Adam Gosnel would like to volunteer for the summer with the youth, but needs a place to stay. He will be entering his sophomore year at Ouachita as a Biblical Language and Christian Studies with an emphasis in Theology double major. He is from El Dorado, AR and doesn’t have any local connections. He will be working a secular job somewhere in the community, while helping Stephen with the youth on Sunday and Wednesday nights. He will start working with Stephen at the beginning of June and needs a place to stay from then until school starts around Aug. 25. If you are interested in providing a place for Adam or knowing more about him, contact Stephen Chapman at schap4302@gmail.com or by phone at (479) 650-4754.
On 05.23.10, In Focus
On 05.23.10, In Focus
Our youth will be traveling to Shreveport, LA on July 11-16 to work at the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission for their summer mission trip this year. They will be doing a Vacation Bible School/Backyard Bible Club with little children in the afternoon and construction projects in the morning (anything from mowing and weed eating to building tables). For the trip, we would like to donate clothes and money to the mission. So, we need you (the church) to go through your closets and bring some old, clean clothes (please no holes or stains) that we can donate to the mission. If you would like to donate money, write out a check to the church with Shreveport Mission Trip in the memo line and put it in the offering boxes on your way out. If you would like to keep it anonymous, put your cash in an envelop and label it Shreveport Mission Trip. We also need supplies for the Vacation Bible School/Backyard Bible Club. You can contribute to the VBS by contacting Stephen Chapman. For more information on the trip or fundraisers, contact Stephen Chapman via e-mail at schap4302@gmail.com or by phone at (479) 650-4754. Thank you for your generosity and servant hearts!
On 05.21.10, In Focus
The fish fry will be this Sunday night at 6 pm at the Macmillans in the Richwoods community. To get to their house, go South on 67 out of Arkadelphia. After you pass the Industrial Park on your left, take a left on Richwoods Road. The address is 118 Richwoods Road and their house is the first one on the left. We will have a sign up sheet for food on Sunday morning.
sd
On 05.13.10, In Focus
Good afternoon FC,
The fish fry that had been planned for this Saturday night has been postponed. Pat and Ronnie think we will get rained out and that wouldn’t be much fun. We will announce the new time soon at our worship gathering.
We’re looking at the book of James this summer. Thanks to Michael for doing a superb job on the introduction. Life will go better if … The more you read James, the more you find its message showing up in everyday life. Funny how that works.
Persevere,
sd
On 04.03.10, In Focus
Good morning FC,
Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday! We will only have one service at 10:30 so come early for a good seat.
As the Apostle Paul seems to be saying, “No resurrection, no Christianity”:
If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it-if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ-sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection. If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries. (1 Cor. 15:14-20, The Message)
As we remember the first Passion Week, today would be the day Jesus was still in the grave. But Sunday is coming!
sd
On 03.29.10, In Focus
Fellowship is having three special services to celebrate Passion Week:
- Maundy Thursday (Commandment Thursday) – 7 pm @ worship center. Our worship will center around Jesus’ final night with his disciples in the upper room where he instituted the Lord’s Supper as part of the Passover celebration.
- Good Friday – 12 noon @ worship center. Jesus was on the cross from about noon until around 3 pm.
- Resurrection Sunday – come prepared to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.
Also, There is a Passion Week overview listed on a previous post as a guide for your personal devotions this week. Our faith isn’t just about an idea or a concept or a feeling or a belief; it rests upon what Jesus did in history, and at the center of what he did you will find the cross and resurrection. What happened during this week long ago represents the very heart of the Christian faith.
sd
On 03.27.10, In Focus
Good morning FC,
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Passion Week. I’ve attached a guide to the week that we will talk about tomorrow briefly. Here is a thought from Dorothy Sayers about how God participated in suffering.
“For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is–limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death–he had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.”
We will again have on service tomorrow and next Sunday (Resurrection Day) at 10:30. We will also have a brief Maundy Thursday service and Good Friday service at FC. These will be short but meaningful times of remembering what our Lord endured for us.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8).
Why does He love us so much?
