May 5, 2020

First Connect

www.fbcokc.org 405- 232-4255

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

Church family, I pray for you each day. As we continue to navigate our way through this season, I pray God would be faithful to meet you each day. I pray you will be able to recognize the new mercies He provides each day. Every week I am inspired by your love and the creative ways you minister to the people in your lives. This year, the focus God put in my heart is for us to Love Our Neighbors. The many things I had planned

for this time of the year have been cancelled or postponed, but the vision God put in my heart is being lived out by you every day. The sermon from Sunday was the story of the Rich Young Ruler, though I never mentioned those words on Sunday. Mark doesn’t tell us he was young or a ruler, just that he walked away from Jesus because he had great wealth. It is interesting to me that Jesus quoted the commandments that are focused on how we treat our neighbors. His instructions to the man were to sell his possessions and give to the poor. Jesus was trying to turn his heart outward. He had been so focused on following all the rules and being a faithful Jew that he forgot to love his neighbor. When I was in high school I had a mentor named Paige. She was probably younger than I am now, though she seemed old to me at the time. I was restless and frustrated feeling like I was in a season of waiting. Nothing was happening how I wanted it or when I wanted it. She told me that when she is waiting on God, she finds it helpful to “wait” on others. She used the example of waiting on tables. She said when you can’t do anything to change your circumstances and you are just stuck waiting, look around and see if you are do something to serve someone else. That is great advice. She was inviting me to pull my focus off of my own frustrations and turn my gaze to my neighbor. That is my challenge this week for you and for me. In one way or another, we are all waiting for what comes next. Today, would you ask God to open your eyes to the needs right around you? Do you have an elderly neighbor who might need help getting their trash can to the curb? Do you have a friend with an auto-immune disease who needs groceries? This week, will you do one thing to serve someone else? You could eat take-out from a local restaurant and leave a big tip. You could buy some outdoor toys and leave them on your neighbor’s door step. You could simply call a few friends and tell them how important they are to you. You will have even better ideas than these, I am sure. Keep letting your light shine! You are furthering the kingdom of God a little more each day. Once again, I look forward to the day we can worship together in person. It is our hope to worship together in person at the beginning of June. We will keep finding creative ways to connect and encourage each other. Keep going friends. You are doing great. Sarah

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Stay Connected from a Distance

Even though we are all keeping our distance from one another, there’s still plenty of ways to stay connected to your church family!

We are posting a LOT of new content to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/firstbaptistokc). This is where Sarah will be delivering her sermons, we’ll have prayer times, interactive questions, and much more. The page is open to the public, so you don’t have to have a Facebook account to view the page.

Please use our Facebook page as a way to stay connected! Think of it as our virtual church building.

If you have a prayer request that you would like to submit, please email PrayFirst@fbcokc.org. If you would like to receive the Pray First emails, please email PrayFirst@fbcokc.org.

We have a new website! If you haven’t heard, we’ve been working on a new website for several months. It’s got a fresh look and is easy to navigate. Check it out at www.fbcokc.org

Finally, reach out to your fellow church members. Give them a call, a text, or video chat. We’re all in this together, so find creative ways to stay connected.

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Budget Report:

Includes contributions through: April

Budget Requirements thus far (thru the Month of April) 198,142.00

Budget Receipts Received Thus Far 178,707.56

Budget Requirements-Month 49,535.50

Budget Receipts Received This Period 53,807.00

Received to Date (%) For Current Month 109%

Received to Date (%) For Year (thru April) 90%

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

My mom is a seamstress and when I was growing up she would sew all

my clothes. I mean that machine would be going morning, noon, and

night. She not only outfitted me but she also sewed for my sister and

herself and anyone else who would hire her. She even sewed the

cheerleader and twirler outfits for our small town. She was a skilled

creator. Her creations were flawless, in fact I probably could have

turned the garment inside out and wear it and still looked good. I would say that I looked

good until the hem would come out or the garment would get too short. I remember my

mom, the creator would improvise and add lace to the bottom of my pants in order to get

more wear out of them. She created me a new look from an old look and suddenly it became

wearable.

Sometimes situations and circumstances turn us inside out and upside down and we feel like

we are not hemmed in anymore to something that is familiar to us. We get bound up in this

look, this life of ours.

Have you ever felt that way? I like this look and I hope it never changes or I don’t like this

look, I just will not wear it. Rest assured that life (that look) that you thought was yours is not

going to stay the same always. We grow and sometimes the hem of life comes out or you get a

big rip in your heart, your life and everything starts to unravel.

God is there to mend your broken heart, to hem you in to His loving and thoughtful arms so

that His creation is useful and restored to its former glory. So let God do his restoring and

add lace here and there, who knows, your new look could make life more wearable. Toni

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

It is our hope to resume in-person worship services at the beginning of June. That

is our aim and our hope, but we will continue to walk with caution, paying attention to medical

professionals. This first step will be for worship services only (no Bible Study or Wednesday

night activities).