First Congregational News

First Congregational Church Member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference 120 W. Morrell St./P.O. Box 227, Otsego, MI 49078 Hours: Mon., Thurs. & Fri., 9-12noon; Tues. & Wed., 9-2pm.

Drive-up/Drop-off Dedication, Sunday, October 1 By Pastor Darin Youngs

The Drive-up/Drop-off is now completed and ready for use! On Sun-day, October 1, we will dedicate it to the Lord. As I was thinking about the Drive-up/Drop-off recently, I was remind-ed of Acts 9. Before his conversion to Christ, Saul was determined to rid the world of Christians. As he was traveling to Damascus so that he could imprison believers, he fell to the ground after a light from heaven flashed around him. Saul heard the voice of Jesus. Temporarily blinded, Saul was led to the house of Judas, who lived on Straight Street. The Lord then told a disciple named Ananias to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and minister to Saul. Ananias obeyed. He prayed for Paul’s heal-ing, as well as for Paul to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Right away, Saul was baptized. One of the great things about this narrative is that God used people in the life of Saul to bring him to salvation. Judas, who took Saul in, and An-anias who prayed for Saul, were used by the Lord as part of this conver-sion experience. As a result, Saul became one of the most influential dis-ciples of Christ of all time. Maybe we should call our new Drive-up/Drop-off by the name Straight Street. Perhaps we should even put a street sign out there! Just as Ana-

nias went to Straight Street in order to lead Saul to Christ, we can now use this tool to invite people to come to church where they will discover salva-tion and begin to live as disci-ples of Christ. The Drive-up/Drop-off is a tool for us to use in serving the Lord. It is here to help people within our church, but it is also a tool of evange-lism. Mark 1:3 quotes from Isaiah

OCTOBER 2017 Biblical Marriage Article Discussed

at October Quarterly Meeting

By Pastor Darin Youngs

On Sunday, October 22, after the morning worship service, a quarterly church business meeting will be held. At this meeting, A Biblical Marriage Article, proposed by the Elders, will be discussed and po-tentially voted on as an addition to the church By-laws. Copies of the one-page article are available on the Information Table. Church members are asked to read and reflect on this in preparation for the quarterly meeting. Why are the Elders Pro-posing this addition to the By-laws? In June, 2015, the United States Supreme Court made the determi-nation that same-sex cou-ples have the legal right to marry. Church legal ex-perts project that this is merely the beginning of legal challenges to the rights of churches to op-pose same-sex marriage. An important way in which we can protect ourselves as a church is to include in our By-laws a statement regarding a biblical view of

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Church Hours Monday: 9:00am-Noon Tuesday & Wednesday:

9:00am-2:00pm Thursday & Friday:

9:00am-Noon

Call to leave a message anytime!

Unused Bibles or Chris-tian resources? Consider donating them to Christian Resource Center, where they are repaired and combined to send to those in need around the world. Bring your items in to the church office.

The pop can recyclable barrel is located in kitchen. The money collected is cur-rently being donated to Clean Water For The World.

Pop Tabs still being col-lected. Joyce Blanchard reg-ularly empties the container and turns them in to help fund items for local chil-dren’s hospital wards.

“Pennies from Heaven” Giving Jar is located in the Fellowship Hall. This is an on-going fundraiser. Please put change in you would like to donate and help fill the jar to the top!

Recycle used ink cartridg-es in the church office. We earn cash for them! This is an on-going, EASY fundraiser for FCC.

(Drive-up/Drop-off) continued from page 1)

40, when it describes the ministry of John the Baptist: “A voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for Him.” John’s goal was to facilitate a straighter path between Jesus and the people that needed him. Isn’t that what our Drive-up/Drop-off is for? It is designed to make it easier and smoother for us to bring peo-ple to Christ. Let’s remember Straight Street! Let’s identify the people in our lives who would like to come to church but cannot do, or find it very difficult to do so, because they are unable to navigate stairs, or to walk for long distances. They can attend our church! We now have a way to help people get close to the door so that accessing the building is much easi-er. We already have a church that has no stairs, making it easily accessi-ble for those who are physically challenged. Our new Drive-up/Drop-off increases our ability to invite people to church. On Sunday, October 1, we will dedicate our Drive-up/Drop-off to the Lord for His work at the end of our worship service. Plan on attending. Invite friends and family, especially those that you believe can benefit from this new feature!

