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From Pastor Dave
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PREPARING THE FIELD HERE AT FCN
One of my favorite movies of all time is "
Facing the Giants
". I have to admit that there are so many amazing scenes in the movie that I can't just settle on one, but one "tide turning" scene that comes to mind that I love is the scene when Mr. Bridges (
the older gentlemen who had been seen in the school praying over the lockers
) came in to encourage Coach Taylor to stay with the football program.
Mr. Bridges told Coach Taylor a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain. He said that both farmers prayed for rain, but only one farmer went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Then Mr. Bridges asked, "Which one had more faith?" in which Coach Taylor replied, "The one who prepared his field". Mr. Bridges' final words to Coach Taylor were, "God will send the rain when He's ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it." FCN Family, this is a good word for us today.
I was so encouraged the other evening at our monthly board meeting when we spent a great deal of time covering the topic of discipleship and how we need to commit our ourselves as leaders and as a committed body of believers to the process of discipleship. Jesus is calling us out as believers and followers to build the kingdom in
Matthew 28:18-20:
(18) Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
I, along with the FCN Board Family, have now committed ourselves to making all the changes needed to create a disciple building process here at FCN. We are working through a book study together entitled "Simple Church" written by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. In Chapter 2 which we reviewed together had some great material about "Programming at Church", the church in this model had a simple process of making disciples and everything that this church did was literally built around that process. Their process for making disciples is simple. This process is experienced weekly through the programs the church offers. The weekly programs are tools to help people
love God, love others, and serve the world
. If the programs were not used to move people through the process, then the vision/process statement would be meaningless.
The first step in the process is to
love God
, and the weekend worship services are used to help people do so. The worship service is where guests, new people, and nonbelievers enter the church. It is also the weekly event where believers draw close to God through inspiring worship and dynamic biblical teaching.
The second step in the process is to
love others
, so the next program in the process is designed to help people connect relationally. The weekend services do not connect people to others very well. Like any other church, people sit facing forward and have limited interaction with one another. Our ministry of Sunday School and Life Groups are the best environment for people to love one another in a biblical community. Some small groups are on campus on Sundays or Wednesdays. Some groups meet off campus in homes or restaurants. People are encouraged to plug into one group.
The third step in the process is to
serve the world
, and ministry teams engage people in and through ministry. People enjoy camaraderie in a team environment while experiencing the joy of serving others. Some teams focus on the church while others focus on the community.
At this model church used in this book, there are three main programs. One for each phase in their process which is their vision. The goal is to move everyone from program to program so people naturally progress through the process of spiritual transformation.
People who attend worship services are encouraged to move to a Life Group. People in Life Groups are challenged to serve on a team.
It is a simple yet effective design to fulfill the vision that God has for His church: "Make Disciples."
I ask that you pray about your contribution in the process of making disciples with us here at FCN. We are going to commit and work very hard at implementing some changes to fit a very simple disciple making vision that is literally life changing for all. I would love a complete across the board commitment in this effort to strengthen our vision for this all-important Kingdom Building Process.
Remember, at the end of the "Great Commission", Jesus reminds us that 'He will be with us always, even till the very end of the age'. That is all I need to hear. Let's do this FCN Family!
I give God all the praise for what He is doing. God is already on the move in a mighty way here at FCN as we prepare our field. Now we need to get ready for the downpour.
J
Loving you and Lifting you,
--PD
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Online Giving
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New things can often seem overwhelming. When something isn't working, we don't like to change. But everything we bring into this building is here to help us collectively serve the Lord better, and this is no exception.
There are a few different ways we're able to give. First, you can give on Sunday morning during the service. Next, you can give through the church website. It's easy to sign up and doesn't take much time. We are also offering text giving. You will find the website address and text giving # at the bottom of this insert.
Benefits of Online Giving:
* The ease of being able to sign up for, and donate all in one place.
* Even when you are traveling or visiting family away from our four walls, our giving is with
you through our website or through text messaging to help you continue to faithfully give.
* We even have the ability to set up recurring giving, meaning you set the amount you want to donate to a certain fund, and it's automatic-you decide how often.
* You can login to your giving account and track your donations for the year. You can also print a report for your taxes.
