'In-person Worship' Tagged Posts
Christmas Worship Schedule
First Church Family, Winter officially began Wednesday, and is it ever coming in with a vengeance! There is something special, though, about Christmas being cold! Stay warm, and enjoy the blessed holiday! The following announcements will guide us through the next week: Christmas Eve WorshipOur Sanctuary Christmas Eve service will begin at 5:00PM on Saturday evening. It will include Holy Communion and end in candlelight. Following the Christmas Eve service, Holy Communion will be offered until 7:00PM in the Sanctuary. Luminaries will adorn the front steps of…
God Is Good
First Church Family: I pray that you are enjoying fall! I had my first fire in my outside fire pit last night. God is good, all the time! What wonderful in-person worship we experienced on Sunday, and we had good numbers online! There was a great spirit about our place! And there were so many children at the 11:00am children’s sermon, and in the nursery—an answer to prayer and something to build upon. Continue to pray with me about the future of…
Easter Announcements
First Church Family: What a blessed Lent we have had, through the Palm Sunday’s “The Last Supper Tableau”! Tonight at 6:00PM, we will continue to walk with Jesus to the Cross, as we participate in a Maundy/Holy Thursday Communion Service. For the first time in two years, you will have the opportunity to receive elements of bread and juice from the pastors. (The cellophane, pre-packaged wafers and juice will also be available, should you prefer that.) Then tomorrow, we will gather at St. Stephen’s…
Spring Is Coming
First Church Family, I pray that you are enjoying seeing March flowers bloom. Spring will be here soon! Our Lenten worship theme is “The Bible: Full of Failures”, with a special focus on those who failed Jesus leading up to His Crucifixion. All of our worship will be directing us to a powerful experience of Holy Week, beginning on Palm/Passion Sunday, and extending through Easter Sunday, April 17. Please put the date of Palm/Passion Sunday, April 10, on your calendars…
Moving Forward
Dear First Church Family, After a couple of icy mornings, we’re beginning to see the sun. And what a pleasant surprise that has been! About twenty-five students, parents, and grandparents stayed after church Sunday to begin the conversation of moving forward with our youth program. It was a good meeting. We all want the program to move forward productively; and we will see to it that will happen. I have already had preliminary interviews with two youth leader candidates who could…
February News
First Church Family, When February begins, we celebrate the half-way mark of winter. And we’ve felt its fury over the past weeks with snow, ice, and bitter cold. I enjoy every season, but I must say that I’m looking forward to seeing daffodils burst through the ground in the next weeks. In worship during February, we will be talking about performing a “check-up” on our spiritual lives. So many people get caught up in what I termed the…
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Founder
Dear First Church Family, Wow have I missed you! When our leadership and I made the decision to not have worship this past weekend because of the winter storm, I prayed that God would use the time to create a hunger among us for being in worship in-person. After all, as the old adage says: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That certainly was true for me. And I pray that it was the same for you. Though we made…
Snow Day Policy
First Church Family,While no weather report is ever perfect three days out, every report we are seeing projects a 100% chance for very cold temperatures and heavy snow on Sunday. Coupled with the fact that several staff members and families are sick, and that we don’t wish to put anyone (lay volunteers, staff, and potential attendees) in dangerous situations on Sunday, most likely we will not have services, or even an online worship presence. We will confirm this decision on Saturday, via email and on our…
Christmas Is Not Your Birthday
First Church Family, I pray you are remembering whose birthday Christmas is, and making decisions accordingly. Our present worship series: “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday,” has called me to a new understanding of what things honor Christ during the Christmas season. I believe that one of the things Jesus would desire is clean drinking water for His children. Over the past two weeks, we made the decision to provide crystal clean drinking water to a village in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The project has…
Faithful Financially
First Church Family, I’ve been enjoying the crisp fall weather this week. It makes me feel like it is really Thanksgiving. And that holiday is only a week away. This coming weekend is really big for us. We will partner with Christ as we serve 120 local families who are in need on Saturday. I learned yesterday that we have completely underwritten that effort with extra contributions from you totaling more than $3500. That is amazing! Thank you for…
All Saints’ Sunday
First Church Family, Over the past weeks, our worship focus has been on promises God makes to us, all across the Scriptures. Perhaps, the most significant promise is that of spending eternity with God in heaven because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the Cross and God’s redemptive act through Jesus’ Resurrection. This Sunday, November 7, is All Saints’ Day; a time we will recall the lives of those members of our congregation who have gone before us into God’s heavenly presence during the…
November News
First Church Family, I pray this newsletter finds you in good health and spirits. The year 2021 has been another challenging year, but God has used those challenges to bring us back to Him. Our faith has been strengthened, and our ministries have continued to enhance the lives of those both in our fold and also those outside of our family. As we move into November, commonly recognized as the month of thanksgiving, let us offer our hearts…
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