First Congregational News

First Congregational Church Member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference 120 W. Morrell St./P.O. Box 227, Otsego, MI 49078 Hours: Mon., Thurs. & Fri., 9-12noon; Tues. & Wed., 9-2pm.

NOVEMBER 2017

Organic Outreach For Ordinary People By Pastor Darin Youngs

What does “organic” mean? The answer is different things in differ-ent settings. In chemistry, it means the study of compounds which con-tain carbon. In the field of produce, it refers to plants that are grown without use of things like pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. We have been talking about “organic outreach” around church lately, and I am currently preaching on this subject. It is an approach to evangelism, which is about bringing people to Christ. By “organic”, we are talking about a lifestyle that naturally-we would say organically!-draws people to faith in Jesus. Our goal in organic outreach is to avoid approaches that are stilted or artificial. We don’t need a set of terms or language to use. We are not looking at going door to door and giving a canned speech to people who are probably not interested anyways. Instead, we are talking about genuinely loving people, and extending that love to unchurched, unbelieving folks whom God brings into our lives. Organic outreach involves serving in our community, modelling the grace of Christ, initi-ating authentic friendship relationships, and sharing about God’s power and presence at work in us.

Growing Hearts of Love for People For those of us who are married, if you lost your wedding ring, how long, hard, and far would you search to find it? Last year, at Thanksgiving, a 34-year-old New York City woman lost her wedding ring. She found it by going through 200 bags of New York City trash! She did this because the ring, and what it stood for, meant so much to her. Love demands a search. God loves and values us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to come to earth and live through the trash of this world’s sin order to seek and save the lost-that’s us! (Luke 19:10). God invites us to join Him in this mission of saving lost peo-ple. 2 Corinthians 5:20 teaches us that we are God’s ambassadors, calling the lost to reconciliation with their Father, who wants to forgive them and welcome them into the family. We cannot do this if it is merely a duty to check off our religious project list. We can only do this when we love those whom the Father loves and find ourselves compelled to search for them. We need to grow hearts of love. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus teaches us that after the command-ment to love God with everything we have, the second most important instruction of Scripture is to love our neighbors. Jesus pairs these two commands together; they cannot exist separately. It is im-possible to love God but deny love for those He has created. The more that we love God with all of our being, the more that we develop a reckless love for people. Organic outreach is evangelism that flows from our love for God. We are motivated and driven by love. How do we grow hearts of love? First, we can pray that God will give us hearts like that of Jesus. One way to help with this is for us to study Jesus’ life. Reading one chapter a day from one Gos-pel ,with a focus on how Jesus loved people, can help us do this. Also, we can start to make time for

(continued on page 4)

On an October Friday afternoon, 6 ladies from First Congregational set off for adventures into the great Northern Michigan forest. After 4 1/2 hours of driving through beautiful Fall colors, we finally arrived at our destination. Camp Barakel is located on 350 acres by the shores of Shear Lake, 5 miles from Fairview, Michi-gan and right next to Huron national Forest. The week-end retreat included 4 chap-el sessions with a wonderful guest speaker, fantastic food, prayer time, hiking, zip line (which 4 of us brave la-dies did!), wonderful food, archery/rifle range, shop-ping at the Trading Post...and did I mention FOOD. A great time of fel-lowship and fun was had by all. Watch for details on next year’s retreat, we plan on going again! - Kim

Judy Boelman, Bella DuBois, Judy Griffiths, Julie Hermenitt,

Kim Rayburn and Karen Clemens

2

Deacon Team Representatives

Paula Baker represents:

Hospitality, Church Administrator, Kitchen Team

& Recording Secretary

Ray Bomeli represents:

Treasurer, Auditor, Property Mtn. & Christmas Baskets

Dick Eggleston represents:

Events, Technology & Nursery

Elder Team

Representatives

Mark DuCharme represents:

Discipleship, Outreach & Youth Ministry

Jack Buck represents:

Prayer, Missions & Praise and Worship

Paul Madison represents:

Women’s Ministry, Care & Compassion &

Sunday School (youth)

Leadership Council Meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of

each month beginning at 6:45pm. Anyone is welcome

to attend these meetings.

