FamilyOfFaithSpiritVoice_May1996.pdf
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- FamilyOfFaithSpiritVoice_May1996.pdf
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AN OlITREACH TO MEMBERSAND FRIENDS OF FAMILY OF FAITH MCC
WEEKLY
PASTOR'S
/.
Sundays
Byllff,N!~II.DT,
Wednesdays
Dear Friends,
Thursdays
One of the questions I am asked most
often is, •How am I to read the Bible?"
Some of us are unaccustomed to God's
Word and we don't know where to
start Others of us, are familiar with
the Word but no longer comfortable
with it because it has been used as a
weapon against us. Where are we to
begin (or beginagain as the case may
be)? Let's begin by remembering that a
person who is near starvation, physically,can hardly enjoy a banquet feast
Oh it looks wonderful and he or she
might ooh and aah over the possibilities, but one who has not been filled up
for some time will only be able to take
a few bites at a time. The body simply
cannot digest any more until it
becomes used to being fed again The
same is bue for those who have not
been filled with God's word for some
time. We have a hunger and even a
spiritual starvation.
Perhaps it's
because we have been overcome by
tragedy or crisis, or perhaps we've
never been filled with the Word of
God. Some of us may have been hit
over the head with the Word and we're
fearful of more scarring and bruising.
Whatever the reason you're not feeding
yourself with the Word of God, here's a
prescription that just might work!
MAY
CALENDAR
UPC0Ml NG
1
9:15 Adult Education
11:00 Worship Service
6:30 Praise & Worship
7:30 Choir Rehearsal
7:30 Codependency
Support Group
~
CONFERENCE
TX
May 16-19th
In Austin,
Family of Faith will be sending our
lay delegate, Diana; Pastor Nancy;
and several others to District
Conference this month. Kharma &
Julie will be singing special music,
Pastor Nancy will be appointed to
the BOM, and Kharma will be leading a workshop about young adult
ministry within UFMCC. This is an
exciting time for Family of Faith and
we will have many representatives
of our growing & thriving congregation at this year's conference. Keep
all those who will be travelling in
your prayers.
MONTHLY
1st Sunday of Month Potluck
1st Friday oi Month
SAFE HA VEN (ageslB-30)
2nd Sunday of Month Board Meeting
(open to all)
10th of each month .. newsletter due.
3rd Wednesday of month
newsletter mailing 5:30 pm
MAY1996
5th • Pastor Nancy's 1 year
Anniversary with Family of Faith
6th• Caregiver's Team Mtg 7:00 pm
12th• Special Mother's Dav Worship
(Nancy McDonald, Vice President of
the National PFLAG will be speaking)
13th• Stewardship Team Mtg 7:00 pm
16 • 19th • South Central District
Conference in Austin, TX
20th - Fundraising Team Mtg 7:00 pm
26th • Pentac:ost Sunday &
1:00 ~imilation Team Mtg.
Please advise the church of your
new address so you can continue
to receive the newsletter.
You can reach us at 622-1441.
(Continued on next page)
FAMILY OF FAITH MCC
&
ONGOING EVENTS
ON~BODY,
ON~MIND.
ON~SPIRIT
DISTRICT
1996
•
5451-E Srn..rrnMINGO • TULSA,
OKLAHOMA •
622-1441
-
(Pastor's Pen codinUBd)
First of all, choose a Bible that is
written in a language which is easy fur
you to read. Please be careful to get a
translation (New King James, NN
Study Bible,Revised Standard Version,
etc.) as opposed to a paraphrase (The
Living Bible,The Way, Good News For
Modern Man, etc.) A translation is a
translation of the most original text
found. A paraphrase is a human
being's interpretation of what
he/she thinks the Bible means.
Secondly, begin in the Gospels,
especially with Mark and Luke. Read
these stories about Jesus which are
some of the easiest passages to understand and on which to concentrate.
