“The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” – Proverbs 16:31
The Bible tells us that those with gray hair should wear it as a crown of glory. In the book of James, it tells us that one of the ways we show our faith is by taking care of the widows and orphans.
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” – James 1:27
A ministry that often goes unseen is the ministry to the elderly at various nursing homes in Frederick County. Ed and Marilyn Schraff have led this ministry at Lighthouse Baptist Church for over 20 years. Their faithfulness to these sometimes forgotten members of our society is a testimony to their love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Leading a nursing home ministry can sometimes be a tiresome and thankless job. The total reward for their labor will be known once they see their Savior.
Along with Brother Ed and Miss Marilyn, several older and younger members participate in this weekly ministry. We are grateful for the folks that take time out of their week to ministry in the nursing home ministry. These folks present familiar hymns that bring to remembrance memories of being at a church meeting.
If you are interested in helping in the nursing home ministry every week, please contact the church office during business hours. You don’t have to know how to sing or play an instrument to volunteer. You just need to have a willing spirit and help where needed.
The Lighthouse Baptist Daycare ladies’ retreat was a serene and peaceful event, held at a beautiful riverfront house. The retreat was organized to provide an opportunity for the ladies to step away from their daily routines in the daycare, and spend quality time with God through study, prayer, and reflection. The ladies were able to connect with each other and with God in a supportive and uplifting environment.
Throughout the retreat, the women engaged in group bible studies, devotional times, and small group discussions. They also had time to enjoy the tranquil scenery, take walks by the river, and engage in personal reflection. The focus was on strengthening their faith and deepening their relationship with God, as well as their relationships with their coworkers.
The retreat was a refreshing and inspiring experience that left the teachers feeling renewed and equipped to serve the Lord. The peaceful setting, combined with the intentional time spent in study and prayer, provided a much-needed break from the chaos of everyday life at the daycare and allowed the women to focus on their spiritual growth. The retreat also gave the teachers an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills in the area of teaching and caring for young children. Through focused training sessions, the ladies learned new strategies and techniques for working with young children.
The ladies were able to ask questions and share their own experiences, which fostered a sense of community and support among the group. By enhancing their knowledge and skills in this area, the women left the retreat better equipped to serve the Lord at Lighthouse Baptist Daycare center and to make a difference in the lives of young children.
As Matthew and I waved goodbye to our youngest child, who was heading off to college, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of emptiness wash over us. For the past twenty years, our lives had revolved around our children, and now that they were both grown up and starting their own lives, we didn’t know what to do with ourselves.
Feeling lost and unsure of what to do next, we spent countless hours in prayer, asking the Lord to show us how we could serve Him and feel purpose again now that our children were no longer at home.
One day, an opportunity presented itself at church for someone to teach a missionary class to Junior age students during our monthly Great Commission outreach. More to stay busy, rather than serve, Matthew and I volunteered to teach this class.
We worked to put together a curriculum that would teach young people about missionary work, the importance of spreading the gospel, what life on the mission field looks like, and the fact that THEY themselves could answer the call to missions.
When the class started, Matthew and I threw ourselves into it, at first just to fill time, but eventually, to fulfil a calling. We spent countless hours preparing lesson plans, leading discussions, learning about cultures and foods on foreign fields, and mentoring the young people in the class. We were amazed at how much we were learning from teaching the class. The passion and enthusiasm of the young people was contagious, and it filled both of our hearts with joy.
As the weeks and months passed, Great KidsMission class grew and became a weekly event. More and more young people have started attending, and Matt and I found that the class was filling the void we had felt since our children had left home. We were able to channel our love and energy into serving God and making a difference in the lives of others.
Matt and I can now see how the Lord is using this class in a powerful way. Because of the Lord’s direction to take on this class we were able to turn our empty nest into a platform for service and are making a difference in our church and the lives of young children. We know that the Lord has put us exactly where we were meant to be for this time in our lives, and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve God in this way.
L.B.C. and L.B.A. students were allowed to attend the Association of Baptist Church Schools Fine Arts Competition in Westminster, MD. Although judges base their scores on a performance factor, the emphasis on preparation is based on ministry.
Trophies and ribbons are appropriate, but the ultimate goal is for these young people to use the skills they learned to prepare for their various events and serve the Lord in their local churches.
These events prepare these young people to sing, teach, preach, and be creative to accomplish God’s work on this earth through their church.
The young people presented themselves well and brought honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of them has a special gift given to them by the Lord, and we want them to use those gifts in His service.
