The Christian Beacon “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness,

But will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Volume 64, Issue 6 First Christian Church, Marion, Indiana June 2019 1970 N Wabash Rd.

First Christian Church Executive Board

Chair- Paul Usher

Vice Chair- Seth Snyder

Secretary- Cheri Frazier

Finance- Angela Martin

Personnel Representative- Barb Moon

Chair of Trustees- George Hill

Chair of Elders- Dave Pence

Children & Youth- Sandie Briggs

At-Large Board Members- Bill Beck Vacant Position

Sr. Pastor- Roslyn Harrison

Ministerial Assistant- Wesley Williams

Administrative Assistant- Mary Malone adminfccmar@indy.rr.com

Congregational Vision Statement

We believe that God is calling the First Christian Church to care for the mental, physical and spiritual welfare of our greater world community by becoming more service-oriented and mission-minded.

Church Office 765-664-1221

Mon.-Thurs. 9am-4pm 1970 N Wabash Rd. Marion, IN 46952

Bringing the light of Christ to

Grant County.

www.firstchristianmarion.org

Facebook Page: Facebook of First Christian

(FoFC)

We will celebrate Father’s Day soon. For those who have been blessed with wonderful fathers (and men who have been like good fathers), let’s take time to say “thank you” to them and to God. My dad is a good father. I know he will always give the best advice possible; he will love me when I succeed and when I fail; and I can always share a laugh with my dad. God has blessed me with good father figures as well: grandfathers, teachers, uncles, colleagues in ministry, and more. I am grateful for their love, support, and wisdom. Friends, if you have not known the joy of a caring earthly father, and if have not known many positive male role models in your life, I want you to understand just how much your Father in Heaven loves you. And I hope you enjoy this story:

A farmhand had worked for a married couple for several years. As time went on, the couple grew older and older and they couldn't do as much they had; the farm was beginning to look shabby. The paint on the barn was peeling. The fences had holes in them and slats were loose. The gravel road had potholes in it. Shingles on top of the farmhouse were beaten and weathered and needed replacing. But as the farmhand made his way to milk the cows each day, he thought: What is that to me? It's not my farm! Then, one day the farmer and his wife asked the farmhand to come for dinner. They told him how much he meant to them. They told him that they had no children to inherit their farm, so they wanted to give it to HIM when they died! The next day, the farmhand was walking to the barn and he noticed the poor state of things. In a few days he painted the barn, fixed the fence, and he put a new roof on the farmhouse and new gravel on the road. Why did he do these things? What made the difference in his attitude? He was now an heir, a son. And as a beloved son he began to treat the old farm different than he ever had before… And so it is with us. We are heirs to the Kingdom of God—sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Because we are God’s heirs we have the joy of knowing that what we do, we do because our Father has given us grace upon grace upon grace.

May our Heavenly Father bless and keep you all! ~Roslyn

2 Sun-Pentecost Special Offering

9 Sun-Pentecost Special Offering

10 Mon-Quilters Last Event until September

Care Ministry Meeting 1:30

Finance Mtg. 5:30

15 Sat-BEACON ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE

16 Sun-Father’s Day! Celebrate the Godly men in your

life!

20 Thurs-Vet 2 Vet 6 pm, Board Room

24 Mon-Care Ministry Meeting 1:30

26 Wed-AIM Group @ FCC, Roslyn speaking

27 Thurs-Vet 2 Vet 6 pm, Board Room

30 Fifth Sunday Carry-In, following Service.

Meet Mary Malone & Family!

Service Schedules

Thanks for planning to fulfill your serving

obligations. If you are unable to be present, please

make arrangements for a substitute.

Elders: Prayer & Meditation

Bill Beck & George Hill

Greeters

Chuck & Beth Strange

Welcome Center

Diane Harvey

Visiting Elders

Bill Beck-

Nursery Workers

Sunday School Hour, 9:30-10:15 am

1st Beth Strange 2nd Pat Hill 3rd Beth Strange 4th Sharon Southwick 5th Jessica Zickafoose

Worship Service Hour, 10:30 am

1st Sharon Pence & Stacie Watson 2nd Sandie Briggs & Diane Bartholomew 3rd Beth Strange & Natalie Hills 4th Carol Chambers & Sharon Southwick 5th Joan Martin & Jessica Zickafoose

In this space, we’d like to have a list of Teen Activities and Kids Zone teacher rotation. Look for this information coming soon!

