This Week at FCCLW 4/16/17

Published: Thu, 04/13/17

April 16, 2017

Heart of the Matter

Join us Sunday, April 16th as together we celebrate Easter and begin a new series, The Heart of the Matter. There will be an Easter egg hunt for the kids after the worship service.

The life and death of Jesus had one strong message that was both overt and inherent: love one another. The heart of the matter was love. Ziggy Marley sings, “Love is my religion…with you I share the gift, the gift we now know.” Time and again we hear Jesus offer the disciples a post-resurrection message of empowerment to give to the world what he had given to them. This Easter we will encourage one another to truly live out the heart of the matter.

April 16 Love is My Religion - Easter
April 23 With Glad Hearts
April 30 Straight From the Heart
May 7 Hearts Overflowing
May 14 No Trouble in My Heart
May 21 Kept In Our Hearts
May 28 Open the Eyes of My Heart – Ascension Sunday
June 4th The Heart of the Matter – Pentecost Sunday

Maundy Thursday Tonight On Our Way Join us beginning May 3 at 6:30 PM in the parlor for a mini-group, On Our Way: Practices for Abundant Life. Together we explore some ways we might “answer the call to practice faith, mercy, and justice in community.” We will hear from different teachers by video and engage in conversation and worship around a weekly theme of faith, mercy, or justice: May 3 Living in the Presence of God May 10 Friendship & Intimacy May 17 Discerning God’s Call May 24 Honoring the Body The book of the same title will be available for purchase although it will not be necessary to read it for the class. New Members' Orientation Join us on Sunday, May 7, from 12:00 until 1:30 PM to learn more about First Congregational United Church of Christ and what it means to be a part of a faith community that is "answering the call to practice faith, mercy, and justice in community." Attendance does not obligate you to you to join, but those that would like to will be received into membership on Sunday May 14. Earth Weekend Activities On Friday, April 21, the film Racing Extinction will be shown in the parlor. Bring a favorite dish to share for the 6:30 PM potluck. The movie will be shown at 7:00 PM. Utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, Oscar®-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a team of artists and activists intent on showing the world never-before-seen images that expose issues of endangered species and mass extinction. On Sunday, April 23, after worship, the movie Merchants of Doubt will be shown. Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, silver- tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. Passion Amidst the Palms At the end of Lent we journey with Jesus through his final days and hours on Earth. But even in their final moments together, the disciples abandon Jesus – betraying him, falling asleep, denying they know him – and he is left alone to face his execution. We can identify with the disciples’ fear and understand the great betrayal Jesus felt because we can point to times in our own lives when it seems we’re all alone and forgotten. But we must remember that God’s love endures and God is with us – with Jesus – even during the hardest moments of our lives. This week, spend time reading and re-reading Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his Passion (the focus scriptures above). As you read, write down some of the moments from your own life when you are like the characters in the story (Jesus, Pilate, Judas, Peter, the angry crowd, the soldiers, and so on). You can watch the sermon here. Nehemiah Report On Monday night, April 3rd, 103 of us gathered with 2,300 others from across Palm Beach County to hold our public officials responsible to engager solutions around the areas of homelessness, identification for undocumented immigrants and homelessness. You can read the Palm Beach Post's account of the evening here. While four of the five commissioners present (out of seven commissioners total) agreed to appoint a county administrator for homelessness and task that person with the creation of 300 beds a year, only two of the five commissioners present agreed to fund a community id program for $75,000 a year. Obviously, there is more work to be done, but 2400 people of faith made a bold statement that "We are PEACE, we are neighbors!" Thank you for attending and inviting your friends - we turned out 120% of our average worship attendance! 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!		Thank You Special thanks to our children for singing in worship on Palm Sunday. And thank you Heidi DaCunha and Meredith Button for leading them! Children's Book Drive You have probably noticed that there are now dozens of Little Free Libraries across the City of Lake Worth – including right here at First Congregational. While the libraries contain books for all ages, we want to make sure they are all stocked with plenty of children’s books so that no child in Lake Worth is ever more than a few hundred yards from a book to read – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We want to help fill the libraries by collecting children’s books here at the church. Do you have children’s books at your home that you would be willing donate? Would you be willing to purchase a couple on your next trip to the bookstore? Bring them here to the church and we will make sure they are dispersed throughout the city! Church Clean Up On April 30th we will have a church - wide cleaning. Come dressed to work and have fun. More details TBA during the service. Mat Making Report Sunday, April 9th, after worship 16 ladies gathered to learn how to crotchet sleeping mats for the homeless from plastic grocery bags. What began as simply a collection project for another church turned into a full-blown creation project as many expressed interest in learning how to do it. Everyone finally had to be kicked out at 2:00 in the afternoon, but another workshop will be held soon! Renewal Book Club The book selected for the April 18 meeting is Balm: a Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Please join us in the parlor at 6:30 PM. All are welcome. Hospitality Team We are always looking for a few additional greeters. As frequently/infrequently as you'd Iike. Contact Cathy Austen. Now seeking a few additional greeters for Easter 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.