On this first Sunday of the COVID closure, we visit with Larry & Becky Stanton (International Missions Global Servants to Hungary), Pastor Rob and Malachi have a video call together, and Pastor Rob offers a musical message of hope with “It Is Well.”
We begin this Lent with Jesus in the wilderness, and then travel with him to Jerusalem and beyond.
The gospel of John is our gospel companion for most of this Season of Lent. Here we will encounter Nicodemus and through his conversation with Jesus we, too, are assured of God’s care in the winds of change and new birth. We will sit on the edges with a Samaritan woman as she draws from the well of life-giving waters, see the movement of God in our lives and the world around in the story of one who is born blind, experience the pain of a community in the death of Lazarus, and join the conversation that unbinds and brings forth life.
On Palm/Passion Sunday, we enter Jerusalem on a path paved with cloaks and branches. It is a path that leads to betrayal, abandonment, prayer, violence. The story seems to come to an end in the closing of the tomb. Instead, it is a beginning.
Easter arrives dressed in white and gold and a flurry of Alleluias. Mary is the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus and Thomas follows with his proclamation of faith. Two who travel home believing all has come to an end meet the risen Christ when bread is broken and shared. Narratives from Acts offer a glimpse into the faith and life of the early church, which the authorities could not contain.
The Season of Easter ends with words of farewell and commission. John’s narrative of the Spirit’s promised coming finds abundant fulfillment in Act’s testimony to Pentecost.
The Spirit restores, unites, and empowers the community to witness. Alleluia!
What Does This Mean? Copyright © The Rev. Diane E. L. Wendorf. Used by permission, courtesy of “Seasons of the Spirit.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 12/18/2019
SHARING THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS IN SONG
A Christmas tradition 40-years in the making brings joy to local nursing home residents, and helps members of one local church remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Highland, IL (12/18/2019) – Every Christmas morning since 1979, members of the First Baptist Church of Highland have quietly gathered for a light breakfast and vocal warm-ups. Song books are distributed and a schedule is announced as church members pile into cars to go Christmas caroling at local retirement and long-term healthcare facilities.
“For some, Christmas is a time of loneliness or isolation, being in a nursing home or unable to be with family,” explains Adrian Rogier who, along with his wife Sharon, organized the first Christmas morning caroling for the congregation 40 years ago. “For me, this is our way of saying there’s something more important than ourselves.”
Six singers gathered that first year. In recent years, members of Highland’s Family Bible Church have joined with the First Baptist congregation, sometimes creating a choir of more than 40 voices.
“We would bring our kids, and now our kids bring their kids,” says Rogier. “Our kids can put down their gifts and go share Christmas joy with others for a few hours. It’s a teaching moment about the selflessness of God’s love and what Christmas is all about. It’s a privilege to share that love and joy with others on Christmas morning.”
Mary Ann Simpson has been caroling with the church every year. “It’s just what we do,” says Simpson. “It’s our way of sharing Christmas joy with the nursing home residents and staff who don’t get to spend Christmas with their families. My nephew has grown up caroling with the church every year of his life. It’s now just part of our family’s Christmas.”
Church carolers will visit five local facilities on Christmas morning: Cedarhurst of Highland, The Highland Home, Faith Countryside Homes, Elderwerks Atrium Apartments, and Highland Health Care.
The church welcomes anyone who would like to sing along. Carolers will gather at 8:00am on December 25 at the First Baptist Church of Highland (2709 Poplar Street).
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Fore more information about this story, contact Adrian Rogier at (618) 654-2151 or Mary Ann Simpson at (618) 654-3235.
Enclosed photo: Members of First Baptist Church of Highland Christmas caroling at Cedarhurst of Highland on Christmas morning, 2017.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 12/16/2019
Highland Church Celebrates 70 Years
Highland, IL (12/16/2019) – The First Baptist Church of Highland recently celebrated a milestone 70 years of ministry, providing church members a time to reflect on the congregation’s resilience and mission.
Beginning with 34 members in 1949, the First Baptist Church initially met in rented space in the Kuhnen-Siegrist building at the corner of Broadway and Laurel in Highland. That building was destroyed by fire in 1953 – the same year the congregation built their own church in the 1300 block of Poplar Street. A fire in 1997 destroyed that church building, prompting the church to build again, this time at its present location (2709 Poplar Street).
“I’ve never seen such a resilient congregation,” says Rev. Rob Kirbach, the church’s pastor. “Their decision to rebuild after the 1997 fire was quick and unanimous. These people are not prone to bend under adversity. Their dedication is inspiring.”
