This Week at First Pres!
February 28 thru March 6, 2021
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Five Lenten Reminders from James
This week’s eNewsletter feature
was written by Rev. Raymond Hylton,
FPCE senior pastor.
Greetings!
Lent is a gift to the church. To each and every one of us.
More than any other time of the year, devout followers of Jesus think about our being low to the ground, attending to the voice of God speaking into their lives, and stripping away the false self that is barely propped up by worldly performance.
Open that gift. And, in doing so, I invite you to open your heart to this special gift of this season, and therein encounter the One who is always there — but hidden from our eyes because of busyness, stress, the call of false gods.
Early this week, I spent time meditating on James 1, and I wasn’t disappointed by that time I spent with God. So I offer you these five reminders from James as touchstones for our journey through Lent:
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Annual Meeting summary and video available. Find the info below.
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Lenten Sunday School class for families continues Sunday. Details can be found below.
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Our Missions Adult Education Sunday School class continues this week. See more below.
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Bible and New Testament reading plans are available. Scroll down to find the links!
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NEW small group book study on organic outreach begins March 9! Look for details below.
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Missed the Annual Meeting?
Highlights:
- In-person, limited-attendance worship services will be held on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday More details to come
- The Sanctuary will be undergoing improvements including:
- Lightbulb replacement (a daunting task with the high ceilings)
- Floor refinishing
- Carpet replacement
- The 2021 budget was presented
- New at-large Nominating Committee members were approved
- Pastoral personnel compensation updates were approved
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Prayer Companions available Sunday!
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A brief Zoom fellowship time and
Adult Education class after Sunday's online service!
A Fellowship Time will take place on Zoom this Sunday, right after our online service ends. Following this time, we will transition to our Mission Adult Education Class hosted by Mission Council.
The Zoom Meeting ID is 478 195 199 and the password is 207174.
You can call in at 312-626-6799 and use the ID and password to get in, too.
The Zoom link for this class will also be made available at the end of the service in the chat and on the FPCE website, too. All are welcome each week!
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Join us for an all-ages, family-based Lenten Sunday school class continues Sunday.
(The class will run throughout Lent.)
We are exploring the meaning of Lent as we travel through these 40 days together. This interactive class will be from 11:15 am-Noon on Zoom following the worship service.
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Our new Zoom small group book study is starting March 9!
Organic Outreach for Ordinary People
This book is about helping people to learn simple and natural ways to build relationships with people who don’t yet know God, and how to have natural spiritual conversations with them in a way that is comfortable for both you and them. There are 13 chapters in this book, and the study will consist of watching one of the DVD lessons and then discussing the reflection questions at the end of each chapter. To sign-up, contact Barb Smith at barbsmith45@rcn.com.
This group will begin meeting on Tuesday, March 9, running 7-8 pm. Those who reach out to Barb Smith will be sent the Zoom link for the meeting.
The book is not provided. You can order the book or learn more about it here on Amazon. Please read Chapter 1 before the first meeting.
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Mission Prayer
Pray this week for Kathleen Johnson with SIM. She is living in Buffalo, NY and unfortunately her furnace gave out last week. With the weather across the US being intense, including NY, repair times are delayed, and it may be till the end of the week. Pray for her as she works to remain warm and safe over this week. Huge praise that she is finally getting her first vaccine dose Thursday after delays last week because of weather. Kathleen also requests prayer that all of her tutors will be able to get a vaccine before summer so that their tutoring program will be able to move forward in safety.
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No clothes donations being accepted
We are not accepting donations for the Deacons Clothes Closet at this time. Donations left at FPCE (other than new face masks), will be discarded. CLICK HERE for alternative giving locations!
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Nourish Women's group meets at 10 am Thursdays on Zoom
Nourish, a women's fellowship, meets this winter on Thursdays at 10 am via Zoom. Please join our weekly virtual gatherings for a study discussion of the Gospel of John, sharing, and prayer. Women of all ages are invited! Contact Sally Ivaska at sallyivaska1@gmail.com for the Zoom link. |
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Men's Breakfast on Zoom
The Men's Breakfast group continues to meet weekly on Saturday mornings from 8-9 am via Zoom for scripture, prayer and speakers (but BYO Breakfast). Please join us!
Feb. 27 – Gary Burge, former FPCE member and current Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Faculty at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids will be speaking as we continue our video lecture series, "The New Testament in Antiquity". Gary skillfully teaches about the land, history, and culture of the first-century world, and issues of interpretation derived from cultural observations, thereby providing us with new insights into the New Testament. This week Gary will be speaking on "The Gospel According to Mark". Women are welcome to join us for this special series.
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Parish Nurse Book Club meets online March 30
Next book club meeting is Tuesday, March 30, from 1:30 pm-3 pm. We will be reading Ordinary Grace. From New York Times bestselling author William Kent Krueger, a brilliant new novel about a young man, a small town, and murder in the summer of 1961.
Quote from the book: “That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word."
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READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE OR NEW TESTAMENT IN A YEAR!
Recently, Pastor Ray Hylton has received many requests for Bible reading plans. Here are two he recommends:
or
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This year's event takes place March 5-7!
Sign up now to support this annual event.
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2021
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Summary notes from the January Session Meeting are available here.
The most recent summary of the Chicago Presbytery Meeting is available here.
Paper copies are also available in our literature racks.
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1427 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
847-864-1472
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