Excerpts from The New Outlook

January 2007

Super Bowl and Souper Bowl Sunday February 4
Mike and Bev Apple are hosting the Second Baptist Super Bowl Party again this year. Come and enjoy fun and good fellowship even if you’re not a football fan! Please bring a salad, casserole, vegetable, or dessert to share. We will eat as the game begins and have dessert at half time. Please let Mike or Bev know if you can come.

See the next New Outlook for the time the party begins (it depends on when kickoff time is) and for directions to the Apples’ house.

Sunday, February 4 is also Souper Bowl Sunday. On that day Second Baptist Youth will be collecting money and canned goods for the Souper Bowl of Caring. Our young people will stand in the narthex after worship with soup pans and pots to receive your gifts. This is part of a grassroots campaign to raise funds for hunger relief. Our youth will choose where the funds will go, among the several agencies that our congregation supports. It’s a fun way to make a difference. Last year, over five million dollars were raised across the nation! Watch for the February 1 newsletter for more information. For more about the national program, go to www.souperbowl.org

Looking at Our Shadow Side 
The Beatitudes and Reflections classes have begun a joint study of William Miller’s book  Your Golden Shadow, recommended by Fred Adams. Remember how Jesus was always giving the good religious types, the Pharisees, a hard time? He told them to stop judging other people and become aware of their own sins. On the other hand, he saw hidden possibilities in people and called them forth. He looked at impulsive, clueless Peter and saw a rock. In greedy, thieving Zaccheus he saw a potentially generous man. And he enabled them to become what they could not be on their own.

Miller claims that we all have numerous qualities that we’ve shoved out of consciousness because they were either rejected or not valued by culture we grew up in. He calls us to become aware of all that we are, good and not-so-good. Only then can we be whole people, living in the truth, available to God.

We meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 in Fellowship Hall, except for the third Sunday of the month, when Jay Jensen leads the class in a discussion of the Beatitude Mike preached on the Sunday before. Come join us! You can still catch up. Mary Shepardson will lead the class. Contact her if you would like a book.

Book Group To Discuss Saturday
The book group will meet in the community room on Monday, February 12 at 2:00 to discuss the book Saturday, by Ian McEwan. From the New York Times Book Review: Saturday magnifies a pivotal moment in history and a day in a man’s life as secure foundations crack and uncertainty rushes in. . .Saturday explores ideas of fate and purpose, life’s fragility, revelation, and terror at all levels of society.

Sprucing Up Our Grounds
Plan to come to the church on Saturday, February 3 at 9:00 a.m. to help remove honeysuckle from the south parking lot. In case of bad weather, the back-up date is Sunday, February 4, after church. This is the first step in a cooperative landscaping plan with our neighbor Claire Anderson, who will provide native plants and help with the planting and maintenance. We appreciate her generosity.

Can You Help?
 If you can help serve refreshments for Friendship International at Delmar Baptist on February 14 and/or March 7 at 8:30 a.m., please contact Mildred Shelton.

New Additions to Church Library
As you may already know, the church library is a great resource for all of us.  In addition to great books there are cassettes, videos and DVDs on a variety of interesting subjects.  Recently donated to the library are two videos. One is Jimmy Carter - To The White House and Beyond, a 1995 biography of Jimmy Carter.  This was produced by ABC News Productions in association with A&E Network and "examines the extraordinary story of a small-town boy who resurrected his reputation and honor on the world's stage."

The other new addition includes two 2-video volumes titled Faith Lessons on the Life and Ministry of the Messiah and Faith Lessons on the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah."  From the back of the video: "Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God's Word to life with astounding relevance.  By weaving together the Bible's fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals keen insights into the Scriptures' significance for modern believers.”  Judy Gurley used this series of videos, including two volumes on the Old Testament, to teach the Young Adults Sunday School Class a few years ago, and they were very well received.
Pat Justis

Our Special Holiday Services
What a wonderful and moving Service of Lessons and Carols we had on the morning of December 24! Through Scripture and music we were reminded of what a momentous event it was that happened on that long-ago night. Many thanks to Marilyn and Brad Short for planning the service and to the choir, narrators, and Pastor Mike Dixon for all the time and energy they spent to make this service a special one.

