October 2007 Scroll

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Mildred Copley - Scroll Editor Retires

From The Desk of Pastor Matthews . . .

Hightower Highlights . . .

YOUTH NEWS

2007 Missions Conference

Just Born

Special Thanks

Friends Day

Remembering Mildred

Mildred Copley - Scroll Editor Retires by Dorcas Prevette

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From The Desk of Pastor Matthews by Frankie Matthews

There is much discussion today about the role of women in the church. What is their place? We must be very careful not to let the philosophy of the world enter into and taint the clarity of the word in these matters.

Women have always enjoyed an important place in the Christian church. Although the office of pastor and deacon is exclusively male, (reference Paul’s teaching in 1 & 2 Timothy) they are included in Hebrews 11 as our “heroes” of faith. As we look back on the people who have been our “heroes of faith” at Sheets Memorial, scattered throughout our history it also includes many “women” of faith. We just transferred the membership of Sara Snider to her new home in heaven. Only heaven will reveal her influence and work in the history of Sheets and possibly the changing of the theological landscape of the Middle East. There are many women involved in Sheets whom we need to recognize as women of faith, and to whom we show respect due to being a “mother” of Sheets. One of those women who has carried the load of making sure that this newsletter was  in “order” and sent out, was Mildred Coppley.

Mildred has asked recently if she could “step down” from her duties as “editor in chief.” She has done a wonderful job gathering information and digging up articles from our historic past.  We all have been educated and entertained by the combination of interesting articles Mildred has worked into these newsletters. But Mildred has been more than just an editor of a church newsletter. She has added a balance to our church family. Many times I have asked “Millie” if she had a few minutes to share some wisdom with the Pastor. She has never disappointed me! She has grown in the grace and knowledge of the Lord while she ministered here at Sheets. The tests and struggles she has traversed have indeed given her experience and maturity that make her a “mother” of this church! Thanks “Millie” for showing the grace of God in your life!

The Bible tells us to “intreat” the older men and women as fathers and mothers!  

1Ti 5:1 - Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

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Hightower Highlights by DanHightower

What an awesome God we serve! At orientation for my 19^th school year here at Sheets, how encouraging to look around and see the large number of alumni there with their children! What a privilege to see that our investment in the lives of these students is carrying on to the second generation. What excitement to see that our alumni are standing strong for God! Our financial budget was set for 292 students. As of today, September 24^th, we have 293. We have the best financial year going that we have had since 1999.

At the high school retreat this year on Thursday and Friday morning, the awesome God that we serve, again allowed me to just stop and praise Him as I sat in an upper window and looked down on all our high school having devotions. Our senior girls met on the dock on the lake, had devotions, and prayed together. Isn’t this what we as a church are all about? “Sheets Memorial Baptist Church exists to glorify God through evangelism, edification, and engaging believers in ministry.” At that same retreat, two students came to know Christ as their personal Savior. Mr. Gainey, Mrs. Hightower, and Mrs. Chitty have all had students saved this year.

I personally do not have the gift of evangelism, but OH! What a privilege it is for you and me as members of Sheets Memorial Baptist Church to know that we have seven more brothers and sisters in Christ going to Heaven because of the ministry He has allowed us. We will never know until we face Christ how many others are there because of the students who have attended and graduated from our school ministry. Thank you for your continued support of SMCS!

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YOUTH NEWS by Ethan Woodward

JUST WHAT ARE WE DOING? When I came to S.M.B.C. about 3 and half years ago I prayerfully asked the Lord what he wanted the goals of ENDZONE Youth Ministries (E.Y.M.) to be. What was to be our purpose for existing? The thoughts that he placed into my mind formally came together to create our philosophy of ministry. Simply put – Why do we do what we do? As far as I know, I have yet to share those purposes with the church as a whole. Having a philosophy of ministry is imperative if we desire to see our youth group grow spiritually. Much of the foundation of our ministry philosophy is built from the great commission that was given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ shortly before he ascended into heaven. You will notice that the following mission statement is really broken down into 4 main divisions:  

ENDZONE Youth Ministries exists to enable youth to hear the Good News about Jesus Christ in an environment that fosters Christian fellowship and spiritual growth. Knowing that sound Biblical discipleship is essential for growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, ENDZONE Youth Ministries strives to disciple youth in learning to apply God’s Word to their life. ENDZONE Youth Ministries also believes that a person who is growing spiritually will naturally want to serve the Lord and desire to fellowship with other believers.

