Category: Newsletters

We were having so much fun at the church campout at Burlingame State Park, that Christy forgot to take pictures. Here are a couple of snapshots of fun at the lake there. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer around the campfire, made lots of s’mores, and had a great time together! Thanks for praying!!

Special thanks to the following churches for having us to present our ministry. We so enjoyed your fellowship and hospitality. Thank you for your generosity to this mission!

180 FWB Church and Pastor Chad Kivette
Clarksville, TN

Bethlehem FWB Church and Pastor Randy Corn
Ashland City, TN

First FWB Church and Pastor Joel Franks
Glasgow, KY

Special thanks to the WNAC for your generosity through the Provisions Closet!! What a wonderful blessing!
Please pray as we kick off Fantastic Fridays on September 19!  Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and continued support!
Warren Benson was a wonderful Christian man and faithful member of Beacon Church. He went home to be with the Lord last month. We will miss him tremendously!

“The Indwelling Holy Spirit”
Excerpts from a sermon by Pastor Bill Reynolds
Delivered at Beacon Church Sunday, September 7, 2014
Audio at www.BeaconFreeWillBaptist.com/Sermons

I John 3:24, NKJV Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

According to this verse, all who are trusting Jesus Christ as their Savior have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Those who follow the Lord have His Spirit abiding in them. The Apostle John is confident of the fact that his audience has this wonderful blessing. He reminds these people of this blessing because they are in desperate need of the Holy Spirit’s discernment in their lives. They are being inundated by false teachers and are in the midst of spiritual battle. The spiritual battle against false doctrine still rages today. This “testing” can be thoroughly accomplished because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.
What I would like us to see from this passage today is that the Holy Spirit will equip every follower of Jesus with the ability to recognize false teachers and to stick to the truth. Let’s take a look at this passage and see how the Holy Spirit will help us in our battle against false teachers.

1 John 4:1-3 NKJV – 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we can discern whether someone is a false teacher.
John has just finished talking about the need for us to love one another. However, love must never be used to overlook false doctrine. Now notice we are commanded not to believe every spirit. Just because somebody looks and sounds like a good teacher doesn’t mean he is a good teacher. Therefore, John gives a test to try these teachers to see if they are from God or the Anti-Christ. This test is focused on what a person teaches about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
I have studied many false teachers, and I can tell you that if you look closely enough, the false teachers always have a distorted view of the person or work of Jesus Christ. Some are more obvious than others. Some will come out and say things that attack Jesus’ deity or humanity. Some, however, are more subtle, simply not talking much about Jesus at all in order to avoid recognizing Who He really is. Jesus should be the center of our testimony! His incarnation, sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection are central to any Bible-believing church’s message. What I want you to know is that the Holy Spirit will help you recognized these false teachers. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize false teachers. Remember “many false prophets have gone out into the world,” so we must rely on the Holy Spirit to help us recognize them.
1 John 4:4 NKJV – 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we can overcome the wiles of the devil.
Now we are given three reasons why those who have the Holy Spirit indwelling them will have victory in the battle against the devil and his false teachers. The first reason is because the believer in Jesus is from God. We are His children, and He will protect us by His Spirit. Secondly, we have already experienced victory because of our trust in Jesus. And thirdly, the reason I would like to emphasize right now, is that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you. The Holy Spirit of God is greater than all the forces of the devil. We can be confident of our victory over the devil and all his false teachers because God’s Spirit is within us. We may not be able to control the forces of evil around us, but we can be confident that it will never exceed the power within us.

Romans 8:37-39 NKJV – 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you overcome the wiles of the devil.
1 John 4:5-6 NKJV – 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are bound together in the truth.
Now because these false teachers are from the world, they are going to teach what the world wants to hear. This is why you can’t gauge a teacher by the size of his congregation. If someone can’t embrace the truth of God’s Word, he is of the world. If someone has the Holy Spirit indwelling him, he will accept God’s Word as truth.
Why?
Because the voice of the Holy Spirit speaks to the followers of Jesus to confirm the truth of the Bible. Look at these verses:
John 10:3-4, 16, 27-28 NKJV – 3 \”To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 \”And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. … 16 \”And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. … 27 \”My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 \”And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
It is the confirming voice of the Holy Spirit that keeps us together. When someone says something to me like “I am not sure I believe everything I read in the Bible is true,” a “red flag” goes up in my mind that says, “This person may not know Jesus Christ.”
What about you?
When you read the Bible, are you convinced it is the truth, or do you greet it with skepticism? If you greet it with skepticism, ask the Lord to reveal whether you truly know Him. If you don’t, then accept Jesus and the truth of the Bible into your life.
Let’s remember that, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. And because the Holy Spirit is indwelling us, we can discern whether someone is a false teacher; we can overcome the wiles of the devil; and we can be bound together by the truth.

Vacation Bible School was great this year! We were so thankful for the fun week we had with these precious children! You can see a video of Pastor Bill being “slimed” by clicking here.
We are so thankful for all the volunteers in our church who took time to help us with VBS. It was also nice to have Matt Gedeon come back for a couple of weeks during his college break to help us! We are very blessed!

