This Week at FCCLW 5/14/17

Published: Thu, 05/11/17

May 14, 2017

Heart of the Matter - Hearts Overflowing

The early church sought ways to daily live and remember the power of Jesus’ ministry and his resurrection. In this week’s focus scripture, we read of how the church inspired devotion to prayer, fellowship, breaking bread, sharing with one another, and learning more about “The Way.” Their practices have become ours as the church of today. Our communities of faith are connected.

This week, share by giving away clothing you don’t need in your wardrobe this season, volunteering your time and gifts to your parish or another community ministry with the poor, or making a donation (or extra gift) to your parish or organization that is helping people in need.

You can watch the sermon here

May 14 No Trouble in My Heart
May 21 Kept In Our Hearts
May 28 Open the Eyes of My Heart – Ascension Sunday
June 4 The Heart of the Matter – Pentecost Sunday

Florida UCC Women This weekend, Grace Lipman, Bobbie Marsh, Carolyn Ludwig, and Ginny Somerville attended the annual gathering of the Florida UCC Women. Our own Grace Lipman was awarded lay woman of the year. Our church received recognition for participating in the Reading for Renewal program. In addition, Carolyn Ludwig joined the state board. Earth Weekend Movies During Earth Day weekend two weeks ago, Carol Lewis hosted viewing of two films related to the environment, Racing Extinction and Merchants of Doubt. You can see more about the movies and suggested action steps on our website. On Our Way We began meeting on 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 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. Church Night Out On Friday Night May 19, we will be going to Green Cay Nature Center and then Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. You can check out the details on our website. 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! 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. 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.		Mother's Day Celebrate Mother's Day on May 14th in church as children and mothers participate in various parts of the service. Next Beers and Hymns On June 9, we will be holding our next Beers and Hymns at Aioli's Restaurant. Stay tuned for more information. CROS Ministries In May we will be collecting peanut butter and jelly for CROS Ministries. Thank You! Thank to everyone who came to church early this Sunday and slung mulch and cleaned windows. The campus looks great. Special thanks to Barry Nicholson who organized everything for us. And thank you to everyone who donated books for the Little Free Libraries. Your donations, along with a new stream of used children's books from the school board, means that we will have children's books for a long time for the young readers of Lake Worth. Scholarships Applications are now being accepted for scholarships for First Congregational Church college students. Applications can be picked up in the office or downloaded from our website. Applications are due by May 28th with interviews to be scheduled in June. Grief & Bereavement When a loved one dies, we are never fully prepared. Grieving is part of what it means to be human, part of the price of loving another. There are many resources available for those that are experiencing grief. Pastor Jason facilitates a bereavement group at Midcounty Senior Center on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 9:30 AM. On Being recently aired a program with Sheryl Sandberg, who experienced the death of her 47 year old husband, and Adam Grant, a psychologist. It was an excellent conversation about resilience after loss. You can listen to the broadcast here. Why Did We Switch Coffee? Pastor Jason explains why we are using different coffee and cups here. Hint: It's about answering the call to practice faith, mercy, and justice in community. 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!