CHURCH CALENDARCHURCH CALENDAR

THURSDAY, MARCH 15 6:30PM Radiance Yoga

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 8:00AM Radiance Yoga

SUNDAY, MARCH 18 9:30AM Connection Café 10:30AM Worship 5:00PM Lenten Supper Series

MONDAY, MARCH 19 6:00PM Executive Committee Mtg

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 9:30AM Prayer Shawl 6:30PM Radiance Yoga

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 6:30PM BIB Bag Packing

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 6:30PM Radiance Yoga

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 8:00AM Radiance Yoga 2:00PM Cruise Night Team Mtg

SUNDAY, MARCH 25 Easter Offering 9:30AM Connection Café 10:30AM Worship 5:00PM Lenten Supper Series

MONDAY, MARCH 26 9:00AM Newsletter Articles Due

TUESDAY, MARCH 27 6:30PM Radiance Yoga

MAUNDY THURSDAY, MARCH 29 6:00PM Passed Meal & Communion

GOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 30 3:00PM Worship @ St John’s

SATURDAY, MARCH 31 8:00AM Radiance Yoga

EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 1 Easter Offering 9:00AM Easter Breakfast 10:30AM Worship 5:00PM Lenten Supper Series

Ecumenical Maundy Thursday/

Good Friday Worship In celebration of our Ecumenical partnership,

Central Christian Church (Disciples of

Christ) of Bourbonnais and St. John United

Church Of Christ of Kankakee will share two

Holy Week observances.

March 29 Maundy Thursday—6:00PM at Central Christian

Church

Remembering the fellowship of Jesus’ Last Supper, we will gather for a Passed Meal and Communion. Suggestions of what to bring: fresh fruit, cheese, veggies, crackers, chips, meatballs, appetizers (hot or cold), cookies, rolls – anything you can eat without a spoon or a fork. Drinks and plates will be provided. Storytellers will help us remember the passion of Jesus.

March 30 Good Friday—3:00PM at St. John UCC

Come and remember that Jesus came for your story and your wounds—to show us what Love sees when Love sees you.

April 1 @ 9:00AM—EASTER BREAKFAST Breakfast Buffet - Egg & Hash brown Casseroles, Biscuits & Gravy, Cinnamon Rolls, Fruit, Juice & Coffee. Tickets are $7 for Adults; $5 Continental Style (Roll, fruit and drink); and $3 for children (12 & under). Proceeds will benefit our Disciples Mission Fund giving. EASTER CELEBRATION WORSHIP will begin with the classic hymn Christ the Lord is Risen Today, share a special moment for children, our message from John 20: 1-18 and Holy Communion open to all. We will begin a new Easter Series of Messages entitled Belong, Behave, Believe! In this series we will hear the good news that in the risen Lord Jesus we are welcomed into the family of God just as we are even before we know exactly what we believe or how we are to behave. All are invited to begin the journey of discipleship, exploring the welcoming love and grace of God given for the world in Jesus.

February Giving: Central

received $5,825 for the General

Fund, $200 Water Cooler, $393.21

for Week of Compassion, and $555

for Disciples Mission Fund, Your

generous giving is appreciated.

Central offers Apple Pay, Google

Wallet, Credit and Debit cards as

well as online giving through our

website and PayPal.

SANCTUARY MEMORIAL LILLIES

Three Lilies will adorn the Chancel for our Easter Season

worship In Memory of our Loved Ones. You may sign up to have

your recognition listed in the Easter Bulletin on April 1.

Donations in any amount toward the Lilies will be accepted

during the Offering and all funds received above the cost of the

lilies will be added to our Easter Offering for Disciples

Mission Fund, which we will receive on March 25 & April 1.

Please, mark your check/gift LILIES. Remember, with your

donation you are not purchasing a lily to carry home with you.

Ladies Day of

Pampering &Wellness

Thank you to everyone who helped

with or attended our Ladies Day on

March 3. We had several great

health providers/vendors, a tasty

light breakfast, and many attendees.

As women, we often put the needs

of others first. This day is an

opportunity to do something for

ourselves, whether pampering

ourselves, getting health screenings,

doing a yoga session, or simply

browsing and shopping. This

annual event is a gift to the woman

of our church and community from

our women's ministry. It is not a

fundraiser; simply something we

think women need. We hope you

were able to attend and enjoy.

Save the Date: Spaghetti Dinner for BIB

Saturday, April 21st 4-7PM

$8 for Adults $3 (12yrs. and Under)

St John UCC 1045 W. River St. Kankakee for Tickets Call 815-932-3336

Sponsored by the River Valley Clergy Alliance

Ladies Day at ONU Saturday April 21, 2018 | 9:00AM—3:00PM | Centennial Chapel

An exciting one-day event of comedy, music and inspiration

Cost: $30 (a boxed lunch is available for an additional $10. Boxed lunches are limited to the first 1000 and

available only through March 31st.)

