The Crusader - First Christian Church

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The
Crusader
THE CRUSADER (USPS139220) published weekly except the week after/of Christmas by First Christian Church,
301 N. Broad St., Galesburg, IL 61401-3696. POSTMASTER: Send Address Corrections to The Crusader at above address.
Periodical Postage paid at Galesburg, IL 61401.
SERVING SCHEDULE
December 21, 2014
Tuesday, December 16
6am Men’s Breakfast at McDonald’s
6:30pm Trustees Mtg.
Wednesday, December 17
9:30am Ruth Circle at Sue Johnson’s
5:30pm Youth Groups
7:30pm Choir
Thursday, December 18
1:30pm Lydia Circle meets here
4pm Girl Scouts in small hall
6:30pm Vision Team
Sunday, December 21
8:30am Worship
9:45am All Church Brunch in Large Hall
11am Worship
Tuesday, December 23
6am Men’s Breakfast at Spudo’s
7pm Choir
Wednesday, December 24
Office closes at 12noon
Christmas Eve Services –
7pm Traditional
10pm Contemporary
Thursday, December 25
Merry Christmas!
Office closed
Friday, December 26
Office closed
8:30am Worship – Team 1
Prepare Communion, Greet at Broad
St. and Serve Out if Needed: Val Morris
& Aleta Anderson
Greet at North Street, Prayer Cards
and Offering, Serve Communion:
Karen Bjorkman & Raye Beasley
Prayer: Chris Mowrer
Communion: Pastor Greg
Offering: Tina Burns
Phone: Larry Thurman
Transportation: Bob Hook
11:00 a.m. Worship – Team 4
Clean up Communion, Greet at Broad
St., Serve Out if Needed, Serve
Communion, *Acolyte: *Carmen &
Bruce De Voss
Greet at North St., Prayer Cards,
Offering, Serve Communion: Pam
Whittom & Earlene Crouse
Elder Serving In: Steph Line
Elder Serving Out: Steve Spicher, Ellen
Anderson, Donna Flicek, Rick Anderson,
Chris Mowrer
First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
301 N Broad St.
Galesburg, IL 61401 Phone: 343-9960
For Church News call 345-4020
Church e-mail address: [email protected]
Web Page – www.fccgalesburg.org
Church Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 12:00, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
Organist – Amber Clark
Director of Music – Steve Jackson [email protected]
Bookkeeper – Lynda White [email protected]
Secretary – Terri Oehlert [email protected]
Co-Pastors: Gregory S. and Martha-Jean Fitch [email protected] & [email protected]
Vol. 67, No. 50, Dec. 17, 2014
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21
Christmas Sunday
Advent Series “NetfliXmas …
Miracle on 34th Street” – Hebrews 11:1
Message by Pastor MJ Fitch
8:30am Worship: Quest Band plays
9:30am Coffee time in Small Hall
10am Sunday School
11am Worship: Choir sings, “Love Came Down at Christmas” by John Rutter
ALL CHURCH CHRISTMAS POTLUCK BRUNCH
Sunday, December 21 at 9:45am in Large Hall ~
No Sunday School
Please bring a brunch item to share!
December Coffee Hosts:
Friendship Class
3rd Sunday
of the Month
Congo Coffee
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
Wednesday, December 24
7pm Traditional Candlelight Service
10pm Contemporary Candlelight Service
Thank you to Donna Welty for entering the
church in the Hometown $100. We received a check
for $100 for the Roof Fund!
DECEMBER DISCIPLES WOMEN
Dec. 17 9:30am Ruth Circle at Sue Johnson’s home
Dec. 18 1:30pm Lydia Circle at the church (all members bring cookies)
No Circle meetings in January!
CHRISTMAS BASKET REFERRALS
Galesburg Rescue Mission is taking applications for
Christmas food baskets through Dec. 19th from 9am-11:30am.
Basket pick up day is December 22nd from 11am-4pm.
Volunteer helpers need to be there at 10am for training purposes.
DECEMBER YOUTH GROUP SCHEDULE
We will have our Christmas parties on December 17th. No
Youth Groups on December 24st or December 31st.
THE GIVING TREE
It is time once again for the Christmas gifts for our adopted school of
Nielson Elementary. They have requested some games and other items this
year. Here’s a list of things that they are putting on their wish list: GAMES –
“Take 5”, “Connect 4”, “Apples to Apples”, and “Headbands”. OUTSIDE &
MISC – balls, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, bookmarks, #2 pencils.
CLOTHING – sweatpants and sweatshirts in all sizes.
Let’s see if we can help! We’ll be collecting the whole month of December so
please do not wrap your gifts. There will be four boxes under the tree in the sanctuary.
The boxes will be labeled as above so we can keep the items separate. Contact Donna
Flicek if you have any questions. Thank you!
Our Mission Statement: Growing Passionate Disciples of Christ.
BUDGET FOR JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 2015
$257,667.53
Anticipated Bills $4,057.87
Actual Giving
$3,092.01
Short
$ 965.86
Needed each week to meet budget: $4,955.14
Year-to-Date Giving: $100,424.88
Need Year-to-Date to meet Budget: $118,926.36
Roof Fund: $5,655.00
END OF YEAR GIVING: The last day to make an offering and have it
count for this year’s offering is Tuesday, December 30th!
