Pastor's Notes

I hope that Everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We had a good time around our house, enjoying time with each other. We watched some movies, ate a big turkey dinner, and made a craft together. It was a relaxing day to enjoy some time together.

There is a lot that is coming up this week. We will be having a Theology Class, and a Ladies Bible Study on the same night. I have a meeting on Friday in South Jersey and will be traveling with my friend, Pastor Roof, down and back. I am looking forward to the time of fellowship with him.

The Christmas Dinner will be on Saturday, December 19 at 5:30 PM. The church will provide a ham and turkey for the dinner, and we ask that you bring a side and/or dessert to share. I look forward to this time of fellowship together as we remember the birth of our Savior, and that He came to die for our sins.

It is interesting listening to Joel talk, he is using more and more words, but he has a hard time with his siblings names. Stephen is "Oonan", Rebekah is "Nekah" and Jennifer is "UhHuh." Perhaps in the near future, we will be able to tell which one of his sisters and brother he is complaining about. Until then, we are continuing to teach him their names.

As we prepare for Christmas, we will set up a table in the back for non-perishables. During this time there are some families that are going through a season of difficulty, and we would like to be able to minister to them, and share with them an example of God's Great love.

Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

Sarah and the children were delayed a day in coming home because of a problem with the van. As they were preparing to leave her parents house, the check engine light came on. Rather than try and make a lengthy trip with something major wrong, she took the time to have it checked out. It seems that the problem should not affect the operation of the vehicle, but the amount of pollution that we create. We will need to get it fixed in the next couple of weeks.

This Wednesday we will have our Thanksgiving Eve service. We encourage you to join us for this time of fellowship as we rejoice in what God is doing in our lives. Please bring a praise and a pie for our fellowship. I trust that this Thanksgiving will be one that we remember for many years because of all of the blessings that God has poured out on us. May we rejoice for he is a great God and worthy of praise. While we have the privilege of setting aside one day of the year, may our daily lives be ones of offering praise to God.

For Christmas, we will have a Prayer Meeting Service on December 23. There will not be a Christmas Eve Service. The following week, we will have no Prayer meeting, but a New Year's Eve fellowship at the Parsonage. We enjoy this great time of fellowship. Please let me know this week whether December 12 or 19 works better for you for a Church Christmas Dinner. It seems hard to believe that this coming up on us so quickly.

-Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

Sarah and the children left on Wednesday to visit with her family in North Carolina. Her sister and nephew are flying in from California, and her brother teaches at the school where her Dad is the administrator. They have a busy time planned. Her grandmother was supposed to fly in from Ohio, but she broke her arm and is unable to make it.

They had hoped to make it to North Carolina on Thursday, but due to heavy rain and high winds they stayed at my parent's house for an extra day. Mom took them to an outlet mall. I always hated those trips. We went once a year right before school started, and we had to carry the bags with our clothes in them after Mom bought them. We would get there early and they threw us out at the end of the day.

Brendan and Melissa Homquist were originally scheduled to be with us in July for our Vacation Bible School on July 19-23, 2010. However, they recently e-mailed us to let us know of a change in their itinerary. Melissa is expecting, and so they will be unable to come home until September. We rejoice with their newest gift. If you believe that you could help in any way, please let Dale Conklin know so that we can begin making plans. We will be doing a Sea Quest theme this year. I will keep you informed.

Men, we will be scheduling some project nights on Thursdays from January through April here in the church. There are some minor and major projects that we can accomplish together. This will be a time of fellowship, and a chance to finish some projects around the church.

-Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

How exciting it is to be reminded that this world is not our home. There is much about Heaven that we have been told in Scriptures, of the beauty of the Heavenly city, of a street of gold, of the absence of tears, illness, death, and the sun. However, the greatest delight we have in Heaven is that we shall be in the presence of our God and Savior for all eternity.

There is much about Heaven that we do not know. God has given us but a foretaste of its glories. If this is so, I can only begin to imagine how much greater the joy and delight that will be there when we arrive home. May our hearts and minds be encouraged as we consider the study of our future home. May our prayer be "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

It is our delight to have the Stelzers with us this morning. Dr. Stelzer has spent 20 years in the ministry, and is currently a professor in the Bible department at Pensacola Christian College and Pensacola Theological Seminary. I have had him as an instructor on both the undergraduate and graduate level, and look forward to having him share the Word of God with us this morning.

