THIS SUNDAY September 9, 2021

THE SECRET OF PROTECTION   Holy Communion will be celebrated.  Ephesians 6:10-20   The armor of God protects us from our enemies …and ourselves.

8:30 am Roebuck Chapel

In Person Rev. Bud Reeves Communion Solo “The Meditations of My Heart” Gaye Mings, Soloist  Participants Gaye Mings, Soloist Nancy W. Vernon, Organist

9:00 am Connexion

In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube Rev. Bud Reeves “The Lion and the Lamb” “Stand In Your Love” “Psalm 34” (Taste and See) “Surrounded” (Fight My Battles)

11:10 am Sanctuary

In Person, Facebook Live, YouTube, and FM 103.5 Rev. Bud Reeves Anthem “The Armor of God” Communion Anthem “The Meditations of My Heart”   Participants Keely Sattazahn, Gaye Mings, Jordan Brown, Jordan Smith, Soloists Nancy W. Vernon, Organist

WEEKLY CALENDAR

Sunday, September 5 8:30 am Chapel Service 9:00 am Connexion Worship, In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube 10:10 am Sunday Small Groups 11:10 am Sanctuary Worship, In Person, Facebook Live, YouTube & FM 103.5 Monday, September 6 Church offices closed Wednesday, September 8 10:00 am Casserole Group, Aldersgate 5:30 pm Evening Prayer, In Person and Facebook Live 6:00 pm Wednesday Night Life, Family Life Center - Great Hall Thursday, September 9 10:00 am Knitters & Knotters, Fireside Room 12:00 pm Modern Widows Club, Fireside Room 7:00 pm Young Adult Ministry

In Our Prayers

Loss of loved ones and friends: Mack Dyer - family and friends.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

This has been the summer of displacement at the Reeves house. On May 25, three big oak trees came crashing down in our yard, one of them into our living room. We are thankful there were no injuries, just destruction of property, which is repairable. But waiting on contractors to get free, and with the challenge of getting materials to repair the damage, the project has stretched on all summer. We were blessed to have a church member offer us her house while she was away, but now we have had to move into a second temporary home because our benefactor is returning, and we still can’t live in our house. In addition, Carey has begun a new full-time teaching position at Northside High School, putting a high demand on her time and energy. It has been a rather unsettled season.

We’re kind of that way at the church right now as well. The surge of the Delta variant has forced us to pivot once again and scuttled some really cool plans we had for the fall. Every day we are monitoring the landscape and trying to make good decisions about what to do and what not to do. We are also trying to plan for the possible outcomes that might be needed from our worship survey, including changes in schedule and needs for different logistics as we present our worship both in person and online. (Look at the updates in this newsletter.)

However, with all the unsettled life things going on right now, it is good to know that there are many things that are settled. The foundations have not shifted. Carey, Abby, and I are fine and healthy. Work is progressing on the house. We are pursuing plans for vital ministry at the church. God is with us, and God’s grace and strength will sustain us. I am having to learn a new spiritual gift of patience, which has not been my strength heretofore.

All will be well. Pray for our church, our nation, and our world. Participate as much as you feel you can in our activities in person or online. Continue your support. God will bring us through this unsettled season, and when it is past, the ones left standing will be the ones who have stood on the Eternal Rock. Have faith. Be blessed.

TRUSTEES CONSIDER COVID POLICY

Our Board of Trustees at the church are charged with the oversight of our safety protocols with regard to COVID-19. They have had several extra meetings to discuss our policy--Is it safe enough? Yet does it allow enough freedom for ministry to take place? Meeting on August 22, the Trustees decided to retain our current policy. The highlights of this policy are: Masks will be required of everyone inside the buildings on campus, regardless of vaccination status. The exceptions to this rule are infants and toddlers and those leading worship or a large group activity. Food service will be conducted safely by limiting servers, pre-packaging food, and practicing social distancing. Masks may be removed while eating or drinking, then replaced. Check-ins for events will continue to be required for possible contact tracing. We ask all our church family to abide by these guidelines. We also recommend that everyone who is eligible receive the vaccination. This is how we follow Wesley’s rule to “Do no harm” and the commandment of Jesus to “Love your neighbor.”

