Wednesday night activities resume tonight! Here's the schedule:

• 6:15 PM Youth Missions Group & Children's Choirs

(Sonshine Choir - room 201; Cherub Choir - room 205; Young Musicians - room 206)

• 6:30 PM Weeknight Worship (sanctuary) & Adult Bible Study (SDR)

(The Weeknight Worship sermon will be the same as this past Sunday; the Adult Bible Study is on spiritual disciplines)

• 7:30 PM Chancel Choir Rehearsal

We hope you'll join us!

A Higher Note

A call to worship that is commonly used on Easter Sunday and subsequent weeks during “The Season of Easter" (40 days after Easter Sunday) begins: “Ye Easter People Arise!” That call to action is my call to choir members in 2024. Palm Sunday and Easter fall quite early on our calendars this year (March 24 and 31). Therefore, we only have 11 weeks to prepare for our Palm Sunday presentation. Rehearsals for Easter will begin tonight at 7:30 PM. We do not have the luxury of missing a few weeks before signing on this season. So, “Ye Easter People Arise” let’s get off to a strong start beginning tonight. 

Children’s Choirs will kick off the 2024 season tonight. One major change is all the children’s choirs will be meeting on the second floor of the children’s building. The Cherub and Sonshine Choirs will report to the same locations. However, the Young Musicians (3-5th grades), who had been meeting in the Chancel Choir room behind the sanctuary, will now meet in the Pre-teen Room #206.

Our “Holy Experiment” continues tonight with our midweek service moving to Wednesday nights. Come be a part of this midweek worship experience. We will begin sharply at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary. Parents can drop their children for choir at 6:15 and come to the sanctuary for a unique worship experience and be finished in time to pick them back up at 7:15 PM.

-- Chris

Thursday Morning Small Group/Study

Beginning tomorrow morning, Travis will offer a small group/Bible study on Thursdays at 10:00 AM in the small dining room. This study offers a chance to further discuss each week's sermon, digging deeper into the biblical text and probing additional questions that arise in our sermon series on spiritual disciplines. Our hope is that this time will be an opportunity to grow together through shared learning and conversation.

This Sunday @ VBC:

This Sunday morning we will worship at 10:30 AM (Sunday School at 9:15 AM). Travis' message is "Deliver," and the scripture is Hebrews 4:12-13. We'll also hear from both the Chancel Choir and the Youth Choir. If you cannot join us in person, you can livestream at www.vintonbaptistchurch.org and on our Facebook group page.

Children's Ministry Meetings

The Nursery Committee will meet this Sunday, January 14th at 11:45 AM in the library. There will be a parent meeting for Passport Kids' Camp Sunday, January 28th at 11:45 AM in the library. Questions? See Jessie Burgess.

Children's Ministry Events in January

Mark your calendars for Art from the Heart and Mission Kids beginning at 4:00 PM this Sunday, January 14th! Open to K - 5th grades. Please drop off and pick up in the gym.

On Sunday, January 28th the Preteens (3rd - 5th graders) will have dinner and a devotion, 4:00 - 6:00 PM at the church in the Preteens room (206).

Pancake Brunch Fundraiser

On Sunday, January 21st the Preteens will host a Pancake Brunch Fundraiser to raise money for this summer's Passport Kids' Camp. Meals must be purchased in advance and will include pancakes, toppings, a breakfast meat, coffee, and juice. If you are paying by cash or check, please see a Preteen or sign up in the church office at a cost of $6/meal (checks can be made to "Vinton Baptist" and please notate Pancake Fundraiser in the memo line). You may also click here to purchase your meal(s) online using a credit/debit card at a cost of $6.25/plate. You can schedule your meal to go or plan to eat with us in the gym. Meals will be ready when worship is over at 11:30 AM.

Soup for Seniors

Please join the JOY Seniors in collecting non-perishable food donations for LOA's Soup for Seniors drive. We are collecting canned foods (soup, fruits, vegetables, as well as peanut butter, and crackers) to provide meals for local seniors. Collection boxes can be found in the Welcome Center and inside the double glass doors of the New Ministries Building. All donations are appreciated through the end of January.

Thrive Youth

• Plan to join us tonight for Youth Missions Group. (Note the updated time of 6:15 PM.) We are headed to Keystone tonight.
• A ski trip to Winterplace (Ghent, WV) is scheduled for February 9th-10th. Click here for the details/registration form. All registrations are due ASAP!
• DNOW weekend is March 8th-10th.
• We are also planning our summer mission trip to Dinwiddie, Virginia. Click here for all the details. Deposits are due by March 15th.

