Attendance Church Expenses

1st 2nd

1/1 66 - $ 1,288.00

1/8 74 37 $ 3,829.00

1/15 79 45 $ 1,776.00

1/22 91 38 $ 4,268.00

1/29 82 ? $ 1,827.00

$12,988.00

Full Payment for Women of Faith Conference is due March 19, 2006. Please make checks payable to First Baptist Church and indicate for Women of Faith. You can get these to Gladys by way of the offering plate. The amount per person is $53.00 which includes conference fee and lunch.

Women's Philathea News: Thank you Jane for hosting our February meeting and Joan for the program. It was about love and the Love Gift. Good job. We will not be having a March meeting because of the 40 Days of Purpose. We will meet back on April 19 at Barb's home. There will be an American Baptist's Women & Girls Ministries at R.I.T. Inn Conference Center, West Henrietta, NY just off the NYS Thruway, exit 46. Any women and girls interested in going, registrations are due by March 31. Registration forms can be found in my mailbox at church and there will be information about the conference downstairs in the fellowship hall on the bulletin board. Any questions, see Betty. If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthews 17:20

Joys & Concerns: Joys! Ronald, great-grandchild of Dick was born January 11, 2006. Welcome to baby Liam, Michelle's new nephew. Christian Sympathy is extended to: family and friends on the loss of Tony's Uncle Steve. Prayer Concerns: Pastor Ruth had a hemorrhage in her eye and underwent surgery. Dorothy, Vera's sister's mother-in-law fell down the stairs and broke her neck and underwent surgery. Bill (Mert), 21 year old with testicular cancer. Harland had a severe stroke. Valerie has ovarian cancer. Ken, Allison's step-brother, is seriously ill with cancer. Al and Joan (wife); Al was diagnosed with lung cancer and has been the care giver to his wife Joan who also has health challenges. Jean, Wayne's friend, had a liver transplant. Ross injured his knee skiing. Bruce has a very bag leg infection. Michael, 15 year old, undergoing treatment for his immune system. Larry, co-worker of Bruce's had a serious stroke and in at Strong Rehab. Gwen (Betty) fell and broke her hip. June (Betty) has lung cancer.

C.A.P.E. Caring About People Everywhere: In the relatively short time since we started meeting, we've made significant headway. We decided to take on a few missions that we will support on a continuing basis, and add shorter term projects as they come up. In either case, our goal is to select projects that will use our time and talents in the most beneficial ways.

We are creating a relationship with the Victim Resource Center. That group provides shelter and other assistance to women (and occasionally men) who are living in abusive situations. Because of their situation, they often come to the center with nothing but the clothes they are wearing - and they often have a child or two with them. Under Barb's leadership, several deliveries of clothing and toys have been made. Last week four volunteers, Retta, Dick, Bob and Barb painted a room at the shelter. A wish list is available - the center could use your help! Please call Barb with any questions or if you have a donation.

Another major project we are endorsing is the "Heifer Project - Pocket Change for Poverty." People have been generously dropping their pocket change into one of three barn banks that are located at both sides of the front entrance, and by the coffee service in the fellowship hall. We have already collected enough for our first purchase! - a sheep. We will be asking the congregation to vote on the next purchase - a goat? - a pig perhaps? You will be hearing more about this. Lorna is coordinating this project. She collects the money, and lets us know when we have enough for a purchase.

Heifer International has been running this project since 1944. It required recipients to "pass on the gift" by sharing training, skills and offspring of their livestock with others in need. The price paid for each animal includes the training and fellow-up needed to insure that the gift is, in fact, passed on. If you would like to learn more, Lorna has brochures that tell the story. It is an amazing project that keeps growing and giving. Ralph and Shirley made the barn banks. Please make them happy and see that the barns are kept full.

We will continue to collect rings from can tops and can labels... and in the spring we expect to announce a short-term "Saving Soles" project. (If you have any sneakers that you are going to toss out - please save them!)

C.A.P.E. is alive and well - help us keep it that way!

To Our First Baptist Church Family, Thanks for all the delicious meals brought to Walt and me. They were very much appreciated. Also thank you to Carol for her visits, calls and prayers. My thanks for the plant and all the cards, prayers, and best wishes. You are a wonderful and caring church family. God Bless you all. Betty

Dear Members of Macedon Church, Thank you so much for your concern. I also thank you for putting up with my brother. You are all gifts from God. I appreciate the prayers and I love my prayer bear. God Bless, Mollee

Thank you for all the special things you do. Your thoughtful words and generous ways, this little note of thanks from me who thinks the world of you. Your friend, Elva

Elva, who has just celebrated her 90th birthday, is Brenda's mother. She has just relocated to Marion! We are blessed to have her with us. Pastor Carol

So many goodies in everyone's bag - they can't decide to eat cookies - candy - fruit, etc. first. The men of the Bickford Home thank you for remembering them at Christmas. They enjoy all of the good eatables you so graciously give. Thank you for remembering and sharing Christmas with the veterans, it is greatly appreciated. Shirley & Peter