sd
|
Walking with Jesus Through the Holy (Passion) Week |
|
|
Modern |
Event of the Holy Week |
| Friday | • Arrival in Bethany (John 12:1) |
| Saturday | • Evening celebration, Mary anoints Jesus (John 12:2 – 8; cf. Matt. 26:6 – 13) |
| Sunday | • Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1 – 11; Mark 11:1 – 10; John 12:12 – 18) |
| • Jesus surveys the temple area (Mark 11:11) | |
| • Return to Bethany (Matt. 21:17; Mark 11:11) | |
| Monday | • Cursing the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:18– 22; cf. Mark 11:12 – 14) |
| • Condemning the temple (Matt. 21:12 – 13; Mark 11:15 – 17) | |
| • Miracles and challenges in the temple (Matt. 21:14-16; Mark 1:18) | |
| • Return to Bethany (Mark 11:19) | |
| Tuesday | • Reaction to cursing the fig tree on the way back to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:20 – 22; Mark 11:20 – 21) |
| • Debates with religious leaders in Jerusalem and teaching in the temple (Matt. 21:23 – 23:39; Mark 11:27 – 12:44) | |
| • Olivet (Eschatological) Discourse on the Mount of Olives on the return to Bethany (Matt. 24:1 – 25:46; Mark 13:1-37) | |
| Wednesday | • “Silent Wednesday” — Jesus and disciples remain in Bethany for last time of fellowship |
| • Judas returns alone to Jerusalem to make arrangements for the betrayal (Matt. 26:14 – 16; Mark 14:10 – 11) | |
| Thursday | • Preparations for Passover (Matt. 26:17 – 19; Mark 14:12 – 16) |
| After sundown: | |
| • Passover meal and Last Supper (Matt. 26:20 – 35; Mark 14:17 – 26) | |
| • Upper Room discourses (John 13 – 17) | |
| • Prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36 – 46; Mark 14:32 – 42) | |
| Friday | Sometime perhaps after midnight: |
| • Betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:47 – 56; Mark 14:43 – 52) | |
| • Jewish trial — Jesus appears in three phases in front of: | |
| —Annas (John 18:13 – 24) | |
| —Caiaphas and partial Sanhedrin (Matt. 26:57 – 75; Mark 14:53 – 65) | |
| —Sanhedrin fully assembled (perhaps after sunrise) (Matt. 27:1 – 2; Mark 15:1) | |
| • Roman trial — Jesus appears in three phases before: | |
| —Pilate (Matt. 27:2 – 14; Mark 15:2 – 5) | |
| —Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6 – 12) | |
| —Pilate (Matt. 27:15 – 26; Mark 15:6 – 15) | |
| • Crucifixion (approx. 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.) (Matt. 27:27 – 66; Mark 15:16 – 39) | |
| Saturday | Jesus’ body in the tomb |
| Sunday | • Jesus’ Resurrection |
| • Resurrection witnesses (Matt. 28:1 – 8; Mark 16:1 – 8; Luke 24:1 – 12) | |
| • Resurrection appearances (Matt. 28:9 – 20; Luke 24:13 – 53; John 20 – 21) | |
On 03.13.10, In Focus
Good afternoon Fellowship Church,
Remember that tomorrow begins Daylight Savings Time so set your clocks forward tonight (sorry about losing the hour of sleep).
In worship tomorrow, Neal will teach more about what it means to trust God. Some of you have had answers to prayer recently. If you want to give a short testimony in worship, please let me know. Everyone is encouraged to see how God is working in the Body of Christ.
Also, tomorrow we will get to hear from Megan about her time overseas.
K-groups will meet this week and then take three weeks off (3-21 and 3-28 for spring break and 4-4 for Easter).
As we continue to move toward Resurrection Sunday in April, consider this prayer by the church leader Augustine (A.D. 354-430):
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.
sd
On 02.27.10, In Focus
Good morning Fellowship Church,
We will have a Connections Class this Sunday right after our second worship service. If anyone is interested in joining FC or finding out more about our vision and ministries, contact Scott Jackson about attending the class (jacksons@obu.edu).
Pray for the people of Chile and especially for believers in Chile. They had a massive earthquake this morning along with numerous aftershocks.
Thanks to Neal and the worship team for leading us in a powerful time of worship and teaching this past week. Now that we have considered who Jesus is and what he has done for us as well as what it means to follow him, we will focus this week on our new identity in Christ.
Someone told me this week, “everyone is just looking for someone to love and for someone to love them.” There is a lot of truth to that statement. Since knowing who we are in Christ has so much to do with these love relationships, we encourage you to …
- do the study for this week in Experiencing God’s Story (Becoming 6)
- come prepared to worship and hear Scott Jackson teach on this passage, and
- go to K-group where your community can help you live this part of the Story.
Enjoy the sunshine,
sd
On 02.15.10, In Focus
Many thanks to Philip Williamson for teaching for us yesterday. We will continue the rescue theme this week as Neal teaches on what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple.
There will be a Connections Class on Sunday, February 28th right after the second service. Please tell anyone interested in attending the class to contact Scott Jackson (jacksons@obu.edu).
This week begins Lent in the Christian tradition. Lent is a period of about forty days when believers prepare themselves to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We talked last night in our k-group about what “incarnational ministry” might look like. As God’s agents and representatives in this world, how should we enter the world of people who need to know the Lord in order to bring hope and life? Definitely something to pray about. How is the Spirit leading you and your k-group to carry out incarnational ministry?
-sd