communicator - mar apr 2015

SURRENDER BECOME CARRY

GospelDriven

WORSHIP

What Does the Bible Say?

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VOL 1 | ISSUE 1 | March April 2015

SOUTHSIDE | MAR APR 20152

This edition of the “Communicator” is the first with a new look! We pray that we are improving it not just in the external looks,

but also with its content! So, please look it over carefully and thoughtfully as we welcome friendly, constructive criticism!

When I came to Southside 22 years ago, I shared a motto that my 8th grade physical education coach (and 6’11” boy’s basketball coach!) used to chant as he cruelly made us run three miles in an hour every week…

Good better best, never let it rest,

until the good is better and the better is best!

As my body and ability improved, I went through a lot of pain! It was tough! Some guy’s cheated by “miscounting” how many laps they had run! Others quit, complaining of various aches and pains. I did neither. However, I do not believe I ever finished first. In fact, I know I did not. But I always finished. The ones who cheated, cheated themselves out of an improved physical condition. The ones who quit did not learned to endure the hard stuff to reach a goal.

At the end of the year, the coaches gave an award for most improved. I was horrible at the beginning of the year, could barely run a mile. However, if that was what was asked, I did it. By the end of that year, I ran the three miles easily. Some of the quitters and cheaters were football and basketball players. A little 5’3”, 85-pound scrawny red head kid got that award! It meant a lot to me, as you can tell because of my recall

of it some 42 years later! I learned something. It may be hard, it may be difficult, but winning is not about ability, it is about tenacity. Some people call that stubbornness, but I call it focused determination and today because of it, I have something far greater.

Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14) If we have Christ and we are called to a continuous journey upward to Him, do we have the option of cheating or quitting? I think not!

God has given us all the supply we need to go forward and upward. We have no excuse! Did you think the journey would be easy? Do not be so foolish! In this same chapter, verse 10, Paul says, “that I may know him and power of the resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” As I am studying for the Powerful Weakness sermon series in 2 Corinthians, I am learning that Paul expected to suffer! In fact, the word comfort in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians is not a word meaning relief from trouble and suffering, but rather it means courage and strength to endure trouble and suffering! This thought is repeated in 1 Timothy 2:1-3 which says in part, “…be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus… Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Go, read the full text! No struggle no victory, no fight no finish, no race no reward. Christianity is not a stroll on the beach, it is a fight on the battlefield!

In this issue you will find articles about worship and missions written by Pastor John and Pastor Jeremy. I look forward to reading what they say because I know God is still calling me to greater things. Are you ready for the fight? Is there any quit in you? Let God’s sanctifying grace in Christ and enabling through the Holy Spirit move you to Christ likeness today!

A word from our pastor

Stewart McCarterLead Pastor

[email protected]

Dear Family,

MAR APR 2015 | SOUTHSIDE 3


The Gospel & Worship

Gospel-Driven Worship

What is worship? Is worship only about coming to church or what happens at church? What should worship look like, sound like, or feel like? Books have been (and will continue to be) written to answer these

questions, and all of them are still up for discussion and more understanding. Worship is two things at once: it is each of us as believers living a life that is pleasing to God (individual worship), and it is all of us gathering together at certain times to worship together (corporate or gathered worship).

Let’s focus specifically on the second definition, corporate (meaning, body or church, from the Latin corpus, body) worship, which is what we do when we gather together as a church. Another term we could use is gathered worship. But even before we gather, we have to make decisions about what we will do and how it will all be put together. This leads us to two questions: 1) What does the Bible say? and 2) What example do we have from the Church throughout history?

The New Testament is curiously silent as to the

details of what we are supposed to do when we gather together for

corporate worship.

“ “

3 BIBLICAL IMPERATIVESThe very interesting answer to this

question is, “Not much.” The New Testament is curiously silent as

to the details of what we are supposed to do when we gather together for corporate worship. We have no order of

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?1

From the StaffJohn Strickland

Worship Pastor

[email protected]

facebook.com/anythinggenuine

@j_strizz


TRAVELINGFROM THE STAFF

The way we understand church services to look and feel is not a very deep-rooted tradition.

service, no mandatory prescribed prayers, no ideal length of the service, no number of songs to sing, and on and on the list could go of what we do not have in Scripture.

