This document is the March 2015 newsletter from First Baptist Church of Franklinton, Louisiana. It provides contact information for the church, including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and websites. It also includes articles from the pastor and other church leaders about Christian living, pursuing a relationship with God, and the church's mission to share God's love with their community.

1. Contact us
950 Self Street
Franklinton, LA 70438
Phone: (985) 839-3427
Fax: (985) 839-3572
Prayer Line: (985) 839-3337
Office E-mail:
fbc.natasha@gmail.com
Prayer E-mail:
fbcfranklinton.prayer@gmail.com
Website:
www.fbcfranklinton.org
The Bridge March 2015
Monthly Newsletter of
First Baptist Church Franklinton
God is not calling
us to go to church;
He is calling us to
BE the CHURCH.

2. Paul Watts,
Pastor
fbc.paulwatts@gmail.com
A Cup with Pastor Paul
http://acupwiththepastor.blogspot.com
2
Christian Living....
Romans 12 is a beautiful chapter in a powerful book. Paul’s
letter to the church at Rome has been a great resource to
the church in defining church doctrine, and its verses have
helped many find salvation through a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. Romans 12 changes the focus from theol-
ogy to Christian living. Paul wrote in this section, urging the
Christian to be wholly given to the work of the Lord and His
good purposes. This is seen in our worship but is lived out
daily through our relationships. The Christian life would be
so much easier if we only had to be nice to Jesus! He is not
hard to love when we meditate on His grace and mercy dem-
onstrated in the everyday blessings of life, and overwhelm-
ingly shown through the cross. He died in order to glorify His
Father through complete obedience, opening the way for us
to come to God through His perfect blood sacrifice. Through
one perfectly good act of obedience, He overcame the evil of
this world. Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He
is our example. This is the basis of Paul’s assertions regard-
ing our love for our enemies and our relationships with a lost
world. Jesus was not overcome by the sin of this world. He
was not influenced to sin, to give into temptation or ever en-
ticed to hate and take vengeance. He was not overcome by
evil but instead completely overcame evil with good. This is
the language Paul used to urge the Christian to extend love
and kindness to his or her enemies: Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21, HCSB)
I often long for the life of the monastery. Monastic life, even
with its self-induced deprivation, holds some allure for those
desiring to know and commune with Christ. Just imagine
what it would be like to be behind the monastery walls, able
to spend extended time alone every day in prayer and Bible
study, only interacting with other monks who love Jesus and
are there for the same purpose. It could not be too difficult
to get along with others, after all, since many of those there
would have taken a vow of silence. While there is great value
in the disciplines of prayer, Bible study, meditation and soli-
tude, Christ is glorified when we live for Him in the midst of,
often in spite of, this evil world. It is through our faithfulness,
patience and love that we overcome the evil of this world with
the goodness of Jesus Christ. When you love the difficult
person, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those
who spitefully use and abuse you, they see something on
display that is out of this world! They see the love of Christ.
This is why we minister to the sick and hurting through Be
the Church Sunday/Week. This principle compels us to
reach out to those overwhelmed by addiction and sin’s domi-
nation through a ministry like Celebrate Recovery. This is
why we would pick up a cross and carry it through the streets
of Franklinton on Good Friday. We are following the example
of our Lord as we seek to overcome the evil of this world with
the goodness of the love of Christ. To God be the Glory!
This year on
Sunday, March 22,
we will be engaging in a
BE THE CHURCH SUNDAY.
We will be encouraging the
entire church to look for ways
they can engage our community
with the love of Christ.
We will not have our regularly
scheduled worship activities. We
will worship our Savior by sharing
His love. In order for this to truly
be a church wide effort, we need
your help!
Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome
evil with good.
(Romans 12:21, HCSB)

