Tuesday, December 16, 2014

ABCOPAD continues to support 1st Baptist's efforts with Mustard Seed Missions

ABCOPAD, the American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware, has been very supportive of our ecumenical efforts to help those in need through Mustard Seed Missions of Venango County.  They have published some of Pastor Powell's musings on the organization in their newsletter and posted pictures of our work sites on their blog.  Always great to have support from the regional pastors for the local work that we're involved in, much thanks in particular to pastors, Mark Mahserjian-Smith, Jeffrey Johnson, and Frank Frischkorn from the regional staff for their encouragement, God bless you guys.

To view the blog posting from the ABCOPAD website click on the link below:
ABCOPAD blog

To view the newsletters with Pastor Powell's writing on MSM, click on the link below, the issues with the articles are October, November, and December of 2014.
ABCOPAD newsletter homepage

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Pastor Powell's work with Mustard Seed Missions featured in ABCOPAD newsletter

The recent ABCOPAD (American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware) newsletter featured an article written by Pastor Powell about his work with Mustard Seed Missions.  To check out the newsletter, click on the link below, the article is on page 5.

ABCOPAD newsletter

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wednesday night study of I & II Peter begins tonight at 7 PM

Our regular Wednesday night Bible study group is starting on I & II Peter tonight and will continue to look at it verse by verse until we've gone through both of them, a process that may take until Christmas.  As a teaser for our study, let me simply point out 6 pairs of couplings that Peter uses to emphasize one of his main points in the first letter: To follow Christ means to avoid evil AND to do good.  Here are the references: 1:13-16, "be self-controlled...be holy", 2:1-2, "rid yourselves of all...crave pure spiritual milk", 2:11-12, "abstain from sinful desires...live such good lives", 2:24, "die to sins and live for righteousness", 3:11, "turn from evil and do good", and 4:2, "does not live...for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God".  Thus as we work our way through Peter's letters, one of the questions that we will seek to answer is: how do we follow this teaching in our lives?

As always, Bible study is open to the public, all are welcome, questions are encouraged.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

History of the English Bible to be offered again in August

The History of the English Bible series that was taught on Wednesday nights this past spring, will be offered again by Pastor Powell on three consecutive Sunday nights in August.  The presentation will be from 6:00-7:30 PM on Sunday the 10th, 17th, and 24th. 

This event is free and open to the public, no need to RSVP, all are welcome. 

It will cover the history of the preservation and translation of the Bible from the original authors to the various English translations we have available today.  It will serve as an introduction to the mountain of evidence that testifies to the accuracy of our modern text.  It will always be a matter of faith to believe that the words of the Bible are God's word, but it need not be one to believe that they are the words of Moses, David, John, and Paul (etc.).  The lecture is full of visual examples of the ancient manuscripts and explanations of the issues associated with copying and translating this crucial text.  It is important that every Christian know and understand where the Bible that we place so much trust in came from, and why we can be confident in the words that it contains.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Good Friday Franklin Ecumenical Tenebrae Service - video



For the second year in a row the Good Friday Ecumenical Service was held utilizing the form of Tenebrae.  This service of light fading into darkness while the accompanying Passion narrative is read and successive candles are snuffed out symbolizes the growing darkness in the world as the Son of God progresses further from suffering to death.  The service reaches its climax with the reading of the death of Jesus, the putting out of the last candle, and the removal of the central Christ candle, the remaining light in the room, and then the closing of the Word of God.  In our service, this time of deep reflection is made more moving by the string quartet performing the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.  After this, the Christ candle is returned to symbolize the hope of the resurrection to come, a final reading is given, and the people depart in contemplative silence.

The video is of course dark, as the room was, but the moving readings combined with the powerful musical string piece certainly still carry emotional weight.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

1st Baptist to participate in Seek God for the City, 2014

Our Church will be participating in the 40 Days of Prayer for Lent using the Seek God for the City format in conjunction with 40 churches through Venango County.  Each church will host a particular day and utilize their own style to pray for the issues outlined in the booklet. 
1st Baptist will host, Tuesday, March 18th at 7PM with the focus on those battling spiritual darkness, the plight of orphans, and several countries in Asia.  This date was chose because of our connection to the work of CYS caseworkers who struggle each day to help children with very difficult parenting situations.  Mustard Seed Missions has worked with CYS and I know personally the dedication of these workers, they need our prayer support.
You can access the complete calendar at the Venango County Christian Ministerium website:
Venango County Christian Ministerium

Friday, February 14, 2014

The History of the English Bible, a 2 week study, Feb 19th and 26th

Pastor Powell will be leading a short two week study on the History of the English Bible

Wednesday 7-8 PM, 1st Baptist, on the 19th and 26th

Week 1: From Moses to Erasmus, the Bible from Hebrew and Greek originals to the Latin of the Middle Ages

Week 2: From Luther to Wycliffe and Tyndale, to the modern translations

- includes powerpoint examples of the original documents as well as facsimiles to pass around and look at to help the story come alive and let God's people know that they have reason to feel confident in the accuracy and effectiveness of the Bible in their hands today.

Everyone is welcome.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Christmas Eve video of Awana kids

The Awana kids sang "Jesus, Joy of the Highest Heaven" during our Christmas Eve service.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Awana Kids video