We'd love to have a group attend. We can go as a group or separately, as desired. For more information, or to

register, call 815-939-5330. You may also register online at www.olivet.edu.

Community Prayer Breakfast

Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 8:00 AM

Presentation Tickets and Buffet Breakfast: $13.00

Join Rev. Bushey for the Annual Community Prayer Breakfast at

Chalfant Hall at ONU at 8AM on Saturday, March 24th. Speak to

Rev. Bushey soon if you are interested in attending.

From Robert’s Round Table By every March 15th we submit a report to the

Yearbook and Directory of the Christian Church

(Disciples of Christ) which records and lists the

statistics of each congregation in the US and Canada in

our denominational covenant. I do my best to estimate

ages for demographic purposes. Don’t worry you are all

reported younger than you actually are, except when I

know for certain! The report includes our giving dollars

and our mission giving locally, to Disciples Missions

and globally which for 2017 was nearly $10,000. I’m

always excited to see our outreach grow and we did by

nearly 5% over 2016. I’m also glad to share in the

comments section at the end about new programs or

projects and ministries we have begun in the past year.

This year I reported on our partnership with Radiance

Yoga offering affordable classes three days a week to

our community. The classes continue to be offered on

Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8

a.m. The idea behind this section of the report is for

other congregations to hear about new possibilities for

ministry in their own settings. In past years I’ve

reported about Ashes Across the Community, Blessings

in a Backpack, Trunk or Treats, Cruise Nights and

Farmers’ Markets. The Yearbook is one of the ways we

remain in covenant with our sisters and brothers in the

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the ministry

unit supporting this effort, the Office of General

Minister and President is one of the recipients of our

upcoming Easter Special Offering for Disciples

Mission Fund.

We are half-way through our Lenten Journey and well

on our way to Holy Week and Easter – and yes, the

vernal equinox or spring! I hope you are finding the

Promises, Promises worship series meaningful as we

explore the covenants God makes with us and we make

with God and one another. I have enjoyed preparing the

series and revisiting the stories of the major covenants

in scripture. As we draw closer to the cross and

resurrection of Jesus, I am reminded of God’s deep

desire to love us - all of us - and God’s faithfulness in

fulfilling God’s promises. I am reminded of God’s

incredible hesed or loyal love for humanity driving God

to claim us as God’s own despite our ineptitude, our

propensity for violence and destruction, our ignorant

worship of material gods and our jealousy or

covetousness. Despite all of ways of death we choose

to imitate and follow, God’s grace and forgiveness is

freely given to us. But before we think God’s grace is

cheap, in other words nothing is demanded of us in

return, remember knowing God’s grace transforms us,

changes us, calls us to repentance or turning away from

sin and reshapes us into new creations, born again or

from above. In our Forgiveness study, we have been

exploring how God’s unbounded grace transforms us to

be forgiving of ourselves and one another in all our

relationships. God’s forgiveness of us is out of our

control. We may deny it. We may defy it. We cannot

escape it. And, when we truly accept God’s forgiveness

we cannot help but forgive others. Lent is a journey of

forgiveness, the promise of God’s forgiveness made

known to us most definitively through the life, death

and resurrection of Jesus. God doesn’t make empty

promises and as we prepare for the highs and lows of

Holy Week, we may stand in God’s promise of New

Life for any who will receive the good news.

As you read this newsletter, I invite you to begin

thinking about who you may invite to worship with you

this Easter Sunday? A friend in person or online, a

relative, a co-worker, a classmate, a neighbor? Who do

you know who needs to hear God’s promise for their

life? Who do you know who needs to hear they are

forgiven? Who do you know who would benefit from

belonging to a welcoming community of disciples of

Jesus? Invite them to worship with you on

Easter Sunday, buy them a ticket for the Easter

Breakfast and begin the day with fellowship, make an

effort to share our celebration of the Risen Christ. Now

is the time to make that invitation, send a card, message

them on social media, make a phone call, etc. Come

and worship with us Easter Sunday! We have a place

for you!

Peace & Joy! Rev. Robert Bushey, Jr.

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday - Thursday 9:00a.m – Noon

310 Main ST NW, Bourbonnais, IL 60914

Website: www.cccbourbonnais.com

CONNECT WITH US:

Staff: Dianna Clem, Administrative Secretary

Phone: (815) 939-4433

Email: cccbourbonnais@gmail.com

Rev. Robert Bushey, Jr. Minister

Mobile: (815) 662-7771

Email:revbushey@gmail.com

2018 Easter Special Offering March 25 and April 1

Like good stewards of the multi-colored grace of God, serve one another with

whatever gift each of you has received. 1 Peter 4:10