Dear Trinity family,

This Sunday we get to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It isn't like we don't celebrate or praise and thank God for the empty tomb on other occasions or other days, but on Easter it means a little bit more, and I don't think you'll be shocked to hear me say (or read me write) that right now it means a little more than it usually does.

On this Wednesday of Holy Week, meditate for a minute on the fact that this was Jesus' last day to chill before running the gauntlet that spanned the evening of Maundy Thursday to the afternoon of Good Friday. The Gospel writers have Him engaging in activities on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but nothing on Wednesday. He knew what was coming and it looks like He didn't mind not doing much of anything while there was still time.

It's a reminder, at least to me, that when we get moments like those, knowing they don't come very often, they're probably worth taking advantage of since we're usually better able to handle the storms when we've had time to prepare, and sometimes, preparation comes in the form of not doing much of anything.

I hope that won't be the case for you, though, on Good Friday. Our service starts @ 6:00PM. It's a time of worship through song and prayer. If you've attended it in the past, you know it's an opportunity to bare your soul before the Lord alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ who are there to do the same. In my experience, praying out loud together is one of those growth moments and I hope you'll join us.

Some other things to keep in mind.

• If you've invited someone to church on Easter, it usually helps to arrive a little earlier. Who knows what seating will look like.
• There is NO Sunday school. Worship starts at the usual time of 10:15.
• It is the first Sunday of the month and so we will celebrate the Lord's Table.
• April's prayer calendar is now available - click here and then click on the calendar to download.
• TBC Women's Radiant is April 11th @ 10:00AM @ the Colby Hill Inn in Henniker
• The spring work day is April 18th @ 8:00AM.
• The men's fire pit build is April 25th @ 10:00AM.

God bless and we'll see you hopefully on Friday and then on Sunday!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Not long after he became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego in 1953, Rev. S.M. Lockridge preached an Easter meditation titled, "It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming." You can Google it and listen to the whole thing. It isn't long, around 3 minutes. I don't know anything about the context of it, where it fit into the church service, nor does anyone know the exact date on which Rev. Lockridge preached it, but I love the last lines of it, "It's Friday. Satan's doing a little jig saying, 'I control the whole world,' but Sunday's coming!"

It's the title though that nestled into my brain ever since I was 22 and I saw it written on a sticker in my first boss' office. Today might be rough but today doesn't get the last word. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, was victorious over sin and death, and we get to share in His reign. Paul said it in 2 Timothy 2:11, "For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him." It doesn't matter how dark the night gets, the dawn cannot be stopped. It may be Friday, but Sunday's coming.

This is what we get to celebrate next week with our Good Friday prayer service and worship on Easter Sunday. It's an opportunity to remember, to invite others, and more than anything to celebrate a hope that does not disappoint. Seriously, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we're all just kind of holding hands on the Titanic in search of the next distraction.

But, since He did, we're not, and while it makes a difference every day of our lives, the rhythms of worship give us one Sunday in particular to empty our lungs with praise. My challenge to all of us is to prayerfully prepare for Easter worship. Get ready for the dressing up, the family pictures, the lunches, the dinners, even finding eggs in the backyard, but as Resurrection Sunday approaches, pray for God to prepare you to celebrate.  

If you are interested in singing in our Easter choir, there will be a rehearsal this Saturday (March 28th) @ the church @ 9:30AM. If you have any questions, contact Hannah Hernick (h.l.hernick@gmail.com).  

Also...

• Good Friday prayer service - April 3rd @ 6:00PM
• Radiant Women's Event - April 11th @ 10:00AM @ the Colby Hill Inn in Henniker
• Spring Work Day - April 18th @ 8:00AM
• Men's Firepit Prep & Build - April 25th @ 10:00AM

I hope to see you this Sunday when we'll be in 1 Peter 3:1-7. God bless!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

As the title says, I have a couple of things for you here on this Monday afternoon. One is trivial, the other is not. I'm sending it today because it's a little time sensitive.

Trivial first.

Most of you are familiar with "March Madness," which is another name for the NCAA Division 1 Basketball Tournament. For a few years now, we've had our own "TBC Bracket Challenge." Basically, you fill out a bracket, pick who you think will win, and the one who has the most correct guesses gets their name on the coveted Trinity Cup. Your name will be etched alongside such past winners as Michael Douglass, Missy Miller, and Doug Dean. I list those because we've only been doing it for three years. It doesn't cost a thing and it doesn't require you to know anything about college basketball. It's just a little mindless fun while we wait for Spring to spring.

If you'd like to participate, click below and jump in. Picks must be made by Thursday at noon.

https://sm.app.splashsports.com/contest/?jcode=9eb412ed-ba5e-45dc-8b3f-ba809bcdb7f9&utm_source=Referral&utm_campaign=Bracket&utm_medium=Contest_Page_Invite&referral=6a17280d-59f7-4b8e-972d-3cfd4f9eba17

Ok...now the not so trivial...

We learned today that Bree's clinical trial is not working. I'm going to be sending an update out soon on her CaringBridge page as well as social media over Facebook and Instagram. Her doctor is switching her to a more traditional chemotherapy and she's set to receive the first dose today. It has a response rate of about 50% and if it works, it should buy us some time. If it doesn't, she's not going to have a lot of time left.