The focus was on light on Christmas Eve as we heard about the lights of peace, hope, and love and then the light of Christ Himself. We each lit our candles from one another to represent Christ, “the light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:4)

Our spirits were lifted on “Bell Sunday,” December 31, as we all rang a bell every time we heard the words “praise” or joy were said except during prayer. We were reminded of the joy and hope that our faith brings.

Enjoy the Christmas Party All Over Again!
DVDs of Second’s Christmas program are available on the table in the narthex for $10 each. Please give the money to Mary Shepardson or put it in the basket on the table.

The DVDs begin with the children’s solos on the instruments they are learning and move on to the adults being voted “naughty” or “nice.” Next is the children’s Christmas play about the animals choosing whom to carry to Bethlehem on that long-ago night. And then jolly old Santa arrives, and we see him listening to each of the children. It’s a great way to relive a memorable evening.

From the Pastor
In his book “The Jazz of Preaching,” Kirk Byron Jones, an excellent American Baptist preacher, says that good preaching, like good jazz, begins with listening to God. His words have an application beyond preaching, to our own spiritual lives, and we can all learn from them.

“I know that hearing God has something to do with silence. Not that silence has a monopoly on God. I hear God in the joyous celebration of children romping in a park. But silence is a mysterious gate to dimensions of God we may not be able to access otherwise. The bareness of silence demands that I loosen and lose the garments of presumptions and assumptions about God. In silence I am more likely to experience God on God’s terms and not my own. In silence I am less likely to sidestep mystery.” (p. 54) 

The bareness of silence can make us feel uncomfortable and awkward. It’s easier to be surrounded by sound, from our TVs and CD players, MP3s and cell phones, satellite radios, and all the other wonders of our technological age. Yet, what do we miss by not opening ourselves to sheer silence once in awhile? What do we miss by not listening to the silence, not allowing our hearts and minds to tune in on something that’s not preprogrammed from outside us?

That crusty old prophet Elijah, on the run from a queen’s army intent to kill him, hid in a cave and wanted to give up. He needed some word of encouragement. A mighty wind howled. No voice of God. Then fire crackled through the valley below. No voice of God. There came a mighty earthquake, rumbling and shaking through the valley. No voice of God. Finally, in the silence, came the still small voice; the sound of sheer silence. In the quiet, God gave the prophet the challenge and the promise that Elijah needed to hear. (1 Kings 19:11-18)

It’s good to pray to God every day, but let’s not make the conversations one-sided. Listening is at least as important as speaking. Sometimes we might hear God’s word of blessing and challenge in the words of people around us, or in the voices of the media, but we should also learn to listen to the silence. “Be still and know that I am God,” the Psalmist said. Be still and listen. Maybe begin by reading a few verses from your Bible or a passage from a devotional book, lift up to God your own needs and the needs of those around you in prayer, but take a few minutes for listening, too. In the silence, you may come to experience the presence of a gracious and loving God.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Mike

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Mon    7:00 p.m.    Obsessive-Compulsive Group in Community Room
Tue     6:30 p.m.    Adult Children of Alcoholics Group in Community Room
Wed    7:00 p.m.    Choir practice

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES                                                   
Jan 21         Council meeting, noon
Jan 22         Prostate Support Group, 7 p.m.
Jan 25         Search Committee Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Feb  3         Work Day, 9 a.m.
Feb  4         Souper Bowl: Youth collect food and money for those in need; after church
                  Super Bowl Party at Apples' ; arrive any time after 4:00; kickoff time is 5:25     
Feb 12        Book group discusses Saturday, by Ian McEwan, 2:00 p.m.                                                                                    
Feb 14        Second serves refreshments at Friendship International at Delmar Baptist 8:30 a.m.

9030 Clayton Road (at McKnight Road, 3/10 mile west of the Galleria)    St. Louis, MO 63117     (314) 991-3424