First Press Church Street, Belton, TX fpcbelton.org. March June 2015

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1 First Press 2500 Church Street, Belton, TX Church Street, Belton, TX fpcbelton.org March 2019 June 2015 FPC Belton WINS First Place for Costume at Helping Hands Trivia Night The Quizard of OZ

2 Belton Ministers' Fellowship COMMUNITY WORSHIP SERVICE S U N D A Y, M A R C H 3 1 st 6 : 0 0 P M M T. Z I O N U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H N A L E X A N D E R B E L T O N J E F F M I L L E R, P R E A C H I N G Bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor worship (weather permitting)

3 From Our A.A. Friends Dear Friends, In our Wednesday night open (anyone can come) A.A. meetings, we read and discuss letters sent to the Grapevine, the monthly magazine put out by A.A. Recently we ran across this gem, which I want to share with you. It is still as true today as it was when written in God bless, Jane Christensen Charming is the Word for Alcoholics by Fulton Oursler July 1944 Down at the bottom of the social scale of AA society are the pariahs, the untouchables, and the outcasts, all underprivileged and all know by one excoriating epithet relatives. I am a relative. I know my place. I am not complaining. But I hope no one will mind if I venture the plaintive confession that there are times, oh, many times, when I wish I were an A.A. The reason is that I consider the AA people the most charming in the world. Such is my considered opinion. As a journalist, I have found it is my fortune to meet many of the people who are considered charming. I number among my friends stars and lesser lights of stage and cinema; writers are my daily diet; I know the ladies and gentlemen of both political parties; I have been entertained in the White House; I have broken bread with kings and ministers and ambassadors; and I say, after that catalog, that I would prefer an evening with my AA friends to an evening with any person or group of persons I have indicated. I asked myself why I consider so charming these alcoholic caterpillars who have found their butterfly wings in Alcoholics Anonymous. There are more reasons than one, but I can name a few. The AA people are what they are, and they were what they were, because they are so sensitive, imaginative, possessed of a sense of humor and an awareness of universal truth. (continued)

4 They are sensitive, which means that they are hurt easily, and that helped them become alcoholics. But when they have found their restoration, they are still as sensitive as ever responsive to beauty and to truth and eager about the intangible glories of life. That makes them charming companions. They are imaginative, and that helped to make them alcoholics. Some of them drank to flog their imagination on to greater efforts. Others guzzled only to black out unendurable visions that rose in their imaginations. But when they have found their restoration, their imagination is responsive to new incantations, and their talk abounds with color and light, and that makes them charming companions. They are possessed of a sense of humor. Even in their cups, they have been know to say damnably funny things. Often it was being forced to take seriously the little and mean things of life that made them seek escape in a bottle. But when they have found their restoration, their sense of humor finds a blessed freedom and they are able to reach a godlike state where they can laugh at themselves the very height of self-conquest. Go to the meetings and listen to the laughter. At what are they laughing? At ghoulish memories over which weaker souls would cringe in useless remorse. And that makes them wonderful people to be with by candlelight. And they are possessed of a sense of universal truth. That is often a new thing in their hearts. The fact that this at-oneness with God s universe had never been awakened in them is sometimes the reason why they drank. The fact that it was at last awakened is almost always the reason that they were restored to the good and simple ways of life. Stand with them when the meeting is over and listen as they say the Lord s Prayer! They have found a Power greater than themselves which they diligently serve. And that gives a charm that never was elsewhere on land and sea; it makes you know that God himself is really charming, because the AA people reflect his mercy and his forgiveness.

5 Easter Lily Order Form $ 7 per lily Your Name: Your Phone: Please Circle One: 1) In Memory Of: 2) In Honor Of: 3) To the Glory of God: All Easter Lily Order Forms are due on or before Sunday, March 31 st Would you like to honor or memorialize a friend or loved one? Consider purchasing a fresh flower arrangement for the sanctuary. Contact Kay Atwood at for details.

6 What is Lent? Why does it Matter? The liturgical season of Lent begins on Wednesday, March 6th with our Ash Wednesday Service at 6 pm in the sanctuary. During this simple service, we will observe the sixth century tradition of the Imposition of Ashes, placing a cross of ashes on one s forehead as a reminder of our mortality and creatureliness, as well as an invitation to repentance and reconciliation with God and with one another. The Lenten journey from the ashes of death to the resurrected life of Eastertide signifies a time to turn around, to change directions. Ash Wednesday reminds us that unless we are willing to die to our old selves, we cannot be raised to new life with Christ. During the imposition of ashes the words: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19) are repeated again and again. We are to remember that we are but temporary creatures, always on the edge of death. On Ash Wednesday, we begin our Lenten trek through the desert toward Easter. Ashes on the forehead is a sign of our humanity and a reminder of our mortality. Lent is not a matter of being good, and wearing ashes is not to show off one s faith. The ashes are a reminder to us and our communities of our finite creatureliness. The ashes we wear on our Lenten journey symbolize the dust and broken debris of our lives as well as the reality that eventually each of us will die. Trusting in the accomplished fact of Christ s resurrection, however, we listen for the Word of God in the time-honored stories of the church s Lenten journey. We follow Jesus into the wilderness, resist temptation, fast, and proceed on the way to Jerusalem and the cross. Our Lenten journey is one of metanoia ( turning around ), of changing directions from self-serving toward the self-giving way of the cross. The season of Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and self-examination in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord at Easter. It is a period of 40 days like the flood of Genesis, Moses sojourn at Mount Sinai, Elijah s journey to Mount Horeb, Jonah s call to Ninevah to repent and Jesus time of testing in the wilderness. (The Sundays in Lent are not counted in this reckoning of the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter, as every Lord s Day is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.) In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation for the celebration of baptism at the Easter Vigil. In many communities of faith it remains a time to equip and nurture discipleship in the baptized, and understanding in candidates for baptism and confirmation. Lent is an invitation to put faith into action. We are dust, AND we are sanctified dust, Children of God, transformed by the waters of baptism. How will you spend this opportunity to sanctify time?