If you don't mind, I'd like you to do something. If you receive her CaringBridge, you can do this in the form of a comment. If you're on Facebook, you can do it via commenting on the post. Please write something saying what Bree has meant to you, even if you haven't known her for a very long time. If you'd rather not do it digitally, you can always write it in a card or a note.

Why I am asking this? For two reasons. I don't know how much you remember from when you were 16 or 19, but I want our boys to know and not forget the kind of person their mother is. At some point, I'll print it all out and give it to them as a book of sorts.

Secondly, it would encourage Bree. I don't know why we wait until a person has passed to say what they meant to us. I'd rather her be able to read things like that while she's still very much with it. If you teared up reading this, I promise, I did too.

Thank you for everything you've been doing for us. She's committed to fight until the fight is over. I think this will help her do that. God bless.

In Christ
Pastor Brad 

Dear Trinity family,

With this weekend being our all-church retreat @ Camp Spofford, we will NOT be having our worship service in South Sutton this Sunday, the 15th. We will resume our regularly scheduled program on the 22nd as we prepare to head into our Easter season.

With respect to the retreat, you can arrive as early as 4:00PM. That's when the camp "opens." Dinner begins @ 5:30 and our first session is at 7:00PM. When you arrive, come to the chapel to pick up your folder, name tag, welcome gift, etc.

Just as a heads up for after the retreat:

• Good Friday Prayer Service - April 3rd 
• Easter Sunday - April 5th
• Radiant Women's Brunch - April 11th

March's prayer calendar has been posted and if you think of it, please pray for Bree's PET scan tomorrow morning that it will show at the very least disease stability and that she'll be able to remain on her clinical trial.

God bless and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

My apologies that this is coming a little late. The days are a bit more involved right now.

In our world of devices that update automatically, this feels slightly less urgent than it used to feel but we move our clocks forward tonight. 2:00AM becomes 3:00AM. I so much wish we didn't do this anymore, but we don't often get what we want.

A couple of quick reminders:

• If you are still mulling over coming to the retreat, you can still sign up. Just do so on the app.
• If you aren't coming to the retreat (boo), remember that we won't be having service on March 15th. 
• Easter Sunday is April 5th.
• Our TBC women's retreat "Radiant" is April 11th (sign up in the app).
• Our spring church work day is April 18th.

Lastly, several people have inquired as to if they could help financially. This is just the easiest way to let everyone know at one time. Three years ago, we established a GoFundMe and it's both still active and updated. CaringBridge has a "tribute" function but, just so you're aware, that goes to CaringBridge, not us. Here is the GFM link:

 https://gofund.me/4bf6d35b9

It does have an anonymous function. If you'd rather do something directly and want it to be anonymous, gas cards (Irving) are probably the most helpful with the price going up and how much we have had to and will have to travel.

God bless and I hope to see you tomorrow when we'll be in 1 Peter 2:13-17.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

I'm going to be saying this more and more over the coming weeks but thank you for your prayers and all the little, and some not so little, ways that you've stood by our side during this difficult season. It's great that Bree is home. I'd always rather have her here than in the hospital.

At the same time, we're in a tough place. She was able to receive the next round of her clinical trial due to not a small amount of "elevated insistence," on my part and a bit of divine timing on a blood test. The markers that are used to help determine whether or not the treatment is working dropped when I asked that they be tested. 5 days later, they then went back, almost exactly, to where they were before. The dip was enough, though, to get the doctor's "yes." I'll take it.

She has a scan on March 13th. If it shows disease progression, they'll take her off the trial, simple as that. There are treatments she can still receive but they are limited in both their effectiveness and the time that they offer. That's why I've titled this, "rubber meets the road." I'm begging God to move. Please pray for the same.

By the way - we do updates via the prayer group on the app and via our CaringBridge site. https://www.caringbridge.org/site/59c3171d-4146-3471-9108-c76f0caec3f4?utm_source=website_share&utm_medium=share_button&utm_term=&utm_content=link_share_button&utm_campaign=private_home_page. Click on the link and sign up to receive updates by email

March 13th is also the first day of our spring all-church retreat. We're getting to the point where we need to know what our numbers are just so the camp can be prepared for us. If you haven't signed up yet, please do so. I know there's any number of reasons why you might not want to come. It's important to me that you're there. It gives us a chance to be together, for me to see everyone being together. We pray together on Sunday morning and the more of us who are there, the more we can with "one voice," come before our Father in heaven. Just open the app, tap "events" at the bottom, and you'll see the retreat.

Along those lines, please read the following from Cyndi Bailey...

"Thank you to the myriad workers who make the TBC retreat come to life! There are still a few more openings for ways to support the TBC children.

We still have need of 1 more adult Kingdom Kids helper at one session and 1 adult nursery helper at one session. For safety reasons, we must have 2 adults with the children, so if we do not have these 2 more adults, we will not be able to provide KK or childcare for one session.
 
It would be super helpful if someone was willing to bake some of our KK snacks for the retreat.

Please contact Cyndi Bailey if you are able to help - 860-573-3206."

Lastly, a few items...

• When you open the app, the second item down on the home page is "New Worship Songs." Tap on it and you'll see one that we're doing this weekend, Christ Be Magnified. Give it a listen so that you'll be better prepped to sing on Sunday!
• Friday (tomorrow) is the next screening of The Chosen. The children's version has ended. As the kids say (somewhere I'm sure), the goat has left the building.
• Saturday @ 5:00PM is our men's "Spaghetti & Corn(hole)". Registering on the app lets us know how much food to make. You'll find it under events -> upcoming events.

