March Pastor Mike’s 2016 Paper Pulpit - Clover...

Pastor Mike’sPaper Pulpit

First Christian Church Elder & Contact Information

CO

NN

EC

TIN

GP

OIN

TS

FIR

ST

CH

RIS

TIA

NC

HU

RC

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Elders

Mack Jones—267-3090

Brett LeTourneau—706-2192

Moses Rodriguez—217-4786

Mike Souza— 674-2268

Secretary

Amanda Stutsman—559-674-5203

Pastor

Michael G. Stipe—559-259-6879

(2016 Shepherding lists are posted.Call your elder when there is a need.)

AN EARLY EASTER

In AD 325 the Council of Nicaeaestablished the formula forselecting the date for Easter. Itwould be on the first Sunday afterthe first full moon occurring on orafter the vernal equinox. (March20th or 21st)

The earliest Eastersince then was in 1818(March 22nd) and thelatest was 1943 (April25th). In the 40 yearsfrom 1996-2036 Easterlands in April all but 9times. Those fall in themonth of March.

2016 marks the earliest date forEaster since 2008 (March 23rd)and will be the final March Easteruntil 2024 (March 31st).

But Easter is not just early for usin this day.

For all of those who followedJesus, it was way too early to lose

their beloved one. Their grief atHis death swept over them as awave that extinguished hope.This is not what it was supposedto be. This is not what wassupposed to happen.

But it was still early, for Easterhad yet to arrive. Death still

reigned in the worldand sin still took its tollupon those too weak towithstand it.

But at just the righttime—very early in themorning—somethingwonderful and amazing

happened. What had been put offin the dark of night was now thrustinto the brilliant dawn of a newday. It was Life! Life beyond ourunderstanding. Life beyond ourearthly existence. Life thatswallowed up death.

Easter may be early this year, butit is right on time.

I will see you Sunday!

Connecting People To God - To Each Other & To The World

March2016

2300 Sunset Ave Madera, CA 93627 (559.674.5203) e-mail: [email protected] maderafcc.org

Adoption“For you did not receive the spirit of

bondage again to fear, but you received theSpirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba,

Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spiritthat we are children of God, and if children, then heirs –heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we sufferwith Him, that we may also be glorified together.” –Romans 8:15

When I was six years old, I sang a solo from DottieRambo’s Down by the Creek Bank musical. The lyricswere, “I am adopted. I’m a special kid you see. I’m proudto be a member of the royal family.” My entire concept ofadoption was based upon the movie Annie and whateversupplemental information my parents provided at thetime. It wasn’t until much later that I began to understand

adoption in the context of my relationship with myHeavenly Father. “Abba” is the Aramaic word that childrenwould use for their fathers, the equivalent to our “Daddy.”We have the privilege of calling upon God as our “Dad”whenever we choose. Also, we are not just children, buttrue heirs in line to receive a heavenly inheritance ofeternal life.

Through adopting Jacques and Maisey, I have a smalltaste of what it feels like to bring an outsider into myfamily. They live in my home, they spend time with me,and they enjoy all of the benefits of having a parent wholoves them. This brings me great joy. From that, I canreasonably infer that my Heavenly Father takes joy ingiving me His Spirit of adoption. I am adopted, I amspecial, and I am proud to be a member of His royalfamily.

~Melissa

PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARIES

Greg & Vicki SyversonCMF International — Mexico

Scott & Anelle PriceCMF International — Tanzania

Vince & Gretta PaynePanama Mission Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. Yoon Kwon ChaeKorea Gospel Mission

Champions For TomorrowClovis, CA

American Indian Christian Missions

Doors of Hope

Madera Community Food Bank

Madera Rescue Mission

Madera Love INC

Discover more information on themissions we support on ourwebsite: www.maderafcc.org

Attention all Middle School and High School Aged Students!