But we should not be frustrated or doubt God—he didn’t forget any-thing. He told us exactly everything we need to know in his revealed Word. So, here’s what we know:

We must read God’s Word. Throughout the Bible, when God’s people gather, they

gather around his Word. God has always wanted us to know more about him through his revealing of himself through words—from Mount Sinai to Ezra to the sermon on the Mount. After Christ ascended, the early church continued gathering around the Word to read it to each other and hear it taught to them (Acts 2:42, 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:2).

We must pray. The second biblical imperative of corporate worship is prayer.

Worship can rightly be described as a dialogue with God, or a repeating pattern of revelation (God speaking to us) and response (us speaking to God). Prayer is how we speak directly to God. Jesus modeled it (Matthew 6:9-13) and expected it (Luke 19:45-46), the apostles depended on it (Acts 1:24, 4:23-31) and the first church is remembered for it (Acts 2:42). Individual prayer and corporate prayer are indispensable.

We must sing. The third biblical imperative of corporate worship is singing.

Notice that we find in Scripture not that music is imperative, but specifically singing. And not just the singing of a choir, soloists, or worship leader, but the singing of the entire congregation is what is commanded and expected. (Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:16-17)

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What Example Do We Have from the Church Throughout History?

The Aftermath of RevivalismHow did we get here?

Most of the way we do things in North American evangelical churches began in the 1800s

during the revivalism movement. Au-thor and worship pastor Mike Cosper explains,

Revivalism, led by nineteeth-century preacher Charles Finney, transformed worship from the banquet hall to the concert hall. Rather than worship being a formational process in the lives and hearts of believers over years of gathering and learning, it became an ecstatic experience driven by emotive preaching and decorated with music. The goal was a catalytic, life-changing moment. (Rhythms of Grace, 111)

Theologian R. Kent Hughes describes this shift in more detail:

The structure of corporate worship became: (1) the preliminaries, (2) the sermon, and (3) the invitation…Singing and musical selections were made in regard to their effect rather than their content. Gospel songs (celebrating experience) often supplanted hymns to God. Scripture reading was reduced so as not to prolong the “preliminaries.” Prayers were shortened or even deleted for the same reason. As to the sermon,

the careful interaction with biblical text so treasured by the Puritans was in many instances replaced with freewheeling extemporaneous discourse. (Free Church Worship: The Challenge of Freedom, in Carson, Worship By the Book, 147-148, emphasis added)

Cosper continues:

For many Christians in the years since, this has been the norm. Worshiping with the gathered church is about music and preaching, with preaching taking a central (and often primary) place, while music serves as an emotional warm-up. Preaching itself has devolved from the careful exegesis of the Reformers to vaguely Christian platitudes and techniques for self-help. Elements like prayer, Scripture readings, and greeting one another are seen as pe-ripheral, decorative, and secondary to the real purpose of the gathering. In this economy, worship is defined as music, and its value is measured in its emotional impact more than its truth content.

The result of the Revivalism movement—which has had more influence in our modern evangelical church culture than any other—was

2Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.

Jeremiah 6:16


FROM THE STAFF

to obscure or minimize all three of the biblical imperatives we discovered earlier. In light of understanding how we got where we are in our ideas about worship, there are two major corrections we should make:

Worship music, scripture reading, and prayer are not merely a warm-up to the preaching.

Preaching God’s word is the central act of Christian worship; however, it is not the only act of Christian worship. In Cosper’s words, these expressions are not simply a “warm-up” for the sermon. We should elevate our view of music, Scripture reading, and prayer in worship as critically important elements for hearing, learning, and expressing the truth. Such an elevated view will lead us away from an “anything goes” mentality in worship toward a more intentional and thoughtful process for shaping and planning our worship experiences.

Truth content should prevail over emotional impact.

Most of us today would make choices about what songs we sing in church based on how those songs made us feel the first time we heard them. Maybe the song was catchy, exciting, moving, or tear-jerking. Yet many things that have the ability to move our emotions may be deceiving, untruthful, unhelpful, or ineffective at communicating truth. What if we carefully read the lyrics to a song before listening to it? What if that were our “test” to see if a song would be “good” to use for worship? We should make careful judgements on what is or isn’t good to use in our worship, and those judgements should be based first on truth content, not merely on emotional impact.

The Power of Gospel driven worshipWhere do We go From here?

It may seem like 150 to 200 years is a long time, but in the grand scheme of Christian history, it is a drop in the bucket. Rather than simply accepting what we’ve inherited from recent developments, we should look even further to the past—to the “ancient paths” as Jeremiah calls—for an example and guide.