Camp Barakel Fall Ladies Retreat

Next SOUP SUPPER is November 8th

5:00-7:00pm Friendship Wesleyan

Church 1285 - 102nd Ave., Plainwell

3

Mark your calendars for the Women’s Ministry Christmas Luncheon on Saturday, Decem-ber 9th. We encourage you to invite family and friends. Women’s Ministry Team members are: Judy Boelman, Sharalyn Downing, Bella DuBois, Nancy Eggleston, Char Knowl-ton, Lorraine Maag

Women’s Ministry UPDATE

By Nancy Eggleston

On October 18th we

made our annual trip to

Fowlerville, MI to deliver a

truck load of material to

Christian Resources Inter-

national.

Thank you to all who

gave and who will continue

to do so throughout the

next year. We combine our

giving with the Otsego Bap-

tist Church and together

we donated 1,131 lbs. of

Christian Resources which

will be sorted, packed and

sent in huge containers

around the world to spread

the gospel.

Thank you for your par-

ticipation!

Dick & Char Knowlton

It was a beautiful Sunday for Pic-nic In The Park. We estimate serv-ing between 80 and 100 guests. Many winter coats and other cloth-ing items were gifted with the re-maining going to the mission and the Salvation Army for the needs of others. I want to thank all of the volunteers who served food, transport-ed clothing and food, donated items needed for the picnic and most of all the many wonderful ladies involved in the making of the quilts. We had 148 quilts to give away to our guests. A special thanks to Dick & Char Knowlton, Tim Land and Tammy Maurer for loading trucks Satur-day and Sunday to make this possible.

Thank you to all! - Sue Rickli

I wanted to update you on the Backpack Buddies Program at Washington St. and Dix St. Elementaries. The program provides food for needy students over the weekends when they are not in school to receive free breakfast and lunch. This program has been supported by FCC for many years. To date we have nearly 50 students on our program. Thank you so much for your support of this valuable program.

- Sue Rickli & Jennifer Rickstad

4

Church Hours Monday: 9:00am-Noon Tuesday & Wednesday:

9:00am-2:00pm Thursday & Friday:

9:00am-Noon

Call to leave a message anytime!

Unused Bibles or Chris-tian resources? Consider donating them to Christian Resource Center, where they are repaired and combined to send to those in need around the world. Bring your items in to the church office.

The pop can recyclable barrel is located in kitch-en. The money collected is currently being donated to Clean Water For The World.

“Pennies from Heaven” Giving Jar is located in the Fellowship Hall. This is an on-going fundraiser. Please put change in you would like to donate and help fill the jar to the top!

Recycle used ink car-tridges in the church office. We earn cash for them! This is an on-going, EASY fundraiser for FCC.

(Organic Outreach) continued from page 1)

unchurched, unbelieving people in our lives. Bearing Grace to a Grace-Starved World.

The health benefits of drinking water and maintaining appropriate levels of hydration are amazing. A lack of water even shrinks our brains! However, research shows that around 75 % of Americans are chronically dehydrated. They don’t feel well and they are not sure why. In the same way, people are starved for grace! They struggle with guilt, shame, fear, bitterness, frustration, anger, and much more. They believe that God is against them. That isn’t due to a lack of willingness on God’s part to give grace, or a shortage of supply. Not at all! In Ephe-sians 1:6, we see that God wants to give us more of His abundant grace. In vs. 7, we see that God is rich in grace, and He desires to pour it abun-dantly upon us. He blesses those who will receive it by choosing them, adopting them into His family, forgiving their sins, and sealing them with the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit guarantees our salvation and assures us that we have an inheritance in heaven. People need to hear about God’s rich, glorious, abundant grace. God invites us into this mission of bring-ing people to that grace so that they can drink deeply from God’s well of blessing.

How do We Bear Grace? First, we demonstrate reckless love. This is loving people when there is no benefit to us, and when it is difficult to do so. Next, we extend gen-erous forgiveness. We remember that God forgave us all our sins; thus, we can forgive others. One of the most powerful moments in which we bear God’s grace is when we refuse to hold grudges against people and we forgive them for what they have done. Third, we share sacrificially. We can do this by loosening our grip on our time, talents, and treasures when it comes to serving and aiding people. While there are many more, here is one final thought for how we bear grace; we embrace and engage with people who are different than we are. Instead of only hanging around with Christians, with old friends, and family, let’s be will-ing to spend time with people that are new to us, people that might be quite different than us.

