Pray for Pastor Search

Friends,
Please pray for our church as we search for a new pastor.
Ask God for His direction in finding our next pastor.
Pray for the services, staff, and ministries of the church in the interim time.
Attend services faithfully and invite others to be a part with us.
Encourage one another in serving Christ.
Thank you for your prayers for our church.

Revival Services

REVIVAL Services!  Bro. Dale Rose will be our evangelist for revival services, Sunday - Wednesday, October 2nd - 5th. We will begin on Sunday morning at the regular service time.  Evening services will be at 7pm.

1. Pray for revival services.
2. Plan to attend.
3. Promote the revival to others as you invite them to attend.
4. Prepare for a harvest by inviting people who need to know Christ.
5. Praise the Lord for what He will do at New Salem.

Our annual Fall Festival will be Saturday, October 1st!
The Fall Festival is a great time of fellowship and is always a great deal of fun. During the fun evening, we'll have a bonfire, lots of food, a great hay-ride, and a corn-hole tournament!  Invite some friends to bring with you (it's also a great time for new folks to join us, especially right before our revival services).  See you there!

Church Homecoming is coming up on October 23rd as well. More information to come!

Jeff Clark, Back in the Sanctuary & Lunch

Sunday will be a big day at New Salem!

First of all, we plan to be back in the sanctuary for worship this Sunday should the Lord permit. The carpet is down, the lights are up, the paint is dry, so we have no major hindrances ahead. The pews are still not back, so we will be in chairs this week. Please continue to be so gracious and flexible as you have been in past weeks. We will need those who are able bodied to bring their chairs from the Sunday School rooms to the sanctuary for worship.

When the morning worship service arrives, we will be glad to welcome Jeff & Melva Clark to the services. Bro. (Dr.) Jeff will be preaching for us and we look forward to him sharing from the Word.

Following our morning service, we will have lunch together in the fellowship hall.

Looking forward to seeing you at New Salem this Sunday. And bring a friend!

You Are Invited to VBS

VBS - Gold Rush

Discovering the Rock of Ages

Matthew 16:15-16

Vacation Bible School will be hitting the mining trail in search of Bible Truth for all children ages 4 years - 6th Grade on June 17-19.

VBS will be 3 days over the weekend this year.

Friday (June 17) from 6-9pm

Saturday (June 18) from 10-2:30

Sunday (June 19) from 9:15-Noon

Sunday will include Breakfast for all ages, combined Sunday School (10 am) for youth / adults, and our VBS themed worship service for everyone at 10:45.

Invite your friends and neighbors & we will see you there!

Upcoming Events

AWANA Clubs for kids 3yrs. - 6th Grade will resume on September 8th at 6:30pm. You are invited to join us for AWANA!

We will be voting on calling Zachary Doyle as our Minister of Music on September 12th following the morning service. Pray for him and our church as this exciting moment approaches.

The Church's Annual Fall Fellowship will be Saturday, September 18th at 5pm. Everyone is invited to join us for a hayride, outdoor games, food, and the bonfire. See you there.

Nelson Baptist Association's Annual Meeting will be Sept. 19-20th at Parkway Baptist Church. Sunday evening will be a great time of worship with the other churches in the NBA. Bro. Richard will be preaching the annual sermon on Monday evening.

Long Hiatus

Apologies for the long hiatus that left a gap in our blog updates. Hopefully, I will be able to keep things more current on the blog from this point onward.
Thanks for checking back.
Rejoice,
Bro. Richard

AWANA Clubs Dismissed this evening

There will be no AWANA Clubs this evening, May 5, as school was closed in Nelson County. Praying for all those affected by the floods to our south.

Help Us Reach Out, Reach High Attendance

I'd like to encourage everyone to join us for our High Attendance Day on April 18th!

We will be serving Breakfast for everyone at 8:30am.

Our Men will once again be cooking.
Men, we usually start preparing about 7am. We'd be glad to have you come and help out.

Sunday School will follow at 9:30am.
We have a place for you in our Sunday School!

