Pastor's Page

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." This is the time of the year when we look back at the past year. All the news magazines give a review of the events of the year and a review of the famous people who died. The TV news gives a review of the important events of the year. I think it is good for us as a church to do the same.

What is the good of the review? One reason is to see if we have been faithful to the job God has commissioned for us to do. 1 Cor. 4:2 Now it is required of those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. Faithful to whom? 4 it is the Lord who judges me." The question is therefore, have we been faithful to the Lord for the commission He has given us?

What commission has He given us? 1 Thes. 2:4, Paul described it that he was "Entrusted with the gospel." It was his job to see that the gospel was preached. In 1 Cor. 3:6 he describes how he carried out his commission. "I planted the seed, that is the gospel, and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." To me, this verse gives us a real point of encouragement. We are not alone in this commission. We plant and water, but God is working along with us to produce the harvest.

The first point of examination of the past year is, "Have we faithfully planted and watered the seed, the gospel?

Another way of seeing our commissio is from the writing of Ezekiel 3: 17 "Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately." Then God went on to make it very clear to Ezekiel that some would listen and some would not. You can't control how people respond to God's message, but if you have faithfully warned the people, you have saved yourself, or you have done the job God asked you to do.

To me, one of the most difficult commissions in the Bible is the one given to Jeremiah 1:5, "I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations. 17 "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you." What did God promise him as the result of his prophesying? 19 "They will fight against you." In other words, they will not listen to you, but you are to continue to give them God's messages. He was informed that he would not see good results from his preaching, but his job was to faithfully proclaim God's message to the nations.

In the year 2009 we were entrusted with the gospel, to plant and water it by word and deed.  Did we faithfully fulfill or commission?  Have we been faithful watchmen? Have we continued faithful even when the observable harvest is not large?

Sunday Worship - The worship committee planned each service for the year. Major sermon themes were: The Beatitudes, God has More for Us, The Love of God, and appropriate messages for the holidays. Andy Chisel, Walton Johnson & Jim Youngquist were guest speakers. Pastor gave a review of his life for his 85th birthday. Power Point presentations were used to support the sermon. On August 9th, the Sunday service and picnic was held at the Youngquist home on Lake Vermillion. Four missionaries spoke for the worship service as well as the Sunday school: Danielson to the Northwest Angle in NW Minnesota, Jami Strandberg - Mexico, Tim Austin - Senegal, West Africa and Engbloms - Eastern Europe. Danielson's and Austin's were new missionaries that we started support for this year. The musicians and choir enriched our worship services.

Sunday School - Every Sunday the adults met for a very profitable Bible study. Classes were provided for children throught the year with capable and willing teachers.

Sunday Night - We had a talent night, Doug Nelson concert and a sing-a-long with Lynn Watts at the piano

Women's Wednesday morning Bible study - again continued for the year. Over the years some of the members of this study group have died or moved away. But the remaining group are vital family members for each other.

Wednesday night Bible study - This year it was just a summer program, because many in the group are "snowbirds". The study of the book "Whole Prayer" gave us many new methods for prayer.

Kids on a Mission - Sue taught the class until summer and Kim took over for the fall and winter. A number of children attended who are not usually part of our church family. This fall one of our Kids on a Mission students became saved and is excited to serve God. In Kids on a Mission we study about our missionaries and the places where they do God's work. We have exciting lessons learning the culture, food, games and just a little something about what our missionaries' lives are like.

Teens - Kim taught them until summer vacation. The Teens, after bowling several games had an all-night party with games and plenty of food. In class, discussions were very broad. We used Christian videos from Bluefish TV which helped to center the everyday busy Teen life with the Word of God. One of our Teen students became saved during this time. Unfortunately, the program was not able to continue in the fall.

Babbitt-Embarrass Churches - The pastor's met each month except for the summer months. On Jan. 25th, the Men and Boy's Wild Game Feed was held with Ben Morgan as the speaker. The "National Day of Prayer" was organzied and held at the City Hall Auditorium on May 7th with a very good number of people. Baccalourette was conducted at the end of school year. The annual All Church concert was held on June 26th as part of the Peter Mitchell Day celebration. A pancake breakfast was provided for students before joining others at the "See you at the Pole" prayer meeting at the school. Babbitt has the largest number attending than any of the schools in the area. The community Thanksgiving service was held Nov. 22 at the Presbyterian Church. Pastor wrote the Babbitt Newspaper articles for March and November. We cooperated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Woodland Presbyterian church for five Wednesday night Lenten services.

