The Associational Advisor

Piedmont-Okefenokee Baptist Association's 54th Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at Williams Chapel Baptist Church. Williams Chapel Baptist Church is located at 3220 Central Avenue in Waycross.  Worship will begin at 5:00 PM, followed by a meal beginning at 5:45 PM. The Annual Meeting will begin at 7:00 PM. We look forward to seeing you then! The current requirement to vote is to complete the Annual Church Report (ACR). Please submit the ACR if you plan to have messengers vote at the Annual Meeting.  We will be voting on the proposed 2023 budget and on the proposed bylaw update. A copy of these documents has been sent to pastors and messengers. If you do not receive it, please contact the POBA Office at (912) 285-8161.  The following Team Leader roles are open: Disciple-Making Moral & Civic Concerns Prayer Senior Adult WMU If you would like to serve or know of someone that would like to serve in one of these Team Leader roles, please contact th...

Sanctity of Life Sunday will be Sunday, January 22, 2023.  The Life Chain will be held from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Come and pray with other Christians for this hour that there will be an end to abortion and a respect for ALL life from conception to natural death.  Locations : Ware:          Jerry J's Country Cafe (1404 Plant Ave) Pierce:         Burger King (Highway 84) Charlton:     Intersection of US 1 and Main Street Brantley:      Nahunta: Intersection of Hwys 82 and 301                            Hoboken: Intersection of Hwys 82 and 121 Bulletin inserts are available HERE .

  Hymn Stories:  Leaning on the Everlasting Arms   (Sam Stack) In looking for a hymn for this month’s hymn story, I looked back over my older hymn story articles.   This hymn speaks great truths, especially in times of sorrow and uncertainty.   As we look forward to this coming year, let us remember the truths of this great hymn.   One afternoon in 1887, music teacher A. J. Showalter dismissed his class and returned home.   There he found letters from two former students, each with similar stories.   Both students had lost their wives and both wives had died on the same day.   He began writing letters of sympathy to the students using scripture from Deuteronomy, having the assurance that God’s ‘everlasting arms’ will always support us.   Then he wrote another letter to hymnwriter Elisha Hoffman, suggesting that he write a hymn based on this scripture.   He even suggested words to a possible chorus. Hoffman wrote back the words to th...

  The  Piedmont Okefenokee Baptist Association  (POBA) partnered with Coastal Rivers Baptist Association  (CRBA) to collect Christmas Backpacks. The backpacks will be distributed in Polk County, TN through the  Polk County Baptist Association.     POBA churches & individuals collected 469 Backpacks !   Backpacks were collected from these churches and individuals: Astoria, Beulah, Bristol, FBC Blackshear, Jimmy & Ida Thrift, Lees Chapel, Mershon, Pineview, Pleasant Hill, South Gate, Sweat Memorial, and Wesley Chapel.  

The 2022 Fall Meeting was held on Thursday, October 20 at Camp Pinckney Baptist Church.  Here are highlights from the night: * Ben Smith, member of the Document Review Team and pastor of Central Baptist Church, explained the proposed changes to the POBA governing documents. The video can be viewed here:   https://bit.ly/FallMtgDRT *Tim Hall, pastor of Camp Pinckney Baptist Church, brought the message from Romans 16. The video can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/22FallMtgMSG The following churches were represented at the Fall Meeting: Bridge, Calvary, Camp Pinckney, Central, FBC Blackshear, Haywood, Manor, Mershon, Pineview, Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Valley, Satilla, Shady Grove, South Gate, Southside, SweetWater, and Walkerville.   The annual meeting will be held on January 19, 2023. Mark your calendar!

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church will have Sacred Harmony in concert on Sunday, December 4 at 6:00 PM.  The concert is free, a love offering will be received.  Pleasant Hill Baptist Church is located at 1871 Tyre Bridge Road in Patterson.  

Learning To Lean (Sam Stack) John Stallings was born in Georgia in 1938.   He has been a Pastor, Evangelist and songwriter.   During the 1970’s when Southern Gospel was growing in popularity, he wrote his most popular Gospel Song – Leaning to Lean. While pastoring a church in Montgomery, Alabama, multiple trials came into his life.   One of his daughters became gravely ill and nearly died.   Another daughter was seriously injured in an automobile accident.   During this time, he felt led to leave his church ministry.   The family moved to Florida, where he began to build a new home. As the story goes, Stallings was facing these trials and things were not going well for the Stallings family.   His faith in Christ allowed him to determine that he would fully trust in the Lord to see him through the difficulties that he was facing. The words and music of a simple chorus came to him.   It was the chorus of Learning to Lean.   At that time...