I am so excited to tell you about my opportunity to work at Camp CoBeAc this summer in Prudenville, Michigan. Based on registrations and anticipated attendance, the camp is bursting at the seams for the teen and junior weeks of camp! Last summer Camp CoBeAc saw many juniors and teens make eternal decisions in the area of salvation and are praying for the Lord to work again this summer! It is exciting to see how the Lord works when young people escape from everyday distractions into His beautiful creation and are under the power of His Word being preached.
I have decided to use my summer to impact young people’s lives at camp instead of traveling with Seeing Truth Ministries this summer. I have always wanted the opportunity to be able to work at a camp, and God has decided to open that door for me this summer. I got accepted to be a teen counselor beginning at the end of May. I will receive excellent ministry training from the moment I arrive, and following this training, I will have the chance to make a lasting impact! I will be able to help campers develop Christian values and truths in their lives.
I am stepping out by faith to join this ministry as the camp can only pay me around $45.00 weekly. Each counselor has the responsibility to raise a lot of their own support. Since I will be a counselor for the entire summer, I am trying to raise the 4,000.00 necessary to cover all my bills and expenses.
As I prepare to invest my summer impacting young people from across the country, will you please consider investing in me? I would like any funds to be sent through my local church since this is a mission endeavor. You can designate all money to the church as a special offering with my name attached to the envelope.
Last, I would ask you to please pray for me as I endeavor to do the will God has for me this summer at Camp CoBeAc.
In Christ,
Brooke Caldwell
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GIVE TO HELP WITH BROOKE CALDWELL’S EXPENSES THIS SUMMER, CLICK HERE.
Last weekend, we had the incredible opportunity to host The Winchester Sportsmen’s Banquet on the campus of Lighthouse Baptist Church. The event brought together diverse individuals who shared a passion for the great outdoors. From hunters and fishermen to hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, we all had one thing in common: a love for nature and a desire to connect with something bigger than ourselves.
As the banquet progressed, the message turned to matters of faith. Evangelist Jason Caldwell preached a clear Gospel message. This Spirit of God moved, and before we knew it, seven people had raised their hands and professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The evening was remarkable, and we are grateful for God’s grace and provision to host this meeting. Please pray for those that raised their hand and were given follow-up material that they would grow in the Lord.
The path that God leads one down may not always be recognizable as God’s plan at the time of travel. It is usually far down the path that one can look back and see how God has led.
The Shope family has been on a journey of a lifetime. Pastor Shope said, “We are not afraid of God changing our path because we know His ways are higher than ours. In reality, either way, our life changes this Sunday evening. We are thanking the Lord for His leading to this point.”
Getting to this point has been a path of lows, highs, and every other emotion imaginable for the Shope family.
Pastor Shope grew up in a Christian home as a non-Christian. He had parents who ensured he was in church every time the doors opened.
“I was a rebellious teenager who wanted nothing to do with the things of the Lord but made sure everyone thought I did. Living a double life is exhausting, depressing, and empty. Nothing is satisfying about that way of living. I filled my life with the things of the world and self-gratification. I had parents and a pastor who loved me through those years, but upon graduating from high school, I went to Bible College simply because I thought that was what everyone expected me to do.”
Pastor Shope lived in college as he did as a teenager. “Everything was about me. I had most people fooled, but there is no way to fool God.” Pastor Shope is thankful for God’s leading because He always knows the way.
Pastor Shope met Becky Caldwell while attending The Crown College just north of Knoxville, TN. They met the first week of college and dated throughout the next four years (Pastor Shope jokingly says he doesn’t recommend this). Pastor and Mrs. Shope were married just after graduation from Crown College in July 2005.
Still not saved, Pastor and Mrs. Shope returned to Pastor Shope’s home church to assist his pastor in Huntingdon, PA.
After two years in PA, God began to stir something in both Pastor and Mrs. Shope’s hearts and began to open the door for a move. Through a series of events, Pastor, Mrs. Shope, and their son Jack who was ten months old, moved to Winchester, VA. Pastor Shope became the youth director and taught history at Lighthouse Baptist Academy, and after working in the daycare for a year, Mrs. Shope began teaching English at Lighthouse Baptist Academy. Eventually, Hudson and Maggie Shope came along to join the Shope family.
When Pastor Shope was thirty, he came to the end of himself and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. Lighthouse now has a saved youth director. At this point, Pastor Shope was still seeking God’s will for his life, and although he had no leading or plans to leave Lighthouse, he began to sense God’s calling to preach. Pastor Shope was ordained to preach and became the Assistant Pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church in 2017.
