WATER FROM THE ROCK
September 2014
34 Rock Spring Church Road, Louisburg, NC 27549
www.rockspringbaptistchurch.wordpress.com
Phone Number 919-496-6229
From the Pastor’s Pen
Welcome everyone to our September Newsletter. September has always been a transitional month of sorts and this September is no
exception. On the first Sunday of the month, September 7 th, we are launching our second worship service. It will be held at 8:30 AM
followed by Sunday School at 9:45 AM and the later worship service at the 11:00 hour. This is an EXCITING time for our church
family! God has been so faithful to bless us with numerical growth and this new service embraces that growth and positions us for
further development in the future. My mind runs to 1 Corinthians 3:6 where the Apostle Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the growth.” To God be the glory for the growth that we have seen over the years.
Besides this new twist in service times, we still have the normal transitions that are taking place at this time too. Wednesday,
September 3rd, is our Promotion Day for our Wednesday night children’s ministries and September 7th is the Promotion Day for our
Sunday School classes. As always, we have new ministry leaders and teachers beginning their responsibilities and they need our
prayers as they attempt to navigate all the changes.
Since the publication of our August newsletter, three new deacons have been elected. The new deacons are John Anderson, George
Havens and Brian Perry. Let me take a moment to say “Thank You” to Shane Lee, Wayne Stallings and Ray Strawbridge for agreeing
to be placed on the ballot. These men have proven character and their willingness to serve if called upon reflects a heart for Jesus. I
appreciate you and your service for the Lord.
Sign-up sheets for our Fall Adult Bible Studies are on the bulletin board across from my office. Classes being offered are: “Christ in
the Scriptures” and “Financial Peace University.” I hope that you will prayerfully consider joining one of these neat discipleship
opportunities. The classes start at 6:00 PM on Sunday evenings at the same time youth discipleship and the children’s musical practice
occurs.
The Hahn Family will be back with us from September 2 nd through October 2nd. Mat, Daisy and the kids will be joining us for a
spaghetti fellowship on Wednesday, September 3 rd and they will be addressing our Adult Sunday School classes and worship services
on September 14th. We are so thankful for Mat and Daisy and the call that God has placed on their lives to reach the nations. Please
plan to connect with them in some way while they are with us in the month of September.
Our Monday Night Visitation Ministry is celebrating its one year anniversary and I am proud to announce that it is going strong. On
the first Monday of each month we pair up into teams and we systematically go through our community, house by house, visiting
people, praying with folks, and sharing the gospel when the opportunity arises. This ministry shows that RSBC cares about its local
community, so come on out and enjoy this ministry with us.
Let me remind all of our ministry leaders to be getting their 2015 budget requests in to the Finance Team. The deadline is September
28th. You can email them to me or you can give them to Diane Jones, our church treasurer.
Finally, On October 12th – 15th, Keith Wagner, Senior Pastor of Wakefield Central Baptist Church in Zebulon, will be preaching our
Fall Revival services. Keith and his wife Lisa have been married for 30 years and have three children. Keith holds degrees from
Campbell University (1984), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1988), and The Institute of Spanish Language in San Jose,
Costa Rica (2001). Keith served as the Senior Pastor of Wakefield Central Baptist Church previously from 1994-2000, followed by
11 years of missionary service with the International Mission Board (IMB), SBC in The Dominican Republic and Mexico City. He
and Lisa and their family returned to Wakefield in 2011. I hope that you will pray for Keith and ask God to use him to rekindle the
flames in our Christian walks and grant us a true revival.
Have a great September and may God bless you as you seek to serve Him.
