| Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara
The Heart of The Mesa
May 22, 2009 |
| Mark Your Calendars!! Our annual church softball picnic will be held on Saturday July 11th. Detailsl and more information will be coming soon. | |
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| Important Dates |
Sat. May 16th: LLG Worships at Christ Lutheran Church 5pm
Sat. May 23rd:
Glimmer of Hope Lunch. Volunteers needed, contact church office
Wed. May 27th: FrontLine at 7pm
Sat. May 30th: SB Spring Clean-up
Sun. May 31st: Pentecost Baptismal Service 2pm
Mon. June 1st: Property Finance Meeting 7pm
Thurs. June 4th: Senior Lunch at SHIFCO at 11am and LBOA meeting at 7pm
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| Our Church Family |
Al-Anon Group: Al-Anon is meeting in the upper room on Friday mornings from 8:30-9:30am. Al-Anon is a 12 step program for anyone who has been affected by someone else's addiction. For more information contact Martha Becker at 966-4458. Women's Book Club: The Women's Book Club meets on the third Sunday of every month from 7-8:30pm. We usually meet at the home of Deanna Major: 215 Santa Cruz Blvd. For more info. or to confirm the meeting location, please call Deanna: 966-6770 or email her at major1776@yahoo.com
Cans For Causes: Save your Redeemables: Any glass, plastic, or aluminum container that holds a "CA CASH REDEMPTION VALUE" or "CRV." Bring them to the service you normally attend and look for the bins labeled Cans for Causes. Instead of giving away money to the trash company, let's give it to the church for God's kingdom work! For questions contact Joel Hoffmann (729-1478) or joelhoffmann@verizon.net Lost & Found: Have you misplaced any dishes, Bibles or coffee mugs? Many items such as these are in the lost and found located in the church office. Please stop by or call to claim your missing items 965-1338. |
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Preparing For Sunday |
As we return to the fourth chapter of John we have the opportunity to look at faith itself. Trusting in God with all our hearts in the face of an uncertain world is not easy. One pastor speaking of our text has this to say: "Jesus has come to do -- to bestow faith and make it to grow. This story tells us that we are in the hands of One who does not always answer our prayers the way we expect, but in doing so he lifts us to a higher awareness of who he is, of his authority and power in the world and in life. Our faith, as a result, becomes stronger, cleaner and truer. We are enabled to exercise it at a far higher level. Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. I believe that is what this story is telling us. That is the meaning of the sign that Jesus performed that day.
Recently I was with a friend who is a close companion and friend of Tom Landry, the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Many of you know that Tom Landry is a Christian. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Dallas Theological Seminary. My friend, who is the chairman of that board, told me that at a meeting recently Tom Landry said something that he will never forget. Landry said, "The job of a coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they really want." That is what Jesus does: he puts us through circumstances we do not want to go through; he makes us face things we do not like to face, in order to achieve what we have wanted with all our hearts all along. To do so requires the strengthening of faith. Faith's encouragement: that is what this incident is all about.
I hope you have been encouraged in faith, that you are ready to trust the Lord for the circumstances in which you find yourselves today; knowing that he is responsive, but not always in the way you ask him to be because he sees more clearly than you."
This complex relationship we have with the Creator of the universe and Redeemer of our souls is not like anything else we know. It is not easily defined nor is it as simple as some might make it appear. Trust grows over time and most often through the difficult circumstances of our lives. This Sunday as we explore this trust/faith relationship with God look forward to how your faith is going to grow!
Denny
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| An Evening With ECOFaith |
WEDNESDAY, May 27, 7 - 9 pm, Trinity Episcopal Church
Please join us for an evening with Congresswoman Lois Capps and the Rev. Sally Bingham discuss the ways that people of faith can support local and national efforts to respond effectively to climate change. There is no admission fee.
Congresswoman Lois Capps represents the central coast of California and is committed to helping people improve their daily lives through better schools, quality health care, and a cleaner environment.
