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January 2015

The MessengerA Communication Ministry of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Edwardsville, Illinois

First Christian Church(Disciples of Christ)310 S. Main Street

Edwardsville, IL 62234

Sundays ~ 9:00am ~ Traditional Worship Service 10:30am ~ ContemporaryWorship ServicePhone: (618) 656-7498Fax: (618) 656-3082

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Rev. Dr. James Brooks, Lead Minister, jrbrooks@fccedwardsville.org Rev. Jeff Wrigley, Youth & Children's Minister, jwrigley@fccedwardsville.org

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Visit our website!Link to Calendar

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January Anniversaries

John & Stancey Granger 27

January Birthdays

Nancy Starnes 1Mike Wolfe 2

Kenneth (Jim) Walters 4Shelly Wolfe 4JoAnn Small 5

What Dreams May Come . . .

Dreams change the world. Dreams that are from other than you areeven more powerful. Your response to a dream can make all thedifference.

Matthew 2 contains the story of the visit of the "wise men."

The appearance of a star in the sky has lured these "wise men" to travel to what was a foreign land. Beyond thesafety of their local community they traveled to seethe King born beneath such a star. More thantourist, they were led to bring gifts for the child king.

Quite a contrary reaction was had by the ruler,Herod, to the star and to the visit of the "wise men"and especially to the birth of a king beneath thestar. Herod reacted by ordering the killing of all thebabies so as to make certain the child king wouldnot live to become an adult king.

How amazingly different reactions to the same star ... the same promise... the same vision. Knowing how the story concludes, we see the greaterror in Herod's ways. Sadly, he was not so insightful. Herod made amess of unspeakable proportion.

Into the violent mess Herod creates, our savior was born. In this mess,our God performs miracles ... through dreams ... through others includingforeigners.

God sends dreams to the "wise men" and to Joseph (Mary's husband). In these dreams, God inspires action that keeps safe the child king,Jesus. Through dreams God performs miracles in the middle of a messto make safe God's Son.

What might the power of dreams be in your life?

Dreams happen when we let loose of control and make our self open tothe voice / images / sounds from beyond. Oh yes, sometimes ourdreams are our subconscious working out the stress and questions of

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Julie Smith 6Allyson Wrigley 6Ronald Burian 8

Derek Thompson 8Kayleigh Meier 9Tracy Wetzel 10Vicki Rolens 13

Harry McQuinn 14Lindy Eberhart 17

Wendy Hampson 18Jamie Lynch 19Nicki Shriver 19

Shane Firsching 20Ingrid Huang 20William Ayers 23Greg Schutz 24Jim Speciale 24

Gabrielle McCall 28Daniel Speciale 30

Jim Lynch 31

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Thank you....Dear Mrs. Evlyn McQuinn,Hello, my name is LawrenceGingery. My wife and I aremissionaries teaching English as aforeign language to Ukrainians whoare preparing for foreign missionsin Muslim communities around theworld.This past week, Alexander, a manfrom Mariupal, Ukraine, visited ourclassroom and asked if we couldtranslate your note (received in agift box) so he could understand it. One of my beginning level studentstranslated it into Russian (with alittle help from me). Alexander wasgrateful for your gift and wantedyou to know that he is a worker inan orphanage in Mariupal, Ukraineand that the child who receivedyour package was filled with joywith the package you sent. (I thinkit was an Operation ChristmasChild package, but Alexander didn'tsay exactly.)Alexander asked me to write youand thank you for your gift. It madea difference to a child in Ukraine!May God richly bless you!In His love,Lawrence Gingeryc/o Heart of Help

Dear Evlyn and friends at FirstChristian Church,We want to wish you all a veryMerry Christmas filled with the love

our lives. Sometimes, the dreams are from God. In our sleeping, whenour mind grows quiet and vulnerable, we are open to the voice of God ina new way.

In our sleeping, in our praying, in our meditation ... therein we dream inways that reveal to us our God. A benefit of keeping a sabbath day,week or season, is removing ourself from the routines that prevent usfrom being open to dreams.

Is a dream from God? How does that dream square with the Bible? withour worshipping community? with the tradition of our church? with ourreasoned experience of life? These are some of the dialogue partners that can help us discern from where a dream hails.

In my experience, dreams sent by God are all about love, hope,reconciliation, mercy, justice.

Recall Peter's dream in Acts 10. I encourage you to read this chapter. Asummary statement by Peter is found in verse 28 of that chapter ..."Peter addressed them, 'You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this - visit and relax with people of another race. ButGod has just shown me that no race is better than any other." (TheMessage). Peter makes such a statement based upon a dream. Hesays it to people he met because they had a dream and sent for him.

Dreams change the world. Dreams that from other than you are evenmore powerful. Your response to a dream can make all the difference.

Our church has a Discernment Team that is hard at work. They willspend time on retreat this month. They will be dreaming of ourcongregation's future. Please pray for our Discernment Team and thedreams they see.

It is a new year, what are your dreams? What are your dreams foryourself, your family and friends, your church, your business?

May they be dreams sent by God for if so they will bring miraclesregardless the mess you experience along the way.

