NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #116 ROLLA, MO

1608 N Oak St Rolla MO 65401-2342 573-364-1266 www.rolla-firstassembly.org Facebook.com/rolla.firstassembly office@rolla-firstassembly.org

The Christian Education Issue

MAKING EVERY CHRISTIAN A MISSIONARY Chuck Whitmire Spotlight on . . .

OCTOBER 2013

Lead Pastor
pastor_chuck@rolla-firstassembly.org

Dan & Cindy Smith

from a dogs mouth and nursed it back to health. His dog, Chipper, brings him great joy. You will enjoy Bills quick humor, as he lends a helping hand wherever he is. He has been a part of several mission trips with First Assembly. Being in Pastor Rays Sunday School Class is something he will rarely miss! Bill loves the Lord and listens to the Bible daily and will tell you what he heard. Bill is a loyal friend, and will remember to pray for your request. As an added blessing, Cindys mother, Betty Gifford, 89, also lives with them, in her apartment. Twice a widow, and author of two books about her lifes experiences, she now fills her time with reading and lending a helping hand. Her love for the Lord and sweetness shine though her fight against Alzheimers. When she first moved from PA to the farm in 2004, she took Bill as her body
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Ray Cook
Associate Pastor
fireguy@rollafirstassembly.org

Dalton Avery
Youth Pastor
pastordalton@rollafirstassembly.org

~ Weekly Schedule ~
Sunday Morning Worship Contemporary: 9:15 am Traditional: 10:45 am Christian Development 9:15 & 10:45 Sunday Evening Service - 6:00 pm Everdeep for Youth Wednesday Evening - 7:00 pm Prayer Service Boys Ministry Girls Ministry The Forge Youth Church Prayer Meetings Sunday: 9:00-9:15 am MondayFriday: 7:00-8:30 am Tuesday: 12:00-1:00 Second Fridays Monthly: 8pm-3am Saturday: 6:00 pm Bible Studies Men: Tuesdays 6:30 am Youth Girls: Thursdays 7 am (at Panera) Ladies: Tuesdays at 7 pm Thursdays 9:30 am Alcoholics Victorious Tuesdays at 7 pm All Nations Christian Fellowship Thursdays at 7 pm (on MS&T campus)
Nursery provided for Sunday morning & Wednesday evening services

Brian Feller
Childrens Pastor
pastorbrian@rollafirstassembly.org

Sam Parker
KCA/TSC Director
kcatsc@rollafirstassembly.org

Additional Staff
Karen Turner
Administrative Assistant office@rolla-firstassembly.org

Mark Berry
Custodian

Dan and Cindy Smith have had a call to prayer and hospitality, and have had an open home to whomever the Lord sends as they put it. They have had extras living with them for about 43 of their 45 years of marriage: people from every station of life; retirees, youth, homeless, handicapped, those needing a second start in life, etc. It is easy to understand why their four children have all chosen vocations of serving others: Tim serves food at MS&T, Ben and wife, Grace, direct Camp David of the Ozarks; Warren works in shipping for a printing firm in PA, and Elizabeth teaches children with special needs in St. James. They also have 7 wonderful grandchildren! Through the years, several have called them Mom and Dad including Bill Knipe, who has been part of their family for 18 years. He enjoys mowing, milking the goats, and watching the chickens. He recently rescued a wounded baby rabbit

Pansy Bingham
Business Administrator pansy@rolla-firstassembly.org

Inside:

This month:

Coming Up:

~ Office Hours ~
Monday-Friday 8-12 and 1-5

Abby Swearingen
Media Assistant media@rolla-firstassembly.org

What Can We Learn from a Fossil? Christian Education classes

Missions Banquet with Light for the Lost Steakwagon Womens Retreat

Thanksgiving banquet Living Christmas Tree Extreme Winter Conference (tweens)

October
Sunday Monday 1 Tuesday 2 Wednesday 3 Thursday 4 Friday Saturday 5 On call this weekend: Pastor Chuck 341-8086 KidCare Breakfast & Yard Sale

First of all, what cant we learn from a fossil? If a leaf impression in a rock or a pile of bones is dug up, what cant they tell us? Leaf: Hello, Im Fern and Im two million years old. Bones: Hello, Im Roger and Im forty million years old. Sorry, fossils dont come with a tag telling us how old they are. Fossils also cant tell us where they lived, what they ate (unless there is undigested material left in their body), their skin or eye color or their habits while alive. What do we know then? We often can identify what kind of creature it was from the bones or impression; we know it is dead and where it was buried. Bones sometimes show evidence of disease as well. If an animal fossil has long or sharp teeth, we cant even say for sure that it was a meat eater. Have you ever tried to eat a watermelon rind or coconut shell or bamboo? The animal may have had sharp teeth to eat some plants! Be careful about your assumptions. How do fossils form? Its not easy to become a fossil. Of course, the first qualification is that you have to die. Once dead, do most creatures lie down on the ground or in the case of fish, sink to the bottom of the ocean, and become fossils after hundreds or thousands of years? Its not that simple. Many of you are preparing for deer season right around the corner. If you shoot a deer from a distance and (horror of horrors) cant access it to bring back your prize, will that dead deer turn into a fossil? Not likely. There are scavengers of land and air that will make short work of it. The carcass wont last long enough to become a fossil. If for some reason the scavengers dont get to it quickly, then decomposers such as fungi and bacteria will destroy it. Oh yes, and fish will rise when they die, not sink. That makes them easy lunch for other sea creatures. No fish fossils this way. With all these scavengers and decomposing agents actively at work, how do any fossils form at

