December 15, 2020

First Connect

www.fbcokc.org 405- 232-4255

FBCOKC – A family of faith, growing in God’s love, striving to be faithful.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” What a wonderful reason to rejoice, for the Lord is near! This past Sunday we lit the third candle of Advent, the joy candle. I loved that we had a blanket of snow on the Sunday we were talking about joy. Snowmen and snowball fights brought joy to everyone brave enough to go out in the snow. Such joy!

Fred Craddock told a story that illustrated true Biblical joy to him. He had just finished preaching in a worship service where he was the guest preacher for the day. He was walking in the parking lot when a van full of teenagers drove up. They all started piling out of the van and they were rough looking and dirty. He asked someone near him if they had any idea who these teenagers were and they said, “Oh yes that is our youth group. They’ve been on a mission trip to help a remote village build a new place for worship.” Craddock asked one of the boys from the van if he was tired. He said, “Tired? I’ve never been this tired in my whole life. But it’s the best tired I’ve ever been!” Craddock said, “Now that’s joy, Biblical joy. And I just hope we can all be that tired one day.”

Friends, I pray we would all look for ways to serve God this week and experience that kind of joy. I challenge you to do one small thing this week to bring someone else joy. What could it be? You could leave a small gift on your neighbor’s porch. Or send a note of encourage-ment to someone who might need to know they are loved. Be the reason someone else finds joy this week.

Join us as we celebrate the Christmas season!Wednesday night on Facebook Live we will have Virtual Christmas Caroling. Sunday morning we will worship online through the website, the FBCOKC app, and Facebook. We will light the fourth candle of Advent, the candle of love. Finally, join us for a special online only Christmas Eve Service at 6pm.

Please send us a picture of you and/or your family. We want a sweet Christmas picture of you to use in our worship service on the 20th. Email your pictures to fbcokcpics@gmail.com by Thursday the 17th. It will bring us so much joy to see your faces! I love you all and pray for you dai-ly. Please reach out to the church if you need anything. Blessings my friends.

Sarah

mailto:fbcokcpic@gmail.com

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

The FBCOKC offices will closed at 3:00pm on Christmas Eve, all day Christmas Day and all

day December 28th. The office will be open half days for the 29th—31st and closed on January

1st. We will resume normal hours on January 4th. Thank you

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Sarah Stewart, Pastor

Andrew Bowles, Minister of Students and Missions

Brad Stewart, Minister of Discipleship

Steven McConnell, Minister of Music

Don Clothier, Pianist

Ariel Koerner, Praise Leader

Jordan Browne, Children ’s Coordinator

FBCOKC MINISTERS

Thank you to our amazing Media Ministry Team

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY We are giving out Christmas Baskets this Saturday to families through CareForOKC! Thanks to the food and money you donated during our Bed-lam Canned Food Drive we get to help feed families for Christmas. What an important gift you are giving to so many famlies. Would you pray for each one of these families as they received their food and toys we have to give away as well. Pray for God to reveal himself to each person and that they may see the love of Christ in us. Merry Christmas!

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Here’s the link for blood drive. https://www.yourbloodinstitute.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/344817

https://www.yourbloodinstitute.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/344817https://www.yourbloodinstitute.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/344817

Unplanned circumstances can bring delight, blessing, hope, peace, joy and

love. It can also bring despair, chaos, confusion, hopelessness, sadness

and a feeling of loneliness.

During this season we remember the birth of a baby to an ordinary girl.

All of a sudden this young girl has an unplanned circumstance come into

her life. Although planned many years ago and foretold by the prophets of

a virgin birth of a majestic king, I wonder if Mary had ever thought that

she might be the one to be the mother of the king.

Don’t you think she might have been caught off guard in an unplanned circumstance? How would she

handle it? I think about Paul on the road to Damascus, and Moses and the burning bush. What about

Zechariah and the angel and the 12 disciples and their call from none other than Jesus. All were

unplanned circumstances in their lives and yet in all the chaos look what happened………a miracle and

they got to be a part of it.

What is going on now in your life that was unplanned? We all have one thing in common right now.

Pandemic – an unplanned circumstance. What will we make of it? How will it change our lives and in

it give glory to God? Sometimes things don’t happen like we would want them to but God is still on the

throne and praise God Jesus came years ago to know exactly how we would handle such a time as this.

Praise God in your unplanned circumstance.

Mary magnified God in a song. She didn’t know which way was up and she magnified Him. From an

unplanned circumstance to magnifying the Lord. My prayer is to magnify God in all my circumstances.

Toni

Mary’s Song of Praise

46 And Mary[a] said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A46b-55&version=NRSV#fen-NRSV-24932a