Message From OIL By John Pickron

Whom do we serve? We serve the risen Lord God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God gave His Son for us, we give ourselves, including our time, talents, and treasures. As followers of God we are His sheep, children of the living God. We are eternal beings in God now and forever. We should pull back the curtain of self interest, and self indulgence to live a life ded-icated to God our Father. Is God number one in your life? What if God was too busy for us? For example God takes a day off from answering prayers, or you go knocking on the door of heaven and are told heaven is closed today come back tomorrow, God is taking a day off. Do we some-times say that to God? God does want us to live our lives to the fullest enjoying His creation in all its beauty and splendor. God also wants us to follow His commands to first love God, and second love our neighbors as ourselves. That includes us introducing our neighbors to God. He wants us to help Him grow His family. Lets cause the angels in heaven to rejoice when a person accepts Christ as their personal savior. We can do our part by introducing our neighbors to Jesus Christ, to live a life of joy and happiness in God forever.

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October Prayer Calendar Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Berle & Florence

Finkey

2 Peggy Fisher

3 Pastor Youngs &

family

4 Karin Fitzpatrick

5 Mary Ann Lord

in Peru

6 Nancy Gilman

7 Claire Golden

8 Judy Griffiths

John Griffiths Jr.

9 Jason, Angie,

John & Ashley Hathaway

10 Pastor Youngs &

family

11 Sharon Hawley

12 Nora Leon in Haiti

13 Don Helmbolt

14 Julie Hermenitt Ethan & Evan

15 Chris, Erin, Kacie, Kaden, Noelyn & Reagan Hiemstra

16 Jack & Clara Howrigon

17 Pastor Youngs &

family

18 Rick & Tracey Hurdelbrink Abbie Reed

19 God’s Helping Hands,

Gobles

20 Chuck & Patty

Hyet

21 Polly Ismond

22 Helen Jerrett

23 Tina Johnson

24 Pastor Youngs &

family

25 Bob & Sue Julianus

26 Sports of Malawi

African Bible College

27 Dick & Char

Knowlton

28 Peter, Dee & Bob

Krcatovich

29 Pam Kuiper

30 Tim Lane

31 Pastor Youngs &

family

The Women’s Ministry has posted information on their board and table at the back of the Fellowship Hall regarding the 2017 RELAX, RENEW and REFRESH Retreat at the Essen-haus Inn in Middlebury, IN for Wednesday, October 25th through Friday, October 27th. There is a sign-up sheet on the table with commitment forms

that need to be filled out and returned with your check. Make checks payable to the church with a memo for the WMT Retreat. Please give your check and form to Linda Sleeman. Remember that you must be signed up by October 8th. To reserve your space you must pay by Octo-ber 15th. Brenda Conley of Angel Wings Ministries will be speaking Wed. evening and Thursday morning during our worship time. If you have questions please contact Nancy Eggleston at 269-692-3190 or 269-532-4044. Mark your calendars for the Women’s Ministry Christmas Luncheon on Saturday, December 9th. The team encourages you to invite family and friends. There will be more information in the November Newsletter. Women’s Ministry Team: Judy Boelman, Sharalyn Downing, Bella Du-Bois, Nancy Eggleston, Char Knowlton, Lorraine Mag

Women’s Ministry UPDATE

By Nancy Eggleston

On October 18th we will

make our annual trip to

Fowlerville, MI to deliver a

truck load of material to

Christian Resources Interna-

tional. If you have bibles,

books, devotionals, or any

Christian resource material

please bring it to the church

by October 15th or let me

know and I will pick it up.

The material we bring to

Fowlerville is sorted and sent

to be packed in huge contain-

ers and sent around the world

to spread the gospel.

Thank you for your partici-

pation!

Dick & Char Knowlton

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As you change over your closets from summer to fall clothing, remember that the quilting ladies will take any jeans that no longer have a home in your closet. The following is needed this month: Home sewers - Con-

tact Sue Rickli and you will receive a packet of pre-cut squares and in-structions for sewing strips together at home

Flannel material - You can bring donations to the church office or call Sue Rickli for pickup.

If you would like to join this wonderful group, they meet Thursday afternoons from 1:00-3:00pm in the Fellow-ship Hall. Come join the fun!

Contact Numbers: Pat Dutton - 694-2925

Sue Rickli - 269-569-5745 Linda Sleeman - 694-6085

Thursday

Biblical Marriage (continued from page 1)

