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From Pastor Dave
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Greetings my FCN Family,
I decided to share my heart with y'all, because of the miracles that God is working in our midst here at FCN. Wow, July 2017 is here. Time sure flies when you are having fun and we sure are having some "God" fun here at Abilene FCN. God is on the move here in our church and we are seeing continual blessings in all the FCN areas of ministry. Let's give God some serious praise and glory for what He is doing in our church, our services, our Sunday School classes, our Life Groups, our finances, our committed giving to all areas, and our prayer times. GOD IS ON THE MOVE... HALLELUJAH! AMEN!
July 20
th
will make 3 years since we made the move to Abilene and became your Pastor and Parsonage family.
I am often reminded of a Chris Tomlin song that was being played a lot during the time that God was calling us here, Kathy picked this song as kind of our "Abilene calling" theme song.
J
We were discussing this giant move to Abilene one day and she asked me if I ever listened to the words of that song. Wow, how fitting and how timely as we were honestly struggling with leaving and making that big "leap" or "move" of faith. The song is entitled
"Where You Go"
and the lyrics are as follows:
All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my sight
High above my life
I will trust in you alone (trust in you alone)
Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you, yeah
I will follow you, yeah
Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone
In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there's joy, unending joy
And I will follow
As I look back upon that call to come here, I remember the verse that came to mind as I was struggling at an altar of prayer about God telling me it was time to move on. In that moment of wrestling with the decision to be obedient.
Isaiah 6:8
...
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Even though the decision of obedience was hard, I remember telling the Lord when He initially called me to ministry that I will be wherever He needed me. Blessings do come with obedience. The move was very hard and exhausting for our entire family but you, our FCN family loved us and helped us with that transition
through your love for our family.
The task that was ahead upon arrival was great and sometimes overwhelming even to the point of discouragement. We travelled quite a highway to move ourselves and our family to Abilene, and as I spent many of those early month's trying to figure out "how in the world can this Abilene FCN ship be turned around?", looking at financials on a daily basis trying to create a way to save some money so we could get out of the red and become a church that effectively ministers to the outside world and say good bye to the 'Survival Mode' condition that the church was in, only to keep running into dead ends." This frustration continued to mount upon me and I found myself living in the "woe is me" mentality and I began to tell the Lord that I felt as if I wasn't effectively ministering here.
 One day, when I finally broke in complete discouragement, the Lord spoke very loudly to me through His creation and it changed everything. Through His voice speaking through His creation that day and the amazing loving wisdom of my amazing wife who is an amazing helpmate and master encourager, I began to find a new strength that can only be found in and through God and in that time, the spiritual "switch" was flipped on here at the church. Yes, as I said, "we travelled quite a highway to get here" and I was frustrated and discouraged because things were not happening the way I dreamed and envisioned, what I needed to do from the beginning was to travel down the "Deuteronomy Road"....
Deuteronomy 31:8
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The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
The moral of this story is that we all are journeying down the road of life and you will turn on "discouragement alley" and will have to take a detour and turn on "Frustration Freeway" but remember that if you are in the Lord and following Him, your GPS coordinates are always
"
Deuteronomy 31:8"
.... "God is with you"
Thank you Lord for these past 3 years! Thank you Lord for what you are doing in our midst! Thank you Lord for what you are going to do at FCN here in the future! Thank You Lord for our precious and amazing FCN family! Thank you Lord for the blessings to the FCN Family! Church, we are a blessed people!
Thankful to be your Pastor and Parsonage Family,
PD
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Adopt-A-Light Program
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FCN is in dire need of replacing our stage and sanctuary lighting. The fixtures are obsolete and cannot be repaired. We need your help! In order to not incur debt, the Church Board is introducing the "Adopt-A-Light" program. The cost to replace all stage and sanctuary lighting is $21,130.15...this includes labor costs. This factors out to be approximately $275 per light. If 76 people adopt a light, we would have most of the needed funds for this project. Please seek the Lord as to what He would have you give. Please mark your contribution as "Lighting" or "Adopt-A-Light". For more information, please contact Robert Hehn or Pastor Dave.
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Congregation Appreciation Baked Potato Dinner
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On Sunday, July 9, the Youth Department is hosting a "build your own baked potato" dinner after the Morning Worship Service. This dinner is for the youth to show their appreciation for the support the church has given them. The cost is free and everyone is invited!
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Nazarene Missions International
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July Emphasis-International Ministry, Bible Schools, and Seminaries
Nazarene educational institutions around the world are training preachers, teachers, evangelists, nurses, and vocational and lay leaders. This education is essential to the success of evangelistic efforts. Please pray for our Nazarene educational institutions around the world. Pray for the faculty, staff, and students. I will be sharing information and prayer needs each Sunday in July.
Thank you for your support for Missions AROUND THE WORLD AND ACROSS THE STREET.
Gayla Hastings
FCN NMI President
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Prime Timers (Sr. Adult) Fellowship
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Prime Timers (Senior Adult Ministries)
will meet on Thursday, July 20. We will meet at 11:30 a.m. at Cotton Patch Cafe located at 3302 S. Clack. Join us!
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| Online Sunday Morning Services |
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Our Sunday morning Worship Services can be found online! Go to: http://www.fcnabilene.org/sermons and click on "First Church of the Nazarene on Livestream"
Livestream requires you to sign up for a free account to view. You can view on a computer or any device through the Livestream app found at the App Store, Google Play, or Roku. Click on the appropriate link to download your app. |
| July Birthdays & Anniversaries |
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Birthdays
1 Robert Hehn
3 Toni Fannin
Judy King
4 Joy Pryor
6 Julie Knowles
7 Kevin Seigman
10 Odean Murphree
12 Tanis Fall
15 Warren Spiker
16 Loretta Leach
18 Andrew Kessell
Jack Knowles
24 Gary Bylander
29 Dean Moore
31 Charles Barrington
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Anniversaries
7 Bill & Rita Billings
13 Carroll & Nancy Burks
15 Warren & Jeri Spiker
22 Larry & Linda Smith
28 Ganpat & Bibi Ganesh
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