God bless and I'll see you Sunday when we'll be in 1 Peter 2:11-12.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers over the past week. Today actually marks a week since Bree went into the hospital. Having several friends over the past few years who've been in a similar place with advanced cancer, it seems like hospital stays are a not uncommon part of the journey, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Right now, she is recovering from a procedure to hopefully deal with the fluid issue on her lung once and for all. If you are part of our prayer group (you can join on the app), you know that we are needing to make a decision between leaving the clinical trial and switching to a different medication or sticking with it, the potential being that if the trial isn't working, she'd effectively be going without treatment for a month. With as far as her disease has progressed, that's not ideal. Her doctors here would like her to switch. We are less inclined to want to give up. Please pray for wisdom for all involved.

At the same time, the work of the church continues! We still have small groups that meet during the week. We still meet for worship on Sundays. There are events upcoming such as a VBS planning meeting after worship this Sunday for those interested in being a part. We have the final Chosen screening a week from Friday (adults upstairs, kids downstairs), and our men's spaghetti and corn(hole) is the next night on the 28th.  

I do want to draw your attention to our all-church retreat March 13-15. This is the single best event we do all year when it comes to community building. We have what I believe will be a great speaker on a very important topic (apologetics). The 36 hours or so that we're together is just flat-out fun, but what I can say with confidence is that you will leave knowing people better than when you came and that's worth everything. If you haven't yet, please consider signing up. Bree and I are still planning to be there and we hope to see you there as well. God bless.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

It's a little over a month before our all-church retreat on March 13-15 @ Camp Spofford and I have some information for you.

First, our retreat speaker. Joe Shea serves as the Pastor of First Congregational Church of North Brookfield, MA, having also been a campus missionary @ Worcester State University and Nichols College. Joe will be covering topics such as the authority of Scripture, addressing the New Age movement, atheism, and other hot topics, including room for Q&A.

If you are interested in doing something for "TBC Night Live," you can sign up on the app under the "Connect" button at the bottom of the screen when you open the app.

Lauren Cole and some of her friends have offered to do babysitting for any parents who are interested on the Saturday afternoon of the retreat.

Since the retreat is a special time for ALL ages, Cyndi Bailey is looking for help during the general sessions for our youngest. This is a great opportunity for folks who don't currently serve in our children's ministry new to step in. You'd just need to serve during ONE of the three general sessions. The messages will be recorded so you don't have to worry about missing anything.

We're looking for the following:
Nursery care (ages 0-3) - 4 adults and 3 youth helpers.
Kingdom Kids (ages 4 to grade 2) - one teacher (could be a current or former Kingdom Kids or Sunday School teacher), 3 adult helpers and one youth helper.
Some "Special Guests" to help us for just 5-10 minutes of a session:

• Session 2 - 1 or 2 people who speak a foreign language (one person to speak and one to translate)
• Session 3 - 2 or 3 people who play wind instruments

Even though this goes without saying, and I'm saying it anyway, please sign up for the retreat if you haven't yet. It's a blast all the way around and it's the best opportunity to build community of the entire year. 

Lastly, just as a reminder of what's on tap this weekend:

• Friday, February 13th - Screening of The Chosen season 1: episode 4 & 5
• Sunday, February 15th - TBC Youth Winter Carnival immediately following worship
• Sunday, February 15th - TBC Women Galentines @ 7:00PM

Hope to see you Sunday when we'll be in 1 Peter 2:4-10. God bless!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Several years ago, I was in a meeting that included a staff person from Athletes in Action, Cru's ministry to those involved in sports on both the college and professional level. This particular individual was the chaplain for the (then) Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns. Not that it should have but those two things made me listen a bit more intently than I may have otherwise.

He said that if you wanted to communicate something effectively, you needed to say it in 7 different ways. He didn't offer any rationale for why it was 7 as opposed to 5 or 10, but it stuck with me and as a result, ever since then I've thought in terms of the various possibilities for how to get across what I want to get across in general, but in this case, in terms of what we're up to here at TBC.

You may not realize this but two of those means of communication take place on Sunday morning. We use our announcements and our bulletin to let people know what's up. Notifications are our app are another way. The fact that all of our upcoming events are on our app is number 4. If you go to our website (trinitybiblechurch.us), and tap on "Calendar" or "Upcoming Events" on the top menu, you'll see what's happening and that the calendar is up to date with those events as well as random ways our building might be in use on any given day. That's 5 and this blog is 6.

My goal is to make more use of our church's Facebook page which will take us to 7. I know that many of you aren't on Facebook. That's both fine and kind of the point. People take in information in different ways and the goal here is that via these 7 forms, we'll hit on at least one that works for you, and you'll be aware of what's what. Please know that these are the ways we communicate, and short of smoke signals, it's pretty much the most we can do. You can help by just taking advantage of one.

So...here's what were up to this weekend, and beyond...

