The Messenger February 2016

Transcription

1 The Messenger February 2016

2 February Homebound Meals 28 Baby Dedication 29 Treasured Faith Choir Treasured Faith Choir Treasured Faith Choir Treasured Faith Choir Senior Adult Game Day Parent s Day Out FOSTER PARENT NIGHT World Mandate

3 The Source of Love by Pat Kelly, Lead Pastor When this month begins, so do conversations about love, in particular, on Feb 14th, Valentine s Day. There is a lot of commercial pressure on people, married or single, on this day. While the holiday may have been created by some card industry, the concept of love surpasses mankind. John 3:16 has been quoted and recited for ages, however the truths within this text are still fresh and alive. God loved and God gave (love). 1 John 4:8 10 says it this way: Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It is God who initiates love. We can only experience love on earth because of God. Mankind can manipulate love, however, mankind cannot make it, destroy it or delay it. God is love. You cannot love or participate in love apart from God. This truth declares the sovereignty of God throughout the ages. And because of Jesus, we get to participate in (true) love. When we participate in love, it does reveal our true intentions and our lack of control. In fact, anyone that has been in love with someone, realizes how vulnerable it makes you. C. S. Lewis said this, in his book The Four Loves, To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable. When we are vulnerable to God, He sustains us and clothes us with His amazing love. In fact, when we are truly vulnerable to God, it is then that we begin to experience His healing, comfort, identity and peace. This vulnerability is worth it. God s love will teach us how to truly love. Let us check the source of our love (in God) and let us love well toward others. Agape, Pastor Pat Pat Kelly Lead Pastor CONNECT WITH US: iconnect at Fredonia Hill fredoniahill.ccbchurch.com Follow us on Find us on Facebook. Fredonia Hill

4 Wonderfully Made by Becky Weems, Children's Minister I remember bringing my first child home from the hospital and I was exploding with emotion. I was scared to death, happy to see her, worried I was going to mess up, and sad that I could not introduce her to my mom (who had passed away). I was all over the place, but knew that this little one would change my life forever. I was ecstatic about having my own little girl to care for!! While feeling excited, all days weren't easy. God gave me good friends to talk with, encourage me, pray with me, and help me see the blessings when at times it was cloudy. At Fredonia Hill we want to partner with families from the very beginning. We want to encourage moms while pregnant, partner with them as due dates change, sit and listen if their are complications, and rejoice in God s goodness when all goes smoothly. We have kicked off a new ministry called Wonderfully Made, that will provide expecting moms some support they need. We would love for you to join this ministry as a mom with experience that can pray and support a new mom or join us as an expecting mom. You simply go to the Fredonia Hill website and can register as a expecting mom or a Caregiver. A caregiver will be the encourager and prayer partner. They will deliver a gift to the mom each month and pray with her. The moms just get to receive and be encouraged that there are other moms praying on their behalf. Sign up today if you would like to be a part! Keep your eye on the Wonderfully Made lightbox poster in the Welcome Center to know who is expecting, who has arrived, and what families you can join us in prayer for. Thank you for loving families here at Fredonia Hill! Becky Weems Children s Minister

5 The Faithfulness of our God by Blake Russell, Worship Pastor Over the past several months, I ve been combing through a myriad of worship songs trying to discern the best songs for our church to sing together corporately in Every time I sit down and begin this process, I always seek God and ask the question, what are You wanting to reveal to Fredonia Hill during this season? Over and over again, God kept bringing songs to light that essentially highlighted the faithfulness and love that God has for His children. One of the newest songs we ve been singing is called The Lord Our God. Penned by Kristian Stanfill and Jason Ingram, this song is written about the Israelites after leaving Egypt and their relationship with God while wandering in the desert. Promise maker, promise keeper You finish what you begin. Our provision through the desert You see it through till the end. You see it through till the end. The Lord our God is ever faithful Never changing through the ages. From this darkness You will lead us, and forever we will say You're the Lord our God. In the silence, in the waiting still we can know You are good. All Your plans are for Your glory Yes we can know You are good. Yes we can know You are good. We won't move without You, we won't move without You. You're the light of all and all that we need. I love the story that this song follows. We know that our God keeps his promises - even when we are in the desert and the hard places. He s faithful in the waiting and the uncertain. We can rest in the truth that he is sovereign and cares for His children. In Numbers 9, we read God being described as a cloud by day and fire by night - and as the cloud lifted and moved, so did the Israelites. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. - Numbers 9:23 The amazing part of this whole story is that even today, we serve that very same God. The One that is faithful, our Provider, the One who leads us. As we start this new year and as we face many decisions and challenges, not only in our own lives, but in the life of our church, we must rest in the faithfulness of our God and Father. I pray that we won t move without Him and forever we will say, You re the Lord our God. Blake Russell Worship Pastor

