Tonight:

6:15 PM - All Children's Choirs will meet, and the Youth Missions Group will head to Keystone Community Center.

7:30 PM - Chancel Choir will rehearse.

Please note that next Wednesday, December 10th will be the last meeting this year for Children's Choirs and Youth Missions Group.

Chancel Choir will rehearse next Wednesday, as usual, and will have the dress rehearsal for our December 14th Christmas Musical on Thursday, December 11th at 7 PM.

This Sunday @ VBC

Travis continues in his Advent sermon series, "The Power of One." This week's message is "One Voice," and the scripture is Matthew 3:1-10. We will also hear from the Young Musicians Choir! If you are unable to attend worship in person, please watch the livestream at www.vintonbaptistchurch.org or through our Facebook page.

We'd love to see you at Sunday School, as well, at 9:15 AM (Young Adults at 9 AM at RND).

Please note that our December pilot of a new children's program begins this Sunday. Next Step is designed for our 3-year-olds (we also welcome any 4-year-olds) who are ready to take their “next step” before moving up to Children’s Church! In this class, our little ones will learn simple Bible stories designed just for their age group, sing songs, pray, and play together. Our leader is Betty Jo Overstreet. Children can be dropped off starting at 10:15 AM in room 130 (next to our Nursery). They can be picked up after Morning Worship. Please see Jodi Estienne with any questions.

Poinsettia Orders

It's time to order Christmas poinsettias to decorate our sanctuary! You can order in honor or memory of a loved one, and all memorials/honorariums will be noted in The Witness on December 17th. Each poinsettia is $10. Place your order in the church office and pay by this Sunday, December 7th. You are welcome to pick up your poinsettia and take it home with you after worship on December 28th.

Join us this Saturday, December 6th at 3:00 PM in

the sanctuary for the sounds of the season,

creatively interpreted through the steel drums:

Annual Giving Tree

This year's Giving Tree is available in the Welcome Center, full of tags requesting gifts for local schoolchildren (Boys & Girls Club, Herman L. Horn, W. E. Cundiff, and Keystone Community Center). Just pick a tag (or two), log your tag at the Welcome Center, purchase the requested gift(s), and return your wrapped gift(s) - with tag attached - by December 14th. Thank you in advance for making a special Christmas possible for these kids!

Children's Ministry Updates

Our Preteen Progressive Dinner is this Sunday, December 7th, 5:00 - 7:30 PM. All 3rd - 5th graders are welcome! Please meet at the church.

Families are invited to join us at Valley View Grande on December 20th for the 3:00 PM showing of DAVID! You can purchase your tickets online now. Plan to meet us at the theater. Please let Jodi know if your family is coming.

Please note that we will NOT have Children's Worship or Children’s Church Sunday, December 14th due to our Christmas Musical. Children are invited to remain in worship with us. Jodi will have special worship bags with activities for the children available on the bookshelf outside the main sanctuary doors! (We will have Next Step for 3- and 4-year-olds.)

Come do your Christmas shopping with us this Sunday afternoon! Concessions will be available for purchase, and there will also be gift wrapping services. The proceeds of both directly benefit our Youth group.

Upcoming Youth Events

Youth, please mark your calendars for Sunday, December 14th, when we will have our annual progressive dinner. Meet at the church at 5:00 PM. We should finish up around 7:30 PM. Can you provide a dish for dinner? Sign up using this link.

We are also planning a ski trip for February 6th - 8th at Wintergreen Resort! Click here for all the details, including costs and the actual registration form.

Church Fellowship & Ministry Matters

Please note that this quarter's Ministry Matters meeting will take place Sunday, December 14th at 5 PM in the gym. We will have a church-wide fellowship at 4:15 PM. We hope that you can join us for both events.

Fun & the Son's Jingle Bell Bash

All newborns - preschoolers, along with their adults, are invited to our Fun & the Son Christmas Party, the Jingle Bell Bash! It will take place Thursday, December 18th from 10 AM until 11:30 AM. This will be our last gathering of 2025. Questions? See Betty Jo Overstreet.

Shirley & William Nance

2237 Hardy Road

Vinton VA 24179

Wednesday, November 26, 2025:

No Activities

Sunday, November 30, 2025:

Sunday School: 173

10:30 AM Worship

• in person: 268
• online: data unavailable

Thank you to the Open Door Sunday School class for their donation to General Budget.

Gift Card Donations for Local Fire Victims

At the request of one of our local schools, we are collecting gift card donations for groceries and other essentials (Kroger, Walmart, Food Lion, Target, for example) for a local family whose house recently burned. Unfortunately, due to smoke and water damage, nothing from the home is salvageable. All family members survived, but they lost several pets and have a substantial emergency vet bill for another. If you would like to purchase a gift card in any amount, please turn it in directly to Whitney on Sunday. She will ensure that the family receives your donations. Thank you.

Christian sympathy is extended to the family and friends of Thelma Tabor Smith, who passed away November 30th; and to Belinda Williams and Rudy Jones and family in the death of their brother-in-law Dale Baker December 2nd.

Food Pantry Requests for Christmas Boxes

The following items will be included in our Christmas boxes to Food Pantry patrons later this month: 1 or 2 lb. canned hams (shelf stable); canned yams; mashed potatoes; gravy; and cranberry sauce. If you would like to contribute any of these items, please place them in the Food Pantry bin at the Missions Tables by Wednesday, December 10th. Thank you!

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

& Post Office

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is collected annually to support international missions. It was named in 1918 in honor of a missionary to China. Every dollar you give goes directly to the mission field and frees missionaries from the burden of fundraising so that they can stay in the field 100% of the time. Help us bring medical supplies, clean water, and the life-transforming message of the gospel to thousands. There is an envelope in your box of envelopes, and they will also be available in the pew pockets by this Sunday. Our church goal is $5,200.

The Lottie Moon Post Office is also now available at the Missions Tables. You may use it to “mail” your Christmas cards to VBC members and regular attenders only. The “postage” for each card is 50 cents this year. Please sort your cards alphabetically by last name, put them in the appropriate slots, and add your donation of 50 cents/card to the collection envelope in the bottom right corner of the post office. VBC members and regular attenders, please check the post office regularly throughout the Advent season for any cards you may have received.

Bible Reading Plan

I hope you're enjoying the Gospel of John.

There is much debate about why John's gospel is so different from the other three gospels (which are known as the Synoptic Gospels). It doesn't follow the same timeline, and it includes significant material that does not appear in other gospels. (There are other differences, as well.) Much of that material has become for us sacred stories that we rely on for greater theological understanding, such as the raising of Lazarus, Nicodemus' conversation with Jesus, the encounter with the woman at the well, and the washing of the disciples' feet at the last supper. Their inclusion in John begs the question as to why they are not included in the other gospels. What makes these narratives so important to the author of the Fourth Gospel? Just think how our faith might be different if these accounts had not been included in the biblical canon.

What are your thoughts? And what narratives do you find in John that are most important to you spiritually and theologically?

-- Kim