Worship Services will be held at 10:45am where we will be joined by our new Minister of Music, Zachary Doyle. Come and Worship with us as we welcome Bro. Zach!

Our Sunday School Goal for the Day is 125 and we will not reach up to that goal without YOU! Bring a friend too. (Hey, it's FREE Breakfast!)

See you there!

Happy Easter!

Happy Resurrection Day to everyone!

We hope that you will join us for Easter Services today:

Sunday School 9:30 am

Worship Service 10:45 am

Today we are looking forward to hosting the guests invited through "Find It Here."



You are expected and welcome. We hope that you will Find Jesus among us. We look forward to seeing you today and again soon.

Also, today we will enjoy hearing Bro. Zachary Doyle lead our church in worship. Bro. Doyle is being considered as a candidate to be our Minister of Music. We look forward to sharing our services with him.

CROSS Evangelism Training

C.R.O.S.S. Evangelism training is Saturday, February 13, at 10 am.

The C.R.O.S.S. evangelism model will be used with the Find It Here materials that will be distributed in March.

Here is the C.R.O.S.S. Evangelism piece that will be presented with the Find It Here program.

Here is the C.R.O.S.S. Evangelism booklet that explains the model more fully.


Hope to see you there. Keep Praying for Find It Here.

Winter Weather, Part 2

All Services for Wednesday, February 10, are cancelled due to inclement weather. The "Find It Here" Prayer meeting @ the Ethington's home for tomorrow, February 11, is cancelled.

As of this time, the evangelism training for Find It Here is still being held at 10 am.

Check back for more updates.

Rejoice,
Bro. Richard

Winter Weather

NSBC will have morning services on Sunday, January 31st at the regular times. Please be careful as you make your way to church.

If you are unable to be here because of road or weather conditions, we understand. Use your best judgement in making a decsion to get out. Most of the roads appear to be clear in the immediate area of the Church (However, as of Sat @ 7pm, Deatsville Loop/Deatsville Connector were still snow packed. The numbered route for 523 in front of Forrest Springs was clear.)

Sermons online

Some of the recent sermons at New Salem are available on Bro. Richard's blog. Just click the link on the side for Pastor's blog or simply go here.

Find It Here: Prayer Phase

Keep prayerwalking in your area, whether where you live or the area you have covered on the map assignments.

We will provide further evangelism training as we move into the next phase of Find It Here, Engaging.

The distribution dates for the homes in our area will be March 6-21.

The invitation date for Harvest Sunday is Easter Sunday, April 4th.

We will follow up with a High Attendance Day on April 18th.

Keep praying, begin engaging (witnessing), and prepare for God to give us a spiritual harvest.

Announcement: Thanksgiving Dinner

Everyone is welcome to join us for Thanksgiving Dinner, Sunday, November 22, at 6:00 pm. We look forward to celebrating together with you.

Further, there will be no Wednesday evening services or AWANA clubs on Wednesday, November 25th.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Are you searching for God's will in your life? Why not begin practicing a part of His will that God expressly states? Giving thanks to God is His will for your life.

Expressing our gratitude toward God in all circumstances acknowledges His sovereign control over your circumstances. God has graciously acted in history to redeem you and I from our greatest problem, the bondage to sin and the death that is sin's just penalty. Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary to atone for our sins to God. God forever spoke His love to us in the death of Christ (John 3:16).

God's activity did not end on the cross or the resurrection. He is providentially guiding our life and protecting us from harm that would overwhelm us. Listen to Romans 8, where the apostle, Paul writes of God's providential care for believers:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. Romans 8:28-29a

God orchestrates our circumstances under His control for His good purpose. The ultimate good purpose of God is not our earthly comfort, wealth, or even freedom from pain. God's great purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son, to make us like Jesus in our character. To accomplish this job, God will use all of the tools in His box. The Apostle Paul preceded the above passage by stating, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18) We can be thankful for all of God's activity to shape us in Christ-likeness for by this God's glory will be revealed in us.