6 David's Perspective on Ruth By Kendall McDonald, College Pastor Greetings Fredonia Hill Family, I hope you are getting back into the swing of things as the Christmas and New Years break comes to an end. I certainly had a wonderful break filled with family and rest and I m excited to see what God is going to do this semester. For this month s article I wanted to share something with you which I have been studying in one of my classes. I am studying the interpretation of scriptures and more specifically we are focusing on how to examine narrative s within the scriptures. One of the exercises we did to better understand this methodology was to focus on the book of Ruth and write a reflection on the story from the perspective of one of the characters. As you know Ruth is in the lineage of Christ and so also in the lineage of King David. I chose to write my excerpt from the viewpoint of King David as he reflects on his own lineage as a King. I hope this as interesting for you to read as it was fun for me to reflect on and write. Story of Ruth from the perspective of David: "The nature of a king is found in his heritage and in his bloodlines. Kings come from royalty. As I look to my family I see a far different story. I see a story of an unlikely woman with a strong resolve and faithfulness who went from being an outsider to the bride of a upstanding figure in Bethlehem and a woman who would be the greatgrandmother of a king. This says something profound about who I am and about what it means to serve the Lord in the position I am in. We want to place definition on ourselves and others based on what we see but God is looking at something different. My great-grandmother was an unlikely woman to be in the line of royalty and I am the unlikely shepherd who has been anointed king of Israel. Her story is evidence that I am here because God is active in this story. I am not a king because of man s decisions, rather by the authority of God. May I never regard my ancestors as a curse, rather a blessing as a servant to the God who placed me here." It was a great exercise to really dive into the narrative of the Scriptures in that way and I have found it to be very helpful as we seek to understand the Bible as well as connect to the text in a meaningful and life changing way. If you have time in your next Bible study, give it a try and see if it helps you understand the text in a whole new way. Shalom, Kendall McDonald Kendall McDonald College Pastor

7 Celebration is better than Comparison by Matt Murray, Youth PAstor Think About This: Parenting is hard. You probably knew going in that it wouldn t always be a walk in the park. But, as a parent, have you noticed there are some curve balls that you just don t know how to handle? Chances are, you knew your kids were going to be different from one another. But it s also likely you had no idea just how different they could be until you started raising them until they hit a certain age and suddenly what you assumed would be true of one of your kids because it was true of an older one just isn t. Sometimes it feels like you have to learn how to parent all over again with each child. And sometimes not just with each child, but through each life-stage your children experience. You may not do it on purpose, but there is a tendency to compare that comes so naturally and so easily. You bring attention to the ways your teenager is different from their siblings, their friends, and even earlier versions of themselves. It s so tempting to say, But why can t you just be like? The problem is, comparison rarely works. It doesn t make them want to try harder and it can often lead to resentment toward their parents and the sibling with whom they re compared. Even within the family, there is no win in comparison. Sameness isn t even really a goal worth shooting for. Maybe there are traits in one of your children that you d like the others to take on. That s great, but you probably don t want them to be exact replicas. A better goal is to be intentional in learning, studying, and celebrating the personality and wiring of each individual child. Try This: No one wants to feel like they don t measure up. Especially not in the place where they want to feel the safest and most secure. Work on making your family and your home the place where who your child is, is celebrated and not compared. This week, point out something in your teenager that you appreciate. Find something that you have seen grow and develop in them that is a strength and then tell them how proud of them you are. Then find something that, at first glance, feels like something you would change that you would compare to someone else and wish away. And then find a way to leverage it. To see the good in it. For example, I know that I get upset when you fight with your younger brother, but I also recognize that you re just trying to get him to act in a way that is more socially acceptable. Thanks for wanting to help him. Yesterday we had an argument about playing guitar instead of cleaning your room. While I still want you to have a clean room, I m also really proud of you for working so hard to learn to play the guitar well. Finding a way to celebrate something you had vocally been frustrated over in the past will mean more than you can imagine to your teenager. Don t underestimate the value of your affirmation. Remember, celebration is always better than comparison. Matt Murray Student Pastor

8 Senior Adult Game Day Each month our seniors get together for lunch and games. Join us for fellowship. All ages welcome! Feb 18th, 11:30am FLC Gym Secretary's Reports MEMORIAL Betty Fausett- Nursery Todd Spradling- College Ministry FINANCIAL REPORT Financials are available in the church office upon membership request HONORARIUM Georege and Carla Middlebrook - GO Project 1711 South Street Nacogdoches, TX 75964