Organic Outreach Seminar To Be Held at FCC

On Friday, November 18 in the evening, and on Saturday, November 19, during the morning,

Pastor Darin will be teaching on Organic Outreach. An opportunity to look in-depth at how we apply

these principles to our lives. Plan to attend!

5

November Prayer Calendar

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Al & Alice

Lappin

2 Back Pack Buddies

3

Marion Lyon 4

John & Lorraine

Maag

5

Paul & Peggy

Madison

6

Sue Madison

7

Pastor Youngs & family

8

Betty Mahieu

9

FCC Quilters 10

Lucian Marks and

Shirley Brainard

11

Judy Marsh

12

Betty Martin 13

Tammy Maurer

14

Pastor Youngs & family

15

Stan McNees 16

Samaritan’s Purse

Shoeboxes

17

Don McPherson

18

Bruce & Connie Meles

19

Carol Meles 20

Bob & Roberta Miles

21

Pastor Youngs & family

22

Sara Miller and family

23

Otsego Christmas Baskets

24

Chris Nevins 25

Ron & Pat Newman

26

Lyneta & Jerry Nowak

27

Bill & Macky Oetman

28 Pastor Youngs & family

29 Rich

Ozanich

30 JAARS/Wycliffe

Bruce & Gail Hosner

Julie Buck: - 370-3349 Pat Dutton: 694-2925 Sylvia Erbe: 692-3624 Judy Griffiths: 349-2437 Donna Robar: 694-6933 Dot Watson: 685-1191 Mare` Westin: 270-1876

A Prayer Team Update A prayer team is the most powerful tool God has given us. The Prayer Team at FCC, is a dedicated and committed group of “prayer warriors”. Each request is prayed daily for three weeks by each mem-ber of the team. Verbal and written requests are welcome. If needed a prayer request can be changed or extended at any time by calling a prayer team member. A prayer request can be included in the bul-letin or kept within the “team” - please make this known when you submit your request. How to submit a prayer request: Leave your request in the box located in the narthex of the church. Call a Prayer Team Member:

6

Thursday

by Dave Youngs

FCC Mission Team Captain

Signs For Our Church Building If you attended the church’s quarterly meeting Oct., 22nd you heard us announce the pending purchase of new metal letter signs reading “First Congregational Church” for both the Morrell and Farmer Street sides of the church. These will be similar to the previous letters which were on the brick wall in front of the church. The Deacons are establish-ing a “Sign Fund” to help cover the cost of these signs. Donations to this fund will enable us to erect proper signage on both street sides of our building. This approach is similar to what we did in order to purchase the new entrance doors off the parking lot. As always, donations to this fund would be over and above our regular giving. Anything over and above the $1,160 needed will be directed towards various directional signs such as “parking” and “church entrances” which the Property Maintenance Team is researching.

Our September Soup Supper was a great success! We raised $1,053 for Christian Neighbors. You, we, our church also gave $1,100 to Samari-tan’s Purse for hurricane relief - that was beyond our regular giving. Young Life got off to a good start in Otsego Middle School and we were part of getting that going. The October PATH Walk netted $1,053 from our church again, for hunger alleviation. This is through Christian Neigh-bors. Together with Otsego First Baptist Church we gathered and deliv-ered over 1,100 pounds of Bibles and Christian books that will be sent to pastors and missionaries in Africa, through Christian Resources Interna-tional. PTL! Next up is Operation Christmas Child: since 1993, Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with local churches and brought joy to 146 million boys and girls around the world by bringing them a “shoebox” of gifts at Christmas time. Each box has been and will continue to be an opportuni-ty for the Gospel. From the hands of people of FCC the boxes are tools for evangelism, discipleship and multiplication. Many shoebox recipients enroll in Samaritan’s Purse 12-lesson follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey, through which they learn to follow Christ and share him with others. Our church continues to be a part of this world wide effort to bring boys and girls and their families into the family of God even in places where the gospel has never been heard. Please, once again, get a shoebox or two, fill it/them appropriately, the instructions are inside the box, and bring them back to our church by November 13th for the Missions Team to take to a collection center. This is a way to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to go into all the world with the Gospel. And, it will bring you/us a blessing!! (Acts 20:35)

The quilting group provid-ed 148 quilts for Picnic-In-The-Park this year. There continues to be a need for people to sew the quilts or even sew X’s on the squares to make the quilt. This can be done at home! If you feel this is an area where you can serve, please call Sue Rickli - 269-569-5745.