marriage. Having this as part of the legal framework of our church can enable us to pre-emptively deflect potential legal problems. What is in the article? The first part of the article deals with wed-dings. It states clearly that the church understands Scripture to teach that marriage unites one male and one female in a lasting union. Much of the language in this paragraph is designed to shut down any loop-holes. These might include a pastor employed by the church performing a same-sex marriage offsite, or a couple bringing a minister or officiant from outside the church to perform a same-sex wedding. The next paragraph deals with legally recognized weddings. There is a trend today towards couples getting married without a legally valid marriage license. The goal of this section is to convey that only legally recognized marriages, verified by a government-issued marriage license, will be performed onsite or offsite by ministers associated with the church or by ministers from outside the church. The final paragraph deals with the current issue of changing the sex to which one is born. It states that we as a church affirm that God creat-ed us to be the biological sex which He intended for each of us as indi-viduals. To strive to change one’s sex is in essence to deny that God is a good Creator. It is important that our current members, as well as those in the fu-ture who become members, understand and agree with these state-ments. It is also just as important to know that our church is committed to ministering to all who seek Christ. Anyone can attend our church to learn about how to follow Jesus. However, becoming a member denotes a higher level of commitment to godly living according to the Scripture. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Pastor Darin. I will be happy to discuss this with you! Moving forward, we ask that eve-ryone read the article and come to the quarterly business meeting pre-pared to discuss it in an informed manner.

Dear FCC Family,

Thank you for all the prayers, cards and the visits to

John at the nursing home and while he was in the

hospital 3 different times over the last 5 months.

Thanks to Pastor Darin for his great message, the

church for the luncheon and to Linda for all the things she does.

Ann Thurston, Patty & Rodger Bolen, Sandy Ambs & family

Thank you so much all of you for the prayers, cards and food. What a

wonderful feeling from all you folks. I feel so blessed to have such a

church family to rely on. Thanks again so much! - Joyce Blanchard

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6th - Hazel McPherson 6th - Jan Salisbury

7th - Nancy Boettcher 10th - Dick Knowlton 16th - Claire Golden

19th - Richard Downing 24th - Warren Brooks

25th - Sara Miller 29th - Rick Howrigon

October 3rd Chris & Erin Hiemstra

9 years

October 4th Jack & Julie Buck

37 years

October 14th Pete & Dee Krcatovich

39 years

October 16th Dick & Char Knowlton

52 years

October 17th Walt & Sue Rickli

36 years

October 19th Frank & Beverly Bradley

49 years

October 26th Rick & Tracy Hurdelbrink

16 years

Offertory Servers 10/1 Mark & Chris DuCharme Dick & Char Knowlton Georgiann Bleeker 10/8 Tammy Maurer, Tim Lane Paul & Peggy Madison Sharalyn Downing 10/15 Walt & Sue Rickli Scott & Linda Sleeman Kim Rayburn 10/22 Ray & Jane Bomeli Karen Clemens Fred & Sue Bosma 10/29 Jack & Julie Buck Pam Kuiper John & Lorraine Maag

Nursery 10/1 Abbie Reed 10/8 Julie Hermenitt 10/15 Abbie Reed 10/22 Julie Hermenitt 10/29 Abbie Reed

Servants in The Lord for October

Fellowship Time Hosts 10/1 Julie Hermenitt Kim Rayburn Tracey Hurdelbrink Bella DuBois 10/8 Lloyd & Louise Clawson Dick & Nancy Eggleston 10/15 Ben & Peg Barghahn Mare` Westin John & Sheryl Pickron 10/22 Paul & Peggy Madison Jason & Angela Hathaway David & Jan Salisbury 10/29 5th Sunday Potluck

Greeters 10/1 Dot Watson and June Starr - front

Walt & Sue Rickli - back

10/8 Al & Alice Lappin - front

Dale & Joyce Blanchard - back

10/15 Fred & Sue Bosma - front

Kim Rayburn & Julie Hermenitt - back

10/22 Dick & Nancy Eggleston - front

Dick & Char Knowlton - back 10/29 Ron & Pat Newman- front

Pam Kuiper & Linda Beattie - back

Soundboard 10/1 Eric & Jen Day 10/8 Lloyd Clawson, Walt Rickli 10/15 Scott Sleeman, Zac Conrad 10/22 Scott Sleeman 10/29 Kim Sparks, Lloyd Clawson

Each month FCC is assigned a food item to collect for the community food pantry.

the OCTOBER item is:

Ramen Noodles & Soup

Bring your items to church and leave them on the green cart in the narthex

First Congregational Church

120 W. Morrell

P.O. Box 227

Otsego, Michigan 49078

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Otsego, MI 49078

Permit No. 24

Picnic in the Park will be happening Sunday October 8 at 1:00. We will be serving a sloppy joe lunch and distributing the beautiful quilts our ladies have made to the homeless population in our ar-ea. This is a wonderful outreach to our community. We can use as many volunteers as are willing to

come. There are few more items on the sign up sheets for supplies. A spot in the fellowship hall is designated for the picnic supplies and also any clothing or outerwear items you would like to do-nate. Toiletries, undies and socks are always needed. Please consider joining us at Martin

Luther Park on October 8th!!!!