Volunteers This Month

Quilters Group June 10th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm We will have a break from July to September. Come join us for this last group until after summer. Thank you!

AIM Activity: June 26th. We will have a Carry-In at noon and Roslyn Harrison will speak to us. Contact the Becks for more

Anniversaries to Celebrate!

Mike and Susan Smoker 9 Lewis and Janet Kiser 14 Steve and Judy Michael 18 Jessica and Matt Zickafoose 21 Joe and Wynoka Lewis 25

God Squad and Chi Rho will break for the summer, and our meetings will start again in August. Our focus for the fall will be biblical literacy in the broadest sense--not only knowing the stories of the bible, but being able to navigate the bible, knowing the differences between the Old and New Testaments, and having a grasp on the history of the books of the bible. I am very passionate about making certain the children have a solid theological foundation on which to build and guide their lives, and I appreciate your support as I work with them. They are bright, caring, and an absolute joy to work with!

Birthdays This Month! Natalie Hills 3 Carl King 4 Beth Strange 5 Ray Lopez 5 Ruby Robertson 8 Bill Peterson 12 Jean Hill 12 Lillian Snyder 16 Wynoka Lewis 23 Rodney Miller 26

Summer Camp!

Thanks to your generous donations, Two of our young parishioners are attending Summer Camp this year! We hope

you have a wonderful time!

Chancel Flowers If you would like to provide flowers one Sunday in honor/memory of a loved one or in celebration of a birthday/anniversary there is a calendar at the Welcome Center, please write your name on the Sunday space you’d like to reserve, call the church office or make note of it on your offering envelope. The cost is $20.00 per Sunday and you are welcome to take the flowers home after the worship service. Please return the vase to the church.

June 2, 2019 Seventh Sunday of Easter-White Acts 16:1-34 Psalm 97 Revelation 22:12-14, 16-1, 20-21 John 17:20-26 June 9, 2019 Pentecost-Red Acts 21-21 or Genesis11:1-9 Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-17, (25-27) June 16, 2019 First Sunday After Pentecost-Green Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 June 23, 2019 Second Sunday After Pentecost-Green 1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a Psalms 42 and 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39 June 30, 2019 Third Sunday After Pentecost-Green 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke 9:51-62

The Liturgical colors change on Pentecost Sunday, June 9th to red to symbolizes joy and the Holy Spirit; then change to Green during Ordinary Time to symbolize hope for our Eternal Life.

Prayers for Our Church Family

Jeremy Hills who is battling Leukemia. Keep Natalie & the kids in your prayers as well.

George & Pat Hill’s daughter Leah Jenette, undergoing T-cell therapy.

Chuck & Beth Strange’s nephew’s fiancé, recently diagnosed with Lymphoma.

Karen Shockey battling cancer. Gary Gable, friend of Peg Peterson undergoing tests

for cancer.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The

prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16

Continued Prayers

Will Yank; Jaime Rountree; Sharon Southwick’s friend, Kim; Helen Skinner; Susie Oyler; Beverly English; Ned Gillum; Grace Meyer; Marlene Hutchison’s daughter, Pam; Ray Lopez; Bill Simmons; Drevan Pickell; Kevin Pauley; Steve & Judy Michael’s brother-in-law, Andy Smith.

How is the Pentecost offering used? To help our new church movement continue to take root!

Each year, half of this offering stays in the local Region or Area where it’s collected to start and uphold new churches. The other half is used across the United States and Canada by New Church Ministry to support the recruiting, assessing, training and coaching of new church leaders at events like Leadership Academy. Our church planters remain committed to answering God’s call … to serve their neighbors, spread the gospel, and make more Disciples.