J O I N U S W E D N E S D A Y S 6 : 3 0 - 8 : 0 0 P M &S U N D A Y S 9 : 3 0 – 1 0 : 3 0 A M

C O N T A C T D A N I E L O R D E V I N A W I T H A N Y Q U E S T I O N S( 5 5 9 ) 9 9 4 - 5 1 7 7

Have you’ve ever heard of mob mentality? It means thatpeople are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors,or follow certain trends. I often imagine how I would have re-acted to the day they crucified Jesus if I was present. Would Ihave joined in with the crowd? Would I have walked away andhidden? Or would I have been bold enough to stand up to thecrowd and profess my belief in Him? I hope I would havedone the latter. Today we can make the choice to follow Himeveryday of our lives and show others His love that Heshowed us on the cross!

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

3 Scott Stutsman16 Willivee Wright17 Alice Morriseau

19 Zandra Navarro

20 Jonas Wyatt

Frankie LeTourneau

23 Betty Smith

1

Intercessory Prayer6:30pm—7:30pm

2

6:30pm—Youth Night

3

House of Prayer6:00am

Worship TeamPractice6:00pm

4

8am Ladies

Breakfast @

Robin Walton’s Home

5

7:30am Men’s Breakfast

@ Perkos

9 am Elders Meeting10 am Board Meeting

6

Bible Classes 9:30amWorship 10:45am

7 8


9

10:00am—Noon

FCC Food Pantry


10



11 12

13


14 15


16


17

House of Prayer 6:00amWorship Team Practice

6:00pm

St. Patrick's Day

18 19

1st Day of Spring

20


21 22


23

10:00am—Noon

FCC Food Pantry


24



25

GOOD FRIDAY

SERVICE

6:30pm

26

27


EASTERSUNDAY

28 29


30


31



Anniversaries

9 Dennis & TerryMcMonigal

March 2016

Calendar Connecting PointsCalendar Connecting PointsCalendar Connecting Points

There are now four emphases in prayer that are opento you as a part of our church family.

The FCC Prayer Team meets each Sunday morning inPastor Mike’s office at 8:45 to seek God and prayerwalk the church facility.

Prayer Hosts are available during the service to prayspecifically with you and for you.

The Intercessory Prayer Ministry meets Tuesdays from6:30-7:30 PM to lift up our church family.

House Of Prayer is aninter-church groupwhich meets Thursdaymornings from 6:00-7:00.

The only thing missingis you!

from ramona . . .But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerlyawait a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,who, by the power that enables him to bringeverything under his control, will transform ourlowly bodies so that they will be like his gloriousbody. (Philippians 3:20-21 NIV)

This verse reminds me that my life here is verytemporary. It directs my thoughts to my Savior,Jesus, to His cross and His glorious resurrection.Our citizenship is in heaven, not here because ‘here’is only temporary. ‘Here’ is where everything andeveryone is in a state of decaying. Heaven is wherenothing and no one decays ever. Therefore, heavenis permanent. The very decaying of our bodiessupports the Word in calling them ‘tents’. Tents are

very temporary as dwellings go; they are theemblem of our pilgrimage. Castles crafted of

stone are much more substantive, the emblemof permanence, protection and power . One

day our tents will be transformed intocastles crafted of glorious, permanent,

heavenly stuff. This is the hope of theResurrection.

“Don’t fear the hard

work of waiting on

God’s voice.”~Anonymous

As we move toward Easter we will ex-plore the Godly Connections that Jesusmodeled for us as his followers.

March 6th—“Connected To His Father”

March 13th—“Connected To His Followers”

March 20th—“Connected to His Mission”

March 27th— Easter Sunday“Connected To Life”

Saturday—March 6th Men’sBreakfast at Perkos @ 7:30

AM

March 6th—10 am Conference Room

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE

March 25th 6:30 PM

CWF Breakfast & Meeting

Saturday, March 6th- 8:00 AM

At Robin Walton’s Home—2805 Willow Drive

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