Advent Bible Study

Advent Bible Study!
It is true that we are all very busy during the Advent and Christmas season. In the midst of all of that, are you taking time to study God’s Word and remind yourself of the real reason for the season? If you need a little help with that or you would just like to be involved in a Bible Study, you are invited to participate in the Advent Study this season. We will be meeting on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the church. It is a four week study starting November 28th. We will be studying the book :Christmas Gifts That Won’t Break: An Advent Study for Adults by James W. Moore. If you are interested, please see Pastor Elissa to sign up and have a book ordered for you. The cost of the book is $10 and the deadline for signing up is November 14th. Thank you!

Ice Cream Social

The Ice Cream Social will be held again this year following the Fall Festival Parade. We will open the doors at 5:30 and serve ice cream with pies and cake along with steamburgers and such until 7:30! Don't forget to sell your tickets and come join us for our annual ice cream social!

Music and Mission Sunday!

Mark Sunday, July 25th on your calendars for Music and Mission Sunday! We will be worshipping God through hymns that you have requested! Arlyn Schipper is going to be our guest speaker teaching us about the Food Resource Bank. Arlyn is the committe chair of a central Iowa FRB project. Larry Mitchell with be joining Arlyn as we learn about new and exciting ways we can use our gifts and talents to serve God.
Start writing down your hymn choices and get them to Pastor Elissa. Following worship, we will all share in a potluck at the CCC.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

July 19th – 23th, 2010
6:30pm – 8:30pm
First Presbyterian Church!

Our theme this year will be High Seas!

We need your help!

You can go to www.groupvbspro.com/vbs/ez/faithkidsbushnell
To sign up to volunteer!

We also encourage you to pre-register your children!

Simply go to the website and follow the directions to either pre-register your children or volunteer for specific positions that are still open!




If you have any questions or would prefer to not use the internet to register, please contact Rev. Elissa Jay at 309-772-2315.

Extreme Faith Makeover!

Friends,
It is finally here. The Extreme Faith Makeover class is coming to an end. We have learned many things ranging from how the Trinity relates to one another to what specific doctrines we believe in as Presbyterians. We also learned what Polity is!!!!
We invite you all to celebrate with us on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 during our worship service as Holly, Alexis, and Kassi complete this journey and begin the next chapter in their faith walks. During the service, we will inducted into membership Alexis and Kassi (Holly became a member several years ago) and all three young women will renew their baptismal vows! Please join us this Sunday!

The Spaghetti Supper

Last weekend we held our Spaghetti Supper fundraiser to help pay for the south side of the church's roof to be replaced. We are happy to say that with a large donation from Presbyterian Women, all the ticket sales, and the dessert auction, we are nearly there! Our aim is to raise $9,300 and we are now a little over $8,300. The services for the next two Sundays will include a special offering to help with the last bit that we need. We are so thankful to all of you who have helped supported us in this task. God has certainly shown through as we have raised these funds due to the generosity of our church family and friends.
Thank you,
From Everyone at the First Presbyterian Church.

It's a BOY!

Baby boy Claudius was born April 6th at MDH - at about 10:45 am. His name is Matthew Phillip, weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, 20 1/2 inches long. Both Mel and Matthew are doing well.
I went to see Matt and Mel yesterday. Matt is very adorable and while I was there he was a very good baby!
We congratulate Mel, Doug, and Will!

Irony

The other day, during my daily devotions, I was reading in John. I happened to come across a time where Jesus told all those who were following him some things they didn't really want to hear. There is one verse that says many left him at that point. The verse? John 6:66. Hmm. I thought that was slightly funny. THOUGH, it should be noted that when referring to 666 as the mark of the devil, 666 is not the actual number but it is a symbol instead. But still.
Has anyone else read something that caught them off guard?