• Saturday, January 31st, TBC Men is hosting a Gun Cleaning Brunch from 10AM-12PM @ the church. Even if you don't have gun to clean, come on out and enjoy getting to know other guys better.
• Sunday, February 1st, Youth Group - 4:00PM-6:00PM @ the church.
• Time with one of our missionaries - Cornell Bucur - Friday, February 6th @ the Dean home & Sunday, February 7th after worship. Sign up for either on the app.
• Friday, February 13th - The Chosen screening @ 6:30PM @ the church
• Sunday, February 15th - TBC Women's "Galentine's" gathering @ 7:00PM @ the church
• Saturday, February 28th - TBC Men's "Spaghetti & Corn (hole)" gathering @ 5:00PM-7:00PM @ the church
• March 13--15 - All-church Retreat - sign up on the app

Lastly, just so everyone knows, adult Sunday school will focus on apologetics and I'll be teaching the youth Sunday school class for the remainder of the semester. I hope you'll help your kids be there especially since it's a great follow up from Deep Freeze.

Have a great Thursday and I'll see you Sunday when we'll be in 1 Peter 1:13-21!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

I'll say a little more about this on Sunday, but it was SUCH a joy watching our youth return from Deep Freeze seeing their excitement (and exhaustion) having built all these shared memories and inside jokes and moments that as a parent, you just knew you'd only begin to be able to understand.

If I could share a couple of suggestions for building on what happened at Camp Berea. One, take advantage of the youth Sunday school class we offer that meets every Sunday morning at 9:00AM. I know it isn't easy to leave the house an hour earlier but it will benefit them a great deal.

Secondly, prayerfully consider attending the retreat March 13-15. You will have a great time. You'll be able to connect and build deeper relationships, but you'll also watch your kids have a blast. It happens every year. From black light volleyball to daytime volleyball, basketball, rock climbing, the variety show, playing games in the cafe, they will continue to make memories that revolve around growing in their relationship with God. There. Is. Nothing. Better. Please consider attending.

Lastly, men's Bible study meets tonight @ 7:00 @ the church and this Friday is our second screening of The Chosen, episodes 2 & 3 of season 1.

God bless and I hope to see you on Sunday when we'll be starting our new series in 1 Peter with chapter 1:1-12!

In Christ
Pastor Brad 

Dear Trinity family,

I'd like to put three things in front of you on this Thursday morning.

1. Please be in prayer for those adults and kids heading to Deep Freeze tomorrow evening. Pray for safety, for sleep to be multiplied for our adults so that four hours feel like 10, for community to be built among our youth group, and for the messages to be received and put into practice long after the weekend is over.

2. We are in need of people willing to serve as parking lot attendants. As our church continues to grow, the limitations of our lot remain. We have learned that with people directing the parking, we can fit far more than if we don't. I'm looking for a team of 12 that would mean 3 serve one Sunday a month. If we have more, we can space that out even farther, but I need 12. High schoolers are welcome, but I'd like at least 4 of those 12 to be adults. If you are still looking for a place to serve, and this sounds like it could work, let me know.

3. On our app, if you look at the bottom of the Home Screen, you will see the "Connect" button. Tap on that and you'll see at the top of the list "Caring Opportunities." Tap on that and you will see 3 meal trains that you can sign up for. Right now, there is an immediate need for the Kirkell family. Kim is one of our high schoolers and her mother is recovering from major surgery. The Shedds are also in need and if you can bring the food on Sunday, appropriately labeled, we can use our refrigerator downstairs to store it and get it into the appropriate hands.

I have noticed recently that on our various town Facebook pages (New London, Sutton, etc.) people are posting for help with grocery runs, pharmacy runs, and it reminded me of how much we need community. We were never designed to live this life on our own and thankfully, we don't have to. God gave us the local church so that we could provide the connection that we so desperately need in a world where life-altering changes show up without warning. God bless and thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

In Christ
Pastor Brad 

Dear Trinity family,

Just a quick note about a few items this weekend. Tonight is the first screening of The Chosen that's taking place at the church @ 6:30PM with the series being shown upstairs and the animated version downstairs.

Also, our 2nd membership class takes place this Sunday @ 9:00AM. If you were unable to join us for the first class, you can still jump in. Sunday school continues for all ages as well.

Thank you to those who have prayed for Bree over the past several days. For those who are not on our "prayer request" group on our app, around 1:15AM on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Bree's breathing had become more labored and her pain was quite high despite her having taken a significant amount of pain medication.

Since she'd had a blood clot in her lung before, we didn't want to take any chances and so I took her to the ER in New London. After putting her on oxygen, determining it was not a clot and not knowing if it was pneumonia, pneumonitis, or advancing disease, they admitted her and began IV antibiotics. Her breathing has improved on continuous 2 liters of oxygen and her pain, while present, has lessened. We are hopeful she'll be released today, but I don't have any firm information on that yet.

Lord willing, she'll be at church on Sunday. Just as a heads up, know that she will be on oxygen and will be wearing a mask for the remainder of the winter. Because the risk of her catching something is high, please don't be offended if we prefer you express your care from a distance. It's just where we are these days. Thank you for your prayer and all of your offers of support. We expect her to receive round 2 of her clinical trial this week and we're hopeful that the more she receives, the more likely she'll make some progress.

