First Christian Church of East Moline April 2019

� Helmets of Hope scavenger hunt

� Another “Make and Take”

� “Rise Up, Church” projects

� The May Centennial event

� Help us raise money for Helmets

� Annual rummage sale

� Cleanup day

� Nicole Sullivan’s wedding

� Easter Sunday plans

� This and more inside!

“... there’s nothing particularly heroic or praiseworthy about treating

others with respect or tolerance”

I’ve been affected by the intention, if not alwaysthe execution, of our current sermon series called“Who is he to you? At one level, the seriesreminds me of the conversation Jesus had withhis disciples in which he first asked them whoother people thought he was, and then asked thefar more personal question, Who do YOU saythat I am?

At one level, the series has moved me to thinkabout the difference between public faith andpersonal faith. Public faith is going to church,acting civilly at the grocery store, treating otherswith respect, and contributing to worthy causes.Public faith is the collection of actions objectiveonlookers would likely decide are good, decent,and proper.... But they’re also easy. And if noteasy, then not demanding.

Though sometimes it feels like it, there’s notmuch sacrifice to getting in our vehicles andmaking our way to Sunday worship (think aboutall the people who will find ways to get tochurches this weekend!) And though sometimes itfeels like it, there’s nothing particularly heroic orpraiseworthy about treating others with respect ortolerance. We can do it with our eyes closed...make that, with our hearts closed.

The principal difference between public faith andpersonal faith is that public faith is externalactions, while personal faith is internal/spiritualconviction. We can be nice to people withoutcaring for them. We can give to causes withoutconcern for the difference they make. We can goto church without experiencing spiritual passion.When Jesus asks his followers who THEY say heis, he’s inquiring about their personal faith.

Has their spending so much time around Jesustransformed their hearts and minds? Are theydifferent inside because for them Jesus is Lordand Savior, not just a powerful teacher andmiracle worker?

At another level, our current sermon series hasmoved me to think about the power of encounterswith Jesus. An encounter is not a website, or aSunday group lesson, or a preacher’s bestefforts. An encounter is a profoundly personalexperience of Jesus, one that results in personalfaith. Without encounters, Jesus is a prominenthistorical figure without authority, and Christianityis an association of like-minded people who enjoyeach other’s company and do their best to makea difference. Without encounters, a relationshipwith Jesus is about belief - what I think is true -not faith - what I know is true.

Whatever your politics, I bet you’ll agree we livein crazy times. The American social fabric is moretattered and discolored today than at anytime inmy adult life. People are hurting and taking thathurt out on each other. The solution is not asermon from the FCCEM archive. The answer isan encounter with Jesus, an experience throughwhich he becomes more than a character inancient sacred literature, when he becomes morethan someone else’s Lord. The answer isencounters that produce personal faith - a sensethat heaven is personally involved in your life.The answer is personal faith.

The resurrected Jesus commanded us to makedisciples of all nations. What he meant was,make it personal for people. Let’s start with youand me.

Easter is a holiday on the calendar unless somebody finds new life.

Spring clean-up day is May 18

Small church that we are, we depend solely onvolunteers to maintain our building. In that spirit,we’ll hold our annual spring cleaning event onSaturday, May 18, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

This will be a head-to-toe cleanup, focusing, asyou might guess, on the spaces most frequentlyused: the lobby, worship center, Memorial Room,restrooms, and fellowship hall. This cleanup daytakes on added importance given that our ownNicole Sullivan will be married in our worshipcenter just one week later.

Whatever your skills, experience, or physicalcapabilities, we’ll find a way for you to contributeto our efforts. If you’ll have the time to be with usin the noon hour, bring or plan to go out and get acarryout lunch for when we eat together, perhapson The Pointe, if the weather cooperates.

“To the Pointe” group to resumesessions on the pointe on May 5One of our Sunday groups for adults is called “Tothe Pointe” primarily because its preferredmeeting location is the natural setting of thepicnic tables that sit on the knoll on the east sideof our building. Now that spring has (finally!)sprung, the To the Pointe group (finally!) willmove back to The Pointe.... on Sunday, May 5,we hope. The Rise Up, Church! improvements tothe area will be underway, but access to thetables will not be impeded. If you’re not part of aSunday group already, consider spending anhour of your Sunday with the To the Pointe group,which currently is taking a leisurely journeythrough the Psalms (as well as lots of amiableand interesting conversation before each week’sBible study).