all? Conditions have to be perfect. The dead animal or plant must be deeply buried rapidly and the sediments must have the perfect combination of water, chemicals and pressure for a fossil to form. Can you think of any historical events in which there were vast quantities of moving water and sediments that could bury massive amounts of plants and animals quickly? What about the Genesis Flood? The worldwide Genesis Flood of Noahs day is the best explanation for most of the fossil record. The animals that were not on the Ark were buried quickly and the mineral rich waters of the Flood aided the formation of rock and fossilized remains. Leaves, ripped off plants while they were still alive, floated in the waters of the Flood until their cells filled with water and stiffened, and then were rapidly buried in sediments to give excellent plant impressions. A dead or shriveled leaf wont do this. Most plant and animal fossils are only about 4400 years old, formed during the Flood under perfect fossil-making conditions. Beware of teachings that attach millions of years to fossils. So what can we learn from a fossil? First, fossils testify to the truth of Scripture. For example, marine fossils are found on the top of every mountain range on earth, just as you would expect from a worldwide flood which covered all the mountains (Genesis 7:19, 20). Second, fossils remind us that God is not only a God of love, but a God of judgment and that sin will be punished (Genesis 5:5-7). After all, most were formed at a time of Gods judgment over the entire earth. Fossils can also remind us that there is a judgment to come, that God will keep His Word and that we should be certain that we are right with God today (John 3:36). You can learn a lot from a fossil! -Beverly Flori
A.P. Galling, Marcus Ross and Kurt Wise, Fossil Mysteries . . . That Evolution Cant Explain, Answers magazine, Jan.-Mar., 2010, pp. 46,47. John Morris, The Geology Book, Master Books, 2000, pp. 38-41. Sheila Richardson, How to Become a Fossil chart; with Genesis, Answers in Genesis, 2010. It All Begins

Minden Mission Trip

6 Missions Sunday 7 Communion Light for the Lost Steakwagon 5:30 The Encounter 13 Pastor Appreciation Luncheon 14

10 Board meeting

11

Week of Prayer

12 On call this weekend: Pastor Ray 578-7609 Car Care

All Night Prayer 15 16 17 Mens breakfast 18 19 On call this weekend: Pastor Dalton 202-4208

Family Feast Missions Committee meeting 20 Baptism Building Fund 21 22 23 24 25

Womens Retreat
Wild Game Dinner 26 On call this weekend: Pastor Brian 426-6235

Life Groups 27 Hymn Sing and Afterglow 28 29 30 31

Calendar updates at rolla-firstassembly.org/aboutus/calendar

Mens trip to the Cardinals game and Friends Day

(Continued from page 1)

guard and visited about 20 neighbors with a gospel tract and invite to church. Betty was a missionary with Bibles for the World for 15 years, giving churches and individuals the opportunity to send Bibles to people around the world, in their own tongue. Prayer and missions have been her core value! In 1999, Dan and Cindy moved from PA to their Ozark farm south of Rolla, where they founded Shepherds Heart Ministries , established to offer: teaching, training, and prayer ministry for spirit, soul and body. They are both graduates of Lancaster School of the Bible, with further studies at the University of California and Washington Bible College. Their training and internships have thoroughly equipped them for prayer ministry. Dan has served in church leadership in various positions for most of their married life. They have a pastoral heart of compassion and love, with prayer being their greatest passion. -Cindy Smith