We are not Christians in a vacuum or as an end to ourselves. The calling of the gospel is a calling into a community of faith and a calling to unity with the saints. But when we think about our unity with the Church, we shouldn’t only think about other believers in our own time or geographic location. Here’s how one theologian explains:

This corporate identity extends not only to other believ-ers here and now…but also to believers from all times and places…Thus, whatever it is we do when we gather together we do in the profound recognition that we believ-ers constitute something much bigger than any one of us or even any empirical group of us. We are the church, the temple of God. One of the entailments of such a perspec-tive is that, however much we seek to be contemporary for the sake of evangelistic outreach, there must also be a drive in us to align ourselves with the whole church in some deeply rooted and tangible ways. What it means to be the church was not invented in the last twenty years. (D.A. Carson, Worship By the Book, 44-45)

Another pastor and theologian has done extensive work to help us understand how we can join with this timeless identity of the Church. In his book, Christ-Centered Worship: How the Gospel Shapes Our Practice, Bryan Chappell explains how the structure of corporate worship is crucial to communicating the gospel itself:

Gospel understanding is…communicated in the worship patterns of the church. The structure of a church’s worship service is called its liturgy. Many Protestants think “liturgy” only describes highly ceremonial worship in Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican churches. We normally talk about our worship in terms of “Sunday service” or the “worship time.” The activities that surround the Sermon we may



Where do We go From here?describe as the “song service,” “the service of prayer,” or simply as “the worship.” However, the biblical word for all that’s included in our worship is “liturgy” (latreia, see Romans 12:1), and it simply describes the public way a church honors God in its times of gathered praise, prayer, instruction, and commitment. All churches that gather to worship have a liturgy—even if it’s a very simple liturgy…Liturgy tells a story. We tell the gospel by the way we worship.

This story has been told and retold by the worshiping church for thousands of years. From the earliest liturgies we have until today Chappell demonstrates that there is a common gospel thread linking all of them. In other words, if you go back and look at the forms and content of the church’s worship gatherings over thousands of years, you’ll find a consistent pattern running through all of them. Specifically, Chappell summarizes these elements

as: Adoration, Confession, Assurance, Thanksgiving, Petition, Instruction, Communion, and Charge/Blessing.

Starting from Chappell’s brilliant research, Mike Cosper (also quoted above) helps us see that this pattern or progression is simply the gospel story being acted out in essentially four larger steps:

The over-arching movement is a retelling of the story, remembering that 1. God is holy (adoration), 2. We are sinners (confession), 3. Jesus saves us from our sins (assurance, thanksgiving, petition, and instruction), and 4. Jesus sends us on his mission (charge and blessing). It’s a movement that runs parallel to another way of thinking about the story of the gospel: creation, fall, redemption, consummation. (Rhythms of Grace)

Experiencing the Gospel

Remembering the Story

Actions in Worship

God is holy. Creation Adoration

We are sinners. Fall Confession Lament

Jesus saves us. Rememption AssurancePrayers of Thanksgiving and Petition Instruction (Preaching)

Jesus send us. Consummation CommunionCommitmentBlessing

At Southside, we call this Gospel-Driven Worship. The gospel in its fullness drives and shapes everything about why, what, and how we worship. It starts with God. We behold God’s glory and it shows us who we are, weak, helpless sinners in need of grace. We can then acknowledge our need and recall the greatness of God’s grace in Christ and the cross. We look to God’s word to teach us, shape us, and change us to be more like Christ. Then, we respond to Christ’s call to us to go out with a renewed to commitment to live for his glory by sharing his love and proclaiming his salvation to others. These four steps become our pattern and language of worship.

On March 29, Palm Sunday, our worship team is leading a Night of Worship called His Great Grace: Remembering & Celebrating Gospel Together. The purpose of this night is for us to experience transformative, Gospel-Driven Worship. We will worship according to this Gospel-Driven pattern, singing songs and reading Scriptures that take us through the gospel story, helping us remember the great grace by which we have been saved, encouraging one another, hearing from God’s word, and responding in thankfulness and commitment.

The power of the gospel is not that it makes us feel a certain way, entertains us, or warms us up for something more. The power of the gospel is that it transforms us. Why shouldn’t we expect our worship—our celebration of the gospel—to be so much more than feelings, entertainment, or a warm-up for something else?

We should desire to return to a truly biblical expression of corporate worship. We should want everything we do in worship to be rich in truth and spiritually transformative. Gospel-Driven worship empowers us to have those experiences. It empowers us to experience the fullness of the gospel and walk through it together each and every week.