Easter Season Donations 2019Donation from: To Honor or in Memory of:

Carl & Marlowe McSparinFloyd (Jake) & Veryl (Toddy) Jacobs

Karen & Erin Anderson

Jackie HumeRuby & Charles Stoneburg;

Elaine & Ivan Tank; Bill Hume

Bob Grove Shirley Grove; Terri Grove

Shari & Bill ColeyShari's parents: Don Mee; Nancy Mee

Bill's parents: Arlene & Fred Coley

Karen Lavalle Sawyer & Tenacity

Jerry & Maurine Unzel Our sons Kevin & Greg Lavalle

Two thousand years ago, an empty tomb changed human history forever. How hasthat empty tomb changed YOUR history? Testify!

Second “Make and Take” eventset for May 5To-date in 2019, we’ve made three times asmany deliveries and delivered three times asmany items to our partner agencies than we didin the same time period lastyear. All those deliveries costmoney, of course, whichcompels us to ask fordonations and createfundraisers.

Among the fundraiserscoming up soon is our second-ever “Make andTake” event on Sunday, May 5, beginning at2:00 p.m. From a catalog and a couple of printedsheets that are available in the church lobby, youpick designs and colors for the decorative boardsyou’ll make at the event (or will have made foryou, if you’d prefer to have someone from ourchurch put your order together for you).$10 fromeach p comes back to Helmets of Hope. It’s a funand simple way to decorate your home andsupport your church’s signature ministry.

So that the supplies you need for the items youwant to create are available at the party, youneed to place your order at Mission Central bythis Sunday (April 21). But even if you don’t pre-select your design, come to the party anywaysince the host will have extra boards and designsavailable, one of which might just be what you’relooking for.

So, join us for the event in fellowship hall. We’llprovide refreshments and great company. Comefor the fun, the friends (invite people to the event!)and to make a difference in the lives of theveterans we serve.

Help us expand our HelmetsfundraisingOur Helmets of Hope ministry to veterans costslots of money, so we’re open to many forms offund-raising. In the next couple of weeks, wehave two fundraisers. We’ve already received agreater number of donations from individuals thisyear than we did in all of 2018 (but not yet agreater amount of dollars).

And we’d better! Helmets’ service area has nowexpanded all the way to the Illinois/Indianaborder, a total of 36 counties in Iowa and Illinois.We expect more and more supply requests fromour partneragencies, whichwill require moreand morefinancial support.So we’replanning to addto our fund-raising optionsthe collectionboxes you see inthe picture nextto this article.More, we’re inviting you to help us purchase asmany of them as we can at $15 each.

We’ll station these containers at cash registers inlocal convenience stores, gas stations, andsimilar locations, hoping that people will donatetheir spare change - and perhaps more - to ourministry. The picture gives a sense of thegraphics we’ve designed for the boxes. A samplebox is now posted at Mission Central. If you wantto help us buy these collection boxes, be sure tomark your donation clearly.

We live both in the shadow of the cross

and the light of the resurrection.

First-ever Helmets of Hopescavenger hunt is almost hereWe’ve talked about it for weeks; now it’s showtime.

The first-ever Helmets of Hope scavenger huntwill challenge four person teams to scour theQuad Cities for two hours looking for items tobring back to the church(for example, bring back agrocery store receipt timestamped since thescavenger hunt began), orfor settings in which to taketeam pictures (for example,take a picture of your teamstanding next to a housefor sale sign). At the end of the hunt, we’ll awardpoints for every successfully completed objective.The team with the most points will be the winner.

We’ll also raffle off some gift baskets, so we’rehoping for a big and fun night for our guests andfor our Helmets of Hope ministry. Spread theword about this event. Scavenger hunts for adultsare a big thing these days. You might knowsomeone who will accept the challenge of ourevent and put together a team!

It all happens Saturday, April 27, beginning at6:00 p.m. Spread the word!

Centennial year newsOur monthly centennial events continue to gowell. April’s game night participants had a greattime playing a game reminiscent of TV’s “MatchGame” from the 1970's. Our May centennialevent is an outreach to the community as we form

a team that will sand andpaint a couple of eight-to-ten foot benches atJacobs Northeast Park inEast Moline.

