Dear Church Family,
I am thankful for the privilege to celebrate my third Christmas as your pastor. It is a wonderful feeling to belong to a Real Family that values Christ above all else.
2022 has been a great year for First Baptist Middleburg, and I cannot wait to top off the year with the joy of our Christmas and Advent festivities. Our holiday celebrations point to a Savior who keeps His promises, whose kingdom is unshakeable, and who walks with us through all of life’s difficulties. Those are realities worth celebrating!
Our celebrations also involve the giving of gifts. Christmas is a time when Christians commemorate God’s gift of Jesus to us by giving gifts to our loved ones. Whether they are family members, neighbors, co-workers, or the like, we give gifts to show our love and appreciation for the recipient.
As we enter this season of worship and celebration, I want to challenge you to prayerfully consider adding one more gift to your Christmas list, a gift for King Jesus.
I encourage you to give that gift through our Our Best Gift campaign that kicks off the last week of November. This year, all receipts from this campaign will help us launch the long-range plan our church unanimously approved on October 5.
The long-range plan includes a revamped and renovated student ministry space, improved signage on our buildings, new and updated signage for our entrances, landscaping, more covered walkways to protect us from the elements, and a host of other improvements that will strengthen our efforts to minister to guests and members. It is a big plan that will require sacrificial generosity on the part of all our members. I believe it is also a plan that will honor God by helping us be good stewards of the facilities we have inherited from the generations that have gone before us.
The Our Best Gift goal for this year is the same as last year, $200,000. While that amount will not cover every expenditure included in the long-range plan, it will launch us well into 2023 and help us begin work on the projects.
My family is already praying about what we will invest in God’s kingdom this Christmas season. I hope you will join us in this endeavor.
I look forward to celebrating Advent with each of you. It is a joy to be your pastor.
You are loved.
Dr. Chris Bonts
Senior Pastor
