The Great Bend Christian

Transcription

1 August 2015 Vol. 48 No. 8 The Great Bend Christian We asked you to pray, and man did you pray! We then asked you to dream, and man did you dream! The Long Range Planning Committee in its efforts to help us discover God s mission for this church, held a total of 12 listening sessions, put a questionnaire in the bulletin for a month, and sent it out via 3 times. In this process, we interviewed about 130 people in our church, which left us with 13 pages of incredible ideas and dreams to help us create our mission. Now the Long Range Planning Committee is in the process of taking all of your ideas and dreams and coming up with 3-4 of the most predominant themes, which we will then use to build the mission of this church. So please continue to pray as we do this most important work. And then get ready because a church on a mission can t be stopped! In the past year and a half, Pastor Josh has asked us on several occasions to dream big. He asked us to dream our dream budget last year and we did (a $40,000 increase). He has asked us to dream big about the future of this church and we have. These dreams are being used to shape the big future God is calling us into through the Appreciative Inquiry Process. As a result of this big dreaming, God has also started to do some big things in our church. This past year we have done a complete renovation of our children s wing, and are now seeing more kids than we have in years. Our attendance in the last year and a half has gone from 170 to around 195, with the addition of more and more young couples. Remember, all of this is happening during a time with most mainline congregations are on the decline. So this year as we begin to plan for all that we want to accomplish for the sake of Christ in 2016 and years to come, let us not only continue to dream big, let us also begin to GIVE BIG. Let us be a congregation who dreams big dreams and commits ourselves to GIVING BIG so God s dreams for this church can become reality. Let us GIVE BIG by using the talents we have to make a real difference in our community. Let us GIVE BIG by volunteering even more of our time to doing the work of the Kingdom. And Let us GIVE BIG in our tithing to the church, so that this church will be able to accomplish things we didn t even think were possible. If we dream big, and Give Big, I know God will continue to make big things happen at the First Christian Church of Great Bend. - Nels Lindberg

2 SPECIAL PRAYERS: Cancer: Brenda Billinger; Teri Everett; Mary Lyne Grandclair; Randy Ritter; Emily Seversonlymphoma; Scott Wieland Other Needs: Bob Allford; Larry Arnold; Doug Bender; Bob Brown; Larry Dannebohm; Marguerite Davidson; Miles Erpelding; Rowen Hughes; Brian Hutchinson; Deserai Klug; Marvin Koch; Carol Langen; Amber Lloyd; Melvin Reif; Connie Weiser; Cory Yadon CONTINUED PRAYERS: Cancer: Laura Brown, Corina Dean, Shelby Jones, Shelly McFarren, Leona McIntosh, Lance Morris, Steve Rusco, Doug Schenkel, Donna Stejskal, Kerry Watkins, Kadin White Other Needs: Mabel Bender,Ted Brown, Myrna Campbell, Derek Christendon, Bev Christiansen, Cody Clark, Dr. Roy Danks; Jane Daraio, Dale Deaver, Denise Ehrlick, Mel Enabnit, Norma Fogerty, Mildred Harders, Barbara & Bart Hoar, Sarina Johnson, Don Jones, Scott Jordan, Babette Kinderknecht, David Kirby, Todd Klein, Martha Knight, Jaxon Kretchmar, Gayl Lee, Doug Nairn, Stacy North, Brad Patzner, Terry Piland, Rose Rein, Dr. Joe Rosenberg, Donna Rusco, Sapphire Shewbart, Patricia Shultz, Juanita Thomas, Anneliese Ward, Larry Weiser, Mike Zager MILITARY SERVANTS: Brandon Deason, Malcolm Deason, Steven DeWhitt, Blake Frager, Dan Fritz, Ted Jackson, Steven McGee, Cody McNorton, Jake Myers, Adam Schwartz.to Jackie Noel & Family upon the passing of her mother, Roxie Swinger.to Rob & Kelly Bowman & Family upon the passing of Rob's brother, David.to the Family & Friends of Jim Oliver...to the Family & Friends of Irwin Alefs

3 Lunch Bunch August 19, 2015, 11:30 am Joy Group Hostess: Lesson: Jean Berger August 25, 2015, 12:00 pm New Day Group Hostess: Rhonda Glenn Lesson: Jamee Dannebohm August 24, 2015, 7:00 pm Floreine Blankenship has moved and she would love hearing from her church family. Her new address is: Floreine Blankenship 1202 Heartland Road #5010 St. Joseph, MO NEEDED: Late Service Communion Preparers Contact Sharon Engle at Can and Will Train Anyone Interested Beginning August 9th- An important sermon series to help everyone face, come to terms with, and eventually overcome the reality of Death!

4 Dear Church Members, Thank you for the many calls, cards, and prayers while I was in the hospital. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated so much. Many thanks to Pastor Josh and Pastor Sue for their willingness to minister to both of us. Jamee and Larry Dannebohm I want to say that I pray God blesses you and your church family for blessing the Dream Center with your servant hood. God bless! Kimberly Becker, Director Thank you, New Day Group, for the calls, prayers, and the delicious meals you provided on coming home from the hospital. Jamee and Larry Dannebohm VBS CLEAN-UP We need some Superheroes to help us take down decorations and clean the church. We will meet at 1:00 pm on Sunday, August 2nd. Several of our decorations will be donated and others can be purchased. Proceeds will be used for other youth ministries. Please contact Katie Hoff for information. Thank you!

