Overflowing with Thanksgiving

We had a blessed time in the Lord as we celebrated what the Lord has done in the lives of the people over the past 110 years and the life of the Pastor over the past 10 years. The banquet was exquisite the family of faith came together to reflect and rejoice, to chat and to chew and encourage and exhort. We remembered a banquet of days gone by where the ticket was $4.50. We dined on prime rib, chicken marsala, meatballs marinara and baked crab cakes! We were encouraged by Sis. Maiden “Welcome” and “Reflections” done with style and poetic artistry and Sis. Gwendolyn J. Brown’s Anniversary Tribute recalling the history. Then we were exhorted by Rev. Timothy Jordan’s sermon, “How Can I Say Thanks” from Luke 17:11-16.

The Sunday celebration was a celebration indeed; we were blessed to worship all day long with a dinner fellowship between services. Rev. Paul Cofer brought the morning message from Jesus Wilderness of Temptation and Rev. Walker brought the afternoon message from I Peter 4 from the theme of Suffering. The day was punctuated by the ministry of music as the BBC Mass Choir sang as never before and 19^th Street Chanel Choir set the atmosphere with a half hour of praise and worship before the afternoon service.

The biggest blessing of the weekend was that my Mother, Mrs. Helen C. Winborne, attended the banquet on Saturday and church services “all day” on Sunday. This was the first time she’d been to BBC for worship and needless to say she enjoyed meeting the members as well as seeing family. She saw cousins Evans, Merenda and JoAnne, who she has not seen in years. This was a testimony to the power of persistent prayer.

The next blessing was that newcomer, Bro. Clifford Copelan received the Lord as personal Savior. He attended the banquet and services and reminded me I promised him a Bible. Following Sun. afternoon service I invited him, along with his friend, Sis. Beth McGuire into the office. I gave him a Bible with a personal word of encouragement in the inside cover. Bro. Copelan said he wanted to come up to the front of the church at the invitation but was a bit nervous. I told him that was natural and he could accept Christ, “right here and now” as his personal Savior. He said yes, and prayed to receive salvation. What a blessing!

Special Thanks to Sis. Colleen Cary and Sis. Charlotte Moore and the entire anniversary committee for a job well done. Special thanks to family and friends for their cards, gifts and well-wishes. Special thanks to the Lord for His goodness to those at Bethlehem, “the House of Bread”