December 1, 2020

First Connect

www.fbcokc.org 405- 232-4255

FBCOKC – A family of faith, growing in God’s love, striving to be faithful.

Hope. How do you define hope? If your child or grandchild asks you to explain to him or her what hope means to you, what would you say? Hope is a word sprinkled throughout the Old and New Testament. It is also a word used in everyday language by those who do not know God. Perhaps there is a difference in what we mean by hope and what the world means.

To the world, hope is a wish, to cherish or desire something with great expectations. Hope is to want something to happen or to be true. Hope is a powerful thing. It can give you strength to climb mountains and the lack of hope can drain the very life out of you. Hope is a risky thing when it is placed in something that is not constant, when it is placed in something that is not true and was never promised or guaranteed. For the believer, for the people of God, our hope is placed in God alone. We confidently expect and wait for God to fulfill his word.

Here is what hope looks like to me. We have this church member who is flawed and imperfect, just as I am. He is also so very real and authentic in how he seeks the Lord. His journey with God began here at this church years and years ago in the Good Shepherd Ministry. He came back home to our church a little under 2 years ago. He walked in these door ready to cling to his faith once more. Ready to walk in sobriety. Ready to be a part of this family. He buried his brother 8 months later, yet he kept showing up every single week. We received word early this year that he was in jail for violating his parole years before. While we grieved this news, here is what we saw. As he waited in jail, he felt God calling him. He doesn’t know what that means or what that will look like. So until he knows what that means, he and his cell mate are studying the Bible together. I got a letter from him last week, reminding me once more that God has a hold of his life. Friends I don’t quite know what to say about what that does in me. To see a man who has all the reason in the world to despair, yet he clings to hope. He clings to the God that has forgiven him and called him.

Oh that we would all find the courage to hope even in the darkest of times. As the days grow shorter and the darkness lingers longer, we can get turned around and forget that there is goodness all around. To be in the kingdom of God means to push back darkness. It means to remind our neighbor that our hope is not placed in earthly kings or princes, our hope is not placed where thieves can break in and steal and moths and rust destroy. Our hope is not fragile at all. Our hope is eternal, for our hope is in the God who came and is with us still.

Sarah

Covid Update

Dear Church Family,

What an incredible church family you are! Every day I am reminded of the blessing it is to be a part of this family of believers. I learn so much from watching the way you live out your faith and your calling to follow Christ. God is working in us right now to mold us and shape us into a vessel for him to use. We are the body of Christ, my friends. What a sacred and holy thing that it is. Over the last two weeks as we transitioned to worshiping online only, God has surprised me once more with his ability to bring light out of darkness, good out of bad, hope out of despair.

We have spent the last two weeks in prayer and listening to the counsel of many, many church members. We have heard reports from hospital administrators and healthcare workers on the front lines. The truth is, this is our moment. This is the time when the pandemic is hitting Oklahoma in a way we have yet to experience. Most of us have lost loved ones this year to the pandemic, far too many in recent days. It will not last forever. There is light at the end of this tunnel.

After much prayer and counsel, we have made the very difficult decision to remain online only through the end of the year. This brings a tremendous amount of grief to my heart as I know it does to many of you. In the end, it was clear this was the only loving and wise path for us to take as a church family. We intend to wait until after the Christmas traveling has settled and resume in-person worship the second Sunday of January.

Here is the good news. We are going to be creative and do everything we can to make Christmas special!

Advent Care Packages: W e have a special Advent Care Package for you to pick up this Saturday from 1-2pm in the church parking lot. Brad and I will be outside for you to Drive By to get your gift bags. They will include candles for the season, Advent devotionals, delicious bread made by our amazing FBCOKC chefs (Debbie Rankin and David Swenson). You are welcome to pick up an extra to drop off for other church members who perhaps cannot make it down to the church.

Christmas Carol Sing: Join us on Facebook Live in Wednesday, December 9 at 6pm, for a time to sing Christmas songs. We will take requests from you and all join in singing from around the city!

Worship Online: W e w ill w orship online together every Sunday through our w ebsite, app, and Facebook Live. Help us further our reach by sharing our services on your own social media page. People need hope this season.

Christmas Eve: W e w ill have a special Christm as Eve Service online at 6pm on December 24th. You will have candles in your care packages for the candle lighting part of the service. We have a special service planned.

Dream: We are dreaming and looking for ways to celebrate the coming of Christ our King! Join Brad on Tuesday mornings at 10am on Facebook live for Morning Prayer time. Join Sarah on Wednesday nights at 6pm for a midweek devotional. Look for special music from Steven McConnell and Don Clothier throughout this month.

Church family, you have been faithful throughout an incredible year. Thank you. Thank you for all the ways you have let your light shine for the world to see. Keep shining my friends. Please continue to give to support the mission and ministry of FBCOKC as we seek to further the Kingdom of God on earth. We will get through this together and I am convinced we will be amazed at all God does through this season. God is at work, my friends. I can feel it! I love you all and ask for your kindness as we struggle through this impossible decision as a church family. God is good, all the time. Blessings.