A couple from East Valley Free Will Baptist Church in Mesa, AZ came to visit us!

It was so nice to see many of you in Texas at the NAFWB Convention. What a blessing to be able to connect again! It was great to see veteran missionary to Brasil, Bobby Poole, there! We especially enjoyed the WNAC Missionary Mingle. Thank you so much to all of you who worked so hard to make the convention such an encouragement!

Summer fun in the great outdoors! The top four photos are pictures from our July picnic at Tuckertown Park. We grilled, ate, went for canoe and kayak rides, and had a great time. Midway and down are pictures from our August fellowship in a member’s backyard. We took the kids for rides on four-wheelers, grilled, shucked & enjoyed fresh corn, and had a wonderful time!

Please Pray:
For us and our church to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord and in His knowledge. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

That the Lord would help us financially as we pay down our debt of $780,000.00.

That our church finances would increase.

As we plan fall activities and ministries:

Fantastic Fridays–our Bible memory/Bible lesson/fun time/skills building outreach to children.

Church Camping Trip

Annual Harvest Party

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and continued support!

FANTASTIC FRIDAY CAMPOUT!!! The kids were so excited about the campout. Thank you for praying! They had a great time! We had a hot dog roast, made s’mores, and had a campfire devotion. The kids received their patches for scripture memory, rocket launching, and camping, as well. Please pray as we plan to start again this fall.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

It was nice to have Mike & Karen Edwards from Welch College for a visit. John Buschmann and Ed, Rhonda, & Monica Verra, with Monica’s friend Ashley, from Good News FWB Church in Chesterfield, VA, came to visit. It was so good to see them! We were so thankful to have most of our family at Michaela’s graduation.
It was a lovely ceremony, and we had a beautiful day.

We had a great time at our May cookout at Wilson Park. The ladies grilled hamburgers & hotdogs, and the dads went through the line first at our Father\’s Day cookout after church.

Please pray for us as we plan our VBS July 14-18. Thank you so much!!

We had a very dramatic Good Friday and Easter as the Trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection were reenacted with three other area churches. It was very moving!

Our men cooked a delicious breakfast for Mother’s Day, then the kids and some of the other men served it. It was lovely! They even cleaned the kitchen after church!

Please consider sending a donation to our Building Fund. Even though the church is built, we still owe $782,000.00. Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support. We could not do this without you!

Michaela\’s Memos
Growing up as a Home Missionary Kid in a Free Will Baptist church plant has been a huge blessing for me. Each Wednesday night Bible Study & Prayer Service, Daddy has taken up prayer requests from everyone. Watching God answer prayer after prayer through the years has greatly strengthened my faith. I have especially enjoyed spending time with people from other Free Will Baptist churches who have come to help with Vacation Bible School and other projects. I am very thankful for my Christian education and all the work my parents have done to raise me in the admonition of the Lord. God taught me much about perseverance, hard work, and getting along with others to accomplish a common goal while I was working with the other volunteers in my church and from all over the country during our church construction period. God has been very faithful to me, and He is great! I really want to serve Jesus with the rest of my life. Right now He is leading me to further my education at Welch College. Thank you for your prayers for me throughout the years, and thank you for all the birthday cards and care packages. What a blessing it has been to know you have been praying for me. Thank you!

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and continued support! Thank you so much for praying for us during our Prayer Revival March 23-30. Each evening we gathered to meditate on God’s Word and pray. It was so refreshing to just come before the Lord together, testify of His goodness, and lift up each other’s burdens. We sat in a big circle and shared scripture verses and prayer requests, and then we broke into smaller groups for prayer time. Often, we began and ended with a hymn. We are so thankful! Thank you for praying!

At our Annual Trout Fishing Trip, eager young fishermen gathered at a local pond to try to convince some trout that the worms on the end of their lines would be a good meal. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t bite. However, we had a great time together enjoying the sunshine.

Thanks for praying for our Fantastic Fridays! We have three left this spring. Please continue praying for this ministry! Thank you!

Thank you for your prayers for our Wild Game Dinner.  Several guests joined us for our Worship Hour, where Pastor Bill preached from Ephesians 5:1-7 on “Walking in Love.”  After that, our folks laid out a delicious spread that included Wild Turkey Pot Pie, Teriyaki Duck, Venison Stroganoff, Venison American Chop Suey, Pheasant Soup, and Baked Pheasant in Gravy.  We also offered non-game dishes for those who preferred their food previously packaged in styrofoam.

We want to express a heartfelt “Thank You” to the Home Missions office for organizing such a wonderful Home Missions Summit.  Gathering with other Home Missionaries to fellowship and learn was so refreshing!  Thank you!

Another big “Thank You” we would like to give goes to all the ladies who donate to WNAC.  The Provisions Coset is such a blessing!  Thank you also for all the prayers and birthday cards.  You ladies are such an encouragement to us and to our children.  Thank you!