“At that point, I knew God was leading unusually. Things were happening in my heart that excited me and scared me simultaneously. I knew God was leading me to Pastor. I’ve told only a few people until now that I knew God was calling me to pastor Lighthouse. I couldn’t explain the logic behind it, but sometimes, no, most times, God’s will doesn’t make sense to us.”
Tomorrow evening Lighthouse Baptist Church will vote to call Luke Shope to be their Pastor. We pray that God’s people will be spirit led as we move into this next chapter of Lighthouse Baptist Church.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
Hey Lighthouse Family! It’s Cortnie here from sunny Florida! I was asked to testify how the Lord has worked since I was a teenager. Some of you may be thinking it wasn’t that long ago, but it’s been 8 years since I was in the youth department at Lighthouse. Crazy!! But, below, you will read about how I was a lukewarm Christian.
You may be shocked that this is what I wanted to write about, but I think most Christians are lukewarm. But while my testimony is meant to convict you, it is also meant to encourage you. I hope you walk away after reading this with a passion for serving the Lord with your life and a desire to live intentionally for Him every day. Because I can tell you now, it is worth it.
It is not enough to just live the life of a lukewarm Christian. Growing up, I read my Bible, went to church, served in ministry, and listened to worship songs, but it is not enough to fit Jesus into your life-He should be your life. Sadly, this was the life I chose to live, and I lived it until my Senior year in college.
Listen, it was easy to go through life, going through the motions of what the world believes a ‘good’ Christian looks like. But let me tell you, it is another thing to go through life completely picking up your cross and unashamedly chasing after it despite the current coming in from the opposite direction. Sure, I went to church. Sure, I participated in children’s ministry, choir, and activities. And sure, I was pretty well-behaved. I didn’t dress provocatively, speak vulgarly or drink. In fact, it wouldn’t even be surprising for one of you to come up to my mom and say, “You must be so proud of your daughter,” or for people around me to say, “It is so inspiring how you are a good Christian.” The truth was, I had a blackened heart underneath the glowing exterior.
Where I should have been pursuing the Lord wholeheartedly, I was chasing after perfection. Where I should have been proclaiming the gospel, I was shying away from the truth and not sticking up for what is truth. I was content with being seen by the world as the ‘good’ girl. And was living a life believing that it would be possible to be liked by everyone in the world and still be a daughter of the King.
In reality, I was compromising when I should have been proclaiming. I was compromising when I should have been pursuing, and I was compromising when I should have been living boldly. I was happy living a life doing the bare minimum for God; however, God wanted me to be either ALL in for Him or not at all. Near the end of my senior year in college, I finally recognized the tug God was pulling on my heart to stop living like a lukewarm Christian. I told God I was no longer satisfied with myself. I humbly submitted my whole life to Him and for His glory. I am now living life everyday, putting my life in the hands of the Creator.
To live the Christian life, I must live intentionally every day, seeking His Word. God has become my hope, joy, peace, song, and whole life. Since graduating in 2020, God has allowed me to be a Residence Manager for over 700 college-aged women. Part of my job is working with young women regarding their mental health and leading them back to biblical truths. I counsel dozens of girls weekly and have led multiple girls to the Lord. God is using a broken vessel like me to further His kingdom. To conclude, I want to challenge you to stop living a lukewarm life. Start living intentionally for Christ by seeking His Word and praying to Him. You will reap the blessings God wants to give you and see God use you in ways you never dreamed possible. I am experiencing this, and so can you.
There is something about getting young people out of their typical environment and receiving another spiritual perspective. I am thankful that the young people that attend Lighthouse Baptist Church hear the truth of God’s Word taught and preached each week. Still, sometimes it takes another preacher or teacher to preach the same principles and precepts for them to open their eyes and hearts to what the Lord wants in their lives. You may be trying to get something through to your teenager, and it seems like you’re hitting your head against a wall, and then they come back from camp or youth conference, and you witness a change of heart.
There are some things that we must remember.
We are all on the same team.
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6-9
God uses so many people to present the truth to young people. God uses each one for a specific purpose. Like a puzzle, we are all pieces of God’s big picture. We are laborers together with God.
We all want what God wants.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11
We believe that God has a plan and purpose for every young person. It’s not our plan or purpose; it’s God’s. The Bible tells us that he wants to give an expected end to everyone’s life. God’s plan for a young person’s life should be our desire.
Praise the Lord for the Results.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” – Psalm 100:4-5
The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. We certainly have something for which we should praise the Lord. God uses each generation to accomplish great things for Him. Every good gift comes from above. The gift of God working in a young person’s life through a camp or conference is something to be excited about.
If you want to sign your young person up for a camp or conference this summer, click here.
Teaching Others Also 