Third, hefoM you ever op@nyour
Bible,pray for God to help you understand what you are about to read
Fourth, when you pick up yow
Bible to read, set a timer for 5 minutes.
Just 5 minutes at a time is good for
starters. Remember the starved person
at the banquet? If we've been spiritually starved, we will only be able to bite
off a little bit at a time! Just 5 minutes
at a time as many times duringthe day
as you feel the need for God's Word
and/or whenever you are feeling fearful, doubtful, nervous, anxious, angry
or frustrated.
Fifth, Don't hesitate to read aloud.
It will help you concentrate on and
comprehend the meaning of the passage. If you read a verse and don't
understand it, read it again! You may
find yourself reading and rereading for
the entire 5 minutes. That's OK! Let
the Living Waters of the Word soak
into your parched soul. Let the Bread
of Life feed you until you're so full you
need to stop for the digestive processes
to take over!
Sixth, When your time set for reading the Word is over, pray again, asking God to help you to use what you
have read in yow daily walk. Then
when you leave yow house, take your
Biblewith you. You never know when
the 5 minute wcravingw
to be filled will
hit again. May God bless you and
fill you as you reach for God's Word!
Pastor Nancy
(: I I I { I S I I \ ~
} : 1) l , ' . \ 1·I {) ~
Familyof Faith is THRILLEDto
welcome our new keyboardist,
Kathy C Kathy started her
serviceto God at Familyof Faith
MCC on F.asterSunday,April 7.
The choir has already been
blessed beyond expression with
Kathy'sgifts& talents. Be sureto
extend a warm Family of Faith
welcometo Kathy the next time
you see her.
(JHNT. She '.rthe blondeone
behindthepimo.)
1111 1111 1'"11
I
Choir- pr-actice5 continue to be
held on Wedne5day evenings ot
7:30
pm following
wor-ship
service. We ar-e blessed to have
our- nevv keyboar-di9t, Kathy. I om
so ver-y excited
about the
opportunitie5 we hove for- gr-owt+,
and for- e<per-imentation with new
types of music to glor-if,, God.
I'd l11c;eto
ssue a per-sona
1nvitotion to any of you who thnk
you might like to try !Singing wrtti
the choir-. Please feel free to
come on o Wedne5day evening
soon.
Ther-e i9 no obligation.
.A.ppear-ing ot choir- pr-octice does
not, despite
r-umor-s to the
contr-ar-y, commit you for- life.
We ar-e cur-r-entiy working on
music for- Pride morTtti We ar-e
also accepting requests, within
reason, for music anyone rn -the
congregation might lil<et"o hear
as special music on a Sunday
morning.
Feedback
about"
music at Family of Faith MCC
is encouraged and appreciated.
-Kharma
Pastor Nancy led a daring and
brave group of us through a four
month tour on spiritual gifts. She
provided scripture, examples and
discussion into some two dozen or
more gifts. We discussed assets I
never thought of as gifts .&omGod,
such as mercy, singleness, and suffering. The main focus was to assist
us in determining the gifts God gave
each of us in order to better do God's
work. These gifts allow us to provide
service to the Church in a renewed
way.
At the end of the class we took an
inventory which determined which
gifts God has given us. We discovered that gifts can change .&omtime
to time and that our present gifts
show us how we can be of service to
our fellowship now. My gifts were
faith, mercy, giving and spiritual
music. Most of us were a bit surprized by our gifts, and Pastor
Nancy guided us t.o areas in the
Church were we can be most beneficial such as worship, stewardship or
the choir.
The spiritual gift of spirit music is
especially precious to me, because
music and especially singing had
always been a great joy for me. I
went through many years of spiritual darkness when I thought God
didn't and couldn't love me, a homosexual and a substance abuser. I had
no JOYm my heart, and no desire t.o
sing.
But today, after healing .&omdeep
emotional wounds and some acceptance of myself, God has given me
back the joy! Singing again is my
great pleasure and my committment
to God and myself is to sing for
God's glory !
-MarvitaM
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