God bless and I hope to see you on Sunday!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

I hope and pray this finds you well and with power from your various electricity providers. We would get ice storms like these every few years in Texas but it rarely stuck around for more than a day or so just because temperatures never stayed below freezing for very long. Right now my driveway is a sheet of ice. Be careful if you venture to the church in the next few days. There's sand in the parking lot and salt on the ramp but it's a sheet of ice underneath and the next time we get to 32 degrees is forecasted to be well into 2026.

Having said that, we've got stuff going on this Sunday and beyond!

• Membership Class @ 9:00AM. This is the first of four classes that will take place over the month of January. Even if you just want to know more about TBC, you can still sign up. Click on "EVENTS" at the bottom of the home page on the app and you'll see it there towards the top.
• Sunday School for all ages is back! This spring will feature one adult class. It will be a topic based continuation of our Discipleship 101 track that we ran throughout the fall. Think of it as "Stuff that's good for Christians to know." Everyone is welcome to attend. There is also a separate for our HS/MS students. 
• TBC Women's Event "Friday Night Storytelling," is on Friday, January 9th from 6:00-8:00PM.
• TBC Youth "Deep Freeze" weekend is January 16-18. Contact Phil Sprunger (philip.sprunger@gmail.com) if you have questions. 
• TBC Men's "Gun Cleaning Brunch" is Saturday, January 31st from 10:00AM-12:00PM. Bring a gun to clean and a dish to share. Please sign up on the app just so there's enough food. 
• January's prayer calendar can be accessed here - https://storage2.snappages.site/4SMMCT/assets/files/Prayer-Calendar-Jan2026.pdf 

Lastly, if you are interested in making a year end financial gift to the ministry of TBC click here - https://trinitybiblechurch.us/give. If you scroll down and click on the "0" at the form on the right, you can enter any amount you'd like and follow the instructions from there.

Thank you for partnering with us as we seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves over the past year. I look forward to what the Lord will do both with and in us in 2026. God bless and we'll see you next year!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Here we are on Christmas Eve-Eve and I'm thinking about the New England tradition of windows filled with lit candles. I'd never seen that before moving here, and I didn't know what it meant. Just in case you don't, and assuming the places I looked for answers are right, 200+ years ago, those candles spoke a quiet message of safety. If you needed a place to stay as you traveled by horse from point A to B, and the weather turned rough or maybe your horse or your carriage broke down, you could find refuge inside a church.

Certainly, I hope that would still be the case today. Even though such a contingency is rarely needed, that image speaks volumes to me. If Christ and His message of the Gospel can be found inside, a church indeed is a place where one can find refuge. The world outside can feel like a hurricane. With so very little warning, everything can go from tranquillity to tragedy, and while we can't stop the storm from raging, Christ offers peace. Sometimes, He calms the storm, but what He always offers is calm to the one seeking shelter from all that's outside of our control.

We have an opportunity to offer such shelter tomorrow night. Christmas Eve invariably brings those who may not typically darken the doors of a church. It is my prayer that all will find the hope embodied in Christmas by our music, from God's word read and expounded, and from God's people, the extension of a hand and a smile.

To that end, please consider where you sit, where you park, and saying hello to someone you may not know. I'm aware this can sound like a broken record, but 4 cars came into our parking lot two days ago and left because there wasn't any room. Even if it means dropping someone off and coming back, please don't bring more than one car. Please consider sitting towards the front of the room. Leave the overflow space for those who arrive late. These are Gospel-centered gestures that truly communicate the love of Christ to someone who may never know it was you who made it possible for them to find a place and a seat.

God is at work here, y'all. I hope you can see it. Lives are being changed because of Jesus and we get to be a part of that. Thank you for being my partner in ministry and I so look forward to seeing you tomorrow night if you can be here. God bless.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

If you are part of the prayer group (accessed by the conversation icon at the top of the app), you know that Bree was placed into the experimental group of the clinical trial that will begin, Lord willing, next week! There are logistical details that still need to be worked out, such as the medicine physically arriving from the lab in California, but this is a significant praise as it offers her the best chance we know of right now for keeping the disease at bay.

You also probably know we've been crisscrossing the country working to find something, anything, that could benefit her, and that all this has been going on while I've been working through all these passages in Scripture on prayer. I don't think that's an accident. God knows what He's doing, He definitely knows what I'm doing, and it's been for me a real life laboratory in the exercise of prayer.

To be clear, we're all dealing with something. Bree is not the only person facing cancer. She's not even the only person facing stage 4 cancer. There are a multitude of other physical hurdles throughout our church body not to mention people struggling with family issues, work problems, situations that don't have immediate or easy answers, and it's good that those drive us to our proverbial and literal knees as we seek God's intervention and struggle with the different forms His intervention takes.

Because it is a struggle and it's ok to say so. I'm genuinely looking forward to this Sunday because we'll be diving into different passage that speak to the practice and complexities of prayer. It isn't easy. It's never as clear as we would like. Sometimes we feel as if we desperately need clarity, but ultimately God is good. He uses our prayers, and we get to walk hand in hand, side by side, as we learn how His grace is sufficient for us as His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

Lastly, as always, I want to keep some details front and center for you...