5 Getting More Connected To help us as the First Christian Church of Great Bend get more connected in the information age to better communicate with all who are a part of this incredible congregation, we are going to be installing a new program called One Call Now. This new program will allow us to either communicate directly with the whole church, or the various groups in our church in a much simpler and efficient way. For instance, if there is ever a reason that we have to cancel church or Wednesday Night Dinner because of bad weather, this program will allow us to send out one message that will then be delivered directly and immediately to you through whatever form of communication you choose (ie text, phone message, or via .) We will be using it, also, to send reminders about the various events that take place at the church, committee and board meetings, and to keep our parents informed of all of the youth and children s activities. All we need from you as an individual (one person per box on the form, please) is to fill out the One Call Now Questionnaire. To make this easy for you, we will have these questionnaires available for you in the bulletin every week for the next month, which you can fill out during church and drop it in the offering plate. Or you may fill out the form at: Name Home Phone Number Cell Number Address How would you like to be contacted with the One Call System? (Circle only one!) Text Home Phone Cell Phone Not at All Name Home Phone Number Cell Number Address How would you like to be contacted with the One Call System? (Circle only one!) Text Home Phone Cell Phone Not at All If you have not already filled one of these out, please do so as soon as possible and drop it by the office or go to the website to fill one out. Thank you!

6 6th-8th Grades YOUTH GROUPS 9th-12th Grades CYF and CHI RHO will end the Summer on Sunday, August 16th with an End of Summer Swim Party Aug. 2 Aug. 9 PROMOTION SUNDAY and BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS -AUGUST 23rd Children are invited to bring their school backpacks to Worship with them. We will have a special Blessing for our Children, our Teachers, and for the School Year in our communities, AND the children will be formally promoted to the next grade level at both services of Worship. SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE DISCOVERERS ( K-2nd Grades) NAVIGATORS (3rd-5th Grades) YOUTH (6th-12th Grades) DISCOVERERS Bible Time Workshop NAVIGATORS Science Workshop YOUTH Katie Sperry DISCOVERERS Celebration NAVIGATORS Sunday! YOUTH Sue Bishop Aug. 16 DISCOVERERS Aug. 23 NAVIGATORS YOUTH Kim Guesnier DISCOVERERS NAVIGATORS YOUTH Danielle Hoskins Our Family Dinner and Children s Programs for the School Year will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 2nd with Dinner served beginning at 5:30PM. This year Wednesday Nights will not meet during the months of December or January and will end with the last Wednesday of April. We are currently putting the supper groups together, so if you would like to be a part of one and have not already been contacted, please let Pastors Josh or Sue know. Preschool, AND WILL MEET 6:15-6:45 PM ON THE SAME WEDNESDAYS By the time you see this newsletter, we will be in the middle of VBS. But I can already say with confidence, Thanks for another great year of sharing the Gospel with children of our church and the community! The 5 member planning team has done a great job of organizing and managing. Thank You Kelly Hart, Dena Hiss, Patsy Hiss, Donna Marston, and Stacy McReynolds. At last count 89 of you will have had a hand in this year s success. It truly is a church-wide event! What an amazing commitment to God s Children!!

7 Do you like music? Do you like to have fun with your friends? Do you enjoy praising God? And one more important question - can you count to four? If your answer to all of these questions was yes, then Congratulations! You meet all qualifications to join our bell choir! Yes, it's true - you don't have to know how to read music or have any previous experience! Are you curious how this works? Just talk to Mary Hunter or any bell choir member to see how we can get you started. Are you still a little bit apprehensive and not sure that you are ready for a long term commitment? That's okay - you may not know it, but you can give us a try on a month to month basis. We would love to have you! We welcome teenagers as well as adults. Just call, text, or even talk to Mary in person ( ). Looking forward to hearing from you soon! Bell Choir practice begins September 2nd at 6:15 pm. You are invited to a Bridal Shower for Amber Karst and Auston Young, Sunday, August 9th, at 2:00 pm in the parlor. The couple is registered at Target and Wal-Mart. Web Site: Choir Rehearsal Begins August 26th from 7-8 pm FCC's podcast: Facebook:

8 Past 5 Weeks Attendance and Gifts Sunday School Early Service Late Service Children s Church TOTAL General Offering 8, , , , , Special Offerings TOTAL 8, , , , , *Special Offerings include donations to: FCC Food Bank, Sound System Fund, Funeral Dinner Donation, Wedding Payment First Christian Church 5230 Broadway Great Bend, KS The Great Bend Christian (USPS ) Published Monthly By First Christian Church 5230 Broadway Great Bend, KS Postmaster Send Address changes to: First Christian Church 5230 Broadway Great Bend, KS Periodicals Postage Paid At Great Bend, KS Sunday Services 8:15 am Early Worship 9:00 am Sunday School 10:20 am Morning Worship 5:00 pm Chi-Rho 6:00 pm CYF (6th-12th) Wednesday Activities 5:30 pm Family Fellowship Dinner 6:15 pm Pre K 2nd Grades (Discoverers) 6:15 pm 3rd - 5th Grades (Navigators) 6:15 pm Chancel Bell Practice 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Practice If you need to contact our staff: Rev. Josh Leu, Minister revjleu@gmail.com Rev. Sue Bishop, Associate Minister of Children and Youth im4uth@gmail.com Kathy Rose, Church Secretary fcc@cck.kscoxmail.com