3. Dale Parker,
Minister to
Senior Adults
& Discipleship
Training
fbc.daleparker@gmail.com
3
You may not know this
about me, but I knew former
President Richard Nixon. When he
was selling a home that he owned
on Key Biscayne in Miami, he and
a few of his Secret Service men
came to the Coast Guard Air Sta-
tion while I was stationed there,
and I got to shake his hand.
Now you’re probably shak-
ing your head and thinking, “You
didn’t know Richard Nixon. You
may have shaken hands with him
and lived in the same city that he
had a house, but you didn’t know
him.” And you’d be absolutely
right.
It’s true, I did shake hands
with him once and told him that I
admired him. He did have a home
in the same city in which I lived.
I knew a lot about him, but our
families never visited each other or
shared a meal together. We never
vacationed together. We never
called each other to say hello and
find out how the other person was
doing. Actually, my knowledge of
him and admiration of him was
based on what had been portrayed
in the media and not a careful
study of his life or his character.
So do you see how absurd
it is for me to say, “I knew Richard
Nixon”? How much more absurd
is it for a person to say that they
know God when their knowl-
edge is based on a one-time event
at salvation or once a week at a
church service or a daily devotional
thought on a desk calendar.
A. W. Tozer said in his
book, “The Pursuit of God,”
“What a person thinks of when he
thinks of God is the most impor-
tant thing about him.” What do
we think of when we say the word
“God”? Who is He? What is He
really like? What would we say is
His most defining characteristic? Is
it love? Is it holiness? Is it grace? Is
it righteousness? How well do we
really know Him?
What does He have to say
about us? What about our sin?
What about the way we worship
Him? What about the level of our
love for Him and our knowledge
of Him?
To get to know God takes
time, lots of time, but out of the
168 hours we have in each week,
how much time do we really spend
getting to know God?
But God wants us to know
Him. Jesus said in John 15:3, 6,
“And this is eternal life, that they
may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have
sent. I have manifested (made
known) Your name to the men
You have given Me out of this
world.”
The things that we pursue
in this life, whether good or bad,
are our gods. It takes great cour-
age to put those kinds of things
away or to put them in the proper
perspective in order to pursue
God. Yet that is the high calling of
everyone who calls himself Chris-
tian.
Why not start today? Let’s
ask ourselves how well we know
this God we profess to believe.
If we’re honest, we’ll recognize
that there is an enormous gap
between what we think and what
is reality. But then we can begin
to look deeply into His word and
look deeply into His face. Let Him
warm our hearts as we draw near
to Him. Let’s pursue Him to get
to know Him as if our very next
breath depended on it.
As always, love in Christ,
Brother Dale
“My soul, never be satisfied with a shadowy Christ. I can-
not know Christ through another person’s brains. I cannot
love Him with another man’s heart, and I cannot see Him
with another man’s eyes...I am so afraid of living in a sec-
ond-hand religion. Lord save us from having borrowed com-
munion. No, I must know Him myself. O God, let me not be
deceived in this...I must know Him on my own account.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
Memory Verses for the
Month of March
March 1: “For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
March 8: “All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned, every one, to his
own way; and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
March 15: “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
March 22: “And it is appointed for men
to die once, but after this the judgment.”
Hebrews 9:27
March 29: “So Christ was offered
once to bear the sins of many. To
those who eagerly wait for Him He
will appear a second time, apart from
sin, for salvation.” Hebrews 9:28