• Christmas Eve service - 6:00PM, December 24th. Please park and sit in such a way that we make the most room for our visitors as possible. This will mean parking directly next to another car and sitting towards the front and the middle of our three sections.
• Youth Sunday - December 28th, with a potluck to follow. Bring a dish to share if you are able.
• TBC is hiring a custodian. This is a paid position - $20/hr for at least 4 hrs per week. Let me or one of our elders know if you are interested.
• If you are interested in an announcement being made on Sunday morning, that must be provided to our administrator, Denise Dailey (denise@trinitybiblechurch.us), by 3:00 on the Thursday of that week.
• TBC Youth - Deep Freeze Weekend Camp, January 16-18. Sign up on the app.
• TBC all-church retreat - March 13-15 - Save the Date.
• If you wish to make a year-end gift to the ministry of TBC, it needs to arrive by Wednesday, December 31st if mailed, and/or be given online by 11:59PM that night. 

God bless and we'll see you Sunday!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Being that I'm spending a lot of time right now in passages of Scripture that center on prayer, it shouldn't surprise me that God's given me an occasion to put it into practice.

Bree has been accepted into the clinical trial for which we were hoping. She will have a PET scan on Monday and once that result comes back either later that day or the next, she will be randomized (50/50 chance) into either the experimental or the control group.

The experimental group is a vaccine of sorts to teach her immune system how to fight the disease while the control group is a standard of care therapy that should work to keep the disease in check for a certain but unknown amount of time. That's good but the experimental treatment has the potential to significantly change the trajectory of her cancer.

Please join me in praying that she will get into the experimental group. Please pray also that God would bring praise to His name no matter what. I really want the first one of those, more than I've wanted anything in a while, but I know I should want the second one even more than that :).

In other news...

• TBC is hiring a custodian! This will be a 3-4 hour a week position that will pay $20/hr. If you are interested, please let me or one of our elders know.
• TBC Women's Piece-by-Piece pie contest & puzzle making extravaganza is this Saturday at 7:00 @ the church.
• Our Sunday School classes Discipleship 101 will be on forgiving others, and our Family Class will focus on dating/the pursuit of marriage. All high schoolers are encouraged to attend with the full blessing of their current class. Even if your kids are little, it's information that will benefit them someday soon.
• If you are interested in either becoming a member or just learning more about TBC, please sign up on the app for our membership class which will take place the first four Sundays of January.

God bless and we will see you this Sunday. Our sermon text will be John 17.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Now that we are fully into the Christmas season, there are some "housekeeping" items I'd like us to keep in mind especially since we are likely to experience an uptick in visitors this time of year.

Parking - please remember, depending on when you arrive, to park either at the very end of a section or directly next to someone. Picking a random spot in the middle decreases the number of available spots, especially now that we've also had our first significant snowfall.

Seating - please make every effort to fill the seats towards the front of the sanctuary so that those who arrive later can have a seat available to them in the back. After the service has started, it's difficult to find a seat. See if there's a seat towards the front before choosing one towards the back.

Introducing - since this is a time when people consider attending church who maybe haven't in a while, if you see someone you don't know, make an effort to introduce yourself. The Lord uses His church to tangibly communicate His love. Sometimes that's as simple as "Hello, my name is..."

As a reminder the following events are upcoming:

• TBC Women's Piece by Piece - Saturday, December 13th, 7:00PM-9:00PM
• Christmas Eve service - Wednesday, December 24th, 6:00PM
• Youth Sunday - Sunday, December 28th, 10:15AM (no Sunday School)
• TBC Membership Class - The 4 Sundays in January from 9:00AM-10:00AM
• TBC Youth - Deep Freeze Weekend Camp - January 16-18

More information for all of these events is available on the TBC App.

Lastly, as you prayerfully consider year-end giving, please consider a gift to the ministry of Trinity Bible Church. Currently, we are approximately $3,000 behind in our budget for the fiscal year and several larger expenditures are due to occur in the winter and spring. Gifts can be given in person, through the mail, or online. God bless and happy Wednesday!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Within the history of the church across the globe, this has served as a time to prepare our hearts as we expectantly await the arrival of Christmas. But it's not about the lights or the music or the gifts (all of which I love).

Advent means arrival and since the Father kept His promise with respect to the first coming of His Son, that's all the more reason for us to look forward to His keeping His promises regarding the Second Coming with confidence and hope.

As part of this Advent season, you'll see readings, lighting of candles, kids singing, and it's all meant to cultivate in us a foretaste of the joy we will know when we are finally in the presence of our Savior.

Make a note as well of the following upcoming events:

• Christmas choir rehearsals - December 6, 13, and 20 from 9:00AM-10:30AM
• Piece by Piece - TBC Women's Event, an evening of pie competition & puzzle making, December 13 from 7:00PM-9:00PM
• Youth Christmas Party - December 21, 4:00PM-6:00PM
• Christmas Eve service - December 24. 6:00PM
• Youth Sunday - December 28

God bless and we will see you this Sunday (Discipleship 101 - Temptation & Suffering; The Family: Your First Mission Field - The Family in Perspective, Sermon - Judges 18)!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

With our Christmas Eve service right around the corner on (drum roll) Christmas Eve, I want to make sure that if you're signed up for one of our choirs, rehearsals begin on Saturday morning @ 9:00 @ the church.

Also, we have two women's events on the schedule, Pouring Out Gratitude: a time to gather for coffee and reflection on November 21st from 9:00-10:30AM as well as Piece by Piece, a pie baking competition and puzzle making will be on December 13th from 7:00-9:00PM also at the church.