“Out of the Office” A Message from the administrative Assistant

My name may be Mary, but I'm a Martha We never outgrow the need for lessons. And we should constantly be learning. But sometimes we have to learn and relearn a particular concept over and over again. Several years ago I had out of town company. It was the first visit from these dear friends in my new home. I wanted everything to be perfect. I had cleaned the guest room, changed the sheets, set out a soft stack of towels for my guests, written out a menu and purchased all the food. Our visit was going splendidly!! Sunday morning though, in a rush to get the meal in the crock pot I was cutting potatoes--"distracted with much serving" and cut off the end of my finger. I grabbed a handful of paper towels and, (calmly? Can't remember) asked my friend to come see if she thought I needed to go see the Doc. Um, yes. We did. Even while walking out the door to the Emergency room I was flinging instructions to my teenage girls, "Finish the potatoes, add carrots, add some water to the crock pot; do this, do that, hold down the fort." Oh, so distracted! Luke 10:38-42 "A woman named Martha welcomed [Jesus] into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” You see, Martha is a do-er. Mary is a thinker. I have always been a do-er. Now, this is not to say that doing things is bad, not at all. The world needs Marthas. Otherwise, Carry-ins would never happen, meals on wheels wouldn't get delivered, and quilt donations wouldn't get made. The world and the church need hospitable Marthas. But Martha has a problem. While she is very good at juggling, she isn't good at balancing. When you juggle, you have to keep moving, you toss this bowling pin up and while it's on its way up you toss another, then throw a spinning plate into the mix; then how about you take on a Sunday School project, or maybe a charity quilt, then surely you can take a meal to the homebound in your spare time. While they are all in the air above our heads everything is peachy! And maybe you can get off a few classy hand tricks and get them sailing again, but sooner or later it all comes crashing down. Mary, on the other hand, is very good at balance. She knows her limits, she only has two hands. She knows that she can only do so much and she doesn't over commit. Balancing acts require quiet concentration. A balance artist doesn't move around very much. They stand still while they achieve the perfect harmony between movement and stillness.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” After I cut my finger, I was forced to be still. It took the nurses and the doctor quite a while to get the bleeding stopped and I was told in no uncertain terms to go home and sit. No running around the kitchen, no weeding the garden, no feeding or grooming animals especially! There was danger in doing any of these things. Bleeding could continue, infection could be introduced. The answer was to BE STILL! Ok, God. I get it. Sit and visit with my friends. Stop all the busy-ness of trying to make everything perfect and just be. Just “being” is hard for Martha. She gets so worked up watching Mary just SIT there. “Lord, don't you know that there are disciples to feed, the kitchen is a mess and these servant girls just don't do things the way I would, and, and, and...Make her help me!!” "Martha, Martha. (Can't you just HEAR His tender voice?) You are anxious and troubled about many things. Only one thing is necessary." You may have heard of Stephen R. Covey and his Franklin Planner. I have three of them! My husband has two of them. We are a Franklin Family! To a Martha, there is something cathartic in having all your ducks in a row. We love lists and check-boxes. Oh, it makes my heart sing! Steven R. Covey writes in is book, "First Things First." he talks about prioritizing. He uses a visual lesson with a large jar, rocks and pebbles. I'm sure you have all seen a similar illustration, you must fit the large rocks in first, then the pebbles in order to get all of the items in the jar. That is not to say that if you do the important things then you can do it all. It just means that the important things DO get done and then more of the lower-list items can squeeze into the spaces. Jesus is the most important thing in our life. Our relationship with Him should come first. The pebbles would be the next layer of responsibility--our family. They will fit in pretty easily into those spaces because Jesus will wrap our family relationships with love. The next items on our list would be church/work/friendships. As long as our relationship with Jesus Christ is in our life-jar first, many other things can fit in. So, my life lesson? It's ok to be a do-er and it's ok to be a thinker. Jesus loves both Mary and Martha. He just wants our full attention when he is sitting in our parlor. No distractions, pull out some sandwiches and glasses of water. He'll transform the feast. He is the Rock, all the rest will fit into the spaces. ♥ Martha. Oops, I mean Mary