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Wednesday Night Schedule
6:00 pm – Family Meal
6:30 – 7:30 Breakouts (Divide into Bible study Groups)
7:30 – Dismiss for the Night
KICK Children’s Ministry – Led by Darren Braddy
FBC Cooper Students – Led by Brent Burden
Ladies Study Group – Led by Antoinette Batchelor
Men’s Study Group – Led by Jeremy Anderson
Co-Ed Study Group – Led by Brent Bolton
Prayer Group – Led by Johnny Witherspoon
Families are important to us here at Cooper First Baptist. We have restructured our Wednesday nights to show just how important we believe families are when it comes to living out the Gospel.
Below is an excerpt taken from our Connections Membership @ Cooper FBC Handbook. Hopefully this will help you to see our philosophy on Family Ministry.
CHURCH DISTINCTIVE 2: EVERYTHING BEGINS IN THE FAMILY
There is the UNIVERSAL church.
When you hear the word “church” most people think of a building, a denomination or at least a geographically based Bible study with a biblically qualified leader. While this thought is accurate, it is also incomplete. The Bible speaks many times of “the church” in both broader and more specific terms than this definition allows. For example, in Hebrews we find the church described like an “assembly” that is in heaven! Hebrews 12:22-23, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.
This passage obviously reveals that the church is much more than a building or a geographically-centered group of believers. The Bible also talks about Jesus being the “head” of the church (Eph. 1:22) or the “chief shepherd” or pastor of the church (1 Peter 5:4), so clearly there is a bigger “church” than the one we attend week in and week out. This idea of church is what is called the “universal church”, and it includes all believers who have ever lived for all time. Jesus is the pastor of this church, and this is the “church” to which Jesus refers in Matthew 16:18 where he tells Peter that he will build His church and the “gates of hell” will never prevail against it. While local churches fail every year, the universal church will never close its doors and never fail! Within the universal church there also exists the local church.
There is the LOCAL church.
The local church is the church you attend every week, and it is the group of people that you are connected to directly. Each local church has pastors/elders to lead them, protect them and guide them under the guidance of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus. There are numerous examples of the local church in Scripture.
.Church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1)
· Church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2)
· Church in Galatia (Galatians 1:2)
· Church in Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:1)
· Church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1)
The local churches in the New Testament are numerable and the role of the local church is essential within the context of the universal church. While our redemption and mission are given as a universal body, our missiological context, pastoral care and mutual accountability are given within the local church. Every believer in Christ is commanded to attend a local church! Hebrews 10:23-25, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
There is the FAMILIAL church. (1 Timothy 3:5)
While the necessity of the local church cannot be overemphasized, the depth of a local church body is dependent on the depth of the individual families that make up that church. The Bible is very direct in relating the local church to the familial church, even calling the local church the “household of God” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).
Your church is only as strong as THE ________________ THAT MAKE UP THE CHURCH.
That blank determines a great deal of your philosophy as a church. We believe the answer to that question is, FAMILIES. A church is only as strong as their individual churches, or families. Therefore, the family is very important to God and to the church. That explains why we will be very intentional about building God-pursuing, truth-seeking, family-loving men to serve their wives and children as pastors. The primary spiritual shaping force in a child’s life is the family, not the local church (consider Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Most do local church at the expense of the universal and familial church. At Cooper FBC we believe that the critical mission of the local church is twofold: to expand and grow the universal church and to strengthen the familial churches. We build all of our ministries around this core value. At most churches you would find very diverse programming with a busy weekly schedule, but at Cooper FBC we work diligently to provide simple opportunities for men, women and children to be equipped to worship as a family. Most churches build the local church at the cost of the familial churches splitting up men, women, teenagers and children with everyone receiving different instruction and vision, but at Cooper FBC our men’s ministry is built to help men lead their families, and our women’s ministry is built to help women strengthen their homes, and our student and children’s ministry is built to equip parents to be the primary shapers of the their children’s spirituality. Every man is called to lead his home, and therefore, he is the primary pastor of his familial church. 1 Timothy 3:4-5, He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?). This is why we stress men studying their Bibles and praying with their wives, because the job of pastoral care and the provision of direction and wisdom should primarily happen by a loving, sacrificial husband and father. Likewise, our women are commanded by the Scriptures to live exemplary lives that produce kingdom-valued children. They are called to be good stewards of their families’ resources, talents and time.
Looking forward to meeting you and your family and serving the Lord along you.
Contact Information
Brent Bolton
903-249-4981
servinghimps374@gmail.com