JOY Seniors

You're invited to our January JOY Luncheon for fellowship, lunch and fun activities. This will have our annual beans & cornbread meal, which also includes slaw, cooked apples, dessert, and water. Please plan to join us Tuesday, January 30th at noon in the gym. Lunch is $10, and you can sign up and pay at the JOY Senior table in the Welcome Center. Please sign up no later than January 28th.

Deacon Ordination & Installation

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, January 28th, when we will have a Deacon Ordination & Installation service. The following new deacons will be ordained: Jeff Carr, Ann Cranwell, Devan Harman, Tim Pinion, and Justin Rodgers. These folks, along with Erin Berry, Helen Foster, Rudy Jones, and Wally Mayo, will be installed as deacons for a term beginning this year and ending in 2026. Please take a few minutes over the next couple of weeks and stop by the table in the Welcome Center to write your notes of encouragement and blessing for our new deacons who will be ordained.

Kathi Pennington

The Glebe - Chaplick Center

250 Elliston Circle West MC#125

Daleville VA 24083

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Sunday School: 197

10:30 AM Worship:

• 310 in person
• 189 online

2023 Giving Statements

Please note that end-of-year giving statements will be ready for pickup in the church office this Sunday. Statements that are not picked up will have to be mailed by the end of January. Please help us save postage by picking up your 2023 giving statement over the next two weeks. Thanks so much!

2024 Offering Envelopes

2024 offering envelopes are available in the first floor children's hallway at the interior entrance to the New Ministries Building. You may pick them up anytime the church is open. If you do not find your envelopes, please let Patsy know and she will be happy to issue a box for you.

Congratulations to Fred & Jean Swisher on their 73rd wedding anniversary on January 13th!

Christian sympathy is extended to David Bates and family in the death of his wife, Nancy, on January 6th; to the family and friends of Roger Sowers, who passed away January 2nd; and to Alice & Phillip Leffell and family, as well as Gerry Miller-Snyder, in the death of Alice's sister and Gerry's sister-in-law, Melba Miller Brugh, on January 6th.

Bible Reading Plan

For those of you who would like to start reading along with us this year in our Bible reading plan, get ready! We start Jeremiah tomorrow and would love for you to jump in with us. You can access our plan by clicking here, by picking up a hard copy in the Welcome Center, or by accessing "Bible Reading Plan" from the bottom menu of our VBC app. On the print copies, look for "YEAR 2" and then start with January 11th.

The description of Jeremiah that is provided in Fee & Stuart's How to Read the Bible Book by Book sounds very similar to the prophecies of destruction and future hope found in Isaiah. However, they note the distinctiveness of Jeremiah and how he draws particularly from the books of Hosea and Deuteronomy. Jeremiah is prophesying in a time when the reigns of Jewish kings are coming to an end and the remaining Jewish nation (Judah) is being taken over by Babylon. Jeremiah prophesies during the last 18 years of Josiah's reign, as well as the shorter reigns of Josiah's sons Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, and finally the brief reign of Josiah's grandson Jehoiachin. The Jewish people don't want to listen to Jeremiah's message because they believe that Jerusalem, as the place where God dwells in his temple, cannot be destroyed. Jeremiah's message is that it will indeed be destroyed by Babylon (even though the kings of Judah seek help from Egypt in their fight against Babylon). That destruction is part of God's judgment against his people because of their idol worship. Jeremiah urges the Jewish people to accept their fate of becoming subjects of Babylon and to make a life for themselves in Babylon, understanding that God will one day restore everything as it should be.

Fee & Stuart organize Jeremiah into four sections, followed by an epilogue: "Chapters 1-25 contain oracles and interpreted symbolic actions that announce the coming doom of Judah and Jerusalem. A large part of this material appears in the form of conversation/dialogue between the prophet and Yahweh. In chapters 26-36 two collections of (nonchronological) narratives enclose the highly important message of hope in chapters 30-33. Chapters 37-45 contain a series of narratives in chronological order, having to do with events that fulfill prophecies in part 1. Chapters 46-51 contain oracles against the nations, while chapter 52 is a historical epilogue, vindicating Jeremiah as a prophet."

I'm looking forward to walking through the remainder of the scriptures with you this year and would love your feedback as we go. Happy reading!