M E

C H

A N

I C

S V

I L

L E

B

A P

T I

S T

C

H U

R C

H

80

16 A

tle

e R

oa

d,

Me

cha

nic

svil

le,

VA

231

11 -

18

42

ww

w.m

ech

an

icsv

ille

ba

pti

st.o

rg

De

cem

be

r 11

, 20

17

Timothy N. Madison Pastor

Linda Dickerson Interim Minister of Music

Tommy Crump Interim Crosswalk Coordinator

Mechanicsville Baptist Church 8016 Atlee Road

Mechanicsville, Virginia 23111 www.mechanicsvillebaptist.org

Office phone: 746-7253 Fax: 746-0749

Dwight Hedges Associate Minister to Students

Jackie Broaddus Child Care Director - 746-7732

Jean Dart Office Administrator

Please Pray For… Howard Lynch, Margaret Rice & Kitty Yarbrough at Autumn Care, Con-nie Brodrick at The Haven, Lucille Hott at The Hermitage, Bill & Sandra Blackburn, Amy Boles (James & Carol Boles daughter), Polly Boschen, Amy Bowles (Eunice Bowles’ granddaughter), Norman & Betty Bowles, Dale Boyers (Alice Bridges’ brother), Jeanne Bradley, Don & Becky Bray, Robin Brightwell, Florence Brown, George & Bessie Bryan, Joyce Burgess, Eugene & Ortygia Carnette, Jeff Carr, Earl Carver, Tim Cates, Jim Cherry, Nancy Chittum, Tommy Crump, David & Janice Culver, Nancy Damron, Howard & Jean Davis (Mary Kay Winn’s par-ents), Amy Dixon, Rick Doggett, Roxanne Eliott (Jim Wright’s grand-daughter), Marvin & Margaret Ferguson, Aaron & Danielle Fisher, Jennifer Fisher (Aaron’s sister), The Fisher Family, Jean Foster, Linda Gerhardt, Mary Greenwood, Cliff Grotz, Ward & Peggy Hildreth, Hillard Family (Mary Hawthorne’s family), Shirley Hoffman (Ruth Stewart’s sister), Johnny Howell, Barbara Jackson, Courtney Jackson, Dot Jones, Dick & Charlsie Joyner, Cecil & Rae Keel, Paula King, Paige Kinser’s mother, Bryan Lane, Carolyn Little, Jim Lewis, McKenzie Logan (Dorothy Ham’s grandson), John Long, Will & Audrey Long, Sam Loving, Tim Marshall (Carolyn Marshall’s son), Thomas Martin, David Matthews (Jim Dalton’s nephew), Patrick Olmstead (Robert & Betty Olmstead’s grandson), Robert & Betty Olmstead, Shirley Pasowicz, Freddie Pendergraph, Lisa Phillips, J.L. Pitts, Edwin Power (Margaret Davis’ father), The Pritchett Family, Dick & Linnea Sand-strom (Bill & Sandra Blackburn’s friends), Ruth Anne Sawyer (Norman & Betty Bowles’ daughter), Terry Smith, Sr. & Lillie Mae Smith (Aaron Fisher), Don & Ruth Stewart, Ruby Tate (Sharon Hultay’s mother), Ruth Tate, Jim Taylor, Marvin Thomas (Martha Long’s brother), Kitty Thompson, Daniel & Casey Toney, Doris Tucker, Daniel Washington (Deborah Steele’s grandson/Audrey Goode’s great grandson), Doris Webb (Joyce Anderson’s sister), Bill White, Vickie White (Anita Black-well’s sister), Bob & Jean Wildbore, Larry & Mildred Williams, Vera Williams, Melinda Winn (Munn’s granddaughter), Kitty Yarbrough

Counting Team Dec. 17 - Steve Beck, Rose Burrows, Jay Thompson

Dec. 24 - Ken Long, Bryant Broughton, Gladys Shoemaker

Opening & Closing Dec. 17 - Sam Shermer Dec. 24 - Eric Washburn

Deacon of the Week Dec. 17 - Karen Rosser - 840.8848

Stewardship Report ~ December 10, 2017

Crosswalk 70 Sunday School 121 Worship II 89 Regular Offering $5,261 E-Giving 1,100 Designated Funds 2,555.22 Total Offering $8,916.22 Roof Loan Outstanding Balance $85,310.20

How Should a King Come A Christmas cantata presented by

The choirs of Mechanicsville & Shalom Baptist Churches

with special guests on

Saturday, December 16 & Sunday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m.

The Week at a Glance Sunday, December 17 8:30 a.m. Crosswalk 9:45 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Worship II 7:00 p.m. How Should A King Come Christmas

Cantata & Tasting

Monday, December 18 11:30 a.m. AA Mtg. 5:00 p.m. Worship Team

Tuesday, December 19 8:45 a.m. Keenagers to Arlington Cemetery 6:00 p.m. Worship Team

Wednesday, December 20 No Wednesday Activities

Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24

8:30 a.m. Crosswalk Service 11:00 a.m. Service with Baptisms

5:30 p.m. Candlelight Communion Service 9:00 p.m. Candlelight Service

C

ut,

sa

ve

, a

nd

po

st i

n y

ou

r h

om

e

T wo missionaries, captured by bandits

and shut up in a filthy hole without fire, were misera-bly cold. To make things

worse, the guard ordered them not to talk, not even to make signs to each other. Christmas came. One of the missionaries, shivering and silent, sat on the floor. His face suddenly lit up, for he thought of a way to communicate with his comrade. Idly toying with bits of hay around him he spelled out a word on the hard-packed mud. With a glance he drew his friend’s attention to it. Immediately the friend’s face brightened with triumphant joy. For the straws on the mud spelled out Emmanuel! What if they were captives of the bandits? What if in peril of death? What if their prison was dirty and frigid? Inwardly they exulted, God is with us everywhere and at all times!

Last Sunday the sermon proclaimed this truth that God is with us. For me this is the message of Christmas. God did not leave us alone he came to live among us so that he could see and feel life from our perspective. Surely there is no greater love than this! As I quoted in the sermon on Sunday Dorothy Sayers who so aptly put it: “For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death he had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine.” So whenever your joy wavers or you hope is lost hold on to this marvelous truth. God is with us now and forevermore.

-- Pastor Tim

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be

witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and the end of the earth”.

Order Your Poinsettia! Poinsettias will be placed in the sanctuary on Sunday, December 17.

The cost is $8.00 each and order forms with envelopes

can be found in the church foyer. The deadline for ordering is December 13.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Services Sunday, December 24

5:30 & 9:00 p.m. Communion will be observed at the

5:30 p.m. service.

2018 Offering Envelopes Available

For Pick-up

2018 Church Offering Envelopes will be available for pick-up in the lobby on Sunday morning. Please do not begin using them until after Jan. 1.

Lottie Moon Offering for

International Missions Lottie Moon Offering

Goal: $12,015.15

Did you know that 100% of your Lottie Moon Offering goes to send missionaries

and provides for housing, travel, ministry op-portunities and special projects? Pray for the missionaries and the sacrificial gift you will give to reach our goal.

Christmas Card Mailboxes The Christmas card mailboxes are out for de-livery of Christmas cards within the church family. Please clearly write the name and class on the envelope. It is suggested that you put the money you saved on stamps in the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Regular Offering Sunday, December 10, 2017

$8,916.22

Needed to meet our budget $10,969.80

$12,015 Youth Scavenger Hunt

& Christmas Party Rescheduled for

Friday, December 15 Starting at 6:00 p.m.

Christian sympathy is extended to Mrs. Louise West in the passing of her brother, Earl Thomas.