Dear Macedon, First Baptist Church, I want to say thank you. I wish I could communicate the joy, wonder, honor and other awesome feelings that accompany the ministry we have together. To have an opportunity to introduce people to Jesus and to equip them to minister to their world in their home settings is more than can be explained, and yet because of your generosity each week we are in session, people are making first time commitments to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Each week people are being equipped to minister within the Kingdom of God in better and more effective ways. Each week people rededicate themselves to follow Jesus more closely. This is what you have enabled by your generous gift. Somehow "thank you" does not quite cut it. It leaves it short, but by letter it is what I am limited to. So, Thank You! Even though those words do not sum up my personal and our collective gratitude, they are what I am limited to. May God richly bless you for your sacrifice in giving. Your Servant in Christ, Rev. Dr. John R. Buskey, Executive Director of Outdoor Minister, Associate Executive/Area Minister, American Baptist Churches of New York State

To First Baptist Church of Macedon, Dear Folks - Thank you so much for your thoughtful card. Your prayers and caring mean a lot to us. Your are all Special People. God's Blessing - In Christian Love - Roberta & Dick (the family of Doris)

Dear Mary: Thank you for your recent donations of $200. The programs and services offered by the Department of Aging and Youth are funded by federal, state, and local governments and through the generous support of the community. We appreciate your support of programs and services that benefit Wayne County's seniors. Thank you again for your contribution. Sincerely, Martin Williams, Deputy Director, Wayne County Department of Aging & Youth

Dear Friends of the Women's Service Board of Fairport Baptist Homes: We have received and would like to thank you for your generous gift to our 2006 Family Fund drive, sponsored by the Women's Service Board. We truly appreciate your gift and look forward to being able to provide some "extra" love and happiness to the Residents at the Homes. We have often witnessed the expressions of gratitude by the Residents as they experience the activities and receive the gifts these monies provide. They are sincerely touched by the love and attention they receive. Once again, thank you for sharing in our caring for these special folks. Sincerely, Patricia Peer, Assistant Treasurer, WSB

Dear Mrs. Carol Holtz-Martin and First Baptist Church of Macedon, Thank you so much for the $100 that we received in the mail on January 31. As I've mentioned in recent prayer letters, my wife had to have emergency gall bladder surgery during the last week of September and the total of these bills is significant. The timing contributed to an especially joyous occasion because we received three other checks that very same day! God is so good. My wife's surgery was unexpected and a definite matter of prayer. It is always a comfort to know He is there to answer our prayers and it is always exciting to see Him do so through kind people as yourself. Once again, thank you and God bless. Please keep Kevin and Donna Dense in your prayers as we serve Him in Swink, Oklahoma. In Christ, Kevin & Donna Dense, Missionary Inters, Choctaw Baptist Church, Swink, Oklahoma

Could the person who made the delicious White Fudge that was left at the church during Christmas week please share the recipe? Thank you, Brenda

Significance of Ringing the Church Bell: Why the First Baptist Church of Macedon steeple bell is rung 21 times is a very good question. Each time the bell rings means something of historic and present day significance. Here are the reasons that I ring the bell on Sunday mornings.

Ring No. Reason

1^st Signifies we recognize God

as the Supreme Being

2^nd Signifies the arrival and

resurrection of his son

Jesus

3^rd Signifies recognition of the

holy spirit, thus the trinity

4^th Denotes first appointed

disciple of Christ, Simon

Peter

5^th Denotes second appointed

disciple, James

6^th Denotes third disciple,

James brother, John

7^th Denotes fourth disciple,

Andrew

8^th Denotes fifth disciple,

Phillip

9^th Denotes sixth disciple,

Bartholomew

10^th Recognizes seventh

disciple, Matthew

11^th Recognizes eighth disciple,

Thomas, the doubter

12^th Acknowledges ninth

disciple, James

13^th Acknowledges tenth

disciple, Thaddeus

14^th Acknowledges eleventh

disciple, Simon, the

Canaanite

15^th Acknowledges twelfth

disciple, Judas Iscariot

16^th Indicates we have our own

shepherd, our Pastor

17^th Recognizes this community

of neighbor and friends

18^th Recognizes our country, our

forefathers and veterans

19^th Recognizes our own need

for spiritual guidance

20^th Indicates we reach out to

doubters and seekers

21^st Signifies an active,

cohesive force of Christian

believers

So know you know why the steeple bell is rung 21 times with enthusiasm and purpose. This is what the bell ringer in tonal code conveys to the community. Mert

2 DANA

3 MELISSA

HANNAH

5 DAVID

7 DAVID

JIM

8 GEORGE JR.

10 JOHN

CASSANDRA

14 PHIL

15 WILLIAM

18 SUE

20 BRIAN

NEWT

22 MARILYN

23 BETTY

JAREK

24 KATRINA

25 JANE

AMANDA

27 JOAN

30 RETTA

31 ROSALIE

EVAN

10 KEVIN & REBECCA

12 STEVE & BONNIE

24 GLENN & KRISTI

JOHN & APRIL

30 ED & PAT