Evangelism  - Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations - Matt 28:19

The first and foremost reason why we exist is to tell others about Jesus Christ. Here in Lexington and around the world we want to proclaim the saving power of Jesus Christ. Everything else is secondary to this and is built upon this foundation. Youth are regularly encouraged to witness and bring friends to youth meetings where they know they will hear the gospel.

Discipleship: ….teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you - Matt 28:19

Once young people become believers in Jesus Christ, we strive to disciple them into a growing relationship with Christ. We want EYM members to know God’s Word and be able to APPLY it to everyday decisions. Knowledge of God’s Word leads to obedience which leads to a closer walk with God.

Service - For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45  

Studies show that this generation of youth want to see how their faith is practically worked out in their everyday life. We strive to present them with opportunities (missions trips, volunteering at the homeless shelter, raking leaves, etc) in which they can follow in the footsteps of Jesus by serving others. We believe this is a very important concept to teach. Youth (and all Christians) should desire to serve the Lord and others as much as possible. We believe that serving others leads to a love for others which, in turn, develops a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Fellowship - So we, being many, are one body in Christ, & everyone members one of another. Rom 12:5

So what about white water rafting in West Virginia? Camping in the Mountains? All Night Back 2 School Bashes? Where do these fall in the purposes of E.Y.M.? We believe that offering a fun environment with a variety of activities fosters a spirit of unity and fellowship among youth. (By the way parents – unity/fellowship is usually not attained by occasional - or even regular - S.S. attendance but rather by such things as exchanging scary stories around the campfire or spending 3 hours huddled together on a cold bus as you travel back from snowtubing.) This fellowship brings us together as a family while promoting friendship among Christian brothers and sisters in Christ.

In conclusion, thousands of youth groups exist all over the world. The reasons for existence are too numerous to count. Please understand me. These purposes that I have just stated ARE NOT a mere formality. It is not just something we have so that we can say that we have them. They govern everything we do! We actively and regularly consult them as we make decisions and planning takes place. Most importantly, without them we become merely a social group gathering together with no purposes that matter in the light of eternity.

It is not just enough to have a purpose statement (as most do) but rather to heed it in everything you do. I suppose I should revise the previous opening statement from Having a philosophy of ministry is imperative if we desire to see our youth group grow spiritually……

To

Having AND HEEDING………

These are the reasons why we do what we do.

This is why ENDZONE Youth Ministries Exists.

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2007 Missions Conference

Jesus & You, - The Light of the World by Peggy Allred

	So the weeks have passed by since we had our Missions Conference.  Have you noticed how quickly the conference comes and goes?  It’s like everything in life.  We plan and plan for this special occasion, the week goes by in a blur, and we’re back to work, school, home and planning for other special occasions. As we plan for Missions Conference each year, we run into obstacles.  We cannot get in touch with people, appointments are cancelled or postponed, and this year, we couldn’t find a single veteran missionary who could be with us for the entire week! As we see every year, God blesses us with tremendous people (missionaries) who bless us and who we can bless as well.
This year we had four new families with us:  the Huffs, the Taylors, the Laws, and the Carlyles.  God provided these families when we did not even know who they were.  And as you saw, they blessed us as a church and they also blessed many individuals that they came into contact with throughout the week! I have heard a few people say that Missions Conference is their favorite time of year.  It should be!  We have an amazing opportunity to be a part of the great commission, and meeting these families face to face is a wonderful way for us to become more involved in that commission.  We can pray more effectively . . . perhaps we even give more cheerfully and generously when we can put a face with a name.  They also show us that we can GO.  Missionaries are people like you and me who have obeyed God when He asked them to go.  If you felt God leading you in this way during the conference, and if that urging has dulled with the passing of time, do not let it slip by!  Talk to the pastor.  Talk to one of our own home missionaries.  Talk to those in our church who are former missionaries.  Obey God’s leading! “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”  - I Corinthians 12 :12
	I would be very remiss in leaving out a very huge thank you to all of those who served during Missions Conference and to those who continue to do so year after year.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EACH ONE OF YOU!!!  All of our planning would be nothing if you guys did not do the work of decorating, welcoming, housing, cooking, giving, teaching, attending, watching the nursery, and serving.  I appreciate so much the great job you do, and I know that our Heavenly Father is smiling when he sees our church body coming together in this way to take care of fellow believers. I had a few people come to me excited to help in next year’s conference.  Please do!  If you would be willing to house a missionary family, help in decorating, correspondence, anything, please let us know and we would be so happy to have you join us in making this a week to remember.  To God be the glory, great things he has done!