Parents, this month we are focusing on Christian Education, meaning Sunday School! If your children arent currently attending Sunday School, let me tell you what they are missing out on. First, they are missing out on being loved and cared for by some of the best people I know. Our Sunday School teachers dont just show up and play with the kids, but study a lesson plan and spend time in prayer and preparation to ensure they are doing their very best to convey the love of Jesus to each and every child. Second, they miss out on time in fellowship with other believers their age. I believe that kids need to spend time with other kids to encourage one another to share the love of Jesus, to read the Word and spend time in prayer, just like we adults do! If they dont spend time with kids their age at church, they will easily become convinced by the world around them how silly church and believing in God is, causing them to lose their faith. Third, they are receiving the Word of God at a level they can understand. I remember many times as a child sitting in services, wondering what the adults were talking about, but not really getting anything from it. The lessons we provide make it easy for any child to understand what the Bible is telling them and why its important to them today! That in turn helps

you as parents to teach and train up your children to follow the Lord when you are at home. Lastly, it sets a precedent for their lives that God is important, and that there is a reason to make that one day each week holy and set apart for God. Now I know all of the reasons why people dont come for Sunday School: too busy, a lot of work to get here that early, sports games/ practices, etc But, as I pray for my own children and their futures, I know that when the time comes for the Lord to take them home, the Father wont look at them and say, If only you had slept in more or If only you were better at soccer and have them miss heaven. Dont get me wrong, I believe in what sports builds in our kids, as well as taking the occasional day off and sleeping in to catch up on much needed rest. But make it a priority to get your kids in Sunday School and see what a difference it can make in their lives. -Brian Feller

Calendar updates at rolla-firstassembly.org/aboutus/calendar

Originally begun in England during the 1780's, Sunday School was birthed by British newspaper publisher Robert Raikes, who founded a school in Gloucester, England for the expressed purpose of keeping poor children off the streets and teaching them the basics of education. This was the genesis of a movement amongst evangelical churches which quickly spread to America, leading to the establishment of the first Sunday School in Virginia in 1785. Quickly gaining popularity and support, the Sunday School movement reached its zenith in America during the mid 1800's, helped in large part by the efforts of D.L. Moody, the most renowned preacher and evangelist of his day. From its beginnings to its current construct, the focus and directive of Sunday School has changed dramatically. No longer a mechanism to teach basic knowledge to the indigent (given the ascent of public education in Europe and America) Sunday School is now the primary venue by which we in the church teach children, youth, and adults the precepts of our

faith and the doctrines of Scripture. There has never been a greater need in the church for a robust and dynamic resurgence of Sunday School than exists today. Whether it be withering attacks upon our theology from secular sources, or from confusion and apathy from within the church itself, the evidence is overwhelming that Biblical illiteracy is rising today across all denominations. We can do better than this--we MUST do better than this! Rolla First Assembly has been highly favored of God to have had such a strong history and legacy of a powerful Sunday School presence. This is one of the strongest assets of this community of faith, and in my estimation a natural springboard from which we can impact the Rolla community for the Cause of Christ in a significant way. I know Pastor Chuck's vision of winning this city for Christ is achievable if we willingly merge our fervent prayers and evangelistic endeavors with the power and resources of the Holy Spirit. I cannot express properly how impressed and humbled I am when I survey the quality and abilities of those who teach and guide others at Rolla First Assembly. I can assure you that they do so from a heart over-flowing with grace and love for the brethren. Our teachers are an impressive group of Spirit-led servants, fully equipped to correctly administer doctrine, but equally equipped to reflect the love of our Lord and Savior. If you or your family have not made Sunday School a part of your Sunday Worship experience, would you consider doing so? I promise you will gain insight, perspective, and wisdom from your investment of time, study, and participation. Remember, you are surrounded by friends! The fellowship you will experience is genuine and heartfelt, as we edify each other and help move our church from strength to strength, and in so doing, advance the Kingdom of Christ in remarkable ways! Joe Cunningham, Sunday School Superintendent

Adult Classes
9:00

Kids & Youth

9:15

Celebrate Recovery (Steve Merz) in room 108

9:15

Adult IQuarterly (Harold Kaufman) in room 107 Adult II: Romans (Carl Wilkinson)in room 200 Apologetics 101 (Ralph & Beverly Flori) in room 107 Line Upon Line: 1 Corinthians (Pastor Ray Cook)in the Roberts Family Life Center (gym) College and Career (Ross Haselhorst)in room 200 Ladies Class (Grace Madigan) in room 102 Amazing Moms (Rose Skyles)in room 103 Mens Class: Fight (Sam Parker) at the Olive Street house (1603 N. Olive) CAF (Christ and Fellowship, Engineered!) for ages 18-25 (Joe Cunningham)in room 110

10:45

Nursery in room 100A for birth2 years old Preschool (Candace Collins, Mary Beth Harris) in room 100B Kindergarten (Pat Adair) in room 104 First and Second Grade (Debbie Matlock) in room 101 Third and Fourth Grade (Carol Johnson) in room 103

Ages 5-4th grade are served a snack at 10:30 in the Kids BLAST room.

10:45

Nursery in room 100A for birth2 years old Preschool in room 100B Kids BLAST for 5yrs-4th grade (Pastor Brian Feller) in room 300 The Bridge for 5th-7th grades (Ken & Elaine Harrison) in room 108 8th-9th grade (Sylvia Avery) in room 302 10th-12th grade (Pastor Dalton Avery) in room 301