In His Service,
Brother Melton
Inside This Issue
Church Calendars
Associate Pastor, Mission & Church News
Youth News
Anniversaries & Birthdays
2
3
4
5
CHURCH CALENDAR AND VOLUNTEER SCHEDULES
SEPTEMBER
S
7
14
21
28
M
1
8
15
22
29
T
2
9
16
23
30
W
3
10
17
24
T
4
11
18
25
F
5
12
19
26
Guest Recognition
S
6
13
20
27
Coordinator: Melton Tyson
Team Members: Ruby Savage Preston Waller
K-1st
SEPTEMBER PLANNER
Sept. 7
Regular
Weekly
Services
Sundays:
8:30 am
11:00 am
9:45 am
Wednesdays:
7:00 pm
7:45 pm
1
2
3
6:00 pm
6:00 pm
7:00 pm
6
9:00-Noon
7
6-7:00 pm
8
11
14
6-7:30 pm
7-8:00 pm
7:00 pm
9:45 am
5-6:00 pm
17
18
21
28
7:00 pm
3:00 pm
6:00 pm
Worship
Sept. 14
Sunday School Worship
Sept. 21
Adult Bible Study & Prayer
Meeting
Youth & Children’s Ministries
Adult Choir Practice
Labor Day
Safe Space Ministry
Promotion Wednesday
Spaghetti Fellowship
Mat & Daisy Speak in
Youth
New Member Orientation
Class
Promotion Sunday
Dual Services Begin
Spare Change Sunday
Holy Ghost & Drama Team
Begins
Youth Discipleship
Church Visitation
Deacons’ Meeting
Sun. School in Sanctuary with
Mat & Daisy
Bible Drill Begins
$25 Deposit Due for Youth
Fall Retreat
Church Leadership Meeting
Silver Ring Thing/Youth
Adult Small Group Begin
2015 Budget Requests Are Due
Sept. 28
Junior Church Schedule
Ages 5 Years – 5th Grade
2nd-5th
Patience Long &
Christy Murray
Nicole Ball &
Swannie Harris
Denise Havens &
Anita Strickland
Chana Alford &
Tim Edwards
8:30: *Tony Alford (Prayer) & Brian Ball
Khristi Pippin &
Madison Pippin
Brian Ball
Pam Perry
Children’s Church Schedule
Ages 2 - 4
Sept. 7
Nicole Sheldon & Yvonne Ayscue
Sept. 14
Patience Long & Mackenzie Gupton
Sept. 21
Bobby Dickerson, Angel Dupree & Payton Bryant
Sept. 28
Lisa DeGrow & Cassie Dickerson
In case of an emergency, please contact the lead teacher for the week you are
scheduled to serve; otherwise you are responsible for your sub.
Nursery Schedules
Sept. 7
Sept. 14
Sept. 21
Sept. 28
Sunday School
Martha Stallings & Anita Strickland
Worship
8:30 am – Joli Pacheco & Mary Lou Murphy
11:00 am – Ruby Savage & Christine Potter
Khristi Pippin & Lori Rogers
Nicole Ball & Kelly Williams
Special Needs
Sunday School
Worship
8:30 am – Marty Hodges & JoAnn Gupton
11:00 am – Robin Hoogewerf & Melissa Hodges
Special Needs
Sunday School
Becky Rogers & Malissa Mulkey
Martha Stallings & Pam Perry
Worship
8:30 am – Heidi Best & Mike Sheldon
11:00 am – Susan Tyson & Mikayla Babbitt
Special Needs
Sunday School
Martha Stallings & Megan Arnold
Nicole Ball & Christy Murray
Worship
8:30 am – Mackenzie Gupton & Megan Arnold
11:00 am – Cassidy Osgood & Susan Gordon
Special Needs
Terri Powell & Brian Ball
Usher Schedule
Sept. 7
Tim Pippin
11:00: Marty Hodges (Prayer), Warren Nelms,
Larry Ayscue & Marc Daniels
Sept. 14
8:30: *Gene Dupree (Prayer) & Tony Alford
11:00: *Roger Matthews (Prayer), Earl Perry,
Chris Bailey & Tim Pippin
Sept. 21
8:30: *Jonathan Poole (Prayer)& Gilbert Potter
11:00: *Brian Ball (Prayer), Jonathan Poole,
Ricky Harris & Derrick Fuller
Sept. 28
Wednesday Night Nursery Schedule
Sept. 3 – Susan Tyson & Bettie Bryant
Sept. 10 – Swannie Harris & Marty Hodges
Sept. 17 – Anita Strickland & Kelly Williams
Sept. 24 – Chana Alford & Patience Long
If you cannot serve when scheduled, please switch with someone. If you
cannot get coverage, call/text Melissa Hodges (919-497-6299)
8:30: *Tim Pippin (Prayer)& Gene Dupree
11:00: *Ray Strawbridge (Prayer), Gene Dupree,
Jeff DeGrow & John Hoogewerf
*Indicates Offertory Prayer
2
Associate Pastor News
As we launch the new church year, there will be two worship services available. We are going to have an early service and a late
service. As of right now, the children's ministries will be the same for Sunday School and the late service (11:00 AM). However,
during the early service (8:30 AM) there will be a nursery, but there will not be Junior Church or Children's Church. Let me
encourage you to consider finding a new way this year to serve. If you are serving during a particular service (early or late), then I
want to challenge you to worship at the other service. For instance, if you are serving in Junior Church at 11:00 AM, then come to the
early worship service to have a good time of worshiping God and enjoying the Body of Christ.