Similarly inspiring is the church’s legacy of helping war refugees immigrate to the United States. In 1959 the church sponsored the Driesner Family from war-torn Germany, helping the large family find housing and employment in Highland. This resettlement ministry was repeated in 1964 with the Lawrenz Family, also from Germany, and again in 1977 with the Myint Family from Myanmar (Burma).
“This congregation was established with a passion for international ministries,” explains Kirbach. “70 years later, we’re still looking for ways to extend hospitality and compassion to our global community.”
The congregation currently sponsors Global Servants (missionaries) in Thailand, Laos, Haiti, and Hungary. Earlier this year ten members of the church went to eastern Hungary to teach English language workshops in several schools there.
As to the future of the church, “I’m excited to see what God has in store for us,” says Kirbach. “But one thing won’t change; We’ll continue our focus on serving others as best we can. That’s our mission.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 12/09/2019
Highland, IL (12/09/2019) –
The congregation at First Baptist Church of Highland have donated a boatload – literally – to the food pantry at Highland Area Christian Services Ministry (HACSM). The church’s annual food drive is now in its 7th year.
“The idea began several years ago,” explains the Rev. Rob Kirbach, the church’s pastor. “While setting a goal for the church’s annual food drive, someone in the congregation suggested a ‘boatload’. The congregation embraced the challenge and has been giving a boatload to HACSM every year since.”
In recent years the ‘boatload’ drive focuses on items less-commonly donated, including laundry soap and paper products. According to Teresa Boudouris, Food Pantry Director at HACSM, HACSM did not need to purchase toilet paper for its clients until mid-October this year, due partly because of the church’s 2018 boatload donation – a savings of approximately $1,000 for the food pantry.
“This donation really helps our budget and our clients,” says Boudouris, “as toilet paper is one of the most requested items we distribute.” Other items collected in the First Baptist Church boatload include personal care and personal hygiene products, in addition to canned and boxed food.
“I’m very happy with the relationship this church has with HACSM,” says Kirbach, “and I’m excited to serve a church that invests so much into the community.”
For more information:
Rev. Rob Kirbach, First Baptist Church of Highland – (618) 654-4145
Teresa Boudouris, Food Pantry Direcor at HACSM – (618) 654-9295
Life is full of choices. From the moment we wake every morning and thousands of times each day, we constantly make choices that shape and direct our lives.
Some choices are relatively insignificant. “Will I wear my brown sweater or my grey sweater today?” Other choices define our very lives and affect those around us.
Advent marks the beginning of a new year in the church, and Christmas reminds us of new life in Christ. What a great time to contemplate the choices we make as the calendar leads us to a new year.
So as a new year approaches, what will you choose?
To summarize the culture and history of Budapest in a single blog post would be impossible. This phenomenal city dates back to the Roman Empire. Its violent past is still evident in the form of battle scars (some areas still show damage from WWII bombings). But the beauty of this special place shines forth.
Our mission team was challenged to “see God in action everyday.” This was particular easy to do while working in the mission field. But during these past two days of our trip, as we’ve explored Europe’s 9th largest city, we’ve still seen God at work.
more “Budapest”
Our team’s final school day on this trip was to the Talentum Iskola – a small school in Debrecen operated by the Baptist Church. There’s no doubt this school holds a special place in our hearts. This is the school where Amanda Good works as an English teacher. It’s the school supported by the Debrecen Baptist Church we worshiped with earlier in the week. And perhaps because it was our final school in Hungary, it stands out in our memories as a capstone experience for our work here.
more “Talentum Baptista Általános Iskola”
Part of Jon & Amanda’s ministry it to support the Debrecen Baptist Church youth group by providing food for social events and ministry nights. The youth group, composed of middle school, high school, and college aged students, is rapidly growing by word-of-mouth. Students are eager to invite friends, partly because of the hospitality of the Goods.
The church has a youth minister who runs the programming and organizes ministry for this group. But the growth of the group is due, in large part, to the support they receive from Jon & Amanda in the form of themed dinners. As is the case in the United States: Where there is free food, students are likely to come.
more “So Many Cheeseburgers”
Our team may be in Hungary to work alongside Jon & Amanda Good, but we’ve also had the good fortune to meet up with some of our other favorite IM Global Servants in Hungary!
After several long days of work with school children in nearby towns and villages, we were excited to have dinner with Larry & Becky Stanton and their delightful children.
more “Old Friends in New Places”