Worship Each Week & Daily Prayer | |
Attending weekly gives you the opportunity to re-center your life,
give God honor and glory, and remember what is really important in life.
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Lenten Worship Series Begins Sunday, February 18 | |
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During the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday is February 14, and Easter is March 31), we will be exploring Adam Hamilton's book Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith. Each week we will explore these doubtful/faithful subjects:
- Suffering and the goodness of God.
- Is Christianity the one true religion?
- Is there really a heaven?
- Does God hear and answer our prayers?
- Can the Bible be trusted?
- Does God really exist?
- Does God really know and love me?
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Lent Begins: Wednesday, February 14 - Ash Wednesday Disciples Area Services Held | |
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For Ash Wednesday this year, Central Christian Church and the Christian Church of Illiopolis are hosting an area Disciples of Christ worship observances. Together there are two (2) opportunities for you to receive ashes:
12:00 p.m. Central Christian Church
7:00 p.m. Christian Church of Illiopolis
The noon-time option at Central will be briefer (approx. 25 minutes) and is meant for those who can get away for the lunch hour but not in the evening. The evening service will be a bit longer (but less than an hour) and is meant for those preoccupied during the day. Pastors Michael Karunas and Vicky Woolridge (of Central) along with Rev. Melissa Ebken (of Illiopolis) will lead both the noon day and evening services.
At both services, we will impose ashes (on the back of the hand or the forehead) for anyone who wishes to receive them. We will also have communion.
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This Week's Prayer Calendar
Congregations: First Christian Church Mt. Sterling, IL, New Bedford Christian Church, IL, First Christian Church Walnut, IL
Community: Decatur Public Schools Galloway, Nelson, and Clokey Park neighborhoods
Global Ministries: Sierra Leone
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Pray with Sierra Leone, February 11, 2024 - Global Ministries | Lectionary Selection: Mark 9:2-9 Prayers for Sierra Leone "MASTER, IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE..." Mark 9.5 We can get so engaged in our worship and enjoy the thrill of it. We feel the personal emotional encounter with the Lord ... Read more | | | |
Grow in Faith
through listening, paying attention, and reading 5 verses a day
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Take a class, as you make friends and grow to know what learning, loving, and serving God and neighbor means in everyday life. | |
Use Your Gifts by sharing five acts of love and kindness each week | |
Serve God and neighbor by using your gifts and talents both inside and outside the walls of the church. Each of us have spiritual gifts and natural abilities to use to serve others and glorify God. | | |
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Worship Assistance Needed
The worship service slides are prepared. Coffee is hot, and donuts are served. Pastor Jason greets you at the door.
What's wrong with this picture? These tasks are handled and cared by Pastor Jason's family members in a majority of the situations. Every Sunday.
Help with Door Greeting? Your duties would be to arrive at the church no later than 8:50 am. Greet those at the entrance. Remain at the door until 9:40 am (about the time for "All God's children section of worship) for late arrivals.
Help with Worship Slides? Arrive in the balcony about 5 minutes before worship (9:25). Advance slides appropriately. Additional duties will be checking livestream when up and running.
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Birthdays/Anniversaries
February 11 - 17
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Birthdays
14 - Charlotte Sutman
Wedding Anniversaries
None
Membership Anniversaries
(When you joined Prairie Avenue!)
13, 1972 - Barb (Sutman) Hodges
If you know of a birthday or anniversary that has gone "Missing" from our list, please contact the church office at 217-428-3327. Thanks.
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Give Regularly through five acts of generosity each month | |
Giving regularly not only supports the work of the church,
but also is your way of giving God priority in your life.
What we love is where we will spend first.
When we are able to give, it always deepens our faith
in loving and serving God.
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Thank You for your generosity! | |
DID YOU KNOW?: You can automate your giving through your bank/credit union/financial institution! Nearly all online bill pay services can provide your contribution by mail or ACH (Automated Clearing House) without fees. | |
February Outreach Project | |
Our February Collection will be household cleaning products for Dove, Inc. Homeward Bound clients. Homeward Bound serves homeless and at-risk homeless individuals to find and sustain housing. These products will assist individuals “move-in” to their new lives with home-welcoming supplies and equipment! | |
General Fund Supports Operations & Ministry | Donations given to the Prairie Avenue Christian Church General Fund support the year-round ministries of the church. Your generous support keeps our building, staff, and operations working for the mission of the church. The mission of Prairie... | | | |
Building Fund Supports Repair & Updates | Announced at the State of the Church address on June 30, 2015, the reFresh capital campaign has two improvement/update priorities: updating HVAC equipment and internet/network accessibility. | | | |
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Energy Audit Update
Our partnership with Faith in Place has connected us as a qualified congregation with Ameren! Last week we reviewed the Energy Audit results and have recently received contact information for program providers to provide estimates for further energy savings. Grants are also offered.
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Decatur Crisis Nursery Project Update
The next meeting of the Decatur Crisis Nursery working group will be Monday, February 26, 2024.
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For instructions in registering your Kroger Rewards Card, Click Here.
The Organization code for Prairie Avenue Christian Church is: BY235.
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Kroger Community Rewards Program News | |
$24.45 was raised by 14 households who have linked their Kroger customer reward cards to support Prairie Avenue Christian Church. The quarterly contribution is for shopping at Kroger from October to December 2023.
Joining to support the ministries of Prairie Avenue Christian Church is FREE. Any transactions moving forward using the Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Kroger donates annually to participating organizations based on your percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending associated with all participating Kroger Community Rewards organizations.
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Week of Compassion
Sunday, February 18 - 25
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GIFTS TO LIVE ON : hope & home in western Kentucky | For the past couple of years, when you would drive into Mayfield, KY from Paducah, KY and crest the hill to the north of town, the sight would take your breath away - a town flattened. Businesses,... | | | |
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In the early 1940s, as World War II created humanitarian crises around the globe, the International Convention (now the General Assembly) of the Christian Church made recommendations for multiple aid and relief projects. Partnering with ecumenical colleagues, the church designated a Day of compassion special offering. Soon after, the Wartime Service Fund was approved and churches designated a Week of Compassion, a focused time for prayer and giving to support the ongoing war response. Expanded to include humanitarian aid as well as disaster response and refugee resettlement, a new ministry took shape.
Week of Compassion is the relief, refugee, and sustainable development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. In 2024, Week of Compassion marks 80 years of a single mission: working with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world, with a vision of a world where God's people transform suffering into hope.
What started 80 years ago as a single offering for a single cause, has flourished into decades of relationships with trusted partners, engaged in the work of empowering communities to claim their own strength and impact. This is long-lasting and constantly evolving work - a transformation that takes time. As we do the long-term work of building relationships and true collaboration, we repeatedly discover the beauty and poetry that says new life is possible that the Spirit of God is real and lives right here among us.
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Share Your Faith by inviting 5 people to church this year | |
The God you worship is always revealed through your words and actions. Awkward conversations (i.e. "Are you saved?") are not necessary when your words and actions reveal the God you seek to learn, love, and serve. | |
The Spring Gathering: Ties that Bind April 13, 2024 | Online registration for The Spring Gathering: Ties that Bind April 13, 2024 starts on January 3rd 2024. Online registration ends March 22nd 2024. | | |
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2024 Coffee Connections for Disciples Women:
Domestic Violence: What We Can Do
| The first part of a two-part online presentation via Zoom on Saturday, February 17, 10 am - Noon. Online gathering begins at 9:30 am. Registration is FREE. Online registration ends February 12th 2024. | | | | | | |
