The Karusograph RELOAD. A ministry of. Volume 58 April 2016 Issue 4. clintonfcc.com

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1 The Karusograph A ministry of Volume 58 April 2016 Issue 4 clintonfcc.com Take a look at what s happening at FCC in April. RELOAD Men of All Ages: On April 5 and 19, the Men s Ministry group, Reload, will meet from 6am 7am at the Cable Building. Please come, bring a friend and enjoy some great food and fellowship. Reload is currently studying the book, Act Like Men: 40 days to Biblical Manhood. Please join us for great conversation and ways to further our relationship with Jesus Christ! Any questions, contact Adam Brucker, IF: Table is a place to gather women of all ages and share a simple meal and dive deep with people over real stories and Christ centered conversations. A time for a whole lot of laughter and maybe a few tears but time spent that leaves us with glad hearts. Full hearts. Grateful hearts. Our next IF:Table is Thursday, April 14 at 7pm in the Family Life Center. Hope you will join us! If you have any question, please contact Mandi Ries,

2 The Gospel According to Greg Greg Taylor I have very much enjoyed sharing weekly during our two sermons studies in 2016! Our Current Issues Biblical Answers series looked at a variety of topics facing us culturally and more importantly, what the Word of God says in regards to these issues. We are about to conclude a ive week look at the seven sayings of Jesus from the Cross, using Erwin Lutzer s wonderful book Cries from the Cross as a resource. I wanted to take a couple of minutes and whet your appetite for upcoming studies at FCC: EXTREME PRAYER during the irst four Sundays in May, we will focus on PRAYER, using Greg Pruett s book Extreme Prayer as a companion resource. The President of Pioneer Bible Translators, Pruett shares in depth about the power of prayer in the life of PBT, but also how prayer personally changed him. Samuel Green is putting together some exciting extra gatherings, and we hope (and pray) this month helps us become an even better PRAYING church! LESSONS from ACTS why was the early church so successful? We are going to look at nine snapshots from the book of Acts and see what modern day lessons we can learn from giants of the faith like Peter, John, Stephen, Barnabas and of course, the Apostle Paul! LIVING OUR MISSION the month of August will bring a look at what it really means to live our mission daily and weekly. FCC s mission is to glorify God, win the lost and teach the saved but what does this look like on Monday mornings, or Wednesday afternoons or Saturday evenings? This study will culminate with the second annual FCC Block Party on Sunday evening August 28th in the FCC parking lot and Cable building.

3 The Gospel According to Greg Continued FINDING YOUR WAY BACK TO GOD starting September 11, FCC will partner with up to 30 central Illinois churches on the ive week series helping people ind their way back to God. Think about all the folks you know who once were part of church somewhere, but today are not. Our hope is to help transform hundreds and hundreds of lives throughout central Illinois with the good news of Jesus Christ while partnering with dozens of churches living out the heart of Jesus from John 17! Huge thanks to everyone who made Easter so special at FCC in lieu of naming names, let me just remind each of us what Easter is really all about Christ is Risen... Christ is Risen indeed! May we never grow tired of telling this story! May we never allow the HOPE of Jesus to take second chair to personal preferences or perspectives! May we ALWAYS remember what Paul said was of irst importance from 1 Corinthians 15 Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Finally, here are some upcoming dates to keep in mind: Wednesday April 13: Rotary chicken dinner money raised given to local food pantries including Clinton FCC s! Saturday April 23: Intentional Church Conference in Decatur Sunday May 8: End of the year Choir Cantata Saturday May 21: 5K to Raise 5K June 6-10: VBS at Clinton FCC Have a great day! See you Sunday! GT

4 Kent s Corner Kent Hickerson For many people if not most, fears associated with dying are greater and more pressing than the fear of death. Such fears are mentioned in many different studies about death and dying. Here s a listing of the most common, drawn from many sources: Fear of helplessness Fear of being alone, deserted Fear of being dead, but no one notices Fear of pain and suffering Fear of being a burden Fear of humiliation Fear of what will happen to projects Fear of separation from loved ones Fear of future for loved ones left behind Fear of punishment Fear of impairment of being unable to care for self Fear of the unknown Fear ones will have to take care of me. Fears associated with finances Fears over loss of emotional control, of being unable to take it. You and I rightly doubt ourselves and our strengths, but we have a God who has promised,...never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5 NIV) Because God will live through the dying process with us, as well as receive us into glory, we can have confidence that He will strengthen us for every test. Area Men s Fellowship When: Tuesday, April 7pm Where: Lane Christian Church Who: Jeff Jordan, Preaching Minister of Forsyth Christian Church - Forsyth, MO Menu: Brats, potato salad, baked beans, assorted pies

