First Christian Church CYF is heading up an international mission trip this summer. The trip dates are July 17-24, 2010. We will be volunteering in an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. We will be working through a non-profit organization called Orphanage Outreach. Orphanage Outreach has been working with orphanages in the Dominican Republic for fifteen years, ever since the program’s founder discovered the poor conditions under which children in these orphanages lived. Many of these children had already suffered through unfortunate circumstances in their lives, such as being the victims of abusive or irresponsible parents, or living in poverty.

The mission of Orphanage Outreach is to provide opportunities to orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children. Its goals are to help orphanages provide the children who live there with basic necessities and a quality education. They are also committed to helping the orphanages become self sufficient.

FCC’s objective for this mission trip is to serve as needed. We may be asked to lead or help with a sports, arts, English, or Vacation Bible school camp. We may also serve by helping with different projects that are already underway there, such as construction, painting, or planting.

For more information you may visit the Orphanage Outreach website: www.orphanage-outreach.org.

To make a monetary donation toward our mission trip, please make your check payable to First Christian Church and note “Orphanage Outreach” in the memo line.

When: Wednesday mornings, 9:30 - 10:45. Class will meet March 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Cost: $5 per class (a portion of which will support FCC’s outreach ministry)

Where: First Christian’s Friendship Room

In Prayerful Yoga, we discover the power of linking mind, breath and body as we rest in the presence of God’s love.  This series of gentle yoga poses and breathing exercises is suitable for all body types and levels of yoga experience.

Please bring a mat or large towel.

Instructor: Kishie Wyatt, Registered Yoga Therapist

Last summer’s mission experience (D.A.W.G. - Disciples At Work for God) at Hillyer was so incredible that we want to do it again! FCC-Greensboro is hosting a mission work weekend March 12 - 14, 2010. We have several work projects lined up and we need your help to make Puppy D.A.W.G. happen.

What do you need to know??

This exciting event begins at FCC - Greensboro (1900 West Market Street) on Friday, March 12 at 7:00 and ends Sunday, March 14 at 12:00 noon following morning worship.

Participants will sleep at FCC and shower at the local YMCA. BRING YOUR SLEEPING BAG AND A TOWEL!!

Cost is $30.00 which includes a really cool T-shirt, lodging, meals on Saturday & breakfast on Sunday.

Get your registration form in by Monday, March 1. Space is limited with registrations honored on a first-come, first-serve basis. Ask your youth sponsor or download a copy here.

Contact the big DAWG - Marci Miles, CYF Sponsor, at mbmiles@triad.rr.com or 336.852.2058 for more info or visit us on Facebook at our group, Puppy DAWG at FCC Greensboro.

I spent the last several days at Christmount, our camp and retreat center in Black Mountain, NC. This was my first visit to Christmount, and I can see why those of you who have been there love it so much! There is certainly a sense of peace and grace there, which I suspect comes as much from the years and years of prayers offered in that place as the beauty of the mountains and the changing colors of the leaves.

I was there for a series of lectures that focused on the mystics as an important resource from our Christian tradition. A mystic, as our speakers suggested, is one who has had a direct experience of God that results in a direct relationship with God, and whose experience inspires and teaches others. Mystics have lived in every century, and whether or not you know their names, they have taught and influenced us. Our lectures focused on four: St. Gregory the Great, Theresa of Avala, St. Therese of Lisieux, and Thomas Merton – all people who lived and learned and struggled with their faith.

I appreciated my experience at Christmount this week for a  lot of reasons – a chance to connect with other clergy, an opportunity to visit Christmount, a couple days of mountain air – but maybe especially this: Whenever I learn about the historical figures of our tradition, I am reminded that we are just the latest in a long line of people and communities who are trying to live faithfully in the presence of God. The way we practice our faith has been shaped by all those people who came before us. Apostles Peter and Paul, mystics Gregory and Theresa, Disciples founders Barton, Thomas, and Alexander… even those saints of First Christian Church who taught you in Sunday school, gave generously to build this building, and lifted up their prayers in our sanctuary.

That might be worth remembering as we enter this stewardship season. By now, you’ve probably received a letter from our Stewardship Committee asking you to consider your pledge for next year. As you consider how much you will give, I hope you’ll take a moment to review our ministry plan and remember all that God is calling us to do here in this time and place. What an amazing thing it is to stand here in this tradition, with all those prayers behind us, and all that promise ahead of us.

First thoughts toward Sunday’s message:

James 5:13-20
“Are any of you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.”

In many ways, the letter of James is very different from the other letters of the New Testament. But like Paul, James knows the power of prayer. Here in these closing remarks, he reminds the congregation that whatever their troubles, whatever their joys, it is good and right to take it all to God.

It’s got me thinking about prayer – what it is, what it does, how we do it. I like the idea that our ordinary words become holy words when addressed to God in prayer. I suspect that each of us has a slightly different idea of just how prayer works. I like Kathleen Norris’s definition, from her book Amazing Grace: “I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.” That makes sense to me. What do you think? Join us Sunday and we’ll talk more…

If you missed last week’s Summer of Service celebration dinner, here’s a look back at the summer by the numbers:

3 Saturdays

4 Special Dinners

12 Projects

47 Participants (35 more than once)

41 Health Kits for Church World Service to distribute after disasters

13 Chicken Pot Pies to be given to families in crisis

8 Bags of stuffed animals collected for EMS and Firefighters

40 Backpacks given to refugee children

75 Popsicles shared by kids and volunteers

163 Life Rings filled out

823 (and counting!) service hours completed

Thanks to everyone who participated in and prayed for the Summer of Service!

Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
First thoughts toward Sunday’s message:

More bread talk here from Jesus. This is important – and difficult. It takes practice, repetition, like learning long division, or the periodic table – most of the time we look at it with glazed-over eyes, but occasionally, light breaks through and you understand, something, a momentary understanding that makes the difference, for awhile, anyway.

Bread here, we are finally beginning to understand, is not flour, water, yeast… Bread here is that which comes down from heaven, sustains us in our hunger, finds us in our wilderness, brings us back to life and gives us strength for the journey.

But while our story two weeks ago made us hungry for fish sticks and last week we headed home for honey wheat loaves, this week’s passage is not one to be read on an empty stomach. It is graphic and bloody, carnal in its very nature. A stranger from outer space would think we were cannibals and would hesitate to stay for lunch. In fact, the early Christians were accused of cannibalism, eating, as they did, “the body and blood” of Jesus.

So perhaps this passage is just startling enough to catch our attention. The incredible carnality of these words might just be what we need to remember the incredible incarnation of God through Jesus Christ.

Incarnation – God really is right here with us. That’s what we celebrate each week when we come to the communion table, and eat the bread and drink the cup.

An excerpt from Sunday’s message:
John 6:1-21
Ephesians 3:14-21

There’s a little boy in this story. He only gets one line, and of the four gospel writers who tell this story, only John mentions him, but he’s the one who had the picnic basket that made all the difference.

He almost didn’t go that day, I like to imagine. He almost stayed home, where there were chores to do, a baby sister to look after while his mother was up to her elbows in laundry and his father was off working in the field. He almost stayed home, but his mother sees him standing longingly at the doorway, watching people from the town head out to the hillside.

“Go,” she says, “I’ll pack you a lunch.” He grins and scampers back inside to find the basket.

“Take a little extra,” his mother says. “You might need to share with someone.” And she reaches up to the top shelf where the bread is kept. There isn’t much, but she gives him everything she has, and wraps it in a cloth. She kisses him on the head and tells him to be safe, then turns back to the baby and the laundry. The little boy takes the basket and heads out the door. Read more »