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Just Born

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Special Thanks

Dave & Sandy Kelly & Lisa Hayes for volunteering to keep nursery during Christmas program. 

Amy Leonard - glider for the nursery!

Bobby Carter -  for Custom built trash can for nursery changing table.

Bill Benfield & helpers for the beautiful refinishing job on wood floor in auditorium.

SMBC Cook Team for delicious Valentine meal.

Kim Leonard & Nursery committee for all the hard work in reorganizing the nursery.

Tammy Wells for the donation of books to the library in honor of the 2006 Youth mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

Ruth Everhart & benevolence committee for coordinating all the meals for grieving families.

Special Thanks for the anonymous donation of the brand new baby swing.

Stephanie Yountz for the very nice used baby swing for the nursery.

To everyone who helped make our Mission Conference a success.  We couldn’t do it without you. 

A Big Special Thank You for every single card, gift & encouraging word given to Edith and I during this “Pastor Appreciation Month”.  It was definitely a month of overwhelming blessings and was such an encouragement to our family to continue serving the Lord and our church family here at Sheets Memorial!

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Friends Day by Jacob Laws

	A time of fellowship, eating, and learning of God’s wonderful love, all happened on Friends Day.  Instead of a regular Sunday night service, on October 14th, the congregation met in the gym for Friends Day.  This is a time of fellowship with our friends.  It’s also a time to invite a friend or family who is unsaved, or just hunting a good church. The meal prepared by the cook team had an Italian twist to it.  The food served was: salad, spaghetti, chicken alfredo, garlic bread, and ice cream for dessert.  The speaker for the night was Dale Loftis.  He spoke on John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  He told us no matter how much you try, you cannot exhaust this verse.  This was hard to understand at first, but after thinking about it for a while, it’s not.  No matter how long or how much you write about this verse, you can never say enough.  Next, he explained the verse for those who attended that were not saved.
	First, God’s love for you and everyone in this world, is so great that he sent Jesus Christ, His only Son, to die in your place.  Because He died in our place, if we believe that we have sinned, and without Christ’s death on the cross we would suffer eternity in Hell,  He will save you from this suffering and you will spend an eternity in Heaven, with Him. Second, you will not perish but you will have everlasting life.  Ponce de Leon searched for, and claimed to have found the “Fountain of Youth” granting him the gift to live forever.  Guess what?  He’s DEAD.  Only the belief in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, for all your sins will grant you eternal life.  Finally, everyone will live forever. It’s a question of where— An eternity of pain, suffering, and torment in Hell?... Or an eternity where pain, suffering, and torment does not exist... Heaven?

 Remembering Mildred by Becky Hightower

When I think of Mildred Coppley, her sense of humor always comes to mind.  She, along with the ladies in the Berea Sunday School always have me laughing on Sunday mornings.  But one Sunday Mildred almost had the class ready to march right down to Frankie’s office and let him have it when she read this letter:

It has been called to my attention of your disapproval of the duties carried out by our maintenance crew.  It is my observation that the cleaning of your room, and others, has been carried out in a most efficient manner. The staff and I feel you are being overly critical and the custodians will probably never please you with their efforts. We, therefore, after much prayer and concern, feel the ladies of the Berea Bible Class will be happier if you meet in the library on Sunday mornings.  We assure you of the cleanliness in that area as Jeremy Wrenn is responsible for daily sweeping, cleaning and dusting that room. My prayers are with you for His leading in each of your lives, as the Senior ladies of the church, to provide those examples expected for our younger ladies’ observation.  Please do not disappoint me. If you have any questions, please call my office or Mr. Hightower’s office for an appointment.  We do appreciate your cooperation in this matter.  Your first class meeting in the Library will be next Sunday, April 8, 2001.

Mildred stood there looking as if she were in shock.  I was thinking, “How could Dan have let me just walk into this?”  You could cut the tension in that classroom with a knife.  Then Mildred said, “April Fools”.

Another thing that comes to mind is her faithfulness to Sheets Memorial Baptist Church and serving her Savior.  For years she taught Sunday School, volunteered time to help in the library, worked as editor of the church paper, was in charge of the entertainment in many ladies meetings, and the list could go on forever.

She has been a godly example to my children.  Rachel used to say she wanted to grow up to be like Mrs. Coppley.  Jonathan has never been able to do any wrong with Mildred and her approval meant a great deal to him.

Mildred is an example to all of us of how God can take imperfect people and make them a blessing to many.  Thank you, Mildred.  We love you!!

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