5 This n That March Shut - In Birthday 21st Mildred Meeks Hawthorne Inn/Liberty Village 1 Park Lane Send a card to help celebrate her birthday or send a note to others on the nursing home list. You will make their day! Levi Kitson, son of Rachel & Norm Emery, 5184 Brush College Rd, Clinton, IL, was baptized on March 6, Rick & Erica Tyler and Korbyn & Draven Krontz, Cherry Rd, Clinton, IL, transferred their memberships to FCC on February 28, We rejoice with & congratulate: Beth and Andrew Woodworth, 23 Manor Hill Dr, Apt B., Clinton, IL, on the birth of their son, Austin Michael Woodworth, born March 1, Proud grandparents are Ed & Teresa Woodworth and Mike & Lori Gesse.

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 members & relatives of those at First Christian Church, Clinton Updated Manor Court/Liberty Village 1 Park Lane, Clinton, IL Theda Adams Donna Arnold Thomas E. Bray Mildred Burns Betty Burris Larry Chapman Helen Dorrell Delbert Fields William Hoffman Marie Jackson Gene Jones Betty Kyle Judith Larson Ray Martin Wilma Mestinsek David Mosley Lura Murphy Margaret Murphy Dora Neal Al Perring Don Polen Dena Polen Helen Polley Norma Reilly Georgia Sobolewski Virginia Stein Kathy Strange Treva Torbert Shirley Utterback Allan Webb Aspen Ridge Care Center 2530 N. Monroe, Decatur, IL Shirley Thompson Hawthorne Inn/Liberty Village (Supportive Living) 1 Park Lane, Clinton, IL Mary Burton Audrey Fields Norma Hollibaugh Ike Leisner Mildred Meeks Good Samaritan W 151st St. Room 106 Olathe, KS June Cheatham Evenglow Lodge 215 E Washington Pontiac, IL Bob Adcock Helen Shelton Ernest Thorp Helen Thorp Dorothy Yedtman Brookdale North Phoenix 4050 E Bluefield Ave. Room 122 Phoenix, AZ Colleen Stephens Woodside at Friendship Village 1390 N Drake Rd Kalamazoo, MI Dody Thomason

7 Young at Heart David Buck, Coordinator People with a difficult spirit have a difficult me maintaining friendships. They are addicted to their problems and a er a period of me, other people just plain get red of hearing about their woes and begin to avoid them unless of course, both complainer and listener are alike and then it is a case of misery loves company. It s never too late - in fic on or in life - to revise. -Nancy Thayer Our program in April is a trip that will take us to Lincoln Chris an Church for a senior s program. The program is on April 26th and will include a lunch. It should be a great me - hope you will join us! Then in May we will have Dr. Stephanie Cluver for our program. We always enjoy having her and we know you will enjoy her too! We have several trips lined up for the next couple of months. We will enjoy going on the Celebra on cruise ship on April 21st for a Big Band cruise with s cky rolls and classic oldies music. Then on May 25, we will travel to the White Pine State Park to see the Templeton Family featuring a father, mother and 9 children bringing us folk music. Age is a ma er of feelings, not of years. - George William Cur s Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression, the finger pointed in scorn, and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking, Isaiah 58:9 AMP Classic Please join us for a Seniors Program in Lincoln on April 26. The bus will leave FCC at 9:15 and return in the afternoon. Lunch will be catered at the program. If you are interested in attending, please call the church office by April 21st to RSVP,

8 This n That BLOODMOBILE St John s - April 7th - 11:30 am - 5:30 pm Spiritual Disciplines April 8-10 at Little Galilee Christian Camp Come and join us for a weekend of spiritual growth as we learn how to make time in our lives to get silent before God using spiritual disciplines to guide us. This retreat is open to both men and women. Brochures are available at the church. Volunteers are needed for Mom s Coffee Break. It s the 3rd Friday of the month from 9:45am - 11:45am. You will not be needed every month, but will be contacted a few weeks in advance to see if you re available. Please consider volunteering in this great ministry! Please contact Lindsey Moody if you are interested in volunteering Nelson s Catering Chicken Dinner sponsored by Clinton Rotary Wednesday, April 13th- 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Cost $9.00 per meal Tickets available in the church of ice Meal includes 1/2 chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable & dessert Pick up at Clinton Junior High - just drive thru! Walk-ins are welcome. Please bring a picture ID. For an appointment, please call: Rosemary, or Faye,