The following is needed this month: Home sewers - Con-

tact Sue Rickli and you will receive a packet of pre-cut squares and in-structions for sewing strips together at home

Flannel material - You can bring donations to the church office or call Sue Rickli for pickup.

A large thank you to all the ladies who come each week to work, laugh and help each other, also to those who take kits home to prepare. If you would like to join this wonderful group, we meet Thurs-days from 1:00-3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall. Come join the fun! - Pat Dutton

7

Offertory Servers 11/5 Bob & Sue Julianus Georgiann Bleeker Bruce & Connie Meles 11/12 Mark & Chris DuCharme Walt & Sue Rickli Kim Rayburn 11/19 Paul & Peggy Madison Gordy & Judy Boelman Paula Baker 11/26 Lloyd & Louise Clawson Dick & Nancy Eggleston Karen Clemens

Nursery 11/5 Julie Hermenitt 11/12 Abbie Reed 11/19 Julie Hermenitt 11/26 Abbie Reed

Servants in The Lord for November

Fellowship Time Hosts 11/5 Fred & Sue Bosma Ray & Jane Bomeli 11/12 Dick & Char Knowlton Pam Kuiper Linda Beattie 11/19 Kim Sparks Karen Clemens 11/26 Ron & Pat Newman Dot Watson Ken & Gail Watson Claire Golden

Greeters 11/5 Sharalyn Downing & Chris Nevins - front

Paul & Peggy Madison - back

11/12 Stan McNees & Don McPherson - front

Judy Griffiths, John Griffiths Jr., Pat Dutton - back

11/19 Peggy Madison & Nancy Benedict - front

John & Lorraine Maag - back

11/26 Sylvia Erbe & Nancy Gilman - front

Gordy & Judy Boelman - back

Soundboard 11/5 Eric & Jen Day 11/12 Kim Sparks, Walt Rickli 11/19 Scott Sleeman, Zac Conrad 11/26 Scott Sleeman, Lloyd Clawson

Each month FCC is assigned a food

item to collect for the community food pantry.

the NOVEMBER item is:

Laundry & Dish Soap

Bring your items to church and leave them on the green cart in the narthex

1st - Jack Howrigon 1st - Nan Turcott

7th - Grant Youngs 9th - Jacob Young

12th - Sharon VanLent 15th - Carol Meles

16th - Kaden Hiemstra 17th - Ron Newman 17th - Ken Watson 19th - Sue Bosma 19th - Eva Rector 21st - Pat Dutton

21st - Lorraine Maag 22nd - Trevor Sparks

23rd - Nancy Eggleston 23rd - Melinda Young 24th - Frank Bradley 25th - Betty Martin 26th - Ann Thurston

28th - Jenny Day

November 3rd David & Jan Salisbury

1 year

November 30th Bob & Sue Julianus

43 years

8

Deck The Halls! Calling one and all to “deck the halls with boughs of hol-ly…!” The Hospitality Team is asking any able-bodied men to help carry the Christmas decorations from the attic and hobby lobby room after the worship service on Sun-day, November 26th. Stay for coffee hour and enjoy the fellowship - then con-sider lending a hand to gather our Christmas décor. Additionally, the Hospi-tality Team invites anyone (men, women, children) to come join us at 9:00am on Thursday, November 30, as we decorate the fellowship hall, sanctuary, and other areas of the church in cele-bration of this most joyous season. Coffee and donuts will be provided in the AM, and pizza for lunch. Many hands make light work! Please consider donating your time and talents to “dress up” our church in its Christmas finery. We would like to create a warm and welcoming environment for our church family and friends in the community. Any questions? Contact Patti Youngs (269-694-1001). We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, November 30, at 9:00 AM!

