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Sunday, March 30, 2025

Acts 18

"God at Home and Work"

Pastor Bryon will bring the message this Sunday. We will conclude our message series entitled "Fusion" from the book of Acts.

March 30 and April 6 - There will be NO Kids Ministry programming.

5th Sundays are traditionally a time for church-wide fellowship. This Sunday, March 30, after worship, we are asking you to do a church-wide time of fellowship and connection in smaller groups. Pastor Bryon has encouraged us to invite a few fellow members of our congregation to join you at a restaurant (ideally no more than 8)-- whether it's someone you haven't seen in a while, or that you never get enough time to talk, or a new face you'd like to get to know better. This is a wonderful opportunity to build relationships, share in the joy of community, and create new friendships in our church family. Groups will decide on the restaurant and everyone is responsible for their own tab.

The Other Side of Prayer

While we always want to engage in a healthy and vibrant prayer life, “Lent” is nearly synonymous with prayer.  Our prayers during this holy season are intended to become a deeper reach inside ourselves.  It is a time set apart for reflection and self-examination.  The intent of our commitment to prayer, is to ponder anew the weightiness of the season; a solemn reminder of who we are and to Whom we belong. 

Prayer is a great privilege for us because it means we have been given access to Almighty God.  We can know that God listens, cares, reveals and responds to us.  We are able to see within ourselves and others a response from the other side of our prayers—a knowing of God’s heart and His indelible love over us.  Sometimes that includes the witnessing of miracles!

Prayer is also an entrusted privilege from God.  We are commanded to pray without ceasing. This is a provisional emptying of ourselves, a giving over of our concerns to God—which we were never meant to carry in the first place—and we do so with total trust in His providential care.

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8 

If He collects our tears in a bottle metaphorically, then the same must be true for our prayers. Our winged prayers take flight, and as His Word promises, nothing returns to Him empty.  A great day is coming when we will see the effects of our prayers from the other side; when Jesus will say,  “Come and see”…

Wendy Jones

Read prior Lenten Reflections here.

Women's Bible Study — 

Each Wednesday beginning April 9, 2025 at 9:30am--11:30am

Gayton Baptist Church Community Room---just off the lobby area---Please enter the building by the side door just to the right of the main front doors of the church.

"Truthfilled" by Ruth Chou Simons

Many of us want God's Word to dwell richly in us, but life can get in the way.

Join us in this 7 - session study of the Book of Colossians as Ruth Chou Simons leads us through a practice of preaching gospel truth to ourselves by studying Paul's example. In every changing season of life, we can rest in God's character, rehearse our identity in Christ, respond in faith, and remember God's provision for us. In today's culture, there's no shortage of self help, easy fixes, and worldly advice, but only the truth of God's Word was meant to fill you up and satisfy you fully.

Contact Janet Richardson if interested. --- 804-405-1362 --bjgprichardson@comcast.net 

SAY SO! -- Sunday, April 27, beginning at 6:00pm, the youth and young adults will come together to lead a creative worship night, open for the whole church & anyone in the community. Students and young adults will participate and lead in song, testimony, art, poetry, skits, special readings, dance or behind the scenes help.  

Before this worship night begins, the Great Room/foyer will be set up as an art gallery of worship for the display of art pieces and poetry submitted by our church family. All who attend will walk through and enjoy this gallery, prior to coming into the Worship Center. This "worship art gallery" will include art from ANY one of ANY age in our church family. So if any of you write poetry, sculpt, paint, draw, carve or any other creative expression, and you would like to submit a piece for this "worship art gallery", you are encouraged to do so! All art and poetry pieces will be collected between April 21-April 24, for preparation for the April 27 night. On the night of the event, the art gallery will be open to enjoy at 6:00pm with the worship service beginning at 6:30pm. The theme is "Say So!" because Psalm 107:2a says "Let all the redeemed say so!" and on the heels of Easter, we should be ignited to express our worship to our resurrected Lord!

So come share in worship with our youth and young adults, but also feel free to participate with your own expression of artistic worship as well.

Palm Sunday

A special worship to start Holy Week, remembering Jesus’ Triumphal Entry. Our children will bless us with a procession of the waving of palm branches and our choir will bless us with song! We will turn our eyes toward Christ as He journeys to the cross. 

Maundy Thursday Service - 6:30-7:30pm

A reverent, somber, worship gathering commemorating the events leading up to Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion and death, including sharing in the Lord’s Supper and hearing the Holy Week story through scripture readings. We will share in worship and reflect on the cross and the sacrifice Jesus made for us all. All will enter and exit in quiet and reverence. 

(Recommended for ages 9 and up. Parents can decide for younger children. No Kids Ministry provided.)

Easter Sunday- 9:30am & 11:00am

A beautiful celebration of our resurrected Lord Jesus. We will have special music from our choir and instrumentalists! We will also share in the very meaningful “Flowering of the Cross”. All are encouraged to bring flowers, living or artificial, to bring to put on the cross, turning a symbol of death to a symbol of life! It will be a morning of worship and joy, together in Christ!

Gayton Baptist Church budgeted for a Youth Ministry Assistant in this year's budget, and we are now beginning the search for this position. Please share this as you think appropriate, and also be in prayer as we seek the person God is calling to serve in this capacity.

Information about this position, what it entails, and how to apply can be found at gayton.church/joinourstaff.