Thank you to three churches and their pastors who had us for a service to present our ministry while we were in Tennessee: Pastor Chad Kivette and 180 Church, Pastor Dwayne James and Woodlawn FWB Church, and Pastor Terry Miller and Shady Grove FWB Church (AL).  it was wonderful to fellowship with all of you!  We really appreciate the opportunity!  Thank you for your prayers and support!

Thank you so much for praying!  Our first Fantastic Friday was FANTASTIC!  We launched a Bible memory program, had a Bible lesson, did some great games and constructed 2 cool rocket launchers.  The kids got a snack & prizes, too!  Mr. Warner had an air raid siren from WWII!  It was the perfect time keeper “bell!”  Please continue to pray for our Fantastic Friday program!

Thank you so much for your prayers for us as we planned out the year. One of the big things that we felt God’s direction for is a Friday night hangout for kids & teens which will include Bible memory, a Bible lesson, fun “outside the box” games, and a skill building activity. Please continue prayers for this as we are developing the ideas and gathering supplies for our March 7 launch date. Our desire is to make this not only a fun evening for our church kids, but also an
outreach opportunity.
Another big thing God is directing us to do is a Prayer Revival. Please pray for us as we prepare for this time of focus on prayer, meditation on God’s word, and fasting. This will take place March 23-30, 2014.

We had a very nice time of fellowship going bowling together.  How wonderful to be able to have fun as a church family.  To God be the glory!

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and continued support!

Spirit-Led Behavior:  Six Key Principles for Developing Excellent Relationships
These commands are given in the larger context of us being unified as a body of believers.
I.  The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of honesty.
“Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.” Ephesians 4:25
II.  The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of anger management.
“‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:26-27
III.  The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of honest labor.
“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Ephesians 4:28
IV. The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of edifying speech.
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29
V. The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of abolishing disunity with others.
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Ephesians 4:30-31
VI. The Holy Spirit of God wants us to develop the habit of being a peacemaker.
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

You can listen to this two-part sermon preached by Pastor Bill on February 2 and February 9, 2014.

Thank you for praying for our Christmas events in December! Once again, our youth presented the Nativity in a beautiful way this year. Narrators read from Luke 2 and Matthew 2 while Christmas carols softly played. Between scenes the congregation would sing selected carols. Once everyone was on stage, the Praise Team sang “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” After the Nativity, they quickly changed and came back for a song they had prepared, “The Wexford Carol.” Some of the kids are displaying the hats everyone received that day. After the Nativity and sermon, we had a delicious fellowship dinner. Thank you again for your faithful prayers!

We wanted to let them know we appreciated their hard work on the Nativity, so we threw them a pizza making party!

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for this ministry! Thank you for your faithful support! God has answered your prayers for our account! Thank you to Haven Free Will Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, and Bethel Free Will Baptist Church in Woodbridge, VA, for giving so generously to get our account out of the red. Praise the Lord!

For the past month and a half, we have been praying that the Lord would guide us by His Spirit to know what to do in the coming year. On January 12, we met, and God answered our prayers. He unified us by His Spirit and gave us some great ideas to reach out to the community and to minister to those in our congregation. Please pray that the Lord would motivate us to implement these ideas, and that He would give us wisdom and grace, and that He would make our efforts fruitful. Thank you for praying!

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us, “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has done so much for us this year!  We are rejoicing in His goodness.  God is using each experience in our lives to teach us how to love and serve each other and how to show Christ’s love as we minister to the needs of those God has brought our way.

Praise the Lord, in October, two more people have asked Jesus Christ to forgive their sins and be their Savior!

This year everyone had such a great time at the Harvest Party.  We also enjoyed a campfire singalong, devotion time, and yummy dinner.  The judges worked hard to evaluate the pies while the kids played and tried to break their pinatas.  Thank you for your prayers!

In October, Bill traveled to Linneus Free Will Baptist Church in Linneus, ME, for a revival.  Special thanks to Pastor & Mrs. Rick Murray and the Linneus church for their wonderful hospitality.  It was so nice to fellowship with you!  Thank you for your prayers and support!  Special thanks to Pastor Paul Collins  and Harrisonburg FWB Church in Harrisonburg, VA, Pastor Dave Nobles and Bethel FWB Church in Woodbridge, VA, and Pastor Glen Johnson and Good News FWB Church in Chesterfield, VA, for allowing us to present our ministry in November.  Thank you for your  hospitality, prayers, and support.  We enjoyed your fellowship!

Just a quick health update on Bill & Christy:  By God’s grace, both are fully recovered. Your love and prayers during the times of our illnesses were invaluable and a great encouragement.

As 2013 is quickly drawing to a close, we look back on the opportunities God has provided for our church family.  The Lord has given us great blessings and opportunities to reach out to each other and to the community in which God has placed us.  You have partnered with us in all of this through your continued prayers and financial support.  We are so grateful for each of you!  May God richly bless you, your churches, and your families as we look forward to serving Him together in 2014.

Upcoming Events and Prayer Requests:
November 24–Church Thanksgiving Fellowship
December 15–Living Nativity and Church Christmas Dinner
December 24–Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion & Carols
Please pray for these events as we prepare for them & invite people to come.  Please pray as we plan for outreach opportunities in 2014.  Thank you so much!