Pastor Sarah

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand? Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod? When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the lamb!

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven's perfect Lamb? That sleeping child you're holding is the great I am

Mary, did you know?

Mary Did you Know?

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY I miss the Peanuts Gang, Charlie Brown and Lucy and Snoopy – even Pig-Pen. Charles Schultz gave us good social commentary and good theology. Do you remember Lucy’s psychiatry booth?

“Psychiatric Help 5¢ - The Doctor is In.”

Charlie Brown came up: “Can you cure the blues?”

Lucy: “For five cents I can cure anything!”

Charlie Brown: “Can you cure the deep down, black, bottom of the well, end of the world, no hope forever blues?”

Lucy screams: “FOR A NICKEL!!”

We could all use some help right now. COVID fatigue has set in, leading either to some level of depression or some level of denial. Both are dangerous. Denial opens the way to getting infected or in-fecting someone else. Depression leads to anxiety and fear and mental dis-ease. Most of us experienced some of one or the other over Thanksgiving. Ours in Shawnee was no different. Sandy and I were alone, and while usually that’s OK – we are in good company when it’s just the two of us – Thanksgiving is different. Our typical Thanksgiving has 23 persons in our house, plus Sandy and me. This year we tried to get everyone in via Zoom. Not the same.

I’ve never tended toward depression or denial in times of trouble. At least I like to think that. But I have a better understanding now. Missing church has taken its toll. Missing family has hurt. Knowing Oklahoma set another record in COVID cases Friday was a reminder that it’s not getting any better. Knowing a vaccine is coming is encouraging. Knowing it will be months before it is available is discouraging. Today, Monday, two more members of my family tested positive. And you are dealing with this in your family.

I’m writing these thoughts sitting at my desk in a bedroom we converted into a library, study, office, when I retired; floor to ceiling book shelves on every wall but one. Right across from my desk, hanging at the end of a bookshelf not ten feet away, is a wooden plaque given me by a friend in 1975. It has been within eyesight of my desk ever since, whatever the address. Inscribed on the plaque is a prayer:

The prayer was written about 1933 by a pastor in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit had been hit hard by the Depression. The auto industry was shutting down. With 25% unemployment, there were food lines every day. Unemployed Ford workers organized what became known as the Ford Hunger March. Civil unrest was in the air. The economy had collapsed. A presidential election was in the headlines. And across the Atlantic Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, while across the Pacific Japan invaded Shanghai. Dachau was established as a concentration camp for Jews in 1932. Against this background, one Sunday morning in Detroit pastor Reinhold Niebuhr prayed

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The Courage to change the things I can,

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Mack, pastor emeritus

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

FBCOKC MINISTERS

Sarah Stewart, Pastor

Andrew Bowles, Minister of Students and Missions

Brad Stewart, Minister of Discipleship

Steven McConnell, Minister of Music

Don Clothier, Pianist

Ariel Koerner, Praise Leader

Jordan Browne, Children ’s Coordinator

Community Care Offering this Sunday. Please give to this ministry in order to care for the

community around us. You can give online by visiting fbcokc.org/give and clicking on

"CareForOKC" from the Fund dropdown menu.

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

A C H R I S T M A S D A Y T R A D I T I O N S I N C E 1 9 4 7 , T H E R E D A N D R E W S C H R I S T M A S D I N N E R I S

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Y E A R A T T H E C O X C O N V E N T I O N C E N T E R . D U E T O C O V I D 1 9 F O O D W I L L B E P R E P A R E D I N

T O G O C O N T A I N E R S . C U R B S I D E A N D W A L K U P D E L I V E R Y O N L Y - N O I N S I D E D I N I N G . T O Y S

W I L L B E G I V E N T O T H E C H I L D R E N W H E N Y O U R E C E I V E Y O U R F O O D .

LOCATION –HOST SITES

Due to COVID 19, the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner will be hosted at the following locations:

St. James Catholic School - 4201 S. McKinley - Christmas Day 1:00 PM-3:00 PM

Homeless Alliance - 1724 N W 4th -Christmas Eve - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Northeast Community Center - 3815 N. Kelley - Christmas Day - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

First Baptist Church Oklahoma City - 1201 N. Robinson- Christmas Day - 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

Dinner will be providing in to go boxes, no inside dining.

Plus, a gift for every child and a warm, free Christmas meal!

Church family, we have an incredible opportunity this year. The folks who run the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner have asked to use our church as one of the host sites for this year. It is a joy to use our church facility for kingdom work! The dining hall will be filled with donated toys that will be passed out during the drive thru on Christmas Day. Our professional kitchen will be used by volunteers to prepare meals for hundreds of families. This is a beautiful way for FBCOKC to be a part of loving our community and joining in with others to do this sacred work. We would love for you to let us know if you want to volunteer for a few hours to be a part of this special opportunity. You will sign up through the Red Andrews website listed below. There are hundreds of volunteers who sign up every year to be a part of the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner. They will provide most all the volunteers needed at our church, but we would love for some of you to volunteer as well. Thank you and help us spread the word!

To volunteer, please go to: https://redandrewsdinner.org/