Lenten Bible Study

This year, during the Lenten season, there will be a pastor-led adult Bible study held two times per week for all of those who are interested in deepening your faith during this very reflective time of our liturgical year.
Lent is a reminder to us that Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, during our Bible Study we will study forgiveness both from Christ and also how we are called to extend that forgiveness to others.
During this Bible Study we will examine the Biblical passages that relate to Christ’s Passion and we will read and discuss the book Choosing Forgiveness: Your Journey to Freedom by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
The cost of the book is $11. The cost of joining this Bible Study and learning more about how we are called to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us will lead to a much greater reward.
I hope that you will be able to attend this Bible Study. You will not be required to read the book but doing so will lead to much better discussion and personal growth.
This is a co-ed intergenerational Bible Study. Adults of all ages and both genders are welcome to participate.
The first two meeting times are:
Tuesday, February 16th at 9am in Choir Room.
Thursday, February 18th at 5:15pm in Choir Room.
(Books will be ordered after first meeting.)

Fishing

I am not much of a fisherman. Those who were in church yesterday heard two stories of my failure when it came to fishing. It is a job that I don't do well but I am okay with that. I was not called to be a fisherman. I was called to be a pastor. And we all have different callings. But I really believe that they are all valuable in their own right.
If you heard the sermon yesterday, you heard that Luke 5:1-11 isn't just about that story that you remember from the Bible when you were a kid where Jesus told Peter to go out and be a fisher of men. And of course there is a very cute song that I remember from when I was a kid. But instead, we learned that this story also has a lot to do with discipleship. Not just bringing people into the church and calling it good because our numbers have doubled, but actually working in our lives and helping others to grow closer with God.
Here is the ending to the sermon:
"To be a fisherman isn’t about making sure you have the right equipment, the right amount of knowledge or the right skills. To be a fisherman is about hard work, understanding, and most importantly trust in God the Father. To be a fisherman you must have dedication and belief in the one who has called you to be the fisherman. So often the cost of discipleship does not come off the top; it is demanded of us after we have given everything that we can give. Jesus did not show up after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast. He came to find these men at the end of a long working day, after backbreaking labor, and he told them to keep on working. And Christ does the same to me and the same to all of you."
In the Name of the One who calls us to be fisherman,
Amen!

Margot Speer

On Monday morning, we laid the body of Margot Speer to rest at the Bushnell Cemetery following a funeral service at the church. After the committal service, there was a wonderful luncheon provided by the deacons.
It was a pretty large funeral. The pews were all full, there were about 30 chair set up in the parlour, 15 people in the choir room, and a few upstairs. What a blessing to the family to see how loved Margot was.
My thoughts and prayers continue to be with Margot's family and friends.

Flood Warnings

Sunday was a cold morning but a joyous one nevertheless. While we celebrated the baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we were also witness to another baptism. The church family welcomed Bruce Hall as a newly baptized member of the body of Christ and member of the First Presbyterian Church. In addition to this: Vicki Reimolds and Sheena Boden were ordained as Elders and Jene Hall was ordained as a Deacon. Vicki and Sheena were installed as elders along with Margie Statler, John Lawson and Allen Barclay. Jene was installed as a deacon along with Carolyn Phillips.
The sermon was titled "Warning: Flash Flood Advisory" and was based on Luke 3:15-22. The sermon was about how the cleansing power of the water of baptisms literally becomes a flood over us. And on top of this, as all of the reaffirmations of baptisms and baptism itself was celebrated on Sunday, there was a flood of the Holy Spirit that you could tell was present! Praise God for all that he calls us to do and calls us to be! We pray for those who have never experienced the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit and the waters of baptism.

Congratulations!

The First Presbyterian Church wants say congratulations to Grandma and Grandpa (Jene and Bruce) Hall and also to Great-Grandma (Helen) Hall!
Keerah Jean Cooper was born December 29th, 2009 in Galesburg to her parents Jacque Hall and Cody Cooper.
She weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long!
We all hope to see pictures soon!