Full copy of the policy here

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6 Questions To Ask Yourself When Pursuing Your Dreams

Currently I am wrapping up the small group study entitled “Serving From the Heart”. We have spent the last several weeks discovering our spiritual gifts and how to apply them. The study centers on the acronym S.T.R.I.D.E. S. Spiritual Gifts T. Talent R. Resources I. Individuality D. Dreams: Where is that you would like to make a difference? E. Experiences

I was really struck by the lesson on dreams. We all have dreams, a passion and a purpose. As a life coach, I love this topic! So here are 6 questions to ask yourself when pursuing your dreams! Write down your goals and use these questions to speed up delivery of your dream.

1. What's your highest priority in this lifetime?

What's most important for you to experience, explore or embrace this time around? Until you answer this question, your life goals will be off purpose. Unaligned with your inner passion, your intentions will lack the power to attract the people and situations necessary to become a reality. Get clued into your true joy. What activities did you enjoy as a child? What are your hobbies now? When your goals are aligned with your soul, synchronicity kicks in to guide you to your target.

2. Is this your dream, or someone else's?

Are your goals your own choice, or what others think you should strive for? Do you want to look back in your old age and wish you had followed your passion? Will you regret having "played it safe? Is it selfish to go after your own dream? What joy can you give to others if you haven't given it to yourself first?

3. Are you settling for less than?

Are you resigned to accepting less than your full share of love, health and success this lifetime? Have you compromised and sacrificed your dream Anything short of living your true passions will never make you happy.

4. What will you feel like when you reach your dream?

Personal passion fuels a vision. Dive into the thrill and exhilaration of the feeling of living your dream. It has been said, "Where your creative attention flows, so flows your life."

5. What steps can you take today toward your dream?

Don't defer your dream. Set up supports and systems around you to instantly translate your intentions into action. Jump on every opportunity that is in line with your purpose and vision. Are there smaller projects that lead to your larger dream? If the dream is to run a marathon, train for a local fun-run first. And find a way to measure your progress. Track those little wins-by writing in a journal or telling a friend.

6. Are you telling yourself: "I can't have my dream?"

Most people don't believe they can live their dream. Either their belief system has them believing they can't make a living doing what they love, or they feel they don't deserve their dream. To avoid the pain of feeling they can't have their dream, people often keep their dream so buried they can't remember they ever had a dream.

Everyone has a dream that God has planted in you…and it’s just waiting to become a reality!

An eight week journey through the Lord’s Prayer Offered both in-person and through Zoom Led by Rev. DeeDee Autry Mondays @6:00pm through Zoom - Sept 13th - Nov 8th Weds @6:30pm in-person - Sept 15th - Nov 10th How to Pray: a simple guide for normal people books are available in the church office for $15 prayercourse.org

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GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES

According to Barna Research, nearly half of young Christian adults don’t think Jesus’ mandate to “go and make disciples” applies to them. This marks a shift in the church’s understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. With this in mind, it will be important for parents and church leaders to consider the ways that we talk about faith, missions, and evangelism to young people. Where do we begin?

In our modern, increasingly unchurched cultural context, there are great barriers to leading others into a life-giving relationship with Jesus. To start, Christians hold stereotypes (that are often true) of being judgmental, preachy, offensive, and politically weird. If this is the way of Christians in our culture, we should not expect many people to sign up to join our ranks. Aside from the stereotypes towards people of faith, spirituality looks much different than it did even twenty years ago. Self-discovery, personal truth, and new age spirituality have become the popular religions of our time. It is important for the church to understand that the old methods of evangelism (stadium revivals, seeker sensitivity, street evangelism) will likely not be able to meet the new challenges we face today. Young people must grasp new methods of evangelism that break through people’s barriers to faith.

I believe that friendship is the way of evangelism today. Just as Christ came from heaven to be near to the lost, so we should also seek to make company with those who have not yet known the love of God. For Young Christians, there is a great opportunity to be the first Christian that someone has liked. When the new life of Christ radiates love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and temperance from a believer, the negative stereotypes of Christians crumble. What people had once assumed Christians to be like is no longer the case. This is a good first step in removing the barriers to faith, but it can only go so far. Young Christians will need help. This is where the church comes in.

If you’ve attended in-person worship over the past several months, you have probably noticed a steady stream of young adults. Some of these young adults were back home visiting for the summer. Others were new faces visiting for the first time. Just as with all people who step into our church, it is important for us to consider whether or not we have received our visitors with the warm love, hospitality, and generosity of Christ. I pray that we have done so, because we have a great reason to be confident. Since the Holy Spirit lives within our community, we have something special to offer that cannot be found in all other worldly pursuits. We are the salt and the light of the world. We are the aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:15-17). May we, together as a church, follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit to welcome all who are hungry for the Bread of Life and thirsty for Living Water!

