The Scituate Spire
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 660 Country Way, Scituate, MA 02066
The Rev. Barbara Kathleen Welch, Acting Pastor. Church Office 545-0058
Email: [email protected]. Web site www.firstbaptistscituate.com
Vol. 55 No. 2 -- February, 2013
Yesterday
You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the LORD will go before you, and the
God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12).
Security from Yesterday. “. . . God requires an account of what is
past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with
eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to
arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of
God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins
and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows
the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual
growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from
a very shallow security in the present.
Security for Tomorrow. “. . . The LORD will go before you . . . “ This is
a gracious revelation – that God will send His forces out where we
have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be
tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen
if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the
past, settling all the claims against our conscience.
Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste . . . “
As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of
impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive
thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing
that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken
and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost
opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this
destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.
Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the
invincible future with Him.
From My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
February Days to Remember
Birthdays:
Roger Cobbett (1)
Carol Miles (5)
Francina Campbell (5)
Wayne Robbins Jr (12)
Rebeccah Serino (16)
Alanna McCravy (18)
Muriel Smith (19)
Barbara Robbins (29)
Food Pantry
Please bring a “Red Present” to church
On Sunday, February 10
For the Food Pantry
The First Snowfall
Spyer News .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . with Snoopy Sue

We have yet another new member at First Baptist. Colleen Burke
has joined the church. Colleen and her three children Nate, Tim,
and Molly are certainly a wonderful addition to our congregation.

Quote by Pastor Barb in the Scituate Mariner: “As far back as I can
remember I desired to help others. I left the Children’s Hospital
School of Nursing knowing that I was deeply gifted in the
psychological and spiritual aspects of caring for others.” And an
Amen to that!

The current cold/flu epidemic has hit First Baptist pretty hard. Many
members have been ill for long periods of time. But it looks like
we’ve turned the corner.

We lost a greatly talented man this year due to budget restraints -Paul White -- who has worked with the choir seven years. His last
day was 12/24/2012. He introduced special music and trained the
choir in an extraordinary way. Paul will be missed by all who knew
him.

As of February 3, 2013 Dan Spahn will join us as our full time
organist. We welcome Dan to First Baptist Scituate.

