SUMMER HAPPENINGS

Catch the Wave!!!

VBS Outrigger Island is June 23-27 at First Baptist Nashville! You may also register online at the church website (www.firstbaptistnashville.org). VBS Family Night is Wednesday, June 25! Dinner will be served in Fellowship Hall starting at 4:15 p.m. and our Outrigger Island Family Night program will begin in the Sanctuary at 6:10 p.m. After the program, we invite you to go to your child's room and see what they've been learning.

Church Golf Outing

The next First Baptist Golf Outing will be on Saturday, June 21. It will be at Champion's Run Golf Course near Eagleville. We will use a scramble format (four-man best ball) with a shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. We are open to men and women, teens through senior adults. For more information, call Kevin McGhee at 482-6406.

Six Flags

Join the Student Ministry in our visit to Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta!
We will depart on Friday, June 27, and return on Saturday, June 28. We will be spending the night at a church Friday night and going to the park on Saturday. Cost is $85 and includes park ticket, transportation and lodging.
Sign up online at www.firstbaptiststudents.org or by contacting Bonnie Bruner at 615.664.6008 or bonnie.bruner@firstbaptistnashville.org

Summer Camp

A time with the living God for students grade 7-12! At CAMP08, you will experience more joy, more fun, more energy, more friends, more excitement, and more love than any other week of your life. It's a great escape from the world and a great time with Jesus!Besides the awesome recreation, swimming pools and a beach, there is Jesus and His ever-present, life-changing, mind-altering power! Get a taste of all that God has in mind for your life as you encounter the "Wild West." Sign up online for this incredible adventure!

It's that time of year again! Please let us know of your interest in serving this year on a committee. (Surveys apply only to members NOT currently serving on a committee.)

Please complete the survey on or before July 1, 2008.

For more information, contact Lori Towns, 664-6001, lori.towns@firstbaptistnashville.org

Be the church outside of the church building. Go & Show evenings are: June 22, 29, July 6, 27, August 10, 24 & 31. Discover new friends and simple ways to minister. Pamphlets are available with lots of ideas. Take time to listen and build relationships as you go. . . Matt. 28:19-20

On July 4, members of the Foundations Sunday School Division will have the opportunity to minister to the over 70,000 people who will converge upon downtown Nashville for the Fourth of July festivities. If you are in the Foundations Division, come join us for a great time of fellowship from 4-5p.m.! All food and drinks will be provided; we only ask that you bring your favorite dessert! Following our time of fellowship, we'll begin doing various forms of outreach from 5-7p.m. If you are interested in participating in the outreach opportunities which will range from passing out Frisbees to handing out slushies and water to thirsty souls, please email Tim Morrison (tim.morrison@firstbaptistnashville.org) or Bonnie Bruner (bonnie.bruner@firstbaptistnashville.org) and let them know of your interest. We'll see you downtown on the 4th!

Special thanks go to the Recreation Committee members, Children's Committee members, and a lot of volunteers who made last Sunday's church picnic a success. Certainly, when we got up that morning, there was some doubt if the weather would allow us to have a picnic. But, it was perfect weather and a wonderful day. Our attendance, which is very difficult to calculate, numbered around 600. We invited several groups related to the church (The Next Door, Christian Women's Job Corps, Thursday Business Lunch crowd, CDC) and all were represented. If someone didn't have a good time, or didn't agree that this was a wonderful church social, I haven't heard of it.

First Baptist Nashville will participate in our second annual Family Mission Trip to Elizabethton, Tennessee July 3-6. Entire families will engage in hands-on ministry that demonstrates the love of Christ to individuals with physical and spiritual needs. Please be in prayer for this mission group.

David and Lisa Storey Will Give a First-Hand Look at Our Canada Connection

Over the past months we have heard about, read about, and prayed for mission trips and projects in our partnership arrangement with churches in New Brunswick. Now First Baptist folks will have the opportunity to meet and hear the pastor of one of those churches face-to-face. David Storey, pastor of Miramichi Valley Baptist Church, and his wife Lisa will be our guests June 17-23. First Baptist folks will have opportunities to get to know Dave and Lisa in several small settings. On June 22, Dave will be our pulpit guest; and we will be inspired by his account of his call, how God is working through him and Lisa in Doaktown, and how God is moving throughout New Brunswick.

Miramichi Valley Baptist Church, the church Dave pastors, will be the host church for the mission Vacation Bible School our high school seniors and their sponsors will lead in Doaktown. Josh Crosby is planning a special dialog and sharing time among Dave and all our youth on Sunday morning during the Sunday School hour.

JOIN YOUR FRIENDS... in the summer reading program for preschoolers and grades 1-3, sponsored by the church library. Books can take you to the moon, teach you about diaosaurs, introduce you to great inventors, presidents, help you train a new puppy, get a head start on school, and have loads of fun.
Sign up Sunday or Wednesday in the church library.