2017 Community Thanksgiving Service The 2017 Community Thanksgiving Service will be held this year on Sunday, November 19, at 6 PM, at the Otsego High School Auditorium. There are some new features to this service. First, a brass quintet will provide music before, during, and after the service. The Communi-ty Worship Team, comprised of musicians from various local churches, will lead the congregation in singing. Pastor Steve Burrow and mem-bers of the Church of God will be performing a brief Thanksgiving Dra-ma. The OHS Choir, led by director Taylor Gudbrandson, will be per-forming as well. The regular components will be present, too. Prayers will be offered for community leaders by pastors from local churches. The ar-ea’s civil servants will join together with the congregation in a respon-sive reading. The new music director from the United Methodist Church, Andrew Lajoie, will be leading the Community Choir, which is open to anyone who would like to be involved. After the service, all are welcomed to enjoy a time of fellowship over refreshments in the school cafeteria. Why is it important for us to join with other local churches to wor-ship the Lord and pray for our community leaders? First, maintaining unity with our brothers and sisters from other churches takes inten-tionality. It does not happen naturally or easily! We tend to stay in our

own local churches without much inter-action with other believers. In John 17:23, Jesus prays, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent me and have loved them even as you loved me”. 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us, “We were all baptized by one Spirit…whether Jews, Gentiles, slave or free”. Notice that the Bible does not teach us to divide our-selves into different denominations, but to focus on being united in Christ,

through one Spirit. When we come together to pray and worship across denominational lines, we are practicing this unity. Furthermore, our communities need us to lift them up in prayer! Our leaders need to be prayed for, and to serve, knowing that we are dedicated to praying for them. In I Timothy 2:1-2, Paul tells us this: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanks-giving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” The Community Thanksgiving Service provides an outstanding opportunity to be obedient to this teaching of Scripture. Let’s all attend!

The family gift this year is Towels. Our goal is to pro-vide each family member with a new bath towel but donations of hand towels, washcloths, dish towels and dishcloths are welcome too. There is an area in the Fel-lowship Hall for these dona-tions.

Once the family needs are revealed we will put them on a Christmas tree in the Fellowship Hall with sizes, ages and & gender. No toys need to be purchased as Toys for Tots will be donating those. The delivery date for the baskets is Sunday, December 17th. Stay tuned for more information and thank you!

9

God’s Helping Hands - from their August report Several children have asked Jesus to save them from their sin and many more have been encouraged in their walk with Him. What a bless-ing to be used by the Lord to share His love and salvation with others.

Young Life Jason Jacobs reported that 40 Otsego middle schoolers attended the first Young Life gathering. Five heard the Gospel for the first time. One 6th grader did not believe a word and felt that all that stuff about Jesus was “just made up”. Please pray for this young boy.

Wycliff Bible Translators - Mary Ann Lord Please pray for Antonia, Pedro & Carolina as it is hard for them to be away from their children while helping Mary Ann with Bible translation.

JAARS Bruce and Gail Hosner’s son-in-law, Robert, can now return to work but will need to find different employment due to doctor’s restrictions. Pray he can find employment soon. Hosner’s oldest grandson, Christian, will have a Renol Scan due to pains in the area of his kidneys. He had surgeries at age 5 and 10 to re-pair both his kidneys. Pray for good results.

Everyone is

invited!

On the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each

month FCC is hosting a time to get togeth-er to fellowship and

play games.

Coffee, tea and cookies are served.

Games are provided but

you can bring your own.

You are encouraged to bring a friend. This is an

outreach opportunity!

Next game dates are:

November 14th and

November 28th

1:00-3:00pm

First Congregational Church

120 W. Morrell

P.O. Box 227

Otsego, Michigan 49078

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Otsego, MI 49078

Permit No. 24

Pick up a box (or two) in the Fellowship Hall…you can also

use your own box or a plastic box affix boy/girl label

Fill it up with suggested items using the lists provided. Include a “wow” toy,

such as a doll, soccer ball with pump, or stuffed animal.

Don’t Wait!!! The deadline is November 13th to have your full box back to the

church. We need to deliver our boxes to the designated drop off location for this

area during National Collection week, the third week in November

PRAY! Most importantly, PRAY for the child who will receive your gift. Include a personal note

and photo if you would like. Share the love of Jesus, through the power of a simple gift!