The Rev. Sally Bingham is the President and Founder of The Regeneration Project--an interfaith ministry devoted to deeping the connection between ecology and faith, as well as The Interfaith Power and Light Campaign which is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming
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| Baptismal Service: Pentecost Sunday May 31st @ 2pm |
Join us as we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism on this special Holy Day of Pentecost. The traditional day of baptism for over one thousand years, we will be gathering to baptize youth and adults who have decided to follow Jesus with their whole lives. If you have made that choice and have not yet been baptized please contact a pastor so we can prepare you for this service:
805-965-1338 Denny - Ext. 223 Doug - Ext. 224 Colleen - Ext. 225 Pastor Denny |
| Spring Clean-Up |
Saturday, May 30th @ Eastside Park(Corner of Yanonali & Soledad Streets) 9am-12pm Lunch following event
In 2003, local churches started working with Looking Good Santa Barbara to improve neighborhoods throughout Santa Barbara. To date, 1,700 volunteers from churches, including FMCSB, have participated and provided 5,100 hours of service and much needed work through events like this one. We hope you can make it this year and help us increase these incredible numbers! Join us in partnership with other Santa Barbara Churches for this yearly clean-up. This year the clean-up will continue in Santa Barbara's Eastside neighborhood. Join us for: -Litter & Graffiti Clean-up -Tree Planting -Park & Creek Restoration -E-Waste Collection -Children's Reading Circle After Clean-up -Opportunity for students to earn community service credits There will be a table on the deck between services where you can pick up at waiver form and sign up for this event. For more information or to sign-up, contact the church office 965-1338
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| Church Finances |
In this time of financial struggle, please remember your church family: Offerings Needed YTD: $247,122.58 Offerings Receive YTD: $240,117.81 (97.17%) Still Needed YTD: $7,004.77 | |
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| Vacation Bible School |
When: June 22-27, 9:00-11:00 a.m. What: Rome: Paul and the Underground Church (Go to www.group.com/vbs and click on Rome for an overview) Who: Preschool-adult (ages 3 & up) Where: FMC & CDCC Contact: Nelda Nutter (mcshead@mcssb.org or leave a message at 964-2612) We Need:1) Prayer support 2) A legion of adult & youth volunteers (shopkeepers, actors, game leaders, music leaders, teachers, set-up & take-down workers, crafters, snack preparers, scenic background painters...& more) 3) Donations (see below)
Ready to travel back in time? Join us in Rome! We'll explore the caves of the Underground Church, meet the Apostle Paul, create cool Bible-times projects, experience thrilling dramas, play high-energy games, sample tasty snacks, hear unforgettable music and meet new friends. The days of the early Christian Church will come to life as we sneak away from Roman guards, play games like first century Roman kids did, work in the shops at the marketplace, and visit with Paul during his house arrest.
Items you can save/purchase/make/lend/donate now-June 15:
carpet rolls/cylinders (to make into Roman columns) refrigerator/large furniture boxes (for scenery cut-outs) paper grocery bags newspapers toilet tissue rolls paper towel rolls pizza cardboard/rounds aluminum vegetable/fruit/soup cans (clean & w/o labels) "Simply Orange"-style plastic juice containers frozen juice can lids broken tiles or mosaic tiles wide aluminum foil foam pool "noodles" beeswax sheets candle wicking elastic headbands green silk leaves (for laurel wreaths) silk floral garlands (or flowers we can make into garlands) black spray paint faux stone paper
brown vinyl jute or heavy brown twine wooden fence slats or shipping pallet slats (to make shop signs) décor (Roman urns/vases/pedestals/fountains/statues, baskets, sheer fabric & draping, silk trees & potted plants)
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| ABF - Adult Bible Fellowship |
The Seven Festivals of the Messiah Presented by Rev. Warren Simandle May 24 (Introduction) June 7, 14, 21, 28 9:30 am SHIFCO Recreation Room (418 Santa Fe Place-across Cliff Dr. from the church) The festivals of the Old Testament Pentateuch are some of the most fascinating, yet least understood topics in the Bible. In Leviticus 23, Moses is instructed to institute seven Israeli Holy Days or holidays celebrating festivals for the spring and fall harvests. Unbeknownst to him, the festivals were an incredible foreshadowing of the full scope of Christ's redemptive work. An introduction to the festivals will be presented on May 24th, followed by a four-week exploration of the spring festivals during the month of June. Join us for an indepth examination of the festivals, their prediction of Christ's Passion and the birth of the church, and the foundational truths to be learned through them. Warren Simandle, an alumnus of U.C. Berkeley, Cal-State Hayward and Fuller Seminary, served with Young Life for 12 years. He teaches math and physics at Santa Barbara High School and is a doctoral candidate in Hebraic studies. He and his wife Leanne, a licensed minister in worship and music, began a family-oriented home church ten years ago and now lead a family worship small group for our church congregation. | |
| Memory Verse |
John 3:16 & 17 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
John 1:1-18 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
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About Free Methodist Church Our Mission is to win people to Christ, establish them in the faith, and equip them for ministry.
Free Methodist Church 1435 Cliff Drive Santa Barbara, California 93109 805-965-1338 www.fmcsb.org
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