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From the Pastor’s Desk:If you were asked to summarize Christianity in four words, what would they be? In the beginning God Those are all accurate and biblical. But what if you weren’t allowed
to quote the Bible directly? What four words would you use to sum up Christianity?
I don’t know that this is the best four word answer, but I like it. Matthew 22:36-39 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” We have used that motto as a description of our congregation for years – Loving God, Loving People. Quite simply, we strive to be people who love God and who love people. That sounds easy enough, but we know that demonstrating that kind of love is much easier said than done. It’s time for us to reexamine what it means to love God and love people. In fact, I believe that the more we love God and love people the more we will experience spiritual renewal. It’s like a marriage. A marriage that is lackluster is a marriage that has lost sight of true love. It continues to operate out of duty, but the desire has faded. Now there’s nothing wrong with duty. Acting out of duty is honorable. Many great feats are accomplished simply because people did their duty. But relationships should also be fueled by desire. When we love God because we desire to honor Him, then we will know that we are on the track of spiritual renewal. To help us put some practical application to our current effort of fostering spiritual renewal, we are going to engage in a love campaign. As a congregation we will embark on a love challenge. Can we love according to the principles of love that Jesus so poignantly taught and demonstrated? With God’s help I believe we can. So here’s the plan. The week leading up to Easter has been designated as a Week of Renewal. We will hold three special evening services (Sunday, March 28 … Wednesday, March 30 … Good Friday, April 2). These highly participatory gatherings will center around the love Jesus demonstrated on the events surrounding the triumphal entry, the upper room, and the cross. Then on Easter morning we will launch a church-wide campaign called 40 Days of Love. For six weeks we will journey together through sermons, LIFE Groups, and a book study. The details will come in the weeks to follow. I simply want you to prepare yourself for what is to come. It’s going to be exciting! God's Servant, Greg Family Ministry NewsLovingly caring for one another is a vital part of any fellowship of believers. This need is just as necessary in marriage and family relationships. We want to encourage couples, married or engaged, in the process of caring for their marriage. March 14th there will be a special dinner for couples at the church designed to further encourage the nourishment and enrichment of marriage relationship. Also we would like to encourage you to find another couple to invite, preferably, though not necessarily, a couple who does not attend church anywhere. Everyone is welcome, but we request that you sign up in the foyer. The menu will be posted beside the sign up and announced Sunday morning. This will be a very special evening and there will be a cost of $12 per couple to cover the meal. Johnson Bible College will be hosting their High School Spring Retreat March 19-21. The theme for this year’s retreat is “Spoken” and will feature speaker Scott Kenworthy and worship with the Blake Anthony Band. The cost to attend is $35, which covers housing and meals. Any interested student should sign up with Matt or the church office by submitting their $35 by February 28th. This summer we are planning a special mission project for the entire church family (we want all ages included). Crossroads Missions has a project called Help Build Hope that we will be bringing to our church later in the summer. On a Saturday morning we will all come together and construct all the walls for a home and assemble the walls beside the church. Sunday morning, after worship, there will be a special dedication service for the home, which will then be disassembled in sections and transported to a nearby site. A local Habitat for Humanity will then take over for the completion of the home, but we are still able to help see the home to completion. We are very excited for what this mission project could do for some family needing a home and for us as a fellowship. Please be watching and listening for the many ways you can help. With the Blessings of Christ, Grace Notes from RobLoving Relationships are My Story I’ve asked you for the past couple weeks to share your stories with each other. I would like to take this time to share mine. When I left here 10 years ago I went to Eau Gallie Christian Church in Melbourne, FL to become their Worship Pastor. When I arrived, there were 5 full-time ministerial staff and they were in the midst of a building program. The worship band was well established and there was a group of elders that prayed together weekly. Over the course of the next several years the worship team was my rock. We practiced together, we prayed together, we played together, but most importantly we built loving relationships together. After a couple of years the church began to go through some rocky times. We built a building that was too burdensome for our budget, all of the staff eventually left, except for me, and we lost our focus on the larger picture of the kingdom. We regrouped and hired