Basic Baptist Beliefs: a study on the Biblical Distinctives of Being a Baptist. Starting next week, Pastor Bossley will begin teaching this class during the Adult Sunday School hour. This class will examine the reasons why we identify ourselves as a Baptist Church. We will examine both the doctrinal positions and their practical import into what we believe. Come join us for this time of study, and bring your children for classes for their age.

-Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

Next Sunday, we will have Dr. Karl Stelzer from Pensacola Christian College with us for a Bible Conference on Heaven. He will be highlighting several aspects of our future home, and we look forward to having him with us. This conference has been something that I have looked forward to for close to three years now. While I regret that the original speaker was not able to be with us, I believe that God has Divinely provided for us, and that we will learn much next weekend.

It is my primary desire that this conference will be an encouragement to you as we study on our Heavenly citizenship. I am hoping that we will be challenged to consider the end of our life and its joys that await us, so that we might choose to live godly in the present time.

On November 15, we will be starting a new Adult Sunday School Class taught by Pastor Bossley. We will have more information next Sunday, but I encourage you to make plans to attend the Sunday School hour. We begin combined with singing and celebrating birthdays and then we break up into different classes. This is a great time for the entire family.

We are currently examining prices for redoing some blacktop around the church. We are examining prices for doing the hole dug up by the septic, the potholes at the bottom, the driveway, and the entirety. This is an expensive fix that we will need to address in the coming months. We covet your prayers as we look toward caring for our property.

-Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

This week Stephen turned six. We gave him some presents Wednesday, and then had cake with him on Thursday. Other than having laryngitis, he seemed to have a good time. As I write this, we are planning to go down to South Jersey in a couple of hours. I believe that Mom is planning on celebrating with him down there.

In a couple weeks, Sarah and the children will be heading down to North Carolina to visit with her parents. Rachel and Michah (Our newest nephew) are flying in from Ohio. Ryan and Laci now live and work in the area, so they will be around for part of the time. While they are away, I will be able to get ahead in some of the projects looming before me.

Next Sunday, we will finish the Adult Sunday School lessons through "The Maturing Church: Studies in 1 and 2 Corinthians." The following week, we will have Dr. Stelzer with us for a Bible Conference on Heaven. Please use the enclosed flyer to invite people to this special conference as we discuss the realities of our future home. Following the Bible Conference, Pastor Bossley will begin teaching the adult class.

Today is my sister's birthday. Hopefully, by putting this on the back of the bulletin, I will remember to call her. If not, I can always show her the bulletin to demonstrate that I remembered her birthday. Wow! October is a busy month for us with so many birthdays.

-Pastor Stephen Racite

Pastor's Notes

This past Wednesday, the membership of the Maranatha Bible Church voted to legally dissolve Maranatha and after the payment of all debts that the assets be turned over to Cornwall Baptist Church. This will now be passed on to our attorney, who will provide us with an announcement for the paper. For the next 4 weeks, we will need to announce the dissolution and ask any one who has any outstanding bills to come forward to be paid. After this is completed, the resolution will go to the state Attorney General for his approval. This will take a couple of weeks to accomplish. Once all of this is finished, we will be in the eyes of the law that we have already determined that we are in the eyes of the Lord - One church.

This is an exciting time for our ministry, and I am looking forward to God's leading in the days and weeks to come. We are beginning a new phase in our ministry, and one in which we all need to labor together. It is my prayer, that as a result of our reunification, that we will see many souls in the community saved and added to the church.

This coming week, we will be informing all of the missionaries of Maranatha and Cornwall of the decisions that have been made so that they can pray with us. None of the missionaries will be dropped in support, and we will be having them come in as they return home on furlough. Brendan and Melissa Holmquist will be with us for the week of Vacation Bible School next summer, July 19-23. Brendan will be sharing a continuous story (?) about their ministry during the week. We will also have them present their ministry to us either the Sunday prior or after VBS.

-Pastor Stephen Racite