Next month Dr. Sion Harris will speak to the FACTS coalition
communities in Scituate. Venue to be announced.
by James Russell Lowell
The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping fields and highway
With a silence deep and white.
Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.
From sheds new-roofed with Carrara,
Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow,
The stiff rails were softened to swan’s down,
And still fluttered down the snow.
Jim’s Kitchen Korner
Jim Carmark loves to bake, and First Baptist Church
attendees are the fortunate beneficiaries of his talents!
If you would like to contribute to Jim’s supplies for coffee time on
Sunday, the following would be most appreciated:
King Arthur White Flour
Dark chocolate chips
M & Ms
Light brown sugar
Butter, vanilla
Nuts
Brownie mixes
Or any baking item you think of to help carry the cost of Jim’s ministry.
Thank you, Jim. We love you!
Notes from Paul White’s Presentation of Black History
Month Celebration, Sunday, February 13, 2011
Prayer Needs
Our church and its ministry, for local ABC ministry to the people of La
Romana in the Dominican Republic. For God's presence in our services, our
Sunday School, our Bible Studies, our Church Boards and Committees and
officers.
For our local, state, and national government leaders, healing and protection
for our country, and for revival and peace in our nation and world.
Prayer Requests by the Congregation:
Cindy Lou Strachan
Cindy’s family
Robbie Fidler
Kathryn Holland
Our troops
Our leaders
Sue Carmark’s mother
Liz Hatch’s friend’s
Ken Eaves’ military svc.
Mother in law
Bob Baggs
Judy Baggs
Bobbie Arico
Patty’s brother in law
Pastor Barb
Nancy and Anthony
Steve Ward’s family,
Antoniello
bereaved
Our shut-ins
Our missionaries
Tom Lovering
Jim Lanza
Anne McDonley
Dorothea Smith
Street people
Students back to school Wayne Robbins
Sue Carmark’s friend
on mission trip
Jerry Smith
Web request by Dave
Don Amato
Chuck’s neighbor
Julie Sides
Cecil Horton
Rob Fidler
Cathy Baggs
Carrie Luscombe
Russian orphans
Newton McCravy
Patty’s family
Francina Campbell
Frank Kelleher
Nancy Damon’s
brother in law
Will Faoro
Web request by Mel
Please be in prayer for our old friends Ingolf and Carol Halvorsen. Ingolf
has asked us not to send him the Spire any longer because his eyesight is
nearly gone and he is unable to read it.
Celebrations: Patty Bongarzone’s sister Barbara is doing well. Bob Baggs is doing
much better. Thank you for prayers. Nate Gould is thankful for his friends. Eleanor
Bellefleur and Flo Baggs are well again, as are Nancy and Anthony Antoniello who
thank the folks for their prayers and concern. Anne McDonley is well once again!
Welcome, Nancy Damon! Pastor’s father is doing well. Francina’s back!
Sanctuary Flowers
The Flower Calendar for 2013 is now in place in Fellowship Hall.
Please write on the appropriate date the Sunday you wish to supply
flowers for the worship service. Your participation is appreciated.
 Paul sang the Negro spiritual “I’ve Been ‘Buked and I’ve Been
Scorned” by Hal Johnson.
 Slaves were in this country in the early 1700s. 1960 “Negro”
became “Black” due to song by James Brown. Then “AfricanAmerican”.
 Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass –
purveyors of truth.
 There are many inventions by African-Americans.
 Provincetown was the last stop on the Underground Railroad.
 Paul visited a house which was part of the Underground
Railroad. He was shown where the slaves were hidden –
between floors and under the cellar floor.
 After Harriet Tubman was freed she went back to help bring
slaves back on the Underground Railroad.
 The slaves would not have been freed without the help of
Europeans.
 Frederick Douglass was educated by his master, and debated
with his white counterpart.
 Harriet Tubman learned to read and write by white folk. White
folk have had an integral part in freeing slaves.
 “Our children lead us in ways of tolerance”.
 Martin Luther King’s given name was Michael.
 Rosa Parks: It was a plan. She sat in front of the bus even
though there was room in the back.
 The slaves sang “Back Into Slavery”. John Newton, slaver,
heard them sing and wrote “Amazing Grace”.
Joy in God
“For the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit.” – Romans 14:17
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing …
through the power of the Holy Ghost.” – Romans 15:13
A Christian man said to me, shortly after his conversion: “I always
thought that if I became religious it would be impossible for me to do
my worldly business. The two things seemed so contrary. I seemed
to be a man trying to dig a vineyard with a bag of sand on his
shoulders. But when I found the Lord, I was so filled with joy that I
could do my work cheerfully from morning til night. The bag of sand
was gone; the joy of the Lord was my strength for all my work.”
Truly a significant lesson. Many Christians do not understand
that the joy of the Lord will keep them and fit them for their work.
Even slaves, when filled with the love of Christ, could testify to the
happiness that He gave.
Read the two texts at the heading of this chapter, and see how
the kingdom of God is pure joy and peace through the Holy Spirit, and
how God will “fill us with all joy and peace in believing … through the
power of the Holy Spirit.” Then try to realize that the Holy Spirit will
give this joy and peace of Christ in our hearts. To many the thought
of the Holy Spirit is a matter of grief and self-reproach, of desire and
disappointment, of something too high and holy for them. What a
foolish thought, that the great gift of the Father, meant to keep us in
the joy and peace of Christ, should be a matter of self-reproach and
care!
Remember Galatians 5:22, and listen attentively to the voice
of the Spirit each day as He points to Jesus Christ, who offers you this
wonderful fruit: “My love, My joy, My peace.” “On whom, though now
ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable
and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Pray in all humility to the Holy Spirit,
believing firmly that He will lead you into the joy of the Lord.
From The Secret of Power from on High by Andrew Murray
At the Winter Feeder
His feather flame doused dull
by icy cold,
the cardinal hunched
into the rough, green feeder
but ate no seed.
Through binoculars I saw
festered and useless
his beak, broken
at the root.
Then two: one blazing, one gray
rode the swirling weather
into my vision
and lighted at his side.
Unhurried, as if possessing
the patience of God,
they cracked sunflowers
and fed him
beak to wounded beak
choice meats.
Each morning and afternoon
the winter long,
that odd triumvirate,
that trinity of need,
returned and ate
their sacrament
of broken seed.
From Charles Swindoll’s book,
Come Before Winter and Share My Hope