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Newsletter>
Newsletter
May 18, 2006
Parson’s Page
Dear FCC Family,
Our stewardship Sunday went well and thanks to all who
came forward on Mother's Day to dedicate your love to your
mother and the "Mother Church." It is out of love that we
all are discovering God's peace and purpose! If you have
not submitted your estimate of giving card, you may email
Donna: dcdowney@bellsouth.net with your estimate for the
week or month. We encourage regular giving throughout the
year so we can fund mission throughout the year!
This summer is upon us. I pray for each of you as you
find some R and R which is more than rest and relaxation.
It also stands for redemption and relationship - the legs
on which our faith stands.
Our new website is up and we are grateful to Leading
Edges for handling it for us.
The address is www.FirstChristianMeridian.org . It
includes a message board, picture pages, a store, calendar
and newsletters! Enjoy it and bookmark it please!
With love,
Pastor Tom
Pentecost Special Offering
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together
in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like
the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. …And the Lord added to their
number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:1-2,
47b (NRSV)
Gifts made through the Pentecost Offering directly support
new Disciples faith communities, providing for assessments,
training, coaching, project funding, congregational
materials and extensive assistance that help new
congregations at the beginning of their life cycle.
The Pentecost Offering directly supports the development of
new churches all across North America and in every region.
Half of the offering remains in the region from which it
originates, usually going directly to new church plants.
The remaining half supports the work of this movement
across the life of the church, with training, coaching and
other church-wide efforts to empower new churches. Like the
early church, God calls us to respond faithfully to those
who seek. Today’s Disciples are called to support the new
church movement with new levels of commitment and
enthusiasm! We act in faith…and God adds the growth.
For more information, log on to:
www.newchurchministry.org.
The Pentecost Special Offering will be received at First
Christian Church on Sunday, May 28th. You will receive the
envelope in next week’s newsletter. Please be praying about
how God would have you respond to this giving opportunity.
FCC Relay for Life Team Update
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!!
Here’s your chance to win a Charlie Busler original
painting entitled “Katrina’s Magnolia.” This is a custom
framed magnificent rendering on a 24” x 48” canvas. Tickets
are $5.00 each, available from team members and the church
office.
Your help in selling tickets and t-shirts is very much
needed and appreciated. You can pick up tickets to sell at
the church office.
Remember—We are all one team.
NEW RELAY-FOR-LIFE T-SHIRTS ARE IN
Our cool FCC t-shirts, with our team theme “Walking for a
cure leads to life” are available now. All adult and youth
sizes are $18 each and can be purchased from the church
office or in the narthex after church on Sunday.
BELIZE PLEASE!
June 6-13
San Ignacio, Belize
"Get up and go on the desert road in between." Acts 8: 26
10 member-missionaries are representing FCC in San Ignacio
Belize where we will be serving Christ at Billy White
Village. They include Rick "Topgun" Justice, Winn "Breaker"
Umphlett, John "JB" Bounds, Christi "Jungle Queen" Webb,
Beth "PePe" Calderone, Bill "Barefoot" Barham, Rick "RC"
Courtney, Jake "Cotten" Courtney, Tommy "Junya" Sikes and
Tom "Moonpie" Sikes. We scouted this village last summer
with the help of Rick Justice, Mark Roebuck, Mark Wiggins
and Tom Sikes. All is set for a great week of outreach!
Our mission is twofold: CONSTRUCTION: to provide new
classroom floors, a teacher's restroom, and home repairs
for Billy White School and Village; EVANGELISM: to provide
VBS including music, crafts, Bible stories, photo shop and
sports.
If you would like to partner with our team, please pray for
us daily. We also are seeking funds to buy supplies in
Belize for the construction projects. Send checks to FCC
today if you can.
Whom shall I send? FCC is answering God's call to serve the
least of these...
Serving Sunday, May 21st
At the Table: Elder Roger Covington and Elder Jean Willis
Serving communion and collecting the offering: Bo Bosarge,
David Nettles, Kyle Temple, Eleanor Hinson, Rick Courtney,
Lynn Stewart, Sarai Ann Webb, Fred Feinstein
Lector: Margaret Womble
Acolyte: Melissa Moore
No Youth Groups
Beth Moore Bible Study
Tuesdays at 10 A.M.
in the
Fellowship Hall
Graduating
Ann Clay Archer will graduate with her Masters degree in
social work from Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts
this Friday, May 19th.
Congratulations Ann! We wish you the best.
Refuge Recovery
Sunday afternoon from 3 P.M.-4 P.M.
In the Merritt House
In Our Prayers
Prayer concerns: Cliff Walker; Robert Van Morrison, friend
of Preston Davison; Father Elvin Sunds, friend of Sandra
Newell; Charlie Harper, friend of Billy Moore; Rhonda
Hawkins, friend of the McDonald family; Lynn Bowers, friend
of Maxine Sinclair; Bill Hudson, father of Rev. Henry
Hudson; Abby McCardle; Dylan, 6 year old grandson of Clint
Fletcher; Ira Jack Covert, friend of Olivia Wurner; Brendon
Penny, great grandson of Mike and Wanda Sullivan; Larry
Williams, Louise Mabry, mother of Joe Mabry; Gloria Hughes
and family, friends of the Buslers and the Bosarges;
Jennifer Parsons, friend of the Thomas Webb family; Heather
Bean, friend of Buddy & Cindy Bennett; Jessie Feazell,
friend of Cathy Feinstein;; Esma Canfield , mother of Sarai
Ann Webb; Ford Walker, son of Cliff & Martha Walker; Cole
Bacot, nephew of Kerby & Jennifer McDonald; Marie
Harrington; Buddy Stephens, friend of Jeff Holloway; Ruby
Easter, friend of Ruth Fletcher; Lynn Bowers, friend of
Penny Purnell; Leon Nason, friend of the Bennett family;
Alan Pankiewicz, brother of David Pankiewicz; Gilbert
Shank, son of Jack Shank; Pat Barber; Lisa Grantham, friend
of Barbara Royal; Patti Bresler, cousin-in-law to Michael
Longmeier; Bill Doughty, father of Jennifer McDonald; Oscar
Burt Sr., father of Von Burt; Sal Macaluso, nephew of
Barbara Bosarge; W.M. Gray, father of Eleanor Umphlett;
Martha Miller, mother of Scott Morgan; Glenn Ball; Harold
Harrington; Midge Meeker, aunt of Patti Pankiewicz; Mary
Perkins, grandmother of Jason Briggs; Karen Strader, friend
of Barbara Bosarge; Pansy Light; Ellen Little, friend of
Pastor Tom; Bebe Freeman, friend of the McDonald family
Food for Thought
The older theology tended to produce character. By the end
of the twentieth century, we have become God’s demanding
little brats. In church, we must be entertained. Our
emotions must be charged. We must be offered amusing
programs. We give up a lot to become Christians and what
little teaching we do get must cater to our pragmatic,
self-centered interests.
Preaching must be filled with clever anecdotes and colorful
illustrations with nothing more than passing references to
doctrine. I want to know what this means for me in my daily
experience. Have we forgotten that God is a monarch? He is
the king, by and for whom all things were made and by whose
sovereign power they are sustained. We exist for his
pleasure, not he for ours. We are on this earth to
entertain him, please him, adore him, bring him
satisfaction, excitement and joy. Any gospel that seeks to
answer the question, “What’s in this for me?” has it all
backwards. The question is, “What’s in it for God?”
--Mike Horton
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