If you would like to join in our mission to reach the next generation of believers, I’d like to invite you to do so by taking part in any of the one (or several) actions steps below: Bring food to our teens at FIRST YOUTH. Contact Michael at 479-221-8888 to be added to the Fall 2021 meal rotation list! Invite your teen and their friends to join our Wednesday Night Life group! Volunteer on Sunday evenings with FIRST YOUTH!

The Pilgrimage is a faith-based community and discipleship group with FIRST YOUTH at Fort Smith First United Methodist Church. We welcome all 9th-12th graders, as well as their parents, to join us on this journey. Together, we will be challenged to go deeper into our faith as we read through the Bible and discover the great joys of following Jesus. Pilgrims will meet in person on Wednesday evenings to walk through our weekly readings alongside one another. Weekly readings will follow the youth Disciple study, which will guide us through about 80% of the Bible. The Pilgrimage will meet from Sept 15, 2021- May 11, 2022. This is sure to be a fruitful, life-changing experience for all who join the journey!

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Back to school time makes me happy

The smell of new school supplies, the excitement of starting something new…it was one of my favorite times of year. As I’ve gotten older, that hasn’t really changed. I find myself wanting to start a new planner when back to school starts; I want to buy new pens and revamp my schedule. I crave the newness, the opportunity to refresh and sometimes restart.

That desire to refresh is what pushes me to get creative and really nail down plans for the rest of the year. To start dreaming about what next year holds. Let me tell you, I have done a lot of dreaming in the past weeks! I have planned! I have bought new pens! The refresh is in full swing!

When we, as a staff, were brainstorming about plans for the rest of the year I mentioned the idea for Bless Fest. I have a dear friend who did something similar at her church in Texas, and it was a great success. I knew that the need was there, there are always kids who don’t have school supplies or backpacks, and I wanted to help meet those needs. I started big, and quickly got overwhelmed. Bro. Bud reminded me that while it might not be my full vision just yet, it’s just the first year. We can always work towards something bigger. With that advice I moved forward. We were able to provide 95 kids with brand new backpacks and school supplies. The relief on parent’s faces, the smiles from the children as they picked their favorite color backpack. I knew we were truly blessing them, and all in the name of Jesus! What better way to spend a Saturday!

The following day we had Blessing of the Backpacks and Blessing of the Teachers. It’s something that the church has done for many years, and we can sometimes just see it as a box to check off. This year, I saw faces of appreciation. We may not know what this year holds but each student and teach can confidently know they have the church behind them, praying for them each day, and more importantly they each have God in front of them, guiding their every step.

Looking forward to September, we have many exciting things coming up. Wednesday Night Life is starting back up, and is it going to be a blast! We are going to be “on the farm” learning about the fruits of the spirit. We are going to be singing, playing games, hearing a Bible story, and making crafts. We have also pushed our Acolyte meeting back to September 12th directly following Classic service. If your kiddo is planning on acolyting they NEED to be there.

There are so many good and fun things to look forward to. I pray that as we start this new season that you allow yourself to “refresh” if you need it. Maybe that refresh looks like coming back to church and starting a new routine. I can guarantee you that you have been missed.

Click here to see the Darby Teacher Amazon Wish Lists

Come Join Us

It will be a great time to get the family back together for some laughter and fun. Everyone will receive one Bingo card, additional cards are available for $1 as a donation to our Feed the Fort Outreach. You can also sign up to be a Bingo caller. Who knows, there could be an opportunity to dust off your dance moves between games. You don't want to miss this awesome opportunity to be with your church family.

Wednesday Night Life Schedule

5:00 pm Children’s Choir/Handbells - Bayliss Hall 6:00 pm Kick Off - Great Hall 6:30 pm Classes Card Class - Aldersgate/Friends Class Room 105 New Testament Class—Room 201 Prayer Class - Room Room 301

Children’s Choir/Handbells   We will sing (with masks on) and ring our handchimes. Any child from 4 years through 5th grade may attend. Please let Nancy Vernon know if your child plans to attend!  Let’s make some joyful noise!!!!   (We are not able to send any vans to the schools this year. Also, refreshments will not be available.)

