This Week at FCCLW 2/26/17

Published: Thu, 02/23/17

February 26, 2017

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!

Ash Wednesday Service March 1st is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the season of Lent, the period of preparation leading up to Easter. You are invited to join us at 5:45 PM in the sanctuary for a brief service of scripture, song, prayer, communion, and the imposition of ashes as we begin this journey together. 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. Go Beyond Jesus shares his ideas about perfect love in this focus scripture – love at all times, in all circumstances. Love when we don’t feel like it, love when we face an enemy, love when we are being persecuted and oppressed, love when we’re tired of being asked. Jesus knows this kind of love because he lived this kind of love. And we are called to do the same. Jesus doesn’t say this will be easy and it definitely wasn’t easy for him, but with God’s help and assurance, we can live lives of more perfect love. This week, practice perfect love by saying, “Yes” anytime you’re asked to give (e.g., give food or money to any homeless person who asks for it, work the extra hour or take on the extra project at work when asked, give permission for your spouse or children to do something they want to do, give money to someone who needs to borrow it). Gleaning Mark your calendars for a Family Gleaning Day on March 18th. See our website for more information. 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! 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!		Brief Meeting after Worship Sunday, February 26 after worship, we will have a brief meeting to update the congregation regarding the research and investigation of the embezzlement of church funds that took place last year. 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.