The power

of the gospel

is that it

transforms us.


Missions

From the StaffJeremy Effler

Pastor to Families with Students | Missions

[email protected]

facebook.com/jeremy.effler

The mission is for us to take this message and carry it to everyone.

The Gospel in Missions

When we speak of missions in the church today there seems to be no lack of ideas that surround this idea. For some this is taking food and water to those who need it. To others this is putting a team of people together to travel to diverse loca-tions to accomplish a variety of tasks. The problem with these various under-standings is that God did not leave the understanding of the mission open for interpretation. When the body of Christ, the Church, goes on mission it is to fulfill the directive given to us by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20.

The work of fulfilling the great commis-sion was the mission of the first apostles and it was centered on the person Jesus Christ. They purposely set out to carry the gospel message of Jesus Christ into the world. This begs the question why? Why were they willing to give up their livelihood to be beaten, stoned, thrown in prison, and killed to take the gospel to their world?

The word gospel comes from the Greek word euangelion, which literally trans-lates into “good news”. God had en-trusted these faithful men to carry the

greatest message that humanity has ever known to them. That God sent Jesus into the world to save sinners from death. We were born enemies of God. Jesus is the king of all kings and he offered the world the opportunity to be in his king-dom, the kingdom of heaven. To all who would believe in faith, this is great news. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the mission is for us to take this message and carry it to everyone. This gospel of the Kingdom is to go out to cultures from every nation and language so that they can hear and believe in the great salva-tion of God that is Jesus.

We must understand that every believer is responsible to both live and share the gospel to those around us every day. Be-lievers are responsible to reach out to the people we meet and build relationships with them that will purposefully and con-sequentially introduce them to the love of our life, Jesus. Let me be clear- having many friends that we occasionally engage in conversations about God is not what I am describing. We should build relation-ships with unbelievers to intentionally introduce them to our savior Jesus. God

What is the Mission?

Who is the Missionary?



has entrusted us with the message of the kingdom of God that brings eter-nal life. If we do not share it people die and spend eternity in torment. Simply put, we are either part of God’s Kingdom or we are His enemy. If we belong to the kingdom, we will follow the King.

Because of our cultural structure, the full time missionary is a person that takes the gospel of the Kingdom cross culturally. Ideally a missionary would be looking for a people group that has not yet had the gospel taught to them in order that they might believe. Once a people group has a core group of believers a mission-ary should then establish a church. The established church then begins to evangelize the people in it’s com-munity with the good new of the Kingdom. If we follow the example of Paul in the New Testament, once the church has leadership established and is stable, the missionary would leave to repeat this process in other unreached people groups.

Another facet of our culture is the short -term missionary. This is a person that is sent from a local body of believers to support a full time missionary’s work. When the church understands this and sends them appropriately based on the needs of the missionary they provide invalu-able support. In Paul’s missionary journeys he often travels with dif-ferent people that helped aid him

in the mission field. Some simply delivered correspond-ences for him while he was in prison or traveling. Interest-ingly enough, this is how we have many of the letters that make up the New Testament. Some helped carry financial aid from churches to support him. Luke was a physician that traveled with him. The point is that people played a role in aiding in supporting Paul in his missionary journeys. This is exactly what we intend to do with our short-term missions trips to our mission partners. We want them to communicate their needs to our church so that we can work diligently to help them.

By understanding the mes-sage of the gospel we begin to get a holistic understanding of life and our role in it. I Corinthi-ans 12:27 teaches that the universal church makes up body of Christ and that each of us are apart of it. We could think of each local church as a major organ that is made up of many cell believers. I challenge you to begin to pray about your role at work, at home, in the places you visit to eat, and where you exercise your hobbies that God would show you how to build relationships with others to intention-

ally grow the kingdom and the body of Christ. I also challenge you to pray about being a part of what our church is doing corporately to aid our mis-sionary partners in taking the gospel to people who have never heard the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the only name that can bring healing to brokenness and salvation for the soul.

Where Do I Fit In?


Serving saintsvolunteers highlight

MINISTRY SERVING Worship Team (Band, piano/keyboard)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING AT SOUTHSIDE?I’ve been serving about 10 years and have attended Southside Baptist Church for just under 15 years.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT SERVING?I absolutely love playing the piano and this is how I want to give back to the Lord and Savior, as an offering to Him.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOUTHSIDE? The love we have for each other.Peggy Lawrence

When asked 3 questions, the servant volunteers below answered them as seen below. Be sure to say thank each one when you see him or her.

