Missions Conference 2011

Posted on October 17, 2011 by pastor

Wow!  What a Missions Conference we had this year!  Pastor David Smith is  a dear friend and tremendous man of God.  After pastoring churches in Massachusetts and Arkansas for many years, he has come back to New England with his precious wife Sharon to encourage churches in the areas of soul winning, church planting and missions.  He was our keynote speaker for our conference this year.  Our theme was “Get On Board” with missions!  We had five missionaries come to share with us their burdens for souls:  The Papes to the Dominican Republic, the Staples to Spain, the Princes to Uraguay, the Browns to Montana, and Ron Cole with HELP Ministries.  We had great attendance each night and our church folks were so faithful each night.  The Lord really used this conference to stir our hearts to reach the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.  Pastor Smith showed us with clarity from the Bible that our church has a responsibility to reach the whole world with the Gospel.  God is all about saving sinners and changing lives, and we need to be about that business by reaching our community, our country, and  the world.  The auditorium and Sunday School rooms were decorated with a train theme for “Get on Board.”  We started each service with the pastor and missionary men dressed up as train conductors, complete with train whistles, marching around the auditorium singing “The Good Old Gospel Train.”  As we marched around, we would call people out of the pews to get on board.  By the time of our last service, everyone in the auditorium was marching around and the pews were empty!  No one thought it was silly, but all got on board!  It was an awesome time and very memorable for everyone!

 

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Family Fishing Trip

Posted on July 31, 2011 by pastor

Fishing July 2011We had a great time on the Family Deep Sea Fishing Trip activity.  A special thank you to John Hopps of Victory Baptist Church in Londonderry for organizing the event.  Several baptist churches from our area joined us aboard the Miss Tracey Ann II as we set sail out of Seabrook, New Hampshire, harbor at 8:00 am.  The weather was absolutely beautiful as we sailed 20 miles out on the Atlantic.  We saw spouting whales and even a huge shark!  Eventually our captain found a great spot to drop our lines.  We caught lots of haddock and cod, which are very yummy to eat!  Unfortunately, there were also lots of dog fish, which are basically sand sharks.  All in all, we had a great time and came home with seafood for the freezer.  Most of all, we enjoyed the fellowship with other Christians and were able to give some tracts to the crew.

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Church Picnic

Posted on July 19, 2011 by pastor

We had a great time at our annual church picnic Saturday at the Pastor’s house. Russ is now the new grill master of Cornerstone! He grilled some awesome steak tips and marinated chicken. The ladies made a bunch of delicious dishes to complement the grill. Hats off to the ladies! After our picnic lunch, the ladies played some games with the kids. I think everyone got at least a little wet from the squirt gun action…..kind of welcome on a hot summer day! Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were the winners for the water balloon toss. And finally, Russ and his partner, Bob, took the horseshoe tournament hands down! Seemed like everything Russ touched turned to gold!  I know who to pick next year to be my horseshoe partner!  No doubt everyone had a great time of food and fellowship! Looking forward to next year!

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Encouraged by the Brown family

Posted on July 14, 2011 by pastor

We had the wonderful privilege of having Phillip and Michelle Brown visit our church last night.  They will be planting a new church in Bozeman, Montana.  I love having missionaries and church planters in to try to be an encouragement to them.  Years ago, when my family and I were preparing to start Cornerstone Baptist Church here in Manchester, we spent several months on deputation.  Deputation is a time when missionaries and church planters visit churches of like faith to present their ministries and seek prayer and financial support.  Missionaries to other countries are not allowed to work in those countries so they need to raise enough support from here in the states to be able to take care of their families and do the work of the ministry.  Church planters here in the States should also raise support.  It is very difficult to start a church and work a full time job.  I can attest to how difficult that was!  Deputation can take several years of going from church to church trying to raise that support.  It is exciting, but it can also be very difficult.  You are away from home, often staying in people’s homes or in motels, eating lots of fast food, and living day to day by faith.   Even after only a brief time of deputation, my family and I realized how difficult it was for missionaries.  That has helped us to be more sensitive to their needs as we have them visit.  Our church has a heart for  both home and foreign missions, so we try our best to be an encouragement to these men of God who are willing to go on our behalf and reach others for Christ.

All that being said, I have to say that it was the Browns that ended up doing all the encouraging last night!  They are a fine family and have a tremendous heart for God and others.  We were able to see their video presentation of their burden to reach Bozeman, Montana.  You can view that video on their website, browns2bozeman.com.  Phillip then preached a great message from Romans chapter 10:  “My Heart’s Desire Is For My People”.  The apostle Paul, though he was a missionary to the Gentiles, had a great burden for his own people, the Jews.  They were going about trying to establish their own righteousness.  In other words, they were trying to be good to get to Heaven.  Isn’t that how so many Americans are trying to get there?  Paul’s message is the same as ours today.  No one will ever be good enough to get to Heaven.  Phillip did a great job reminding us of the need to keep our burden fresh for our own people!  We finished up the night by hanging around for a while just gabbing.  I think it was that time that was the most encouraging!

I hope you will take a few minutes and go to their website.  Send them a note and let them know you are praying for them.

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