Also let me encourage you to do whatever you do with excellence. God desires our best, and our first fruits. I have been recently
challenged personally to do everything I have with excellence for God's glory. Let me encourage you to do the same. No matter
where you serve, don't serve with half-heartedness or mediocrity. Serve with excellence. Teach our children with excellence. Sing
with excellence. Play instruments with excellence. Why? Because we want to please our heavenly Father and to serve each other
well.
Jonathan
WMU
Saturday, September 13th from 7-9:00 PM, the LIGHT Ministry will host a prayer tea for the Afar people, with special guest Daisy
Hahn. Come out and enjoy a fun night of encouragement and prayer as we lift up an unreached people group in desperate need of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Also, be on the lookout for a forthcoming calendar of events for the LIGHT Women's Ministry for the 20142015 church year. As always, any woman, young or mature, can come, enjoy, and participate in the LIGHT Women's Ministry.
Patience:
Library News
New books added are Let Hope In: 4 Choices that Will Change Your Life Forever by Pete Wilson, The Story, KJV: The Bible as One
Continuing Story of God and His People by Randy Frazee and Max Lucado. Many thanks for those donations.
Book Club
The Book Club will be meeting on Wednesday, September 17 th, at 9:30 a.m. with Jane Keller as discussion leader. The book selection
is Stand By Me by Neta Jackson. Please feel welcome to join this lively group in meaningful discussions of a variety of books any
time during the coming year.
Spaghetti Supper
On Wednesday, September 3rd at 6:00 pm, we will have a spaghetti supper and a time of fellowship with Mat and Daisy.
Holy Ghost and Drama Team
On September 7th from 6-7:00 pm, the Holy Ghost and Drama Team begin practice.
Spare Change Sunday
Spare Change Sunday is September 7th. All monies received will go towards the Youth and their next mission trip.
3
Youth News for September
School has begun once again and the excitement of fall activities is in the air! Before you know it, we will be celebrating Harvest
Day, working with Treats ‘n Trunks, going to the State Fair, and getting ready for the Fall Retreat! But first, it’s time to think about
September!
Our Safe Space ministry for this month will be on Tuesday, September 2 nd. Be sure to sign up ahead of time and be at my house by
6:00 pm. Depending on the number of ladies and children who are in the shelter, we may do something a little different this month.
On Wednesday, September 3rd, we will have a spaghetti dinner at 6:00 pm to welcome Mat and Daisy (and their family) back to
Rock Spring. They will be with us for a month before they head back north to spend a little more time with their families.
On Wednesday, September 3rd, Mat and Daisy will be leading our youth meeting and we will be celebrating our September
birthdays! Happy birthday to Angel, Andrew B, Brooklyn, Esther, Heidi, John, Payton and Madison!
By Wednesday, September 3rd, you should have told me how many calendars you plan to sell this year with our calendar fundraiser.