MINISTRY SERVING India Missions Coordinator

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING AT SOUTHSIDE?I’ve been serving at Southside for 9 years and at Our Abundant Hope Church plant for 4 years.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT SERVING?I enjoy the teaching and leading others into a faith relationship with God through the Gospel message.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOUTHSIDE?My favorite thing about being a part of Southside is the MULTIPLE areas for us to exercise our gifts and talents the Lord has given us. There is never a shortage of places to serve, to go, and to worship Him.

Chris Cordova

MINISTRY SERVING Africa Missions Coordinator

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING AT SOUTHSIDE?I’ve been in my current role for 2 years but involved in missions at Southside for 5 years.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT SERVING?My favorite part of serving is planning trips to Africa.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOUTHSIDE? Southside does a great job ministering to and with the people.

Melissa Kimmer


TRAVELINGSERVING SAINTS

MINISTRY SERVING Worship Team (Choir, Vocal Team), Children’s Choir

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING AT SOUTHSIDE?I’ve been serving more than 20 years and attending Southside Baptist Church ...since birth!

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT SERVING?I most enjoy watching children uninhibitedly worship God...they teach me more than I teach them. As a member of the worship team, I most enjoy watching the congregation worship; it is such a beautiful picture of what is to come in our eternity with our Father.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOUTHSIDE?I have attended Southside since birth, so that is forty-four years. As a member of Southside, I most enjoy our church’s passion and vision for missions. Servant-hood is my heartbeat, and knowing that my children get to witness a church that actively participates in God’s work, not only in Suffolk but around the world, is a blessing beyond explanation.

Deborah Copeland


GOD STORY

GOD’S

TIMI

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issi

onar

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tory

Over the past few years, many here at Southside have aided in sponsoring children in our

Burkina Faso, Africa partnership with the Bayasen family. If you are new here and have not had the opportunity to be a part of the child sponsors, I would like to give you some background information. Pastor Danny Bayasen followed God’s lead in targeting an unreached people group in Burkina Faso called the Fulani. The Fulani tribe has traditionally been made up of nomadic herdsmen. This fact caused them to be introduced to

…God’s ways are not our way. His timing is not our timing. He does not need our money to get His tasks accomplished, but He still expects us to be faithful and give.

““

the Muslim faith that was prominent in North Africa over past centuries. The Fulani’s nomadic lifestyle brought them and their Muslim faith into Burkina Faso. In other countries, such as Niger, the Fulani are among the most violent protestors of the Christian faith. This did not deter Pastor Danny from targeting them to declare the gospel to them. The opportunity presented itself in the way of education in a remote village called Leba. Over the years Danny has been able to establish a private Christian school and reach out to the nearby Fulani. Our child scholarships provide a way for this education by paying over half of the tuition for these impoverished villagers. The parents are responsible to pay the other part of the tuition.

Over the past years the school has grown and run into some obstacles. One mountain of an obstacle for the students was that they had no clean water for the school. When Pastor Danny sought school accreditation the government told him that they had to have a well at the school. The request went out around the world.

Children at the well


GOD STORY

People from multiple countries went in together and raised over $10,000 to dig a well in Leba. Geologists were called out and the process began. Unfortunately, time after time the well was dug and they would not hit water. This was done over and over again without success until all of the funds were depleted. Please understand that digging in the sub-Sahara desert is not like digging here. There seemed to be very little hope for the well in Leba.

As we all know, God’s ways are not our ways. While it seemed that the best way for the little village of Leba to get water was to start raising more funds, God had other plans. As the school year finished up, the school’s first 6th grade class took their exams. These were exams that were required for the students to enter into secondary school. When the results came in every student passed their exam. Not only did they pass, but the whole class scored well above the national average. One student ranked the highest score in the region and another the 3rd highest score in the region.

The government sent out officials to look into why this school was

being so successful. They were very impressed with the school, but made the observation that they did not have a well. When the school representative was asked why they did not have a well, they responded that they had partners in other countries that had tried two times and had been unsuccessful in finding water for them. The government told the school representatives that they would look into it and soon there was a government geologist in Leba. When all was said and done, they found water and dug the well. They now all have clean water to drink and fit into

the required protocols for being an accredited school.