4. Cody Thomas,
Student Minister
fbc.codythomas@gmail.com
REACHING In & REACHING OutReaching In . . . . . Reaching Out
Student
Ministry Events
4
Imagine for a moment
that it’s the 1st century and you
are a disciple of Christ. You start-
ed following Jesus early on in His
ministry. You sat by Him while He
taught about righteousness. You
heard Him call His followers to a
lifestyle that surpassed the cultur-
al understandings of the law. You
listened as Peter told of the night
the soldiers came to arrest Jesus.
You saw Jesus on trial for crimes
He did not commit. You saw Him
beaten to near death all because
the crowd thought He spoke
blasphemy. You saw Him carry
the cross through the streets; you
wanted to help him but you were
afraid. You didn’t know what to
think. You had spent time with
Christ before this, and you knew
His heart. You knew that this
man was different than any other
man you ever met, but you were
afraid. You saw Him crucified
with thieves, and then you saw
your Leader, your Messiah, your
King dead. His body was pre-
pared for burial, placed in a tomb,
the entry sealed, and guards
placed on the outside. Days went
by, and then you heard the news
… Your Leader, your Messiah,
your King had been resurrected.
Your fear of following Jesus at
all cost changed into an unshak-
able faith. You began to see Jesus
for who He truly is, God in the
flesh. Then Jesus gave you these
words found in Matthew 28:18-
20. He gave you a mission, “Go
and make disciples …”
The mission that Jesus
gave His first disciples, we do
not need to imagine, because He
gives the same mission to us to-
day, “Go and make disciples …”
He calls us to follow Him, and as
we follow Him we are to make
disciples. A disciple of Jesus is
one who denies self, takes up
their cross and follows Jesus daily.
When Jesus calls us to make dis-
ciples, He calls us to go out into
the world and share with people
His call to follow Him. The word,
“Go” here is best translated from
the Greek, “as you are going”,
implying that Jesus desires for us
to make disciples whereever we
are; as we are going about our
lives we are to make disciples.
You and I are called by
Christ to make disciples as we are
going about our everyday normal
lives. He calls us to REACH out
to people in love and tell them of
the good news of salvation. He
calls us to help people all around
the world “make disciples of all
nations,” come to know this Jesus
that we know. Our church exists
so that we as a body of believers
can REACH out to the people in
our community and across the
world and make disciples. We go
to Honduras, India, and other
mission trips with the intention
of making disciples. The reason
for “Be the Church Sunday” is so
we can GO and make disciples
within our community. We are
called to make disciples; let us an-
swer the call and make disciples
as we are going so that our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ is glori-
fied.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20
Youth Committee
Meeting
(Parents Welcome)
March 8th at
7:00 p.m.
in the Senior Adult
Center

5. Butch Reviere
Minister of
Music
fbc.butch@gmail.com
Note from Brother Butch
5
The Cross Changes
Everything
“A borrowed tomb now empty. A
crucified Savior Risen. Once hal-
lowed lives now filled by the prom-
ise of life everlasting purchased by
the blood of the Lamb that was
shed for us. Christians everywhere
have reason to rejoice! Our victori-
ous Champion died on the cross,
but now lives and reigns and offers
forgiveness and redemption for all
who will believe! The thought of the
cross is no longer dark and frighten-
ing, but is instead the symbol of our
hope and freedom!”
“With narration from Peter’s per-
spective, The Cross Changes
Everything is a heart-stirring new
musical for Easter that takes us on
a journey from Peter’s call to leave
his fishing nets behind, the trium-
phal entry, the grueling walk down
the Via Dolorosa, the crucifixion,
and to Jesus’ ultimate victory over
the grave!”
The above is your introduction to
the Easter musical to be presented
by our Sanctuary Choir on Sunday
morning, March 29th, in both ser-
vices. Brother Dale will be in cos-
tume as the Apostle Peter and will
provide narration as we walk with
him through the unfolding of the
Gospel story. The musical is just 42
minutes long, so Brother Paul will
have ample time to present an in-
vitation to those present who may
not have yet committed their lives
to Jesus. Please join us in praying for
many to commit their lives to Jesus
during this Easter season.
Also Coming Soon . . .
Our children’s choir will be singing
and presenting a creative movement
interpretation of the classic song,
Arise, My Love. It is a stirring re-
minder of the crucifixion and resur-
rection of our Lord. Watch the bul-
letin for the date; you will not want
to miss it!
Another offering of worship mu-
sic by the combined Sanctuary
Choir, Senior Singers, and the Bell
Choir will be tentatively presented,
on March 15th. We appreciate Ben
Fussell and Jimmy Wales (and oth-
ers…you know who you are!!) for
helping get the bells and tables from
the choir room to the sanctuary and
back!
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:16-17