The calendars sell for $10 each and they should be available for you to pick up on Wednesday, September 10 th. If you are planning to
use the calendar sales to help with Fall Retreat expenses, you will need to sell your calendars and turn in all of the money by October
29th. Any calendar money turned in after that will be put into your account for future events.
If you and your family are interested in joining Rock Spring, our next New Member Orientation Class will be on Saturday,
September 6th from 9 am until noon. This class is not required for baptism, but it is required for church membership. A sign-up sheet
can be found on the bulletin board across from Melton’s office.
Sunday, September 7th will be a BIG day at Rock Spring! First of all, we will be going to dual worship services in the morning.
Worship times will be 8:30 and 11:00 am, with Sunday school beginning at 9:45. The youth and youth workers will have doughnuts
in the youth room at 9:30 to kick off the new time and the new church year!
We also begin our Sunday Night Youth Discipleship once again on Sunday, September 7th, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Since you guys
like to eat so much, there will be pizza for all of the youth and youth workers at 6:00. For our Sunday night Bible study, we will be
studying the Gospel of John, so please try to join us!
Our next Church Visitation is on Monday, September 8th, from 7:00 until 8:00 pm. We have taken on a big job trying to reach
everyone within a five mile radius of the church, and we need your help!
If you are planning to go on the Fall Retreat, you will need to turn in a $25 deposit by Wednesday, September 17th. The rest of your
money will be due on October 29th. More information about the Fall Retreat can be found in the youth room.
The Silver Ring Thing is returning to Rocky Mount on Sunday, September 21 st and I hope ALL of you will join us there! For those
of you who have never gone before, this is an event that encourages young people to live a life of sexual purity before God. I hope
that you understand that this is not an event that you only attend once! If you have already gone and bought a ring – then this is more
of an event to remind you of the commitment you previously made. If you’ve never gone, then you (and your parents) are encouraged
to attend! We will be leaving the church at 3:00 pm and everyone will need money for an early fast food supper. There will be tshirts, wristbands, etc. for sale at the event, and the rings are $20. All youth and parents who plan to attend are asked to sign up in the
youth room ASAP. You can check out more information online by looking up “Silver Ring Thing.”
4
SEPTEMBER
Anniversaries
25 Russel & Brandy Gupton
Stephen & Kris Hornick
Birthdays
1
3
4
5
6
7
8
12
13
14
16
Peggy Wood
Ron Bendy
Angel Dupree
Tracey Kirsch
Timothy Bryant
Sarah Wheeler
Garry Rogers
Dan Pearce
Warren Nelms
Russel Gupton
Trey Lee
Tim Strickland
Graham Williams
Troy Gupton
Michelle Bryant
Gene Whaples
John Anderson
Jessica Anderson
Heidi Best
17 Jim Barrett
18 Susan Strickland
Ashby Murray
19 Savannah Dupree
21 Payton Bryant
Lori Rogers
Melissa Oakley
22 Rebecca Alford
23 Anita Strickland
Ted Noe
Madison Pippin
25 Kelly Dickerson
27 Eugene Underhill
30 Carol (Wayne) Baker
5
Just For Fun!!
Church Ladies with Typewriters
Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences actually appeared in church
bulletins or were announced in church services:
 The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
 The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water. 'The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
 Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your
husbands.
 Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
 Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
 Nellie Morgan and John Rees were married on February 2nd in Newtown's Baptist church. So ends a friendship that began in
their school days.
 At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell Like?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
 Seven new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of new members, and to the deterioration of some of older
ones.
 Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
 Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
 St Hilary church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
 The ladies of St Peter's Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
 This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to
sin.
Missing the Church Service
Father Lewis woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just
had to play golf.
So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and persuaded him to say Mass for him that day.
As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Lewis headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away.
This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish. Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After
all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church!
At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to
let him get away with this, are you?"
The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not."
Just then Father Lewis hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole.
IT WAS A 430 YARD HOLE-in-ONE!
St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?"
The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"
6