Church Newsletter

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 Michael Worthington, Newsletter Author

Sunday School starts at 9:00am and Worship Service begins at 10:00am.

 Message from Pastor Ken: Hello everyone! I pray that all is well with each of you. March is here and soon it will be time to put seeds into the ground. Whether you are just a gardener or farmer planting his fields, you understand the principle of sowing and reaping. As you know, our theme for this year is sowing Kingdom seeds. We know that whatever seed that we plant will determine the type of harvest that we reap. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Life is about sowing and reaping, so we need to sow good seeds if we are expecting good outcomes in the future. For this month I am asking you to sow the seed of encouragement. We all know someone who needs a word of encouragement. Send a card, call on the phone, or take time to visit. Even if you are one that could use some encouragement, sow that very seed into someone else’s life and watch God lift them up! Remember, what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you! God bless you! Contact Pastor Ken Littleton at 757-424-5504 or poetkcl@aol.com Vacation Bible School planning meeting on Monday, March 3rd at 7:00pm. VBS will be held June 8 - 12 with program on the 13th. Please attend if you are willing to help. Need volunteers! Blood Drive at Ruritan Club, 10:00am to 2:00pm Saturday, March 1st. $10 gift card & free A1C Danielle and Manua will be married on Saturday, 4/12 at 11:00am at Ramoth Gilead. RSVP Week of Prayer for North American Missions from March 2nd to March 9th Annie Armstrong Easter Fund Drive to support North American Missionaries with $1,000 goal. Youth (grades 6-11) meet 1st & 3rd Wed (Mar 5&19) at 7:00pm in Youth Room upstairs in gym. GAs (girls) & RAs (boys; both grades 1-5) and Mission Friends (age 3-K) meet on the 3rd Wed, (Mar 19) at 7:00pm in Sunday School classrooms. Bring the kids and stay for Altar Prayers. Everyone is invited to Altar Prayers every 3rd Wednesday (March 19th) at 7:00pm in Sanctuary. March 30th is a 5th Sunday so there will be no Sunday School and men will fill the choir loft. Camp Cale VIP Party for physically or mentally challenged adults on Sat. March 8th. Need volunteers for crafts, games, singing and serving lunch. Contact Nancy Scaff at 252-339-4328 Pigs on the Perquiman BBQ fundraiser on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Camp Cale. Starts at 9:30am with lunch served 11:00am to 1:15pm; Cost: $12 Ages 12 & up; $8 Ages 6 to 11; and children under 6 eat free. Silent Auction from 9:30am to 1:15pm and Cake Auction at 12:30pm Lent begins on March 5th and runs through April 17th which is the Thursday before Easter. Lent commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting and enduring temptation by Satan. March 20th is Spring Equinox when daylight and night hours are equal. This is the official beginning of Spring which reminds Christians of the growing hope after Easter. Spring Ahead: set clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night (3/8) so you’re not late for church Thank you to donors who help fund this newsletter Ramoth-Gilead Baptist Church https://RamothGileadBaptist.com Facebook.com/RamothGileadBaptistChurch March 2025 Newsletter Please send cards to residents of retirement homes: Hilda Sawyer: EC Health & Rehab., 1075 US Highway 17 S., Elizabeth City, NC 27909 Glenda Crane: Brookdale, 401 Hastings Lane, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 Sunday School at Home: (Four Days Late; this miracle only appears in John) John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said, “Loose him, and let him go.” Raising Lazarus from the dead convinced many that Jesus was truly the Messiah. And the miracle became widely known because it occurred only two miles from Jerusalem, so large crowds gathered just to catch a glimpse of Jesus during his triumphant entry to Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday. And John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the KJV of the Bible: “Jesus Wept.” Many Jews believe that after death the person’s spirit goes to Sheol, the abode of the dead, where it remains until Judgement Day. The Old Testament frequently refers to Sheol, such as in Psalm 18:5 “The cords of Sheol surrounded me.” Midrash are texts written by Jewish rabbis (teachers) that explain and expound upon the Hebrew scriptures (like Bible commentaries or study Bibles). According to some Midrash, the soul does not immediately go to the afterlife after death. Midrashic Lev. Rabbah 18:1 “For three days after death the soul hovers over the body intending to reenter it.” This belief that the soul tries to reenter the body for three days explains why Jonah came out of the whale after three days, and Jesus compared himself to Jonah in Matthew 12:40. So it was significant that Jesus waited until Lazarus was in the grave for four days before raising him from the dead. And after four days in Israel’s hot climate, the corpse would be in advanced decay. Calling Lazarus back to life after four days and healing his rotted corpse showed beyond any doubt that Jesus had performed a genuine miracle, and it provided no opportunity for the religious officials to question its authenticity. Elijah (1 Kings 17:21-22) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32-34) both raised people from the dead, but in those cases the person had just died. And Jesus raised other people from the dead, but they had all recently died so the miracles didn’t attract as much attention as raising Lazarus from the dead. Luke 7:14 Then He [Jesus] went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Mark 5:39 He [Jesus] went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41  He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. In Luke 24:46, Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” And Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” It’s unclear which scriptures Paul meant, but he was probably referring to Hosea 6:2 “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.”