Using Online Giving, you can donate to multiple accounts. Log in to the giving link/create an account. Navigate to the box for adding additional funds. Click the dropdown menu and choose the fund to which you wish to give.
Online Giving Guides and Text Giving Guides are located on the Welcome Center table or on our website.
FCN Website: fcnabilene.org/online-giving
Text Giving: 325-221-0299
If you have questions, please feel free to contact the office at 325-677-9429.
Online Giving Security statement from Clover Giving:
Everything you enter is encrypted so it can't be spied on by anyone else. It's encrypted with 256-bit SSL (also known as HTTPS). Sensitive credit card information is stored only when necessary - for example, when a donor sets up a recurring transaction. When we do store information like this, it's also encrypted (essentially scrambled) using an algorithm called AES-256 in "cypher-block-chaining mode".
Our servers are behind hardware and software firewalls, which serve to protect your data and our code from hackers and intruders. We're also PCI Compliant as service provider, which means we've been certified to follow a comprehensive set of rules created by the credit card companies to ensure that security precautions are held to the highest standard. There are many other specific measures we've put in place to ensure safe and secure transactions.
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Nazarene Missions International
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June Emphasis: World Mission Broadcast
World Mission Broadcast (WMB) and Nazarene Missions International (NMI) have a long history of partnership and the annual offering for WMB remains as one of the offerings NMI officially supports. The offering provides resources that reach millions of people around the world with the Gospel.
Our Mission Money March offerings for June will go to support WMB, so bring your change and dig deep!!
The current World Mission Broadcast ministry statistics are:
- 34 Languages
- 72 Countries
- 140 Programs
Gayla Hastings
NMI President
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Band of Brothers Men's Group
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Join us on Sunday, June 3, at 4:00 p.m. in the Conference Room! Our new study,
Forensic Faith
, will help readers: understand why they have a duty to defend the truth, develop a training strategy to master the evidence for Christianity, learn how to employ the techniques of a detective to discover new insights from God's Word, and become better communicators by learning the skills of professional case makers.
With real-life detective stories, fascinating strategies, and biblical insights,
J. Warner Wallace teaches readers cold-case investigative disciplines they can apply to their Christian faith.
Forensic Faith
is an engaging, fresh look at what it means to be a Christian.
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Men's Basketball
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Are you ready for some basketball? The men of the church will meet on Saturday, June 2, at
6:00 p.m. in the FCN gym for some fun and fellowship. Bring a friend! Participants must be at least 14 years of age. Please contact Robert Hehn for more information.
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College and Career Life Group Summer Retreat
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Hello!
My name is Courtney Glidden and I am the Young Adult Ministry leader at Fort Worth First. I wanted to let you know about the
WTD Young Adult Retreat!! This will be an awesome opportunity, not only for us to come together and have fun, but to dive deeper into our spiritual journeys.
Here are the details:
Who: 18-30 year olds
When: August 10-12, 2018
Where: Camp Arrowhead
Speaker: Jeremiah Bolich
Cost: $140
The cost includes:
meals (dinner Friday, breakfast/lunch/dinner Saturday, and breakfast Sunday)
lodging
activities (tubing the river may cost extra)
We are working to have registration up soon, but I wanted to let everyone know ahead of time - that way you can get your church excited, as well as fund-raise.
When registration is up, we are asking that you
register as a church
- not individually.
If individuals are not going as a church or do not have a leader, then registering individually is fine. I will let you know when registration begins!
We hope that you will join us! If you have any question, please don't hesitate to contact me. You can email me or text/call:
817.899.5412
Courtney Glidden
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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"
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. |
| June Birthdays & Anniversaries |
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Birthdays
5 Dennis McDonald
7 Luverne Wadley
John Chappell
13 Jeri Spiker
15 Carroll Burks
Peggy Santana
Nate Seigman
16 Rita Billings
22 Lona Mae O'Neal
25 Luke Turnbow
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Anniversaries
4 Jesse & Lanaee Brooks
17 Ben & Beverly McAnally
20 David & Kathy Kessell
29 John & Julie Knowles
30 Bernie & Carol Hehn
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