person when the timing is right and things start happening.
Not only is God brining new people to be members of the church, He is identifying biblicall-sound, spiritually-mature people who see the vision of what God can do with this strategically located church. If you go back to the earliest posts in this blog you will find that specific thing as a prayer request. Praise Him for answering prayer!
Some of the new ministries that we are thinking about are: Vacation Bible School, Small Groups, and some Outreach/Evangelism opportunities.
We need your continued prayers for Franconia Baptist Church as we ask God to finish bringing it back to life.
- Aaron
Saturday, April 18, 2009
New Series - The Joy of Philippi
It's very exciting for me, as a new pastor to complete my first major sermon series. Last year in late summer I had no idea that we would be closing in on the end of Mark near Easter. This allowed me to finish this series "Walking in the footsteps of our Savior" with the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
We have no worked through an Old Testament narrative, Ruth, and a New Testament narrative, Mark. I would like to begin a detailed study in Romans soon, but thought that it might be nice to have a breather in between the two lengthy studies.
This made me think about a relatively short study in the book of Phillipians. The joy, the confidence, the encouragement that resonates through this short letter is just as helpful to me today as it must have been to the church in Philippi.
We welcome you to come and join us for this time of encouragement.
- Aaron
We have no worked through an Old Testament narrative, Ruth, and a New Testament narrative, Mark. I would like to begin a detailed study in Romans soon, but thought that it might be nice to have a breather in between the two lengthy studies.
This made me think about a relatively short study in the book of Phillipians. The joy, the confidence, the encouragement that resonates through this short letter is just as helpful to me today as it must have been to the church in Philippi.
We welcome you to come and join us for this time of encouragement.
- Aaron
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
God blessed our Easter service!
Praise God! He has been exceedingly good to our congregation these last few months. In addition to the fresh new faces at Franconia we were blessed by an amazing Easter Service.
This year we decided to have a joint service with the Franconia Korean Baptist Church. They supplied an excellent music program directed by Pastor Hong Kim, Clarient US Army Band Retired.
Our prayers were answered when we had to start directing people to the balcony to accomodate the overflow. When I went up for the offeratory prayer I noticed that the deacons had moved all the couches from the entry way into the back of the sancturary to create one more set of pews. In fact, I didn't find out until half way through the service that the deacons were so busy seating people that they forgot to take the offering. Everyone got a big laugh out of that.
After the service FKBC hosted a wonderful Easter buffet. The fellowship between the two congregations is developing in ways that I have not seen before.
At the beginning of the service I joked with everyone that it would be great if they could all come back next week. I wasn't really kidding. :)
This year we decided to have a joint service with the Franconia Korean Baptist Church. They supplied an excellent music program directed by Pastor Hong Kim, Clarient US Army Band Retired.
Our prayers were answered when we had to start directing people to the balcony to accomodate the overflow. When I went up for the offeratory prayer I noticed that the deacons had moved all the couches from the entry way into the back of the sancturary to create one more set of pews. In fact, I didn't find out until half way through the service that the deacons were so busy seating people that they forgot to take the offering. Everyone got a big laugh out of that.
After the service FKBC hosted a wonderful Easter buffet. The fellowship between the two congregations is developing in ways that I have not seen before.
At the beginning of the service I joked with everyone that it would be great if they could all come back next week. I wasn't really kidding. :)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Baptisms Rock!
This Sunday I had the privilege of performing my first two baptisms. It was great! I have been getting to know this couple for several months now. They have been incredibly patient with me. Not only are they the first two people that I have baptized; they are also going to be my first wedding in June.
Let me tell you a little bit about the significance of these baptisms for our church. Not that I doubted it, but God is at work. I met with several of the leaders on Saturday to figure out what we were doing. What I discovered was that no one could exactly remember the last time that our church baptized anyone.
Not only had everyone forgotten the date of the last baptism, they had also forgotten how to operate the baptistery. One of the trustees had to run down to Home Depot and get a piece of rubber that could be cut to the correct size to prevent the water from draining faster than filling. On Sunday morning when we started to fill the baptistery we only got about 8 inches of water before the hot water tank ran out. The other 4 feet was bone chillingly cold. I felt terrible for our engaged couple. We all pasted smiles on as the shock of ice water numbed our minds.
The service ended with this couple and another joining the church. If you cry at weddings you should have been with us on Sunday. I saw at least five longtime members of our congregations wiping their eyes by the end of the service. They deserve it. They deserve the opportunity to see God begin to use Franconia Baptist for His glory again.
- Aaron
Let me tell you a little bit about the significance of these baptisms for our church. Not that I doubted it, but God is at work. I met with several of the leaders on Saturday to figure out what we were doing. What I discovered was that no one could exactly remember the last time that our church baptized anyone.
Not only had everyone forgotten the date of the last baptism, they had also forgotten how to operate the baptistery. One of the trustees had to run down to Home Depot and get a piece of rubber that could be cut to the correct size to prevent the water from draining faster than filling. On Sunday morning when we started to fill the baptistery we only got about 8 inches of water before the hot water tank ran out. The other 4 feet was bone chillingly cold. I felt terrible for our engaged couple. We all pasted smiles on as the shock of ice water numbed our minds.
The service ended with this couple and another joining the church. If you cry at weddings you should have been with us on Sunday. I saw at least five longtime members of our congregations wiping their eyes by the end of the service. They deserve it. They deserve the opportunity to see God begin to use Franconia Baptist for His glory again.
- Aaron
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Change is Here, Now
This week I had the opportunity to make my way down to the National Mall for the 56th presidential inauguration. One of the principle reasons that I went was because we live in a country that is experiencing radical change and not the kind that came up in the campaign speeches. Observing the skeptical and sometimes angry way that many of the 2 million people responded to the invocation prayer made me very sad. Talking about God in America is quickly becoming the one acceptable intolerance.
I believe that Christians should become students of culture in order to effectively communicate the Gospel . What I observed on Tuesday was that American culture has dramatically shifted. We must also be willing to change for the sake of the Gospel.
I believe that Christians should become students of culture in order to effectively communicate the Gospel . What I observed on Tuesday was that American culture has dramatically shifted. We must also be willing to change for the sake of the Gospel.
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