Video of the Jews for Jesus presentation

Many thanks to Tuvya Zaretsky for bringing this presentation to our church, and for the ministry of Jews for Jesus.  Below is the video of his lecture of The Gospel in the Feasts of Israel.

Reminder: Jews for Jesus presentation this Sunday night at 6 PM

The Franklin Christian Ministerium presents:

The Gospel in the Feasts of Israel

An educational ministry of:

With Tuvya Zaretsky

Sunday, July 16th at 6:00 PM

At the First Baptist Church of Franklin

1041 Liberty St. 432-8061

This event is free and open to the public, no tickets necessary

A freewill offering will be taken to support the ministry of Jews for Jesus

Upcoming educational series from Pastor Powell

What Every Christian Should Know About:

The Religions of the World

A three-part educational discourse created by Pastor Randy Powell

At First Baptist Church of Franklin

7:00-8:30 PM

September 17^th, 24^th, and October 1^st

Will include: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Mormonism, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, 7^th Day Adventists, and Scientology

How do they differ from traditional Christianity?

What are the barriers to the Gospel in each?

This event is free and open to the public, no reservations necessary, and will include time for Q&A

For more information, please call 432-8061

1st Baptist thanked by the Magic Yarn Project

First Baptist of Franklin was thanked in a promotional video (at about the 3:40 mark) put out by the Magic Yarn Project in connection with our support for the Fairy Enchanted Evening this past May.  The mother/daughter evening organized by Pastor Powell's wife Nicole raised $1,500 for the Magic Yarn Project.  First Baptist was happy to be a part of this worthy project and looks forward to continuing with the 2nd annual Fairy Enchanted Evening next May 5th.

Fairy Enchanted Evening's Facebook page.

The video is in the post from June 9th.

Summer running club for youth

Pastor Powell will be leading a running club out at Two Mile Park each Wednesday at 3 beginning on June 14th.  This is primarily designed for the youth, but all are welcome to come on out and enjoy nature with us and get some exercise.  Those bringing youth to run are asked to remain at the park until the kids are done running, and to bring water or a sports drink for the kids (I would also suggest an old towel, unless you don't mind sweat on your car seats).

Questions?  Call the church at 432-8061 and ask for Pastor Powell.

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Church

As you may have heard, 1st Baptist of Franklin will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the church this July 29th and 30th.  We invite everyone to join us for this time of praise.

Flyer for the 150th

The details for the event are in the link above.

Choir Sing 2017

For those of you who were unable to attend the Choir Sing 2017 celebration of praise at First United Methodist Church, where five local church choirs sang (including our own), below is the link to the video of the service.  This first time service (in recent memory) was very well received and will be on the calendar next spring as well, hopefully with even more churches participating!

Jews for Jesus presentation at 1st Baptist on July 16th

First Baptist Church, in conjunction with Franklin Alliance Church, invites all to hear a presentation given by Jews for Jesus on Sunday, July 16th at 6:00 PM.

 The topic will be Gospel in the Feasts of Israel.

 Jews for Jesus is an agency that proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. The late Moishe Rosen, a Jew who has believed in Jesus for over 35 years, founded the organization. However, Dr. Rosen was quick to point out that he did not "start" Jews for Jesus. "Jews for Jesus began about 2,000 years ago, around 32 C.E., give or take a year. Jesus' first disciples were Jewish, and there have been some Jewish people who have believed in him ever since." The organization has permanent branches in eight North American cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, Washington D.C. and Fort Lauderdale) as well as over 127 volunteer chapters spanning some 41 states and five countries. The group's international branches are headquartered in Johannesburg, London, Paris, Odessa, Moscow, Essen, Rio de Janeiro, Kharkov, Dnepopretrovsk, and Tel Aviv.

 To the Jews for Jesus, believing in Jesus makes sense in light of the Jewish Bible and in light of their experiences as "believers." For those who argue that Christianity contradicts the meaning of Judaism, the Jews for Jesus say there are answers, which their representative will be happy to discuss after the presentation.

 Call (814) 432-8061 for more information. There will be no admission charge, a freewill offering will be collected to support the ministry of Jews for Jesus.

Jews for Jesus: The Gospel in the Feasts of Israel - Event Flyer

Talking about Sex in Church

For the next three weeks (April 23, 30, and May 7) we'll be talking about sex in Church.  The text of 1 Corinthians chapter 5 will be our guide as we seek to understand the dangers of sexual immorality within the Church.  Few things are as misunderstood or as controversial as sex and sexuality.  Please join us as we allow the Word of God to teach us about this important topic.

Educational Series - Five minutes each week

Beginning with Sunday, April 23rd, Pastor Powell will begin a new topic in his "five minutes a week" educational series.  The topic will be explored at the end of the worship service for five minutes each week until completed.  The first topic will be: What Every Christian Needs to Know about Islam.
Subsequent topics in the series, "What Every Christian Needs to Know about..." will follow, including: Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Communism, Capitalism, Philosophy, Humanism, Secularism, the History of the Church, and more.  All materials are created by Pastor Powell.