IN OUR PRAYERS
… For New City Church in Mbandaka, Congo.
… Cheryl Robbins, on the recent loss of her mother Vera.
… Jan to recover from an ear infection; prayers for the family of Ileene
Conover.
… Mark Cameron who has surgery Tuesday.
… Prayers for a friend’s mother awaiting biopsy results.
… For David Fitch’s health; Don Speaks who is hospitalized with diabetes.
… LaTonya Billman’s impending thumb surgery, LaDweena’s shoulder pain, James to
find employment.
… Margaret Coombs who started dialysis, comfort for Janet & John Foster on her
brother’s passing.
… Lola Anderson, to get good test results on Leukemia.
The CCIW Prayer Calendar this week is as follows: Dec. 14-20: Christmas
Offering, CCIW Ministry Team.
The Global Ministries prayer request for this week: Bethany Waggoner,
Ecuador Mission Personnel.
CHRISTMAS OFFICE HOURS
The church office will be closed at 12noon on December
24th and closed all day on December 25 and 26.
Pastors Greg and MJ, along with Terri Oehlert, will be
on vacation the week of December 29th. Lynda White will be
in the office on Monday the 29th and Tuesday the 30th. The office will close at
12noon on December 31st and remain closed January 1 and 2. Our elders will be
available for hospital calls and emergencies while the Pastors are on vacation.
Happy 58th Anniversary to Roy and Mary Ewalt
on December 22nd! Congratulations!
Sympathy & comfort to Janet Foster and family on the
recent loss of her brother, Marvin Lewis of Monmouth.
Sympathy & comfort to the family and friends of Louise
Tucker, long-time church member who passed away this past weekend.
BEGINS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14
“The Christian Atheist”
A six week study on Wednesdays at 9:30am or 5:30pm
Pastor and author Craig Groeschel leads us on a
personal journey toward an authentic, God-honoring life.
This honest, hard-hitting and eye-opening look into the ways people believe in God but
live as if He doesn’t exist is a classic in the making.
Cost is $8.50 per book and registrations are due in the church office on or before
December 29!
MORE IDEAS TO SHARE YOUR FAITH
CHANCEL FLOWERS FOR 2015
Again this year you have the opportunity to sponsor chancel
flowers in memory or honor of a loved one(s). We get the flowers from
Galesburg Flower Company and currently the cost is $20 per vase ($40
for the two vases), plus tax and no delivery fee. The bill will be sent
directly to you. Our flower coordinator, Jan Luallen, will give you a
call a few days before your requested date to check and see if you still want to sponsor
and if you have any special requests.
You can sign up on the sheet located at the back of the sanctuary. A special
thank you to Jan Luallen who has been taking care of our flower sponsor program for
many, many years!
Reminder: There is no Crusader
the week of December 29th.
Dave Ramsey’s …
FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY
Beginning Sunday, January 18th
from 3:00 – 4:30pm
For 9 weeks ending on March 15th.
Cost of materials $100/couple or single.
F.P.U. teaches God’s way of handling money
through video teaching, class discussions and interactive
small group activities. Presents Biblical, practical steps to get from where you are to
where you’ve dreamed you could be. This plan will show you how to get rid of debt,
manage your money, spend and save wisely, and much more! Sign up now!
Please call the church office if you plan to attend at 343-9960!
Our kids did such a great job Sunday night with the
“Charlie Brown’s Christmas”! We are so grateful to all who
participated, made sets, and directed the kids. Pastor Greg told
us that night that a great way to share our faith is to talk to
people about the kids and then share about the story of the
“Charlie Brown’s Christmas”, saying that Linus really knew
what Christmas was all about! Christmas is indeed all about the birth of Jesus!
What do you want for Christmas? Another way to share your faith in a
conversation with co-workers, family or friends is to have a conversation about “what do
you want for Christmas?” When you answer what you want for Christmas, you can share
that you already have more than you could ever ask for – the greatest gift of all: a
relationship with Jesus. You can easily tie in the story of Christmas and your faith.
Ask about Christmas: Next time you are going out to eat or shopping and
standing at the check out stand, ask the clerk or server, “Do you celebrate Christmas?”
(or sometimes I will ask if they have Christmas plans) Then briefly share what makes
Christmas important for you. This would be a great opportunity to invite them to
Christmas Eve services. You might even ask, “Do you have a church to go to for
Christmas Eve?”
Christmas Music: Everywhere we go, it seems you hear Christmas music
playing. You might talk with someone about what their favorite song is. You could
share how we sang “Rudolph” in church on Sunday and how that related to the gospel.
Or you could share that we have a great choir and band at our church and then invite
them to come on Christmas Eve and hear and sing some of the great songs of the season.
There are so many more ideas for evangelism. Be sure and check out
eternityimpact.blogspot.com where they have over 145 creative and fun ways to start a
conversation and share your faith!
May we all be like the shepherds and continue to tell others the wonderful news
about the birth of Jesus.
God bless, Pastor MJ

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