Remember as well that the final Sunday of 2025, December 28th is Youth Sunday and please keep March 13-15 free as that is our all church retreat!

On a personal note, please keep the next couple of weeks in prayer for Bree. Her DH doctor wanted to go ahead with a PET scan even after her stable CT scan in Houston two weeks ago. We received that report yesterday in the early evening.

Metabolically speaking, cancer cells are showing as active practically all over her torso. As I understand it, they haven't grown enough to show as solid masses which is why they didn't show up on the CT.

Bree is now scheduled to go back to Houston to visit the clinical trial office the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

She also has an appointment scheduled at Dana Farber at the end of that week on December 4th or 5th, and she's also being scheduled for a guided biopsy soon in order to determine whether or not the cancer has changed. We will then need to make a decision on a best next course of treatment.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

Greetings from New Hampshire! Nathanael and I returned last night. Bree will be back the day after tomorrow after she spends a couple of days with a friend from college in Boston.

I wanted to remind everyone quickly about our events with our missionaries the Salzmans this weekend. There is a dinner on Friday night @ the Monroes from 6:00-9:00PM as well as a potluck after worship this Sunday. This is a chance to connect, an opportunity to learn more about what is happening in their ministry, and also to encourage their hearts with your presence. You can sign up for both events in the TBC app.

Thank you for your prayers over our travel and Bree's appointment with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. We didn't experience any meaningful delays or issues and the clearest way I can communicate what we learned from her visit was that we left with hope.

Stage 4 cancer isn't something you cure; it's something you control for as long as you can. That was starting to feel like going to Mars. Theoretically you understand how it works and that it can happen but whether or not it will work is highly questionable. Now that feels more like going to the moon. Yes it's complicated. It will involve a commitment, but it's been done before and it's reasonable to think it can be done again.

Her next steps are to stay on her current medication as long as she can. You don't change unless the med stops working and her scan last week showed it's working. Things aren't smaller but they are stable. We'll take stable.

She will be scanned again in February and if it isn't working anymore (i.e. the cancer is growing), we will make a decision on a clinical trial either at DH, Dana Farber, or MD Anderson, depending on what's available.

If you'd like to pray specifically, please pray that trials will be available then and that medications that are trials now will be available as new, approved treatments when she needs it. Please pray, as I do, that this will be the case for each of our stage 4 folks - Bob Hoefer, Bree, and Karen Bucur.

God bless, and I so look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday when we'll be looking at the role of the Holy Spirit in Discipleship 101, the practice of family worship in our "First Mission Field - the family" class, and the end of the Samson story in Judges 16 in worship.

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

First and foremost, please remember to be in prayer for Dave Shedd, Sr., as he continues to recover from his stroke, for Melody Grover as she continues to recover from her broken leg, for Steven Williamson as he recovers from his encounter with nature :), and for Bree's scans and appointment tomorrow at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

A note on Sunday school this coming weekend. We will only have one class instead of two, Discipleship 101. It's only for this coming Sunday. We'll be back up and running full steam on 11/16. Again, there will be NO class on the family this coming Sunday. 

Now that it's November, it's time to prepare for our Christmas Eve service. If you or your children are interested in joining either our choir or band, you can sign up on the TBC app utilizing the connect button at the bottom of the Home Screen, or click the following link...

https://subsplash.com/u/-4SMMCT/forms/d/16015787-560c-4f6a-90a9-4874a7bc2cf7 

The following is a note from Cyndi Bailey

A reminder: we still need more volunteers to help with nursery care during the worship service. Please contact Cyndi Bailey with questions or to volunteer. Also, regarding the nursery, if your child has outgrown some sturdy toys or children’s board books (Christian themed only, please), we would welcome donations. We are currently looking for some dolls and clothing, as well as more wooden blocks or Duplos. Of course, other items might be of interest too! Please do not leave donations in the nursery, however. Please contact Cyndi_bailey@comcast.net. Some toys are great at home but may not be appropriate for a group setting.

On November 21st, TBC Women are hosting an event called "Pouring Out Gratitude" from 9:00-10:30AM. Activities will be available for kids who are present.

Lastly, as we approach the last several weeks of 2025, if you are considering a year-end gift to the ministry of TBC, please know that you can do so via mail, our offering box at the back of the sanctuary, or online via the TBC app or website. Any gifts need to be received and dated no later than 12/31. God bless.

In Christ
Brad

Dear Trinity family,

This morning I received an email from Jim Critchlow asking for how to find the directory and what the password was. That's not an uncommon question. The directory is available on the website (not the app) but it's not obvious where it is and that's to avoid what just happened.

I sent Jim the information and later learned it wasn't Jim. It was a hack. Thus, this person went into our directory and started emailing and texting people.  

If you receive something from me asking for help or urgent help or looking for gift cards, it's not me. All you have to do is look at the email address. Mine is brad@trinitybiblechurch.us or bradbanks40@gmail.com. That's it. I don't use any others. Also the phone number they are using, 509-541-8543, is from eastern Washington. I've never lived in eastern Washington.

The result of this, though, is that I changed the password for the directory. I'm happy to give it to you but I'll only do so on the phone or in person. I apologize for the inconvenience but I'm a little concerned with email and texts that it could fall into the wrong hands. Denise Dailey, our administrator, will have this information soon and you can contact her as well.

