Zion Hill Baptist Church of Bladenboro

THE PASTOR’S PASSION

January 2010

Another year has come and gone, and another year has begun. What will we focus on this year? I believe we must always go back to the basics; the Great Command and the Great Commission. As Christians, we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we must prove that by loving our neighbor as ourself. That last part has always been so hard. It's kind of hard to love your neighbor if you don't love yourself. Too often, when we look at our own actions and motivations, we come up with a pretty wretched picture. Kind of hard to love ourselves. But, I believe God meant for us to desire the best for our neighbor just as we desire the best for ourselves. I want my neighbor to know the same Lord and Savior that I do. So, I must tell him or her. And, I must go beyond that, and show them my love for Him by my actions, especially toward them. I can do that. And, since knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior is the most important thing in this life, I must make introducing my neighbor to Him a priority. That's how we reconcile the Great Command with the Great Commission. We can all do that!

Please allow me now to catch up a little. Last year was a banner year for our church. We saw a total of 20 people baptized through the ministries of Zion Hill Baptist Church, and several more joined by letter. New playground equipment was installed, followed by new air conditioning and a new sound system with a big drop-down screen and projector installed. This has allowed us to begin a Praise and Testimony service on Sunday evenings at 6:00pm. Our Men's group built a handicap ramp and helped secure, set up, and remodel a mobile home for a Clarkton resident who lost her home to a tornado. Several of our men also helped to build a new home on Twisted Hickory road for another tornado victim. Our Youth went on a mission trip to Cherry Grove Beach, and we ministered to hundreds of people during the week. I had the honor of baptizing 4 in the ocean. God is soooo good! We also had one young man, Carlton Bryan, to announce his call into the Gospel ministry. Many more wonderful events happened during the year - too many to mention here.

Now, we are in the process of putting together a plan to build a Multi-purpose building so that we will be able to better serve the needs of our local community, and also meet our current need for more educational and fellowship space - a great problem to have! A new Men's Bible Study - Man Up! has been started at Bladenboro Community Building (we meet at 6:00am!) to help train some spiritual leaders for our county, and the first 2 meetings have been very encouraging. Our Relay for Life Team has met and are putting together a plan for some fund raisers, and our Men's and Women's ministries are planning to attend several retreats and training events this year. I hope you'll take advantage of these ministries and events, and that you'll let God have your very best this year. I guarantee you'll be blessed if you do.

In closing, let me say, I believe God is up to something at Zion Hill Baptist Church. Please come and join us. You'll be glad you did.

God bless you this year and in everything you do for His name's sake.

Pastor Danny McLamb




	THE PASTOR’S PASSION January 2010 Another year has come and gone, and another year has begun. What will we focus on this year? I believe we must always go back to the basics; the Great Command and the Great Commission. As Christians, we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we must prove that by loving our neighbor as ourself. That last part has always been so hard. It's kind of hard to love your neighbor if you don't love yourself. Too often, when we look at our own actions and motivations, we come up with a pretty wretched picture. Kind of hard to love ourselves. But, I believe God meant for us to desire the best for our neighbor just as we desire the best for ourselves. I want my neighbor to know the same Lord and Savior that I do. So, I must tell him or her. And, I must go beyond that, and show them my love for Him by my actions, especially toward them. I can do that. And, since knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior is the most important thing in this life, I must make introducing my neighbor to Him a priority. That's how we reconcile the Great Command with the Great Commission. We can all do that! Please allow me now to catch up a little. Last year was a banner year for our church. We saw a total of 20 people baptized through the ministries of Zion Hill Baptist Church, and several more joined by letter. New playground equipment was installed, followed by new air conditioning and a new sound system with a big drop-down screen and projector installed. This has allowed us to begin a Praise and Testimony service on Sunday evenings at 6:00pm. Our Men's group built a handicap ramp and helped secure, set up, and remodel a mobile home for a Clarkton resident who lost her home to a tornado. Several of our men also helped to build a new home on Twisted Hickory road for another tornado victim. Our Youth went on a mission trip to Cherry Grove Beach, and we ministered to hundreds of people during the week. I had the honor of baptizing 4 in the ocean. God is soooo good! We also had one young man, Carlton Bryan, to announce his call into the Gospel ministry. Many more wonderful events happened during the year - too many to mention here. Now, we are in the process of putting together a plan to build a Multi-purpose building so that we will be able to better serve the needs of our local community, and also meet our current need for more educational and fellowship space - a great problem to have! A new Men's Bible Study - Man Up! has been started at Bladenboro Community Building (we meet at 6:00am!) to help train some spiritual leaders for our county, and the first 2 meetings have been very encouraging. Our Relay for Life Team has met and are putting together a plan for some fund raisers, and our Men's and Women's ministries are planning to attend several retreats and training events this year. I hope you'll take advantage of these ministries and events, and that you'll let God have your very best this year. I guarantee you'll be blessed if you do. In closing, let me say, I believe God is up to something at Zion Hill Baptist Church. Please come and join us. You'll be glad you did. God bless you this year and in everything you do for His name's sake. Pastor Danny McLamb