Why learn about other religions, ideas, and philosophies?  Christians needs to know what they believe, and they need to know what other people believe.  How else can we deepen our own faith, share that faith with others, and defend our faith against those who would tear it down?  Jesus declared that, "I am the truth", his disciples should likewise exhibit a love of truth and fact.

Summer Youth Events Scheduled

First Baptist Church will have three summer events for the youth of the church (more details on each to follow).  The first will be on Saturday, June 24th, at Waldameer Amusement  and Water Park in Erie.  The whole church is invited to join the youth for this day of fun.  On Friday, July 21st, the youth will be going to Two Mile Park for a one day camping trip, and on Saturday, August 12th, we'll be taking the youth on a bike trip on the river trail.

Lenten Prayer Service - Thursday, March 16th at 7 PM

We will be hosting a Lenten Prayer service sponsored by the Joint Ministerium on Thurday the 16th of March at 7 PM.  The focus of this time of prayer will be our local government here in Venango County.  All are welcome to join us in prayer.

Upcoming: Parents' Night Out! - Friday, March 17th

First Baptist Church is offering parents an opportunity to have a date night, hang out with friends, or just get a break from it all by opening up our church on Friday, March 17th from 5:30-8:30 for kids age 4 and up.  Dinner will be provided for the kids (Pizza!), so no need to worry about that.  We'll be playing games, running around like crazy to use up all that energy, and learning a thing or two about God in the process.

Those planning on bringing their kids should please RSVP by calling 432-8061 (Or better yet, tell Pastor Powell in person on Sunday at church).

Christmas Eve candlelight service and parsonage open-house

Our traditional Christmas Eve 7 PM candlelight service will feature plenty of Christmas music both for the congregation to sing and special music from the choir, culminating with Lois Ann Schaeffer's rendition of O Holy Night!  Please join us, everyone is welcome.

Before the service, you are also invited to join us at the parsonage from 6:00-6:45 (connected to the church, just park at the church and come on in through the church itself) for cookies, fruit, coffee, etc. as well gather for fellowship and enjoy the many Christmas decorations in our Victorian home.



Hope to see you all on Christmas Eve!

Successful Toy Drive nets over 700 toys for Children's Hospital

The girls who volunteered to help collect and sort the toys.

Stepping into history: A conversation with Jo Beach.

Joe holding newborn Clara in May of 2015

I had the privilege yesterday of visiting with a member of my church, something I do as often as I can for those who have difficulty in getting to church.  I went to the home of Jo Beach, who is in her 98th year and has been a member at First Baptist for over 80 years.  In our conversation, Jo talked about the past quite a bit, which is always fascinating to me as a lover of history.  Three things in particular stood out from that conversation: (1) That Jo's grandfather was a POW at the notorious Andersonville, Georgia prison in the Civil War.  Jo's grandfather never got over the horrors that he witnessed there, and was unable to work the rest of his life.  My grandfather was in the merchant marines in WWII which was 75 years ago, what an incredible step back into history that Jo's grandfather was a Civil War veteran, that war having ended 151 years ago. (2) Jo herself was born 16 days after Armistice Day, the end of WWI on 11/11/1918.  Her father was not yet conscripted, but would have soon joined the army to be shipped over to Europe, but the war ended. (3)  Jo was born near Cook Forest and her father worked at one of the lumber mills there.  The lumber mill only paid its employees with script redeemable at the company store.  One day, Jo's mother went to the store and demanded a portion of her husband's earnings in cash, to which the company employee replied, "What do you want cash for?"  Jo's mom made her husband quit his job, presumably after an interesting conversation, and the family moved before Jo started school here to Franklin where several of their extended family members already lived.

The next time you have a chance to talk to somebody who was born sixty years or more before you, take it, you won't regret the chance to get a glimpse at the window into the past that they can provide.

First Baptist adds new Youth Worker: Kari Yount

Local special-education teacher Kari Yount has accepted a part-time position at First Baptist to work with our youth with the emphasis upon Junior Church and the Awana program.  Kari and her new husband Catlin are currently in Florida enjoying their honeymoon, so it will be a few weeks until she posts for herself, but for now we'd just like to welcome the Yount family to the church and share our excitement at having someone so qualified and enthusiastic to work with our great kids.  Welcome to First Baptist, Kari!

First Baptist fifth-grader inspires toy drive for Children's Hospital.

One of the youngest members of First Baptist, Josie Seely, has helped inspire a toy drive with a collection taken up tonight here at the church.  It is awesome to see young Christians in our church reaching out to help the less fortunate in imitation of the compassion of our Lord.  Our new youth worker, Kari, certainly has some great kids to work with.

December King's Herald

To veiw our church newsletter, click on the link below:
December King's Herald

The King's Herald-November

to view our church newsletter, click on the link below:
November King's Herald