It just goes to show once again the lessons God has taught us in His word. God’s ways are not our way. His timing is not our timing. He does not need our money to get His tasks accom-plished, but He still expects us to be faithful and give. And God is faith to finish what He starts. I am sure there are other lessons that can be pointed out, but these were the few that God taught me. I would also like to person-ally thank those of you who sponsored a child in this village. Your scholar-ship provisions have not been wasted. The word of God is being taught and hope is being seen. Just as an added bonus, others have seen what God is doing and have set up a small market place near by because they want to be blessed too. People are noticing a dif-ference between those who follow God and those who follow false tradition. All blessings come from the Father in heaven and not geographic locations, so remember that and be faithful.

Children from the Leba School


New Membersspotlight

Jim & Nancy Atkinson Candace Faircloth

THE BLANCHARDS have been attending Southside for 1½ years.

BILLY came to faith in Christ whiile growing up in a Baptist church. He learned about the Christian life and learned of God’s way. His favorite thing about becoming a part of the Southside family is how welcoming the church is. Billy says that Southside is friendly and he loves the teaching available here at Southside.

CANDY was brought up in a Methodist church. Her grandmother was a Methodist minnister. Her mother was very active in church and ensured her children were taught about Jesus. Cindy accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior in her 20s and had the privilege of being baptised at Wilroy Baptist Church.

Billy & Candy Blanchard

CANDACE FAIRCLOTH has been attending Southside for a few months.

CANDACE grew up in a Christian home. As a child she accepted Jesus and gained understanding and spiritual growth as an adult, when as Candace says, “I had a ‘the light bulb is on’ moment.”

Candace enjoys being part of Southside because she says, “it’s being part a growing, loving, welcoming family.”

THE ANDERSONS have recently completed the new members class and obedient in Believer’s Baptism after their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are please to welcome both Jim and Nancy into the Southside family.


Joe & Peggy Jordan Anna WestnedgeDon & Teresa Thompson

THE JORDANS have been attending Southside for 1 year.

JOE remembers being saved on June 16, 1969 when Mike Reid shared the love of Christ with him. He goes on to say that it was by God’s grace and mercy that he was saved. His favorite thing about Southside is “its unity of spirit within the church body.” Joe says the worship time is tremendous. He likes how the pastors challenge him to be more obedient to Jesus and to grow closer to Him.

PEGGY was saved at the age of 26 when she asked Jesus to come into her life as her Lord and Savior. Having not grown up in church, Peggy says she was blessed with a husband who was saved and continually prayed for her and prayed with her. Peggy says that her favourite thing about Southside is sensing that the Holy Spirit is in the church and among its people. This sense of the Holy Spirit has refueled her desire to learn more about Christ and to grown in faith.

THE THOMPSONS started attending Southside a 1 year ago.

DON was raised in a Christian family however as a teen he realized he had not personally accepted Jesus as his Savior. During a revival service he repented of his sin and asked Jesus Christ to be his personal Savior. Don says his favorite things about Southside is the church’s serving opportunities and the fellowship.

ANNA WESTNEDGE began attending Southside 1½ years ago.

Since birth, ANNA attended Holland Baptist Church. Anna says Jesus is all she has ever know and when she was about 11 yeqrs old she accepted Him as her Lord and Savior. Her favorite thing about Southside is the followship. She enjoys that, the music, and the messages. Anna says she likes everything about Southside!


R. Stewart McCarterLead [email protected]

Jerry McLeodSr. Associate PastorMinister of [email protected]

John StricklandWorship [email protected]

J.C. KimmerPastor to Families with [email protected]

Jeremy EfflerPastor to Families with StudentsMissions [email protected]

MARCH March 14 | Outdoorsmen Banquet March 21 | Big Gravy, Missions Fund Raising Dinner March 29 | His Great Grace, An Easter Night of WorshipAPRIL April 2-5 | Syracuse Missions Trip April 3 | Good Friday, Evening Service April 6-10 | Spring Break/Family Week April 10-12 | Youth Spring Camp Retreat April 24 | Secret ChurchMAY May 3 | Ministry Expo May 10 | Mother’s Day May 22 | Athletic Banquet May 24 | Southside Family Day (combined service

& eat on grounds after service) May 24 | Serve the City Church-wide Training May 30 | Serve the City Prayer Walk

IMPORTANT DATES

917 Carolina RoadSuffolk, VA 23434

757-539-6629 | sbcsuffolk.org

Place Postage

Here

PASTORAL STAFF

communicator - mar apr 2015

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