If it helps in the future, just know that I'm not a formal title kind of guy so if you see "Pastor Brad Banks" or Rev. Brad Banks, I only talk that way if I have to.

In Christ
Brad

Dear Trinity family,

As we wrap up October and head into November, I want to keep a few items in front of you.

First, if you are a man and interested in attending Man Camp, you can stay for the entire weekend OR you can register to attend the sessions only. Those options are at this link here...https://www.berea.camp/mancamp/

Just click on the November 7-9 option and remember that TBC is covering $100 of the camp fee. If you have questions, you can contact either Bob Dailey (poppopdailey@yahoo.com) or Dave Chabot (dcmchabot@gmail.com).

Lastly, if you are interested in attending our Meet the TBC team newcomer's lunch this Sunday after worship, please sign up in the app. Just tap on "events" at the bottom of the Home Screen and then "upcoming events" to see where to sign up.  God bless!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

First and foremost, thank you so very much for how willingly everyone worked to park in such a way to make the most of the space we have. We really are right on that edge where week-to-week we could have enough spots on one Sunday and not enough on another. Just as a reminder, if yours is the first car in a section of the lot, we're asking you park at the very edge if you can, like this...

Then, for the next person who comes in, park next to that car and so on and so forth. This way we won't lose spots due to irregular spacing.

Secondly, this Saturday is FALL FEST from 3:00-6:00 @ the church. I really do hope that everyone who can make it will. It's a great opportunity to get to know new people, to get to know people you've already met better, to be outside in what should be great fall weather. Remember to bring a dessert. There will be games, music in the background, face painting for the kids (and parents too if you want), and the pumpkin carving competition. Extra points to anyone who creates a scene from the story of Samson!

One quick note on the desserts. If you make something that is gluten free or anything along those lines, please label it accordingly somehow. We'll assume that if it's not labeled, it's not allergy friendly.

Lastly, our "Meet the TBC leadership" lunch is after worship the following Sunday, November 2nd. If that's something you'd like to attend, tap on the "events" button at the bottom of the app and register. That way we'll know how much food to have on hand.

God bless, happy Wednesday, and I hope to see you Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning when we'll be getting into the life of Samson!

In Christ
Pastor Brad

Dear Trinity family,

There are a few items I want to make sure you're aware of.

1. This Saturday, October 18th, is our Fall Church Work Day. It's a great time to be of service and help get our property ready for our Fall Fest on the 25th. The work day runs from about 8:00AM to 12:00PM. Bring a rake, bring some gloves, and enjoy what is looking like a very nice day.

2. As you may have noticed, there are both fewer seats and fewer parking spots available than there used to be. What a great problem to have! Please know that we are working to manage our space as best we can which includes more chairs and maybe some structural modifications to the space itself.

In the meantime...there are two ways you can help. The first is to sit as close to the front and middle of the sanctuary as you can. Just like Nehemiah needed people to volunteer to live in Jerusalem, we could use some folks to choose the first three rows, especially in the center section, in order to free up the back.

The second is a little more complicated as our parking lot has less space than our sanctuary and solutions are harder to come by. What I am asking is that if you are the first to arrive, park at an edge, either the very end or right next to an island (those parts that jut out from the side closest to 114.) Then, whoever comes next, please park next to that car and so on and so forth. Or, start a new section by parking at the edge of that section.

Since we don't have lane lines, when we park in the middle of a section or try and put multiple spaces between us and another car, we actually lose a spot here and there and right now spots are at a premium. (shameless plug - when you come to Sunday School at 9:00, you're practically guaranteed to have a spot :)).

If you're arrive when people typically arrive, just park immediately next to someone.

There is also some space (unofficially) at the south end of the lot where we cleared some trees last year. If you are able, and don't mind stepping first into the dirt/grass, we can put about 4 cars there. Like I said, we're working to alleviate this issue but doing so takes time.

3. Lastly, the following is from Cyndi Bailey...

We are SO blessed by the many volunteers who serve our TBC children. It has been such a blessing to see so many children in our Sunday School, Nursery, Kingdom Kids and Trailblazer programs! I have a couple of requests for those of you who are not currently serving in Children’s Ministry:

1. Please pray for the teachers, children and their parents. Raising up the next generation for Jesus is an awe-some responsibility and we covet your prayerful support.

2. After our church service each Sunday, you can be a huge help to our Trailblazers. Before chatting with someone, please ask if they are a Trailblazer coach. If they are, I humbly request that you allow them to quickly head to the front of the sanctuary first. We usually have about a dozen Trailblazers sitting on the platform waiting, so we need all our coaches on duty! The coaches will be done in under 10 minutes. I promise!! ?

For those who may still be searching for a way to participate in Children’s Ministry, here are a few areas where our teams are “thin”.

•Adults to serve in the Nursery (ages 0-3) during the worship service. We need 2 adults for each Sunday and we could really use 5 more adults to ensure about an 8 week rotation.
•Teachers for Kingdom Kids. This is our program for Age 4 thru Grade 2 that occurs during the sermon time. We have a curriculum to support you and we have a training program for anyone who is open to learning.
Contact Cyndi_bailey@comcast.net with any questions!

Thanks for reading! I so look forward to seeing you Sunday when we will start our study of the life of Samson, the first (extremely flawed) superhero in Judges 13.

In Christ
Pastor Brad