This Week at FCCLW 2/19/17

Published: Thu, 02/16/17

February 19, 2017

Nehemiah Action

On Monday, April 3rd at 7:00 PM we will gather with 3,000 people of faith from 22 other churches all over Palm Beach County to hold our public officials responsible for the problem of homelessness in our county.

Our goal this year is to turn out 90 people (our average worship attendance). You should be invited by one of our Justice Ministry Network Members. If you need a ride, we will be car pooling from the church.

We are looking forward to doing justice together!

Beer and Hymns You are invited to join us on Friday evening, February 24th, from 6:30 to 8:30, we will gather for our third Beer & Hymns. What is Beer & Hymns? It is, simply, an opportunity to be together, enjoy some good drink and good food, and sing some favorite hymns together! Aioli Restaurant will host us and will have beer, wine, soft drinks, and specially prepared dishes for purchase. This is a great opportunity to support a family-owned local business. It is also a great opportunity to invite your friends, neighbors, and family who might not want to come to a church service to experience the warm First Congregational family. We look forward to being together with you! Five Wishes Presentation On Sunday March 5th after worship, Pastor Jason will be facilitating an information session on end of life issues and the tool, The Five Wishes. Lunch will be provided. Gleaning Mark your calendars for a Family Gleaning Day on March 18th. See our website for more information. Book Discussion Group Richmond Schmidt will be leading a three-week discussion group on the book *Three Days in Damascus* by Kim Schultz. While traveling to Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to interview Iraqi refugees and hear their stories, Kim never expected to fall in love. But that is exactly what happened. This book is the story of an American woman and an Iraqi man set against the backdrop of the Iraqi refugee crisis and the brewing Syrian civil war. The group will begin on Sunday February 12th and will be held for three weeks at 9:30 in the parlor. The author herself will join us at our last session on Sunday, February 26th. Heart Felt God wants us to be reconciled to one another and to have integrity in our relationships. In today’s focus scripture, Jesus shows us how we can live closer to God’s ways and truly love one another. He gives us the examples of coming to terms with our anger with another, being principled in our relationships, and being true to our oaths and promises to one another. These matters of the heart – and matters of the spirit – turn us inward to seek the meaning of not only who, but whose we are. You can watch the sermon here. This week, reach out to a friend or family member with whom you’ve had a disagreement or with whom you’re angry right now. Reconcile and let love guide your conversations. Facebook Live As much as we love gathering together on Sunday mornings, there are times when we are out of town or otherwise unable to be there in person. You can now watch our worship service live on Facebook right on your computer, tablet, or smart phone. At 10:30 on Sunday just head over to our Facebook page and join us!		Youth Outing On Saturday, February 18th, our kids will be going to Gumbo Limbo nature center and park. We will meet at the church at 10:00 AM. Bring a sack lunch. See Marilyn Stone if you would be able to drive. Memorial Stones This Sunday, we will place memorial stones in the garden for Miriam McIlvaine and Cliff Rowe following our worship service. Collecting Bags Vickie Grimes' church in Atlanta, Virginia Highlands, has begun a new ministry of crocheting sleeping mats for the homeless out of plastic grocery bags. Each mat takes many many bags so we are going to send some up to help. You can bring your Winn Dixie, Target, Public, Walmart plastic bags to church and we will send them up to Virginia Highlands. If you would be interested in starting a ministry like this here, see Vickie. Online Giving Have you explored the opportunity of electronic giving? You can choose to have a set amount taken from your bank account on a regular basis or you can make a one (or more) time gift by checking account or credit card on our website. Your regular electronic giving means that your gift is available for ministry even when you are away (or forgot your checkbook!). Thank you for your continued support of the ministry of First Congregational Church! Hey, Thanks! You're sharing this newsletter with your friends! More people read (or at least opened) our newsletter than we send out. If there is something here that interests you, it may interest someone else. If a friend sent this to you and you would like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe on our website. Facebook First, go to our page and "Like" us. However, just liking us does not mean that you will see everything we post. Each of our Facebook posts only goes to about 2% of the people who like our page. To make sure you see everything, after you like us, go to the pull-down menu on the "Like" button and click "Get Notifications." This way everything that we post will show up on your own Facebook wall. If you are on Facebook, you can keep up with what is happening "between Sundays" on our Facebook page.