6. 6
Kelly McElveen
Director of Preschool/
Children’s Ministries
fbc.playschool@gmail.com
Happy Birthday!
Kailey Cosse - 6th
Rhett Schilling - 7th
Rebekah Singleton - 13th
Lola Robins 16th
Grace Burris - 20th
June Westmoreland - 24th
Sammy Phelps - 26th
Belated Birthday Wishes to
Owen Parent - Feb. 4th
Trenaty Bragg - Feb. 11th
Are you in 6th grade or below?
Let me know so I can add
you to my list!
Summer Camp Parent Meetings (CentriKid & Tall Timbers)...
Please attend one of the two meetings. We will be discussing
fundraising opportunities.
Wednesday, March 4th at 7p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Dept.
OR Sunday, March 8th at 5 p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Dept.
$50 deposit for CentriKid is due at this meeting.
Preschool Committee Meeting
Sunday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the Bears Room
(Preschool Dept.)
Children’s Committee Meeting on Sunday, March 15th
at 5 p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Department. Parents of 1st
through 6th graders are also welcome to attend as we will be
discussing our summer activities.
Be The Church Sunday is, Sunday March 22nd. Nursery will
be available throughout the morning and afternoon for infants
and toddlers whose parents are participating. Children ages 3
through 2nd grade will have other missions activities based here
at the church. A more detailed letter of the activities we will be
doing will be sent through the mail.
Preschool Easter Luncheon & Egg Hunt is Sunday, March 29th
following second service in the Family Life Center. Luncheon is
for Nursery age children-Kindergarten and their families. Egg
Hunt is for Nursery age children - Kindergarten. There will
be someone to keep older siblings during the egg hunt. Please
bring a basket with 12 filled plastic eggs.
Great Red Easter Egg Hunt (Grades 1-6) will be Wednes-
day, April 1st at 6:30 p.m. We will need drivers and “co-pilots”.
Please let me know if you are available to drive or assist. Each
car must have two adults.
If your child is participating in any local Spring sports, please send me a
copy of his/her schedule. I would love to come see them play!
Wishing you a
March filled with
His blessings,
Kelly McElveen

7. 7
PlaySchool News
Registration for the 2015-2016 School Year
for 3 & 4 year olds begins March 16th
Offering three different programs
from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
For more information, call the church office at
839-3427 or check out our website at
www.fbcfranklinton.org/Ministries/PreschoolChildrens/PlaySchool.aspx
“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones,
because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually
view the face of My Father in heaven.”
-Matthew 18:10 HCSB

8. Leslie Westmoreland
WINGS Coordinator
lwestmoreland.ees@wpsb.org
WINGS
Ministry
8
Ladies Tea Planning Meeting
Sunday, March 1st at 5:00 p.m.
in the Senior Adult Center.
Save the Date:
Ladies Tea, Saturday April 18th, 2015
New Ladies Bible Study
A Confident Heart - By Renee Swope
Offered two different days
Wednesday nights at 6:00 p.m. - Starts March 4th
Sunday nights at 5:00 p.m. - Starts March 8th
Both meet in the Senior Adult Center - Book Costs $12
New WINGS Shirts are coming soon!
To get yours, sign-up on the
WINGS Bulletin Board.
Cost is $15 each.
March News
Women in
God’s Service
New Ladies Sunday
School Class to begin
Sunday, March 1st
in the Annex, Room 502.

9. Children’s
Church
Month of
March
Kristi Crain (1st, 8th)
Brittany Sherlin
(15th, 29th)
for ages 3
to
Kindergarten
We will be meeting in
Mrs. Cindy’s Kindergarten
Sunday school room in the
Preschool Department
Sunday Night
Supper
3/1
Knight, Rester, Varnado,
Branch, Wales, Kirby &
Fortenberry
3/8
McVea, Knight, Phelps, Knight
& Knight
3/15
Kennedy, Stringfield, Driskill,
Thomas, Tabor, Burris &
Waskom
3/22
No Supper,
Be the Church Sunday
3/29
Barber, Russell, Stringfield,
Perez & Keaton
3/1
Stephen
McElveen
& Hunter
Knight
3/8
Jeff Driskill
& David
Sylvest
3/15
Eric Barber
& Robby
Stringfield
3/22
Jimmy
Stafford &
B. Burris
3/29
Stuart
Varnado &
Warren
Cooke
Sound Schedule
(Please note schedule changes)
3/1
Mack McElveen
3/8
Matt Westmoreland
3/15
Stephen McElveen
3/22
Darren Schilling
3/29
John Burris
Wednesday Night
Supper
3/4
Group D - Country Fried
Steak
3/11
Men’s Group - Smoked
Chicken
3/18
Group E - Chicken Rotel
3/25
Group A - Pulled Pork
9
Our
March VOLUNTEERS
Nursery Schedule
3/1
Mary Mobley &
Stephanie Cavanagh
3/8
Brittany Sherlin &
Renee Sandifer
3/15
Sally Foy & Angela McVea
3/22
Jennifer Walle &
Carolyn Knight
3/29
Ann Hingle &
Velma Crowe

