Newsletter for November 4, 2026

We are meeting in the Family Ministry Building. We start out with supper, followed by OCC packing. 

Ham or Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, and Desserts 

Join us Wednesday, November 4, as we pack our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes! We still need several items—especially toys and fillers—to help fill the boxes.

Items especially needed: Small toys (stuffed animals, toy cars, yo-yos, Slinkies, baby dolls, and Barbie dolls), underwear, socks, and flip-flops.

Please drop donations off outside Jonathan’s office, and plan to join us Wednesday night to help pack the boxes. Every item helps us fill a shoebox and share the love of Christ with a child!

We need volunteers to help us get ready for our Operation Christmas Child Packing Party! Join us on Thursday, October 29, at 4:00 PM in the Family Ministry Building as we set up and organize the tables with supplies for packing shoeboxes.

Many hands make light work, and we would appreciate your help!

We need volunteers to help serve at our Operation Christmas Child Relay Center! This is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a ministry that shares the love of Christ with children around the world. Whether you can help for a few hours or several days, your time and service will make a difference. Click the link below to sign up for a time that works best for you. Thank you for helping make this ministry possible!

You're invited to be part of a wonderful group of ladies! Join us each month for our WMU (Women's Missionary Union) meeting—a time for women of all ages to gather in fellowship, grow in our faith, and focus on missions near and far. Discover how God is working through women just like you and missionaries worldwide.

WMU meets in the Prayer Room

Budget for 2026 . . . . . . . .  $370,078.00
Tithes Needed to Date . . . . $313,143.16
Received to Date . . . . . . .   $245,541.65 
Needed for weekly budget . . . $7,116.89
Tithes Received this week . .  $11,903.05

Years ago, there was a popular television show called Kids Say the Darndest Things. The show featured children saying things that were funny, unexpected, and sometimes a little embarrassing to their parents. Many times these children were simply repeating something they had heard an adult say. They didn't always understand what they were saying, but they had heard it somewhere, and usually that somewhere was at home.

We laugh when a three- or four-year-old repeats something they shouldn't. Sometimes parents even encourage it because they think it is cute. But what happens when that same child is twelve or thirteen and begins talking back to their parents, disrespecting others, or saying hurtful things?

The truth is, our children and grandchildren are listening to us, even when we don't realize it. They hear how we talk about our neighbors, our church members, our family, and even people we don't particularly like. They notice when we criticize someone, make fun of someone, or speak negatively about others.

And whether we realize it or not, we are teaching them how to treat people.
Proverbs 18:21 reminds us, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Our words have tremendous influence. They can encourage someone or tear them down. They can build relationships or destroy them. And perhaps some of the greatest influence our words have is on those little ears listening around us.

But we need to understand something else. The problem isn't simply that our children might hear us saying something wrong. The problem is that we are saying it in the first place.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

As Christians, we should never be comfortable tearing someone else down, whether our children are listening or not. Our words should reflect the love and grace of Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean we can never disagree with someone or address something that is wrong. But there is a difference between addressing a problem and simply speaking badly about a person.

What are our children learning from the conversations they hear in our homes? Are we teaching them to love others, or are we teaching them to find fault in everyone around them? Are our words pointing them toward Christ, or are they teaching attitudes that will one day be difficult to correct?

Little ears are listening, but more importantly, little lives are learning.