http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcongThe weekly e-newsletter from First Congregational Church of Lake WorthWed, 04 Apr 2012 20:37:05 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/LoqsA/h/God_Isn_t_Mad_At_You_.htm April 5, 2012 We Are Looking Forward to Sunday! We are looking forward to gathering together for a glorious Easter Sunday. Beginning at 9:15 AM, we will be serving a free pancake breakfast for the community. Then at 10:30 we will lift our voices as we worship together, celebrating the Resurrection and reminding our selves that no matter what the circumstances, it is Not the End. Following our worship service at 11:30 AM we will have a huge Easter egg hunt for the kids. We will look forward to seeing you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors this week! Maundy Thursday You are invited to join us this Thursday evening at 6:30 PM for our Maundy Thursday service. We will gather and share scripture, prayer, song, and communion as we remember the last evening of Jesus' earthly life. Hope to see you there! Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Sunday after worship our children's education team will be meeting and next Tuesday, Church Council will be meeting. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:37:05 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/N7F1g/h/God_Isn_t_Mad_At_You_.htm March 15, 2012 Psst...God Isn't Mad At You The scriptures in the daily lectionary beginning today reveal a God that is very unlike the God many of us grew up with. What if God isn't mad at you? What if long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love (Eph. 1:14)? Sunday we will bask in this God of love as we hear together the song of Psalm 107. Until then, maybe you can find some time to spend some time reading about the God who loves you in this week's scriptures. Open and Affirming Update This Sunday after worship, we will vote on the statement that will proclaim us as an Open and Affirming church. You can read the statement and see how it developed here. Easter Sunday We're looking forward to a glorious Easter Sunday morning on April 8th. Who do you know that would benefit from being with some of the nicest people in Lake Worth and hearing uplifting music and an inspiring message? Why don't you invite them to come with you? Sunday Morning Bible Study Did you know we have a Bible study on Sunday morning? A group gathers Sunday morning at 9:30 in the parlor to discuss the day's Bible passage and devotional from The Upper Room. It is led by Carol Lewis. Lent Between Sundays Lent, the period of six weeks leading up to Easter, provides the opportunity to reflect upon and expand our spiritual practice. Check out our website for rich resources to facilitate our Lenten spiritual journey together: Read the article Spiral Journey about the journey of Lent. Read and discuss the daily lectionary reading here. Use each week's reflections to facilitate your own practice. You can pick up a copy of The Upper Room, a daily devotional at church or read it online here. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Sunday after worship our children's education team will be meeting and next Tuesday, Church Council will be meeting. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:15:59 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/IDWLw/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm March 7, 2012 Lent Between Sundays Lent, the period of six weeks leading up to Easter, provides the opportunity to reflect upon and expand our spiritual practice. Check out our website for rich resources to facilitate our Lenten spiritual journey together: Read the article Spiral Journey about the journey of Lent. Read and discuss the daily lectionary reading here. Use each week's reflections to facilitate your own practice. You can pick up a copy of The Upper Room at church or read it online here. Open and Affirming Update Check out our website for the lastest information about where we are in our Open and Affirming discernment process. Join us this Wednesday at 6:00 PM as we continue the conversation! C.R.O.S. Food Drive Update You can still bring food for C.R.O.S. ministries. When you go shopping this week, pick up an extra jar of peanut butter, beans, rice, mac and cheese, or tuna for us to take to the C.R.O.S. food pantry. Sunday Morning Bible Study Did you know we have a Bible study on Sunday morning? A group gathers Sunday morning at 9:30 in the parlor to discuss the day's Bible passage and devotional from The Upper Room. It is led by Carol Lewis. Eugene Peterson Pastor Jason had a great two days with Eugene Peterson last week. You can read his reflections on the experience here. And you can watch two of the sessions, one on Sabbath and one on scripture here. Living Legacy We had a wonderful experience in worship Sunday as we immersed ourselves in the covenant of God with Abraham and shared in listening to some wonderful music from our choir and guest soloist Laura Hodos. You can watch the service here. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:20:42 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/Co_hA/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm February 27, 2012 The Rainbow Connection As we began the Lenten season this Sunday, we engaged the story of Noah and the covenant that God made with all of creation. What does the story tell us about humanity's developing understanding of and relationship with God? What does it reveal to us about our relationship with God? Our worship service was a great experience from beginning to end and even beyond as people shared with one another the powerful experiences they have had in seeing rainbows at significant moments in their lives. Click here to listen to the sermon and/or share a story you have of a meaningful rainbow sighting in your life! Open and Affirming Update Check out our website for the lastest information about where we are in our Open and Affirming discernment process. Join us this Wednesday at 6:00 PM as we continue the conversation! C.R.O.S. Food Drive Update You can still bring food for C.R.O.S. ministries. When you go shopping this week, pick up an extra jar of peanut butter, beans, rice, mac and cheese, or tuna for us to take to the C.R.O.S. food pantry. Vegetarian Cooking Class Judi Perna is hosting another vegetarian cooking class on Monday, March 5th. You can find more information here. Eugene Peterson Pastor Jason will be away this week at a conference with pastor and author Eugene Peterson. If you are interested in more information and want to learn how you can watch two of the sessions, click here. Nourish Every other Sunday after worship, beginning March 4th, we will be showing an episode of the PBS series Nourish. You can find more information here. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:29:22 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/KLvRQ/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm February 21, 2012 Ash Wednesday Service - February 22 at 6:30 PM Join us this Wednesday as we come together for a time of quiet, simple song, prayer, and communion. It's a great opportunity to be together before God as we begin our Lenten journey. Open and Affirming Update Wednesday evening, February 29th will be our third discussion session in our journey of discernment to declare ourselves open and affirming to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The discussions so far have been both frank and gracious and appreciated by those in attendance. We encourage everyone in our congregation to be involved in this process. After this third discussion, we will begin crafting our Open and Affirming statement. C.R.O.S. Food Drive Update There is one more week for us to collect food for C.R.O.S. ministries. When you go shopping this week, pick up an extra jar of peanut butter, beans, rice, mac and cheese, or tuna for us to take to the C.R.O.S. food pantry. Blessed Connections Next Sunday begins the six week season of Lent. It is a season of reflection and repentance, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be too somber. On Sunday, we will begin the Lenten season by looking at the story of Noah in Genesis, specifically, God's rainbow covenant and promise of blessing to Noah. Hope to see you there! Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Reminders... Trustees meet this Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:55:05 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/IJtMM/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm January 6, 2011 Expecting Christ This Sunday we gathered together for worship on the very first day of the year and experienced the story of Anna and Simeon and reflected on how we are expecting Christ to show up in our lives in 2012. Those of us in worship placed our expectations in a sealed envelope that will be mailed to us in a few months. Whether you were there or not, you might consider adding the expectations you are willing to share on our website. We also discussed some of the ways we can make space for Christ to appear in the midst of our lives through spending time in scripture and meditation. For those looking for a primer on meditation you can check out this article on our website. You can also participate in a discussion of the daily lectionary passages here. Finally, one element of expecting Christ that I forgot to mention (I do that a lot) is the willingness to be vulnerable as opposed to always needing to be in control, to learn more and hear a great talk by researcher Brene Brown, you can check out my blog post here. Peace, Open and Affirming Kick-off Mark your calendars for a week from this Sunday, January 15th as together we kick off a period of learning and celebration regarding our church becoming intentionally Open and Affirming to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community. You will meet the team who will lead us through this process, learn more about the process, and hear a message of encouragement straight from scripture that will invite us to truly open wide the doors of our church to anyone no matter who they are or where they are on life's journey! For more information see the post on our website. Baptism of Jesus On Sunday we will experience together the baptism of Jesus, remember our own baptism, and hear God's words spoken to Jesus and us You are my beloved child! We hope to see you there! Gleaning We just received news that our gleaning project is ON for this Saturday. We will be picking cucumbers at a farm in western Boynton Beach. Call or email Pastor Jason if you would like to join us! Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Reminders... Trustees meet next Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:05:40 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/IVvp6/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm December 2, 2011 We're Going Caroling! On Sunday, December 18th after the worship service, we are going to take church to some of our homebound members and friends. We are inviting everyone (not just youth and children) to join us as we split up into groups that will each visit one or two people, sing some carols, and deliver Christmas treats. This is a great way for us to remember those that we do not see every week but are still a part of our community. If you are able to participate, please email Pastor Jason or sign up in the sanctuary lobby at church. Blue Christmas If merry is hard to find in your Christmas this year because of a loss, challenge or other sadness, we have created a space just for you at our first Blue Christmas service being held Wednesday evening, December 7th. You can find more information here. Advent Sunday began the four week season before Christmas known as Advent. It is the opportunity to pause and prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ into our lives. However, in our culture, it also happens to be a very busy, sometimes stressful time where we attend parties and concerts, try to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones, negotiate family gatherings, study for semester final exams, and involve ourselves with everything that must be done before the end of the year. Here are a couple of opportunities for you to create some space and intention during Advent: On Tuesday evenings from 6:25 PM - 6:55 PM (note time change!) in the sanctuary we will gather to sing, pray, and engage our senses at our Advent Vespers. And each day during Advent Pastor Jason will be sharing his thoughts on each day's lectionary scripture passages. We invite you to share your comments as well as to how God is speaking to you through the scriptures each day. You can find the Advent Lectionary Blog here. Potter and Clay If you missed worship on Sunday, you can hear Jason's sermon on Longing here. The Forgotten Bomb When the Cold War ended, worry about nuclear weapons also receded. But has the nuclear threat really receded as well? If the U.S. and Russia are no longer in an arms race, why are there nuclear weapons in both countries that are still on high alert? Filmmaker Bud Ryan sets out to discover what possible explanations there could be as to why the posture of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) still exists, and how the nuclear powers might free the world from this threat once and for all. Join us this Saturday, December 3rd at 2:30 PM in the parlor as we screen and discuss this film. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Reminders... Diaconate meets Sunday after worship. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:50:48 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/9R7iM/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays_.htm November 24, 2011 Happy Thanksgiving! To all I wish a wonderful Thanksgiving Day: to those who will be spending time with loved ones, to those who will be spending time with the memories of loved ones who are away or who have passed, to those who are thankful for the blessings they have received this year and those who are thankful for what they have learned and how they have grown through hardships faced this year. All of you are in my heart and in my prayers with gratitude for who you are. P.S. If you have time today, or in the next few days, you can catch a few thoughts on gratitude I blogged about here. Advent Sunday begins the four week season before Christmas known as Advent. It is the opportunity to pause and prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ into our lives. However, in our culture, it also happens to be a very busy, sometimes stressful time where we attend parties and concerts, try to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones, negotiate family gatherings, study for semester final exams, and involve ourselves with everything that must be done before the end of the year. We enter the season on Sunday by experiencing longing and remembering the story of the potter and the clay. Here are a couple of opportunites for you to create some space and intention during Advent: On Tuesday evenings from 6:15 PM - 6:45 PM in the sanctuary we will gather to sing, pray, and engage our senses at our Advent Vespers. And each day during Advent, beginning today, Pastor Jason will be sharing his thoughts on each day's lectionary scripture passages. We invite you to share your comments as well as to how God is speaking to you through the scriptures each day. You can find the Advent Lectionary Blog here. Thank You! Thank you for your response to our participation in Mission:1. You can see what we accomplished here. Blue Christmas If merry is hard to find in your Christmas this year because of a loss, challenge or other sadness, we have created a space just for you at our first Blue Christmas service being held Wednesday evening, December 7th. You can find more information here. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Reminders... Church Council meets this Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:24:07 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/57Qpc/h/FCCLW_Between_Sundays.htm November 18, 2011 Stewardship Response Sunday This Sunday, we are requesting that our members and friends come with their financial commitment card for 2012. Making a specific commitment for your giving helps our leadership in making budgeting decisions, and, more importantly, it is a key element in our corporate spiritual formation. God has called each of us to be a part of the work that God is doing in our community and one of the ways we recognize and practice that is committing to take part in that work with resources we have. (If you have already turned in your commitment card- Thank you!, we will have extra blank cards you can use in the response.) Also, this Sunday after worship will be our annual meeting and election of new officers for 2012. Advent Next Sunday begins the four week season before Christmas known as Advent. It is the opportunity to pause and prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ into our lives. However, in our culture, it also happens to be a very busy, sometimes stressful time where we attend parties and concerts, try to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones, negotiate family gatherings, study for semester final exams, and involve ourselves with everything that must be done before the end of the year. Here are a couple of opportunites for you to create some space and intention during Advent: On Tuesday evenings from 6:15 PM - 6:45 PM in the sanctuary we will gather to sing, pray, and engage our senses at our Advent Vespers. And each day during Advent, beginning next Thursday, Pastor Jason will be sharing his thoughts on each day's lectionary scripture passages. We invite you to share your comments as well as to how God is speaking to you through the scriptures each day. You can find the Advent Lectionary Blog here. Thank You! Thank you for your response to our participation in Mission:1. You can see waht we accomplished here. Who's Your King? This Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Yeah, it does have a kinda archaic feel to it doesn't it? However, it is also a great opportunity for us to consider just who or what is ruling our life. We invite you to join us as we close one year and begin another in our life together as a church. If you missed last Sunday, you can check out Abundant Possibilities here. Calendar Check out the weekly calendar here. Reminders... Church Council meets this Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Don't Keep It a Secret! Did a friend come to mind when you were reading something in this email? Do you know someone who is looking for a community of people who are practicing loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Why don't you forward this email to them? If a friend forwarded this email to you, first of all, thank them! Then subscribe for yourself at our website. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:33:05 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/lifeatfirstcong/IEzLM/h/Jason_Away_This_Week.htmDear Members and Friends of First Congregational Church, I am writing to let you know that I am traveling tonight (Monday) to be with my parents in North Carolina. My father is having heart surgery after suffering a mild heart attack Sunday morning. We are confident all is in God's hands and are expecting the best. And I travel in the knowledge that he will be held in the prayers of many. I will be reachable by phone or email in case of emergency. Peace, Pastor JasonMon, 10 Oct 2011 17:25:20 -0400