Summer Schedule

Fellowship Hall renovations will be underway until August. We plan to install two new video screens and projectors, upfit the restrooms, enlarge the serving area, redo the entry steps, provide a storage area, new lighting, ceiling, carpet and wall coverings.

During July, Thursday Business Lunch will close until the first of September, before re-launching with a new look, new feel, new program in the new hall!

Wednesday evening dinner and prayer meeting in July (and possibly August) will be held in Room 100 of the East Building--because the kitchen will be closed, we will cater meals for Wednesday suppers. We will need a good count of people planning to attend so we can order the correct amount of food.

We will keep you updated on our progress and schedule. Thanks in advance for your flexibility in order that the church campus can be improved! "WE CAN DO THIS!"

Join us in celebrating these milestones with our staff!

Birthdays
June 4, Barry Walker

Anniversaries
June1, Barbara Sanders (1996)
June 15, Israel Garcia
June 6, Vicki Wright (2004)
June 21, Vi Wilks (2004)

With excitement and sadness, we receive and accept the resignation of Children's Ministry Assistant, Pam Nail. Pam has served faithfully and sacrificially for six years on our ministry team, and now is pursuing a new career opportunity in New York City! Pam's last day on staff is July 10.

During her years working with Connie Hartzell, and in the past six months during this interim period, Pam has served sacrificially and joyfully in the ministry team, caring for children, parents, workers and fellow staff members. We will miss Pam so much, but are excited about what the Lord has in store for her.

We are accepting applications for this position, which may be full-time or part-time on an interim basis--should you be interested in making application or if you know someone to recommend, please let us know by emailing or calling Lori Towns at lori.towns@firstbaptistnashville.org or 615.664.6001.

God bless you, Pam! We will pray for you!

Plans are underway for the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary Mission Trip. Our church will send volunteers for one week July 26 to August 3 and two weeks July 26 to August 9. This will involve painting and repair, landscaping, some office and /or work in the Library. Contact Fred Turner, 615-665-0284, ggpapa3@juno.com for more information.

Go & Show...encouragement to share the love of Jesus Christ in your life--with neighbors, friends, work associates, people in need, and people who may not know Jesus Christ or have a church family. You will find opportunities of the "Go & Show" type in this Evangel and future issues. If you have suggestions for Go & Show programs, please pass them on to me. Several Sunday evenings this summer are designated as Go & Show at First Baptist Nashville. Join us in demonstrating love for others!

Building Bridges projects--Your gifts to Building Bridges are making a difference! We are blessed to partner with the Fannie Battle Day Home for Children. The church hosted an outstanding Luau party for some 85 children June 5, and about 35 of the Fannie Battle children are attending our VBS. We'll follow up with each family and see what opportunities the Lord gives us in making a difference in our community for Christ. This is made possible because of your generosity in giving!

Outreach--July 4 is a time we will see tens of thousands of Nashvillians around the church for music and fireworks. It is a great time for showing the love of Christ. The Foundations young adult division will picnic and then interface with the crowds. They will distribute refreshments, provide an indoor diaper change center, and give away frisbees imprinted with directions on "how to fly" the disc itself, and also your life--with the story of the Prodigal Son and how to accept Christ as Savior! It's an exceptionally creative way to share our faith!

Be faithful--Your faithfulness in attendance and contributions is making a difference. God bless you! Keep it up! Teachers, be faithful; members, be faithful; be faithful in season and out--praise the Lord for His blessings. Invite a friend to experience what the Lord is doing in and through your church. Watch for even more progress on our campus--check out Room 150, Room 370 (Foundations young adults), restrooms in the adjacent hall, Fellowship Hall improvements (see accompanying article on summer schedule); 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade children's rooms, and even more to come! Thanks to your gifts and support, it's happening!

Blessings!

Recently, I picked up my three-and-a-half- month-old son and said, "Adam, we're going to go outside now." He didn't know what "outside" was, let alone "now," or the social concept of "we," the implications of the future tense/infinitive verb combination, and only in the vaguest sense the concept of "Adam." My little alien came into this world not knowing a word or a thing, and only the prayerful commitment that Lydia and I share will help him become wise, strong and pure. Our parental love is magnified with each coo, kick and smile, and ultimately the joy in watching Adam discover God's will for his life.

All of us are like E.T. and Adam. We all start our relationship with Our Father unable to understand, but through the sacrificial grace of His Son Jesus Christ, we are taught how to be born into His Kingdom. He seeks a growing relationship with us. We choose to delay our development if we limit that relationship to just a few minutes a day or a few Sundays a month. God's desire is to have an ongoing love relationship that reveals to us His perfect plan for our lives.