FUMC FOUNDATION AWARDS THIRD YEAR OF COMMUNITY GRANTS

The Board of Directors of the FUMC Foundation met August 26, and awarded grants to 18 deserving community organizations, including our own Child Enrichment Center. This year’s grants total $100,537. These ministries make a great impact for good in Fort Smith and further our mission of transforming the world through the love of Christ. 2021 grant recipients are:   Antioch Center for Youth and Families, for cleaning equipment in their food warehouse--$2,500. Child Enrichment Center, FUMC--operations and playground equipment--$30,000. Court Appointed Special Advocates, for training programs for volunteers who work with children in the foster care system--$2,860. Children’s Service League, for hygiene products for children in Fort Smith school system--$1,500. Community Clearinghouse, for backpack program which feeds 1,700 kids in 142 schools--$7,500. Community Rescue Mission, for equipment and furnishings as they expand their ministry to families--$7,500. Good Samaritan Clinic, for safety and sanitation projects--$7,877. Gregory Kistler Center, for heater in therapeutic pool--$2,000. Hope Campus, for one month utilities for homeless ministries--$4,500. Interfaith Community Preschool, for scholarships for pre-school--$4,000. Methodist Village, for air purification system in assisted living--$5,000. Next Step, for housing program for homeless people--$4,000. Reynolds Cancer Support House, for support services--$2,500. Ronald McDonald House, for Stock the Pantry project--$6,000. Salvation Army, for food ministry/Red Shield Diner--$3,000. Single Parent Scholarship Fund, for scholarships for four students--$4,800. Sleep In Heavenly Peace, for beds for children--$2,500. United Way, for Dolly Parton Imagination Library, giving free books to children--$2,500.   What a privilege to serve our community and those in need with the love of Christ! Anyone wanting to be a part of this life-changing and permanent ministry may contact Mrs. Patti Cox, executive director of the Foundation, through the church office or pcox@fsfumc.org.

WORSHIP SURVEY OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 3

The Worship Survey gathering feedback from the recent worship schedule changes is open until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 3. If you want to express your opinions, please fill out the form. The pastors, staff and church leaders will analyze the results and make recommendations for the best way to move forward. In the meantime, please continue to enjoy church online or in-person at 8:30, 9:00, or 11:10 on Sundays!

See Survey here

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We are so excited to be able to start our classes back! We will start by making a fall card for our members 80 and older. Each night, we will try to make about 90 handmade cards. As you can see from the picture below, this class is for all ages as well as both men and women. Creating cards and sending them out is another way that we are able to make connections and share the love of Christ with our members. For more information call the church office at 479-782-5068 or email goakes@fsfumc.org Sign up here

A BIG SHOUT OUT to everyone that donated school supplies for the Back to School Supply drive and to everyone who helped make it possible to feed the Darby Middle School Teachers as well as our very own First United Methodist Teachers.  They were all so appreciative of our support and love!

Thursday, September 9, 2021  12 Noon—Fireside Room in the Family Life Center, 301 North 16th Street, of First United Methodist Church  We will have stir fry chicken, rice and egg rolls. Our topic for the month of September is Smarter, Not Harder Pillar: Financial Health

Modern Widows Club website

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Access Amplify here NEW Access Code - KFJNPW

RECENT MEMORIALS

In Memory of: Peggy Udouj (Missions Fund) by  Henry and Melissa Udouj David & Leanne McClanahan Joel Gist (for WDS Scholarship Fund) by David & Leanne McClanahan Jerry & LouAnn Hunter FS FUMC Mary Circle Brian & Anne Gaines Gary & Julie Blodgett Phil & Kimberly White Gary & Tracy Keifer David & Jessica Nelson Richard & Jane Hinkle Fred & Melanie Seiter JP and Marsha Willis Troy & Suzanne Cowne Jerry & Jane Hartfield Deland & Sylvia Burks Randy & Jane Bittle Eugene & Teija Nelson Richard & Sherry Bracken Betty Ivey by Jerry & Jane Hartfield Janice & Bob Powell David & Leanne McClanahan Mary Kay Aclin Kelly & Marilyn Newton Charles & Jean Ledbetter Clay & Lynn Gilliland Robert & Nadine Miller Rena Kelton by Robert & Nadine Miller Tracy & Karlie Boshers by Robert & Nadine Miller Maye Fontaine by Robert & Nadine Miller Naomi Gregg (for Bell Choir) by Sandra Burks Danny Meadows by Fran Bateman In Honor of:  Mary Booth by Denise Weakley

FIRST UNITED METHODIST NEWS published weekly except the last week of the year by First United Methodist Church 200 North 15th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901.

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