From the Desk of Your Pastor, May 16, 2012

Hello to all of you on this beautiful day in May. I pray you have enjoyed the warm temperatures and the chance to get outside a bit more. I want to thank all of you who helped out with our Mother’s Day activities in honoring all of our mothers God has blessed us with at Brookside. I also want to welcome the Days into our church family, please give Remious, Bernice and Ethel a warm welcome and a big hug. I also want to thank you for continuing to allow Sheri and me to minister and share as your pastor and friends in Christ over these past five years. We mark Mother’s Day as our “unofficial beginning” with you and look forward to all God has prepared for us to do together in the coming year. I pray that you will find through our shared work and love for one another the ways to grow closer to God and to experience His love for you in a real way. Let this be your goal for the days ahead of you and your beloved family, as well as our church family, to grow more in love with Jesus Christ and one another, as well as seeking to lead others to a loving relationship with Him through our worship, bible study, fellowship and helping others become better connected to God and others. Join us as we offer weekly opportunities for you all to join in this work of “making disciples” and I invite you to consider making these opportunities part of your weekly schedule, such as the following:

- Sunday Morning Bible Study in our small group Sunday School classes at 9:45 AM

- Sunday Worship Services for Praising the Lord at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM

- Sundays at 5:00 PM: 1^st Sunday each month for Church Council; 2^nd Sunday for Deacons

- Sundays at 5:00 PM: Last Sunday of each month for Brother Brewer’s PAC Meeting

- Wednesdays Bible Study at 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM beginning June 6^th for 7 Weeks

- Wednesday Bible Study at 6:30 PM and Children’s Ministry with Pathfinders

- Thursdays at 1:00 PM Men’s Fellowship at McDonald’s to share with our community

- June 17^th : Father’s Day Activities - Let’s Be Courageous Together!

We are also working hard to prepare the way of the Lord through our ministries seeking to share the good news of God’s love through faith in Jesus Christ with our community. Please take time to look at our church web page at www.brookside-baptist.org and also our church face book page along with our site at www.sermon.net - just look up our church name to access them. These sites will provide you up to date information on our church ministries and family while providing you an opportunity to share in those ministries as the Lord leads you to help us prepare the way for others to know Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you to join with us in going deeper into our preparations and work with the Lord through these ministries in our community:

- Creekside Senior Apartments Ministry with Brother Don and Mary Jane Withers

- Rosenwald Dunbar Elementary School and our Back Pack Ministry to needy children

- All God’s Children and our ministry to mothers and babies in need

- Sunrise Children’s Home and our ministry to children of our state in need

- Esparanza Hispanic Ministry with Emilio and Nirma Zapata to our Hispanic Community

- Benevolence Ministry to those in need in our community, especially our church family

Join us in helping us prepare the way of the Lord to transform our church and community.