At the moment, we don’thave a time for the event,but we’re likely to do thework in the early eveningof one or two weekdayssometime in the month ofMay. We’ll post a sign upsheet at Mission Centralbeginning April 27 so thatyou can express your interest in helping. (the citywill provide the paint)

Find your inner painter and come join us!

Easter breakfast and huntEaster Sunday looks to be seasonably warm anddry for our annual Easter egg hunt, this comingSunday, April 21, beginning at 9:00 a.m.Bring/Invite your kids, grandkids, neighbor kids,friends’ kids, any kids with whom you have aconnection! It’s a lot of fun, and of course, a lot ofinstant energy for their later consumption (andyour later regret!)

But on Easter Sunday, we offer eggs in morethan one fashion. Join us for our traditional Easterbreakfast potluck (8:00 a.m.) where the “rules”are no different from any of our other potlucks:Bring food to share if you can, but if you can’tbring food, come anyway because God ALWAYSprovides. It’s a great way to start your day and forkids to fuel up for the egg hunt that begins at thetop of the hour.

What a GREAT time of year this is... or can be.Jesus died so we could live. And lives today,

waiting for us live the life he offers.

Rise Up, Church! projectsresumeSpring has (finally) sprung, which means it’s timefor us to resume our “Rise Up, Church!” capitalcampaign projects, first among which is the rampleading up to The Pointe on the east side of ourchurch building.

Rise Up, Church! received nearly $11,500 indonations in2017-18. The firstpurchases of thecampaign werethe two newfellowship hallentrance doors that so improved the look andenergy efficiency of that space. After completingthe ramp, we’ll add a wooden sign and newlayers of mulch to the surface of The Pointe,

clean and resurface the deck and railing on theeast side of the building, and add a banner/signto the building’s east side to further identify us topeople driving in from 7th Street. We also expectto add new lighting of some form to the east sideof our property.

So THANKS AGAIN! to everyone who donated tothe Rise Up, Church! campaign, and a heartyinvitation to join us on May 4 (8:00 a.m.) as webegin the year’s projects.

Recommended shoebox items for May?

— Personal Hygiene products

Annual rummage sale coming 6and 7We’re excited to announce the dates of thisyear’s rummage sale, proceeds from which willsupport the generalministries of our church.

Friday and Saturday,June 7 and 8 are thedates, so now is the timefor us to begin searchingand sorting and collectingand delivering items we’re willing to donate to thesale.

! If you bring them to the church on Sundaymorning, your fellow worshipers will helpyou unload.

! If you bring your donations to the churchduring the week, your pastor will help youunload.

! If you have items to donate, but you needsomeone to get them to the church for you,call the church or talk to Marsha Jones orBill Coley and we will have people stop byyour home to collect them.

The sale is six weeks away, but our action time isnow.

REMEMBER, you can support our

church through...

details at Mission Central.

Attendance

DATE Sunday Groups Sunday Worship

March 17 9 15

March 24 8 20

March 31 7 16

April 7 8 21

April 14 9 23

Finances (through March 31)

Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13,083.00Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,451.11Needed for 2019 Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,874.04

Prayer Matters

Recent Concerns

Barb Bennett-Hakanson - Restorative Care at Genesis Illini campus,room #184

Homebound

Ethel Dawson - 2638 5th St. Ct. East Moline

Serving in May

- Welcome Team - - Multimedia Operator -Faith Ballard Shari Coley

- Praying at the Table - - Presenting LifeSounds -Jackie Hume Jackie Hume

- Preparing Communion - - Serving Communion -Shari Coley Faith Ballard

- Providing Childcare -Marsha Jones

NOTE: You can help with any of these Sunday morning ministries! Contact the church officeto make yourself available.

A Birthday in MayErika Warren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Ashlie Ledbetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Levi Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

An Anniversary in MayJerry & Maurine Unzel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

NOTE: We can’t tell people about yourbirthday or anniversary unless you tell us.Contact the church office with yourinformation

Help us celebrate NicoleSullivan’s weddingNicole Sullivan and her fiancee, Josh Brown,joyfully invite you to witness and celebratethe launch of theirmarriage at theirwedding ceremonyon Saturday, May25, at 3:00 p.m.

Nicole grew up inour church, sothere’s a specialgrace about ourbeing able to offerour support to herand Josh on their special day. Join us!