VISION/DIRECTION/CHANGE

Just wanted to get your feedback about your own experience of church...you can be as honest as you like, and can even answer anonymously. If you have a moment and would like to share your thoughts, please leave your comments below as they relate to these interrelated questions:

What would your ideal church look like? How is that similar/different from your experience at Mission Baptist Church? In your opinion, what things draw you (and others) to church and what things keep you (and others) away. What would you change - add, take away, modify?

Thanks,
MP

Panda Sneeze!

This Saturday...

January 27th @ 4:00PM

Huntington Park Recreation Centre (87 Brentwood Drive)

$2.00 per person

Pizza to follow at Mission Baptist Church (100 North Oval)

THIS FRIDAY...

&

NIGHT

Friday (the 19th) @ 7PM until Sunday (the 20th) @ 10AM

Girls @ the MacPowell's in Burlington (bring ice skates)
Boys @ the church house in Hamilton (bring dart guns)

Everyone - please brings snacks.

spinning spiral optical illusion

EVENT UPDATE...

Please take note of the following change:
This weekend's event will be on SATURDAY @ 1:00PM.

Coming Next Friday...

Street hockey and Tim Horton's donuts...what could be more Canadian? How about street hockey WITH Tim Horton's donuts?

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12TH @ 7:00PM

Mission Baptist Church

Bring along hockey nets, sticks and any other hockey equipment.

See you there,
MP

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Just a reminder that STANDING GROUND will be returning on Saturday, January 13th @ 7:00PM. Check your email or right here at our blogspot for more details...

MP

TWINS!!!

One goat is good. Two goats are great. And through our World Vision fundraising campaign, we've raised enough money for two goats! So, Methuselah will be joined by a little friend.

The World Vision Gift Catalogue reads: "One hearty goat can provide up to 350 litres of nutritious milk to a needy family each year. Two goats can breed and produce several kids a year - the beginning of a whole herd. And these robust animals practically raise themselves. They survive well in the harshest climates, eat grass and leaves, and produce plenty of manure for fertilizing a family's vegetable garden. The gift of a goat can change a child's life - no kidding!"

Thanks for your support!

Friday, December 22nd @ 7:00PM

STANDING GROUND'S CHRISTMAS PARTY

...you have been summoned.

SO, bring a Christmas-themed desert...Egg Nog and Hot Chocolate will be provided.

See you there (in the youth room).

MP

YOUTH EVENTZ X-MAS SERVICE

This SATURDAY, we'll be going to a Christmas youth service @ Ryerson United Church in Hamilton (842 Main Street East). We'll be meeting outside the church @ 7:30PM, the service will be getting started shortly afterwards, and it will be over around 10:00PM.

See you there!

MP

F.Y.I.

SO...i was looking at a picture of a frog today and finally realized why i have those little holes on my outer ears. i always wondered why i could breathe underwater...i guess i'm part amphibian!

OR

it could be that those tiny holes are called PREAURICULAR PITS, which are benign congenital malformations of the preauricular soft tissues. in other words, a defect in auricular embyrogenesis caused by an incomplete fusion of mesodermal thickenings. according to one doctor (douglas hoffman, phd):

"The outer rim of the ear is called the 'helix.' The area where the helix is attached to the face is known as the 'helical root.' A preauricular pit is a tiny hole in the skin of the helical root. The typical appearance does, indeed, resemble a piercing - the pit is that tiny. Pits are present at birth; they form during early fetal development. In the fifth to sixth week after conception, six tiny lumps of tissue begin merging, and by the 20th week, these lumps have formed the external ear. If this process is something less than perfect, any number of external ear anomalies may result. Preauricular pits are (arguably) one of the milder anomalies that may result from imperfect external ear development."

conclusion = i'm a freak (or part frog)

MP

TIME 4 BED

THIS FRIDAY...

Church-wide games @ Mission Baptist Church (7-10PM)...feel free to leave your suggestions below for what you want to play.

MP

WATCH THIS MOVIE:

If you're looking for a movie to watch the next time your at the video store - either as a family or on your own - pick up AN INCOVENIENT TRUTH. And check out the following website afterwards (or before) to see what you can personally be doing to reduce global warming. After all, as God's people, we are called to be good stewards of His creation. And simple things like RECYCLING, TURNING OFF LIGHTS/ELECTRONIC DEVICES, NOT DRIVING OUR CARS AS MUCH and USING LESS HOT WATER can help a lot.

"When you pray, move your feet"(African proverb).

THIS FRIDAY...

...we'll be going to see the movie THE NATIVITY STORY at Silver City Burlington (Brant Street & North Service Road). The show starts @ 6:30PM, which means you need to be there BEFORE that time (i.e. around 6:00PM). BUT, if you (or anyone else) wants to come, YOU NEED TO LET ME KNOW BEFORE FRIDAY (or else you might not be able to get tickets as it will be opening night). SO, if you let me know, I'll get you a ticket, and you can pay me when you get there ($10.95).

Following the movie (at around 8:30PM), we'll be at the Crossroads Centre for a short discussion time.

Let me know if you've got any questions.

MP

mmhmm

Pool Stuff With No Pool

Refiner's Fire

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - it's when I see my image in it."

PLEASE NOTE:

Nothing is scheduled for youth this weekend (except for Sunday School). Our next event is happening on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST...The Nativity Story...get your tickets this Sunday @ church ($10.95).