Pastor's Class Easter is a wonderful day for baptisms! Are you and or your child(ren)ready for that step in the faith journey? You and or your child mayparticipate in the Pastor's Class even if they have already been baptizedor if they are uncertain if they are ready for baptism. Most of thestudents in the class are 5th graders who will participate in youth groupnext year. We look to parents to help us knowwhen their child is ready for the classas some young people mature more quicklythan others. We have had several adults takethe class and have a very meaningfulexperience.

Here is how we can help to prepare for thatbig celebration... I will offer a class that will meet every otherweek starting February 8th, for 4 class sessions that gather at 5:30pm onSundays for an hour. We will use the "Prepare the Way" curriculum. This curriculum covers broad topics: Faith, Repentance, Baptism,

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of God.Thank you for your hearts - sendinggift packages to children.You've made a difference!In His Love,Laurence Thanks to everyone whocontributed to the OASIS holidaygiving program. Because of yourgenerosity, we collected over 60presents for needy women andchildren in our area. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who helpedassemble and deliver the Christmasfood baskets!

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Have you remembered your church

in your will? Through thePermanent Fund, you can provide a

lasting legacy. For moreinformation:

info@fccedwardsville.org

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HAVE A PRAYER REQUEST?

http://fccedwardsville.org/#/contact-us/prayer-requests

Forgiveness, Holy Spirit. If you have questions or wish to see a copy,please let me know. Our Eldershave offered to be mentors with the baptismal candidatesand would meet with the young people during the weeks we do not haveclass. Those meeting times would be determined between the specificElder and you. Candidates for baptism will make their public confession of faithaffirming that they believe that Jesus is the Son of the Living God andtheir Savior on Palm Sunday at the service they normally attend. Theirbaptism would occur on Easter Sunday, April 5th, at the service theynormally attend. If your family is traveling on Palm Sunday, theconfession of faith can be made on Easter Sunday. If your family istraveling on Easter, we can celebrate baptisms on Palm Sunday.

Pictures from the Church Christmas Party, Cantataand Christmas Eve

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The youth showing off their whiteelephant gifts at the annual youth

group Christmas party.

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Farewell to Steve Hoover

It is with a heavy heart that Iannounce the resignation of SteveHoover as Keyboardist effective theend of January 2015. Steve hasbeen a highly valued member of theministry staff since August 2002. Inthat time, we have shared manymilestones and memories withSteve. Steve is moving on to newopportunities, especially more timeto travel. There will be a reception for Steveon Sunday, January 25th as wecelebrate Steve and his time withus. Please join us in worship and inthe fellowship hall to express yourgratitude and well wishes.I have been in touch with thePersonnel Committee and we havebegun a search for music staff toresource our contemporary worshipcommunity. Please encourageinterested individuals to submit aresumé to Dr. Brooks as soon aspossible.

Youth Group Schedule

January 4 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

11 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

18 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

25 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

February 1 No Meeting / Souperbowl

8 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

13-16 Mission Trip

22 Meeting 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Elders Sharing Faith We are blessed to have gifted, faithful Elders in our church. At Dr.Brooks' request, our Elders have agreed to share their faith with us in anewsletter article. Each month, one of our Elders will share. This monthwe are inspired by Joanne Kelley. Unlike those baptised in the Disciples church, as an infant I do notremember by baptism. I was baptised and raised Catholic. As othersmay have experienced, a time came in my life when I needed a change. I really needed God in my life and I needed to find the right church. How

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Please pick up your 2015 GivingEnvelopes.

They are located in the Narthex.If they are not picked up, they will

be placed in the mail on January 19.

If you would like to receive givingenvelopes, please contact the

church office.

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CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGJANUARY 11, 2015

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Laity Sunday ~ January 25

Guest Speaker ~ Lloyd Schwarz

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Ash Wednesday ServiceFebruary 18 @ 7:00pm

Join Our Mailing List

does one find the right church to worship? I checked out a book from thelibrary and read about the differnt denominations and their beliefs. WhatI read about the Disciples called to me. I found the nearest Discipleschurch. Much to my surprise it was the church with the beautiful fountainthat I would drive past several times a week on the way home from theYMCA with my kids. That beautiful fountain is now a beautiful rosegarden. I remember my call of inquiry to the church. I was told that VBSwas going on and to come for a visit. At the time my children were 6 and4 and so we came. I will never forget the warm welcome we had fromSherry Zollars. She met us on the side walk before we could even enterthe doors. Since then I have enjoyed the worship and sense of familyfrom this congregation. It has been a joy to not only take what I neededbut also to give back and serve in several different ways. This churchhas seen several changes over the years. What has not changed is thesense of love, fellowship and family community this church provides. Even as some of our honorable members have passed on, the feeling isthe same. They have been great teachers of faith by how they lived andserved and I know that has been passed on to many of us. It is an honorto serve this congregation. It is a joy to see our church grow with newmembers. Even in growth may we always have that feeling of being asmall family of God. In Faith,Joanne Kelley

Inventory of the ChurchPhysical inventory of the church property will be conducted on Saturday,January 17th from 9AM to 12PM. Volunteers are need to help withcounting inventory. Please respond back to the office or contact JoanneKelley at joanne-kelley@att.net if you are available to volunteer.Inventory sheets will be organized and ready for a 9AM start. The more volunteers the faster we finish!

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First Christian Church | 310 South Main Street | Edwardsville | IL | 62234