Take me out to the ballgame! Our 2025 Spirit of Baseball Camp will take place on Saturday, April 26 at Fonticello Park in Richmond. General volunteer needs take place between 8 am and 4 pm. We are seeking volunteers to serve at camper registration in the morning, volunteers to help with lunch preparation/service/clean up, and volunteers to work with the children as team managers (traveling with them through skill stations) and as coaches to teach specific baseball skills. Youth and adult volunteer positions are available. Sign up below. Reach out to camp director Larry Belcher with questions at 804-441-0351. 

Faith & Recovery Ministry

We continue to experience immeasurable blessings with this ministry through numerous mission activities. One of those activities is presenting once a month at the True Recovery “Community Meetings”, held at Westminster Presbyterian. We get roughly 10 minutes to present on topics related to the role of faith in the recovery journey. Participation ranges from 75 to over 100 people and it’s so inspiring to have the attention of such a wonderful group.  

During these meetings, we also get to experience the graduation ceremony of participants who have successfully completed all the steps required to be considered a graduate of the True Recovery program. It is so rewarding to see so many participants who have been directly engaged in our ministry activities receive their graduation certificates.  

The pictures above are from the March 12th meeting & graduation ceremony. We hope you will consider joining our team and help us spread the love of Christ in the recovery community – you’ll find you are just as blessed as those we serve. 

To learn more about all the different ways we serve, please visit the Gayton Website>Missions>Serve>Faith & Recovery: https://gayton.church/faithandrecovery

If you would like to learn more or just tag along to see some of the different activities and determine if it’s the right fit for you, please contact Mike Brumagin at mikebrum89@gmail.com.

During the month of April, the Gayton Food Pantry will be collecting donations of Pasta and Sauce. Pick up a couple extra packages of your favorite pasta shapes and your favorite sauce. Bring donations to the Welcome Desk or the black bin outside the gym entrance. Our Food Pantry relies mostly on donations, and as always, any and all donations are appreciated.

Quest Summer Camp is in need of drivers on Tuesdays and Thursdays for morning field trips and afternoon pool visits. If you would be interested and could do either morning or afternoons, even occasionally, please email the director at annette@gayton.church. 

Young Adults

Bible Study class at 11:00am for Young Adults (Beyond) in Room 226

Young Adult LifeNights will be Wednesdays from 7-8:30pm in the cafe area.

Contact Jennifer@gayton.church for more information.

Sunday, March 30: NO LifeNight

Sunday, April 6: LifeNight 6:00-7:30pm

Join us for Brunch Bible Study each Sunday morning at 11:00am.

For WHO?

This is for all students in COMPLETED grades 6th-12th.  

WHAT is this?

This is a week long youth mission trip. Each day, we will be providing a Vacation Bible School for underprivileged children through the Jubilee Center of Lynchburg, Virginia. We will also be helping with manual labor projects to support the work of this non-profit and we will be working with other mission projects in the area. In the evenings, we will share together as a youth group - in worship, Bible study, sharing and prayer in our lodge. During the afternoon and evenings, there will also be free time for rest, fun activities and community-building. The theme is “Salt and Light” and what it means to make a difference in this world for Jesus Christ.

WHEN is this awesome trip?

Monday-Friday, June 23-27, 2025

We will meet to leave at 9:00am with plans to be on the road by 9:30 am on that Monday, June 23rd. We will wrap up with lunch on that Friday, June 27th and head home, arriving back at Gayton Baptist by 3:30pm. 

WHERE is this exciting mission trip going to be?

Lynchburg, Virginia

Our group will be lodging and sharing meals in Juniper Lodge at Eagle Eyrie Conference Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. This is a Virginia Baptist retreat center located at the top of a mountain. Our group will be in a shared lodge with a guys hall and girls hall, with a common room and kitchen. All of our Bible study, worship and fellowship time will be in the lodge. We will have meals in the large dining hall, and there are free time spaces with a pool, a field and a firepit.

Our mission site is the Jubilee Center in Lynchburg, Virginia - approx. 15 minutes from Eagle Eyrie. The other mission projects will be right there in the area as well.

For more information and the answers to all your questions, go to gayton.church/students

**There will be NO Kids Ministry Programming on Sunday, March 30 and Sunday, April 6.

Families are welcome to worship together on these Sundays.

Virtual Preschool Church and Elementary Kids Worship services are posted in our Facebook group at 8 am each Sunday and are left up for the week.

Gayton Kids Mini Stations of the Cross Activities for Lent

We invite our families to come to church early (front door is open at 9 am) or stay after worship on Sundays to participate in this self-led family activity to prepare your hearts and minds to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Sunday!

These activities involve short Bible readings, a call and response, and an interactive movement.

Children who complete the stations with their families can come get a special prize from Mrs. Hillary!

The stations will be up in the back hallway connecting the Treehouse to the Kids Min/Education Hallway from Sunday, March 2 - Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.

Thursday, April 10, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm in the Worship Center

Hop into an evening of joy and fun with Easter Jam!   

Easter Jam is an exciting way to celebrate the Easter season with your elementary aged children. All are welcome.

📊 FINANCIAL HEALTH UPDATE

(Budget = Anticipated Giving; Actual = Actual Giving Received; YTD = Year-to-Date)

Fiscal year 24-25 TOTAL revenue through 03/24/2025 = $700,786

Fiscal year 24-25 TOTAL budget through 03/24/2025 = $711,500

Fiscal year 24-25 YTD difference = -$10,714

Funds collected to Budget =98%