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Feb. 16, 2023

The Spirit -February 16, 2023

The Spirit -February 16, 2023

THOUGHTS FROM OUR SENIOR MINISTER

Next week we will officially begin our celebration of Lent. Lent is the liturgical observance commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring the temptation of Satan. The 40 days leading up to Easter are a time for us to turn inward and prepare ourselves for the joy and celebration of Easter. Through these 40 days many Christians spend extra time in prayer, repentance, almsgiving, simplified living, and fasting as they follow Christ’s example and journey through the desert.

Our Eastern Orthodox siblings often refer to Lent as a season of “bright sadness” – acknowledging the grief that is necessary to get us to the great celebration of Easter. The spiritual journey is a long and often-times challenging process. Lent acknowledges this fact. Our church offers a variety of ways in which you will have the option of deepening your spiritual journey in preparation for the resurrection of Easter. I pray daily for the on-going, developing, and deepening of each person’s own life of faith. These prayers deepen through the season of Lent.

I hope you will each seriously consider joining First Christian Church in some of the various things happening throughout our church as you seek a deeper connection to God.

  • Lent will start off with our joint service at Community Baptist Church on Ash Wednesday (Feb 22) at 6:00 pm.
  • I will be starting a special Lenten Sermon Series titled, “Boot Camp for the Soul.” Each Sunday Morning Worship service through Lent will focus on our preparation for an even greater challenge to come. In many ways Lent is like a boot camp for the soul: restarting us in a focused area pushing us beyond what we think our limits are in ways that strengthen us.
  • Each Wednesday through Lent, the Henderson Ministerial Association hosts a Lenten Luncheon service at various churches in town. FCCH will host the first service on Wednesday, March 1, at noon.
  • We will be continuing our Pastor’s Bible Study through the Lenten season as we study the Gospel of Matthew together. There will be no Bible Study on Ash Wednesday, but we will start back up on March 1 at 6:00 p.m.
  • I am making plans for our New Members Class to meet one Sunday morning during the Lenten season during the Sunday School hour.
  • I am also working on a Baptism Class that will meet toward the end of Lent during our Sunday School hour.

Each of these opportunities provides various levels of commitment and ways for you to begin to take the next steps in growing deeper in your faith. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tell us that Jesus’ temptation in the desert was the beginning of his public ministry. This Lenten season is the perfect time for each of you to take the next step in your own ministry. God has a calling upon your life and the life of our church. I pray this Lent we each take one step closer to that call.

Peace Always,

Rev. David Clifford

 

   Your Leadership Teams at Work

Tuesday, February 7, the Ministry Team met to continue its work of restructuring the ministry of our church. The team, comprised primarily of the chairpersons of the church’s various committees, committed to working on two major tasks: (1) continue the work of their committees and, (2) work together to restructure the ministry of the church.

The Ministry team is one outcome of the restructure of the Board that has been underway for the past year. In this reorganization, chairmen/chairwomen of the various committees are no longer members of the Board, but form a different group to focus on ministry. While Ministry team members are primarily the chair persons of the original committees, the pastor also has responsibility to appoint others when needed.

At the meeting on February 7, the team made two primary decisions:

 (1) continue the process of building back committees to pre-COVID standards, including recruitment of volunteers and regular meetings for those without a regular meeting schedule.

(2) Begin the work of restructuring the ministry of the church by studying together The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder. The book couples brain science with the Bible to identify ways to overcome spiritual stagnation in the church.

 

These committees and their chairpersons include:

Hospitality: Gail Myers                                                                       

 Christian Education: currently vacant

Worship: Melody Fisher                             

Evangelism (now called Communication): Mara Beth Womack

Christian Women’s Fellowship: Debbie Enyart

Christian Men’s Fellowship: Elliot Myers

Spirit Editor: Barbara Kammerlohr                                                      

 Bereavement Dinners: Dina Campbell

 

                             

 

                                                 

 

 

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  First Christian Church was well represented last  weekend in the HCHS Basketball   Homecoming court.   Braeden Myers-Curry, the grandson of Jim and   the   late Alice Myers and son of Mistee Myers was   crowned  Homecoming King. Braeden’s escort, Chloe   Honeycutt was crowned queen, What a precious   couple! Braeden is a senior, and will be attending   Kentucky Wesleyan on a soccer scholarship this fall. He  plans to major in Business Administration. According sources, Brayden is great student, an excellent soccer player and well-liked by his classmates. Another FCCH member, Baylee Ryan Womack, daughter of Dax & Lyndsey Womack, was selected by her classmates to be one of the representatives from the freshman class.

                                                            

   
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANOUNCEMENTS

Fellow Elders: We would like to have a meeting on Monday, February 20th at 6:30pm at the church to discuss goals and opportunities for the coming year. Please plan to attend if you can and present any ideas you would like to pursue. We would also ask that you make your annual elder fund donation (suggested $25 per elder or couple if both are elders, if you are able) at any time to our treasurer Debbie Enyart. Thanks for all you do for FCC- Bill & Sandy

ASH WEDNESDAY: On February 22  we will have a joint worship service at Community Baptist Church 6:00 p.m. We ask FCC to join in this celebration as we move forward into this Lenten season.

 Weekly Bible Study continues on Wednesday nights at 6:00 p.m.

 Week of Compassion Special Offering for 2023: The collection dates are February 19 and 26.

Ministry Team meetings are now set up for the last Tuesday of each Month. This month it is on February 28 at 6:30 p.m.

The CMF will have their monthly breakfast March 5, at 8:30 a.m.

Daylight savings time begins Sunday March 12. You will need to remember to set your clocks up one hour before going to bed Saturday night.

 Senior Saints next luncheon is scheduled for March 21 at 11:30 a.m. More details to follow in the coming days.

CWF ‘s March service project: Christian Community Outreach assisting clients on March 16 from 1- 3 p.m. They will be collecting bars of soap in March and their service project is WA Church/Mayfield.