'Missions' Tagged Posts
May News
First Church Family, Several weeks ago, in a conversation with our Pete Kidder, Caldwell Habitat for Humanity executive director, I came to understand that: * there are houses within a mile of our church where families with children live on dirt floors.* more than 7,000 houses in our county are heated by portable kerosene heaters and by opening the oven.* 7,764 families in our county spend almost one-third of their total income on housing.* and many mobile homes in our county are so poorly…
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…
“Normal” Sundays
First Church Family, During the week, as we prepare bulletins for worship, I’m often asked: “Dave, is this going to be a normal Sunday?” To those of us involved in weekly worship planning, the question really is: “Will we be celebrating holy communion or baptism or have a special emphasis in worship that would change the order of service?” If my answer is: “No this will be a “normal” Sunday, it means that we will follow our standard form of worship with prayers, music,…
Christmas Letter
First Church Family, Do you anticipate a wonderful Christmas this year? I do, because I am not basing my expectations on things I might receive, but things I might partner with Jesus on. You see, everything changes when you begin to anticipate and eagerly await something that actually has the ability to fulfill and satisfy your expectations. The season we are in, Advent, is about preparing for something of great magnitude by having high anticipation of appropriate expectations,…
Bless This Meal
First Church Family, I haven’t lived here forever as some of you have, but I am amazed every day at the beauty of our surroundings. I truly believe our area is one of God’s beautiful paradises on earth. And this time of year, it is at its prettiest. Please stop every single day, admire God’s handiwork, and offer prayers of praise and gratitude. On Saturday, November 20, we will take a big step in getting back to who we were before…