Therefore, even with life's bumps and bruises, its joys and highs, we can be thankful in all circumstances. I am thankful for my life, my school expereinces, and my country. I thank God for you, my church, New Salem Baptist, and all of the wonderful and encouraging people that comprise its membership. I am thankful for my children and my wife. I am thankful for Jesus, my Savior. God has blessed me and I am grateful.

Rejoice (and be thankful),
Bro. Richard

Good-bye's and Come-by's

As most of you have likely heard by now, Matt and Torey Thompson will be leaving our church by November 8th. Pray for them they pursue God's direction for their lives ino the future. We wish them well in the Lord and we thank God for their service at New Salem.




It's time to tally our houses, so please get your completed survey maps back into the office by this Sunday, October 25.
Keep prayer-walking or prayer-driving through your area or in the area you live, asking God to touch lives so they will be open to the message of Christ.

Bro. Richard has posted a video of a Oct. 18th's sermon, Way, Truth, Life. Click on the Pastor's blog and follow the sermon tab to view it.

Missions Night

Wednesday Night @ 6:30 pm
Missions Night with real, live missionaries to East Asia.
Names withheld on the Internet because of their area of assignment, but you may remember them sharing and serving at New Salem in the past.
Dessert fellowship to follow. Y'all come by!

The NBA is Fantastic!

Unite! October 4th 5-8:30pm @ First Bapitst Church, Mt. Washington and Monday, October 5th, 9:50 am - 3:30 pm.
Plan to join us for the Annual Meeting of the Nelson Baptist Association. This night of worship will showcase the vision that the NBA has been building for the new year under our new team structure. Please register for the meals, child care, and Kidz Worship at nelsonbaptistassociation.com by Monday, September 28th.

Rhythm

There are times in my life when I really have to concentrate, like when I'm trying to sing and clap my hands at the same time! God did not give me an overabundance of natural musical rhythm to say the least. I do believe, however, that God has established certain rhythms in this universe that we need to live by. From creation, God established a rhythm to the universe:

"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and morning, the first day. . . .And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.' And it was so.
Genesis 1:3-5, 14-15

The rhythms that God has created give shape and pattern to a healthy life. I need some rhythms, like my heart and lungs, to repeat their patterns constantly. Other patterns, like sleep, need daily repetition to keep things in balance. God established a pattern for weekly rest. The pattern of the phases of the moon gave ancient Israel a religious pattern of worship as it waxed and waned monthly. The seasons of the year were established by God for a pattern of growth and decay, planting and harvest. Even the rhythm of life's span is established by God as we are born, grow, mature and die.

The natural pattern of human death that we observe was not the original created order, however! Death came through the sinful disobedience of humanity and disrupted the rhythm of life that God created. The entrance of sin brought many disruptions to the rhythmical patters God created. Humanity often avoids weekly rest, our hearts and lungs flutter and sputter at times, the seasons do not always yield their harvest. Creation often reflects the discord of sin rather than the harmony of the Creator.

God acted to restore the rhythm of His creation by sending Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer. Jesus has paid the penalty for sin and its curse by dying on the cross. His resurrection proved that there could be a restoration to the pattern of eternal life that God intended. We find a restored rhythm in returning to our Creator when we trust Christ.

As a beleiver, I enjoy returning to the rhythms God has intended. In addition to the natural rhythms, I can enjoy some spiritual activities on a patterned basis. God tells me to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), a constant heartbeat of prayer. Daily time in prayer and Bible Study gives a rhythm to the devotional life of a believer that should refresh like sleep. Weekly corporate worship is as good for modern believers as it was for ancient Israelites. Even the seasons of the year should be reflected in our rhythms of service to God. (Read this as a plug to join us for our Fall Fellowship, September 26th!)

Believer, get back into rhythm with God! Jesus has given us the grace to return to God's pattern of living. Establishing spiritual rhythm may take concentration, effort, and practice, but the harmony it brings is worth the investment.

Rejoice evermore,
Bro. Richard