9 Next Steps Update The behind the scenes work of completing the construction documents for our Next Steps renovations are almost complete. These documents are necessary so that the project may be sent out for bid and so contractors may submit an accurate bid for the work to be completed. Bid packets will be available to general contractors wishing to submit proposals beginning the second week of April and they will have a total of three weeks to submit their bid. Once the bids have been returned and evaluated, contracts will be awarded for as much of the project as there are funds available. Please be in prayer for our Next Steps project as we move into this critical stage in the renovation process. As stated in last month s article, these renovations are expected to take approximately six months to complete and construction should begin in June of this year immediately following our VBS. In addition to the renovations that are detailed on the drawings located on the wall of the hall leading to our Family Life Center are several code and maintenance projects. Some of the major projects outside of the renovations are new flat roofing, sprinklers in the entire lower level and technology upgrades in the sanctuary. Along with these renovations a committee is being formed to investigate options for moving our benevolence ministry to a ground level location. BLOOD PRESSURE FCC will be offering free blood pressure checks Sunday, April 3 Where: Library When: 9 am - 9:30 am 11:45am - 12:30pm This is not a diagnosis, just a measuring & recording of your blood pressure.

10 Worship Samuel Green I realize that this is April and but I want to talk about what s going to be happening in May. We re going to be diving into an incredible 4-week series on prayer, using the book Extreme Prayer by Greg Pruett as a key focus of our topics. We will be challenged to grow in our personal prayer lives through new ways to practice prayer and also in our corporate prayer lives as we join together in praying the prayers that God wants to answer. Here is a short excerpt from one of the first chapters about the importance and power of prayer: To survive the challenge of the mundane, we had to choose prayer over despair. I believe God took me out on a limb and sawed it off because he wanted me to find out that he is real. I had always believed in him in the abstract, but now I knew him as an active participant in my life. He wanted me to learn that when it comes to success or failure, prayer is vital. Effective prayer starts from a humble position of crying out to Jesus.* Get on your knees in a quiet place and whisper, God, I m lost and I can t find you. I ll wait for you, but please come find me. Fall on your face and lift up the words of blind Bartimaeus, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47). Try it again and again until you sense the distance closing between you and God. He meets us in our weakness and begins to move in power.* The same Jesus who turned to meet Bartimaeus need comes to us: Go, your faith has healed you (verse 52).**...all good prayer begins from a position of weakness *...we need to pray from the posture of dependence that we learn from despair....god always sweeps in to lift us up to a place we could never imagine.** From our position as sons and daughters of the King, children of the Creator of the universe, we learn to ask without hesitation and without limit.* That s how extreme prayer begins.** We have much planned for this series, from prayer gatherings to extra teachings to weekly prayer videos and I am greatly excited to go on this journey together with you. What limbs are we clinging to? What is keeping us from acknowledging our weakness and crying out to the one who paid it all so that we may have life? *Emphasis mine **Italics mine

11 The Dunkin Pick-Me-Up With Cody Cody Monkman For the last couple of weeks we have been asking the larger church at FCC to "take a stake" in a JH student who wants to go to Believe. We get students from all backgrounds that go on our annual trip to Believe, and at the beginning of this school year a personal goal of mine was to make Believe a reality for as many students as possible. There are 3 reasons why I personally like "Take A Stake": 1) The larger church at FCC has an opportunity to get a sneak peak into what is going on in the JH Reveal Student Ministry. 2) It requires me to rely on God in prayer when it comes to making sure this trip is financially able to happen. It is so easy for money to cap vate our hearts. "Take A Stake" requires me to li that up to God and let Him be in control of my plans. 3) A full sponsorship is $40 for each student and adult leader. Each "Take A Stake" cket is $20, which means that if they are all taken, every student and adult leader has at least two people praying for them and their experience at Believe. I look forward to seeing how "Take A Stake" unfolds. Be on the look out in the next couple of months to "take a stake" in the life of a HS student who wants to go to Move; another experience that impacts the lives of so many of our youth. With Dunkin' Love, Cody

