For all things "Life at First Baptist" click here!
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What's Happening at FBC |
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Upcoming:
Ongoing:
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Editor's Note: If the full email does not display click "View Entire Message" and it will open in your browser to allow you to see all of the content in Life at First Baptist. |
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Slump Family - Debbie's brother, Jeff, will be laid to rest this week. Please pray for the family as they seek to honor his life and legacy, exalt Christ, and for peace and comfort.
Unrest - Pray for the amount of unrest we are seeing in our world today. Wars in the Middle East and riots and protests in our own country have certainly made things feel tense. Remember, Jesus is on His throne! |
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Download our Church App for prayer requests in real time at this link: https://tithely.app.link/fbc- |
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Update from the Elders |
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We know that there has been a few weeks since our last Family Meeting. At that meeting the church voted to put in a new Parking Lot on the west side of our property on the old baseball field. Shortly after the Elders asked for any work to be placed on pause for further discussion because we believe the vote was premature. The Elders had not had time to discuss before it was put forward for a vote. We do believe that a parking lot needs to happen but would like to discuss things further to put forward a larger vision for the church to consider that includes taking care of the parking needs. Due to Summer schedules with vacation travel we have scheduled our next meeting for Sunday, June 29th. We will have another update on the other side of that meeting. Thank you for your patience! |
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FBC Weston Women's Conference |
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The 2nd Annual FBC Weston Women's Conference was nothing but a success! Thank you to the many hands who helped to pull this year's conference off. Check out the recap video here! |
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Daytime Women's Bible Study |
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Several women from FBC are gathering on Wednesdays from 9:30-11:00 a.m. to study Esther. There is still time to join in! The study is guided by Kelly Minter. You can purchase a book by clicking here or here! Becky will have some on hand if you would rather pick one up at the church. Contact Becky Henkel for more details! |
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Consider the Lilies Book Study |
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The Sands' are hosting a new Book Study beginning June 21st. This study is open to anyone. Children are welcome! They can play with the other kiddos or sit in on the discussion. This will be a 14 week study on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Coffee is on me! Feel free to bring a dish to share for a light breakfast.
The study will take us deeper into consideration of the character of God and how that brings peace amidst our anxious hearts. This study is interactive and how much you give yourself to it is how much you will get out of it. Each week we will read a chapter and be given exercises to keep our minds working throughout the week, an opportunities to reflect on the principles, and ways to practice the principles we are learning. This portion of the study will help guide our discussion on Saturday mornings. Week 1 will be a time to overview the study, discuss the why behind it, and enjoy fellowship with one another. You can purchase the book below but will receive the workbook for the study at our first gathering.
You can sign up for the study by clicking here!
Purchase the book by clicking here! |
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Vacation Bible School |
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Dust off your boots and grab your bandanas—it’s time to get your tickets to Wonder Junction! As we look around the West, we see so many things to wonder at—lovely landscapes, created critters, and intriguing inventions. But none of these compares to the grandest wonder of all—our Savior Jesus Christ! Here at Wonder Junction, we know there’s no greater joy than to praise the name of the Lord all day long. But how can yer kids do that if they don’t know who Jesus is or what he’s done for them?
In this Western-themed VBS, kids will learn all about who this amazing Jesus is as we dig into questions such as: What amazing things happened surrounding Jesus’ birth? What was Jesus like as a child and teen? What wonders occurred during Jesus’ ministry years? How were Jesus’ death and resurrection like no other? What should we be doing as we wait for Jesus’ return?
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Pastor's Pen |
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Brothers & Sisters,
As I return from the Southern Baptist Convention I must admit that I do so with a heart full of joy and lament. We had a wonderful time in Dallas. In a very real way this served as an extension of our vacation. The convention allows for us to explore new cities that we would likely not visit. We gawked at really big buildings, explored around the city a bit, enjoyed some down time at our condo, ate some really good food, and the kids brought home more free swag than you can shake a stick at. We caught up with old friends, made some new ones, worshipped with 10,000 brothers and sisters, and did some business as a convention. Overall, the experience of the convention is always a good one. However, as much fun as we were able to have, I fear that it is lost on some that this time we come together once a year IS a very large business meeting. This is the part of me that laments. Work must be done!
It is no secret that Cooperative Program giving is significantly down. (Again, more detail on that in my report later!) Because of this so much of the convention felt a bit like a large sales pitch for CP. Nearly every report from the platform mentioned CP and celebrated the great work that was being accomplished. The convention sermon even highlighted and strongly encouraged Pastors to go back to their churches to lead them to giving more to CP. Being the 100 year anniversary of the program itself we took time out of the itinerary to intentionally celebrate CP. Don't get me wrong, I stand behind what I said yesterday. "We are baptist because of our doctrine. We are Southern Baptist because of the Cooperative Program." In the midst of a lot of unrest I jumped into the SBC primarily because of the good I saw and know CP can continue to do! Over the last 5 years I have come to love being a Southern Baptist. However, there is an irony that at least 60% of the Messengers saw. While the Cooperative Program was being celebrated and promoted the rest of the convention failed to see that the work not getting done is the cause of the downward trend in giving to CP as trust is surely being lost in leadership.
Two full days scheduled to convening in Dallas and I think it would be a stretch to say we devoted two full hours to three major convention transforming matters: Abolishing the ERLC, Amending the SBC Constitution, & Calling for 990 Financial Transparency. Why devote so little time to such large matters? Because "dealing with these matters may distract from mission of the Southern Baptist Convention." I put quotes around that because I am not the originator of that thought. The irony here is that by not dealing with these issues they're actually taking away from the mission of the Southern Baptist Convention as churches continue to leave and pull their money from the program that fuels it!
Do I have a point in all of this? Sure, I do. Admittedly, I'm still working this out in my mind, but if we're not careful we can fall into the same trap. We have moved to a place of health and growth over the last couple of years. For the church the temptation can be to maintain the status quo. After all, what we are doing (whatever that may be) is working! The temptation from leadership is to silence the voice of the congregation by distracting from the issues that may compromise our church and only celebrating the good. The temptation could be to under sell the issues and over sell the victories. Or over sell the issues and under sell the victories. The reality is that we need both! A Baptist distinctive is cooperation. The convention isn't divided over small issues of preference of matters of minor interpretive differences. These are large issues that can and will have serious ramifications for our convention of churches. We need leaders with bruised knees and steel spines who lead from a place of informed humility and members who see that, are willing to follow, and do their part in holding leaders accountable if they ever begin to veer off the path of Scripture.
Every time I am away for an extended period of time I always come back with so much gratitude in my heart for our church. We aren't perfect by any means but I'm thankful to be a part of this imperfect community God continues to build here.
I mean it when I say this; I love you all! |
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