Iron Range - The pastor's meet every month, except for the summer months. The pastor's planned the annual Missionary Rally on March 15th at Chisholm Baptist Church. Pastor and Judy hosted their family summer picnic at Lake Vermillion.

Minnesota Baptist Conference - On Jan. 12th, the "Family Gathering" was held at the Cook Baptist Church. Dan Carlson is the new Executive Secretary for the Conference. On May 4th, Fred Tama explained the new programs for the senior citizens of the state at the Emmanual Baptist Church. Pastor attended a two day Prayer Retreat at Trout Lake Camp on Sept. 14th-15th. The Annual meeting was held at the Mount of Olives Baptist Church in Duluth on Nov. 6th-7th. The major business was the merger of Iowa Baptist Conference with the Minnesota Baptist Conference. Three students attended summer camp at Trout Lake Camp.

Saturday Morning Men's Prayer Breakfast - The Soudan Baptist Church, Soudan Lutheran Church and the Babbitt Baptist Church held a monthly, except in summer, breakfast with interesting programs.

Missions - We are giving finicial aid, prayer and interest support to nine missionaries. The Danielson's and Austin's were added this year. They joined the Engblom's, Lasley's, Scandrette's, Nelson's, Jami Strandberg, Lisa Sorley and Ellison's as the extension of our ministry beyond Babbitt. On Nov. 29th we celebrated our Missionary Christmas program, recording and gifts that were sent to our missionaries. A $500 scholarship is given each year to a Bethel Seminary student. About 23% of our expenses is sent to missions.

Outreach - Every month the new people who have moved into Babbitt, Embarrass and in the lake area north of Babbitt are visited, given a welcome letter and pen from the church. Our 'website' is kept up to date and covers many areas of church activities. Weekly church notices are in the Babbitt news and The Virginia Daily News. Radio reports are aired for special events and paid ads are occasionally published. Special events are advertised with posters in all of the businesses in town. "Word of mouth" is one of the most effective ways of outreach.

Literature - The church library has hundreds of good books, videos and DVD's for our enrichment. Nora has been giving wonderful presentations about the different books in our library. The "Power of Living" Sunday School paper, the Conference monthly magazine and the "Churches around the World" newspaper are distributed to all. "Today's Christian" magazine is available for all who are interested. Other magazines are available each month. The bulletin is published each week and the Lamplighter monthly.

In Memoriam - On Aug. 30th, the memorial service was held for George Johnson. Pastor spoke at the funeral for Bob Lagerquist on Sept. 12th in Cook. For a period of time, Bob attended the Babbitt church.

Other events of the year - Feb. 12th was the Valentine party at Tank's Restaurant. We held six Ely Nursing home services. A new baby was born, Samantha Daugherty. March 6th was the World Day of Prayer. The ladies group held a Mother & Daughter luncheon, a meeting with Mary Lou Ellison, Judy's birthday party and a Christmas Party were secret sister prayer partner's were revealed. Jonathan Countess graduated from Babbitt-Embarrass High School. Members served a meal and gave the devotions to the Habitat for Humanity house builders in Babbitt. Teacher & Staff Appreciation Luncheon at the beginning of the school year. Ladies & the children bought Christmas presents, packed them into shoeboxes and delivered approximately 25 shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child. Women's & Kids on a Mission fall kick-off weiner roast at Ramona's house. Three Thanksgiving food boxes were filled and delivered to families in need. Pastor and Judy were given encouraging words and a gift for the annual "Pastor's Appreciation Day". Much needed insulation for the church and parsonage roofs were added and finished. Last year's added insulation helped cut-down the fuel bill this past year. A larger number of 'snowbirds' has been felt in the fewer number attending this winter. Christmas Eve service was canceled due to a snowstorm. Pepper Carlson's attendance has encouraged us. Harvey & Geri Garson returned for some of our meetings. Two new families began attending church. Our income and expenses were close to even. (be sure to get a copy of our annual report which will give the exact figures).