12 Junior High Breakfast Club meets Friday mornings at 7:15am in the Cable Building JH Reveal meets on Sunday in the cable building from 10:45am - 11:45am. No Reveal April 3. JH Sunday School meets from 9:30am - 10:30am in the Cable Building JH Community Groups meet on Sundays from 5:30pm - 7pm in The Edge High School Breakfast Club meets Friday mornings at 7:15am in the Cable Building HS Sunday School meets from 9:30am - 10:30am in The Edge HS Reveal meets on Sundays from 5:30pm - 7pm in the Cable Building. NO Reveal April 3. CIY Move is June in Cedarville, OH. Cost is $150 if signed up by April 17 (late fee after the 17th). Please sign up and make your payment on the Reveal website. Visit to stay up-to-date on student events.

13 Allison Hitchings - allison@clintonfcc.com Cassandra Benton - cassandra@clintonfcc.com Who gets to come? All children birth through 5 th grade are welcome. Who is watching our kids? The ministry and office staff and their families will work the event. What will the kids do? We will serve a light meal**, play games, watch movies, and tackle the obstacle course. Where do we drop the kids off? Check in at the First Kids corridor and nursery, at the appropriate age level. Why are you doing this? Because we know you need a night out! How much does this cost? It s FREE!!! (Seriously, it s free) **The meal will be served to children 2 years old and older. Parents with babies and toddlers in the nursery need to bring their own food. **Please contact the office ( ) if your children have food allergies. Please RSVP to the office by May 5 th or sign up online!

14 Moms & Tots Playgroup will be meeting on April 8 from 10am - 11:30am in the First Kids Area. Come have a playdate with toys, activities and snacks for your little one while getting to know other moms in the community. For children ages 0 thru Pre-K. Please invite your friends! Watch for special events through the year on our Moms & Tots Facebook page or our list. Mobile Food Pantry April 30, 9am - 12pm Cable Building We are needing volunteers to help with this event. This is a great opportunity for families to serve together. Please sign up at the information booth or call the office, We would love to have you join others from our church as they travel to the Christian Village in Lincoln, IL. We fold laundry, clean tables or just talk with the many residents who reside at the Christian Village. We will leave at 8:30 am on Thursday, April 21 & return between 2:30-3 pm. This ministry is open to anyone, men & women! Thursday, April 28 th 6:30pm Speaker: Janet Shaw Music: Daniel Sisters featuring Shelley Danison & Karren Osborne Bring a salad & a friend to share the food & fellowship!!

15 Adventures with Adam Adam Brucker Have you heard about the upcoming Inten onal Church Conference? It is coming up this April 23 rd from 9am to 3pm at First Chris an Church in Decatur, IL. This conference is designed to help lay leaders in the church to grow and succeed in their various ministries. Does it ma er if you aren t currently leading an area of ministry? Absolutely not! We want anyone who is currently leading or interested in leading to be a part of this conference! Featured at the conference are a variety of breakout leaders from all over covering topics like leading small groups, how to reach out to millennials, and much more! The theme of the conference is something that I am super excited about and its based off of the new book by our main speaker Tim Harlow! His new book is called Life on Mission: God s People Finding God s Heart for the World. There is no cost to you and includes morning snacks and a gourmet lunch! Our church bus will be taking a group down and leaving around 8am. If you would like to go, please contact the office at Hope to see you there!!

16 Information About First Christian Church Greg Taylor Minister of Preaching & Teaching J. Kent Hickerson Minister of Pastoral Care Adam Brucker Associate Minister Cody Monkman Student Minister Samuel Green Worship Minister & College Age Cassandra Benton Children s Ministry Administrator cassandra@clintonfcc.com Allison Hitchings Children s Ministry Program Director allison@clintonfcc.com Karen Rice Office Manager karen@clintonfcc.com Mandi Ries Administrative Assistant mandi@clintonfcc.com Jennifer Causer Financial Secretary financial@clintonfcc.com Office Phone (217) Office Fax (217) Office karen@clintonfcc.com or office@clintonfcc.com Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Thursday First Christian Church THE KARUSOGRAPH (USPS ) is published monthly by Corner of W. Main & N. Jackson FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 100 N. Jackson St., Clinton, Illinois N. Jackson St. Periodicals postage paid at Clinton, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Clinton, IL The Karusograph First Christian Church, 100 N. Jackson St., Clinton, IL 61727