two new staff members, a preacher and a youth minister, who I now call my best friends. We tried to turn the financial picture around but just couldn’t. Eventually the entire staff was laid off and another church came in and assumed all the financial debt of Eau Gallie. It was like I was getting a divorce. In my mind, all these people that I loved and had such a strong relationship with, I couldn’t see anymore. Another church an hour away had already been talking to me and so I went there to serve with them. The short version of that story is that it was a horrible fit for me. Eau Gallie was very laid back and built on relationships and this new church was extremely conservative and was known for their lack of relationship. After 8 months I gladly resigned and worked at FedEx Kinkos while we were making preparations to move to TN. The next 8 months I started getting the Worship Team and some others from the Eau Gallie Church back together at my house every weekend. They kept going to the original church but on Sunday nights they came to my house and we studied together again, prayed together again, and had community together again. We had such a strong tie together because of the relationships we had built together over those past 6 years. In fact, since we’ve moved to TN, 10 of those families have been up to visit us and stayed in our home. I tell you my story because I pray this every day for our community here at First Christian. I want us to have relationships where we can be real with each other, relationships where we can shed our masks and really understand the person inside, relationships where we can share each other’s burdens and celebrate in each other’s joys. God has designed us for these types of relationships. We need relationships that last for longer than an hour on Sunday morning. I was blessed to be in an environment at Eau Gallie where I loved unconditionally and was loved unconditionally. We have an opportunity before us in April where we can learn to love each other and build these Godly relationships together. We are embarking on a journey together called 40 days of love. We are asking every person who attends our Sunday Morning Gathering to get connected with a LIFE Group during this time. We will study together, pray together, build community together, and learn how to have Godly loving relationships together. I encourage you to get involved and attend a group or even host a group in your home. We will start Easter weekend and continue once a week for six weeks. There will be so much more to share during the next couple of weeks! I truly am excited to begin this journey with you! Grace and Peace Rob Upcoming Events 3/2—Men’s Fellowship Breakfast—9am at Shoney’s Marriage Enrichment Dinner March 14 Week of RenewalWe have special events planned for these evenings: Sunday, March 28, 7pm Please plan to participate during this week leading up to Easter as we celebrate Jesus’ life, look into the upper room and focus on the cross. Next Step for Our Pictorial DirectoryThe next step for our directory will be submitting our family bios. You will be able to go online and submit your own, or Dawn can enter it for you. (More details about that soon.) Start thinking about what you would like to share about your family. It could be a little background about how you came to be here at FCC, introducing each member in your family, explaining what your family does within our church family, etc. It does not need to be long. Just a little paragraph or two. You’ll even be able to insert a picture or two of your own—kids at play, family pets, your family serving in the church, etc. Watch the Sunday bulletins for info on submitting your family’s biography. If you were unable to have your portrait made, talk to Dawn about other options to include your family in our directory. Best Years FellowshipMarch 8, 6pm Niswonger Theater April 16, leave at 5pm Trip to Myrtle Beach!The BYF will be going to Myrtle Beach May 10-12. $130 will cover two nights at the hotel (per person, double occupancy) with full breakfast buffet and tickets to Alabama Theatre and Bennett’s Seafood Buffet. Info on Best Year’s bulletin board. Signup soon. Women’s Missionary Union March 18, 6pm in the Fellowship Hall Family Campout in JuneThis year’s campout will be near the Virginia Creeper bike trail. It may seem early to think about activities in June, but we need to plan early to get camp sites reserved. We may also get a better price if we can let them know we’ll have a large number of people coming. So, mark June 4-6 on your calendar and watch for a signup sheet to be posted in the foyer. Thank You NotesThe flowers you sent to Mother’s memorial service were beautiful. Thanks
so much for remembering her in a special way. During a time like this we realize how much our friends and relatives really
mean to us…. Your expression of sympathy will always be remembered. Thank you for hosting our preventive health screening event today (2-9-10)!
We hope that we saved lives in your community as a result of your hospitality! Our purpose at First Christian Church:to be a biblically functioning community that guides people to Jesus Christ for spiritual life change. SCHEDULE OF SERVICESSunday: Worship 10:30 am Children’s Church Wednesday: Inexpensive meal at 6pm | ||||||||
©2010 First Christian Church, Morristown, Tennessee |
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