10. 10
Be The Church Sunday, March 22nd
This year on Sunday, March 22nd, we will be engaging in a BE THE
CHURCH SUNDAY. We will be encouraging the entire church to look
for ways they can engage our community with the love of Christ. We
will not have our regularly scheduled worship activities. We will
worship our Savior by sharing His love. In order for this to truly be
a church wide effort, we need your help!
March 22nd Schedule
8:30 a.m. - Meet in the Family Life Center for Devotion and send-off.
Lunch - will be provided at ministry locations
2:00 P.M. - Return to Family life Center for a time of
Praise, Report and Testimony
Please help by praying for this Sunday of outreach and signing up to
participate through your Sunday School class.
Be The Church Week March 22-27, 2015
Monday – Friday: Teams will meet each day at 7:30 a.m. at
Hillcrest Baptist Church and head out to job sites.
Missions
The Lashey family has made
Middletown, Del., their home where
they helped launch LifeHouse
Church. Mark and Tammy are parents
of Abby-Jane, 14, Hudson, 12, and
Sophia, 9. Mark Lashey is a 2015
Week of Prayer missionary for Send
North America.
NAMB photo by Colby Ware
Our Goal is $10,000
Missions Opportunity:
Mission India 2015
October 17th-30th, a group from our church
will be heading to India to share the Gospel with
Darzi Muslims. The Darzi are an unreached,
unengaged people group. Please pray the Lord
will burden those He would have take part in this
trip. Prayerfully consider whether the Lord may
want you to step out in this way.
Please contact Brother Paul if you have any
questions or would like to sign up for the trip.
Local Missions
North American Missions
International Missions

11. 11
Welcome to Our Church Family
Peyton Jason Russell
Proud Parents: Elizabeth & Jason Russell
Born January 8th at 3:43 p.m., he weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long
Grandparents are Mr. Gary & Mrs. Kay Haynes of Franklinton, LA
and Rev. Larry and Mrs. Belinda Russell of Summit, MS
Big Sister is Hallie Elizabeth Garner
Paul Ashton Carpenter
Proud Grandparents: Cathy & James Milner
Born on January 18th, he weighed 9 lbs. and 7.2 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long.
Parents are David and Miranda Carpenter
Big Brother is Judah Carpenter
Evelyn James Crain
Proud Grandparents: Linda & Robert Crain
Born on January 29th, she weighed 8 lbs. and was 20 inches long.
Parents are Matt and Heather Crain
Siblings are Hannah Grace and Wilson Crain
Maternal Grandparents are Suzanne & Jimmy Still
Truett Edward Morgan
Proud Grandparents: Sandy & Jim Morgan
Born on February 2nd, he weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long.
Parents are Justin and Cacy Morgan of Alexandria, La
Birth Announcements
Operation
Christmas Child
March Items to Collect:
- Plastic cups, bowls and
Metal Spoons
Hunter Chapman
Brent Graham
with Daughter, Newman
New
Members
Seven-Fourteen Prayer Ministry
In preparation for the
National Day of Prayer on
May 5th, you are encouraged
to be a part of the “Seven-
Fourteen Prayer Ministry
from March 4th to May 4th,
simply by praying for at least
21 minutes each day.
When you pray, focus in two
directions. First: Praise and
Thanksgiving for What He is
Doing. Spend about 7 minutes.
Second:Intercessory Prayers,
Prayers for our church, our
school, our community, our
nation and leaders, and oth-
ers that God brings to your
mind and heart. Spend about
14 minutes.
You may find that designating
either 7:14 a.m. or 7:14 p.m.
as your prayer time helps you
to be faithful to pray. Select
the best time of day for you to
spend in prayer with God and
commit those 21 minutes to
prayer.
Can you imagine what God
can do in our hearts and lives,
in our church and schools, in
our commuity and nation, if
we obey 2nd Chronicles 7:14?
Let’s Pray.
“If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and
seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2nd Chronicles 7:14

12. PRSRT STD
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION
US POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 27
March 2015
950 Self Street
Franklinton, LA 70438
www.fbcfranklinton.org
First Baptist Church
Franklinton