First Christian Circular
Volume 2, Issue 3
March 2011
The Pastor’s Heart
Thank you to all of you who have given us feedback regarding the music of the church. In all your comments, a major themes has emerged: "It's great to learn new songs, but it's also good to sing familiar hymns. Many of the hymns we've sung for years have memories and people attached to them, and we don't want to lose that."
Some churches have in fact abandoned the older hymns in favor of contemporary worship. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. There is a rich heritage of faith encapsulated in the hymns of the church, and to drop them is to lose a rich source of encouragement for living out our faith. At the same time, never before in the history of the church has there been such an explosion of new worship music, and to forsake this new music is to miss out on God speaking to us in fresh ways as we seek to live out our faith. Thus, it seems to me that what's best is a blend of old and new--"blended worship" as it is called in the larger church. Jesus says, at the end of his most significant teaching in parables, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old" (Matthew 13:52). Jesus is saying that the old knowledge that the teachers of the law have gained in their rabbinical study of the Old Testament is a "treasure," and Jesus' new teaching about the kingdom of heaven is also a "treasure." The new treasure does not make the old treasure obsolete. In the same way, new worship music does not make old hymns obsolete. Rather, new worship music is a new treasure to add to our old treasure. Let's not miss out on either one. We will be richer for it!
As we seek, then, to move forward with blended worship, we encourage your feedback. Are we focusing too much on the new treasure at the expense of the old? Or are we so comfortable with our old treasure that we are missing out on the blessings of the new? Please give your feedback to me, to Sheryl, our church music director, or to Jon Phillips, chair of the worship committee.
Bible Trivia Question
Congratulations to Shirley Slaughter and Eleanor Moore for getting last month's Bible trivia question right! The question was,
In the days of Noah, for how many days did the waters flood the earth?
(If you are curious what the answer is, read Genesis 7:24-8:4.) Answer will appear in next month's newsletter.
This month's trivia question:
"When the fast current of the Nile River swept baby Moses downstream in the papyrus basket, who was watching over him?"
If you know the answer, please send it to me along with the verse where you found the answer. I'll make a note of everyone who answered correctly in next month's newsletter! -Pastor Jon (269) 845-0416 jondenhouter@gmail.com
Property Committee
Jim Dodd
Feb 3rd 2011 meeting
1) New fire extinguishers are here. Will set up training on old extinguishers.
2) Have motion light. (Put up when weather breaks)
3) Paper holder in women’s bathroom is fixed.
4) New light in office.
5) Still have a lot of things to do.
6) I will put up a list soon for the things we need to do for
Clean up Saturday (April 2, 2011)
Next meeting for committee will be March 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Membership Committee
Barb Wegner
Membership committee continues to send card to those who have missed and also to those who have visited our Sunday service. We also have resumed the Friday night dinners on the first Friday of the month.
Outreach Committee
Mary-Alice Wirick
The Outreach Committee is pleased to announce that it is going to add Christian Movies to our church library. We will accept new or used movies for donation as well as by purchasing some off of the Family Christian Bookstore listing to get us started. We are encouraging families to use their movies as tools to witness to others.
We are looking for teammates to join the First Christian Church "Relay for Life Team". Anyone interested in joining the team please contact Mary-Alice Wirick. Watch the news letter and church bulletin for challenges and other ways to sponsor our team and remember prayer is the best weapon in our fight against cancer.
Reminder our Compassion Breakfast is March 6th, 2010 at 9 a.m. and we hope to see you all there.
Upcoming Events
Dowagiac Family Reach out is June 18, 2011
Back to School Blessing is coming up in August (date to be announced)
Christian Ed. Committee
Mellissa Phillips
The Christian Education Committee is making some changes to the Children's Church Program. We are very excited to debut GAK on March 13. GAK stands for "God's Anointed Kids and it is a program that has been in use in other churches to educate their children. GAK will consist of Bible lessons, songs and activities that are age-appropriate, interactive and relevant to the children God has entrusted us with at First Christian. The church will be meeting the characters who are a part of GAK on Sunday March 9th. We expect that this program will help our children to know Jesus more and teach them about His great love for them.
We are always looking for volunteers in the nursery, during the Sunday School hour (9:15-10:15), for GAK and Youth Group. If you are interested in volunteering, or don't yet know that you are interested, but think that God may be laying service in children's ministries on your heart, please contact Melissa Phillips (269)783-0075, Kellie Beck or Pastor Jon to get plugged in. We'd LOVE to have you!
Sincerely, Melissa Phillips
|
|
