First Christian Church of East Moline March 2019� A multicultural potluck

� Holy Week 2019 schedule

� Rummage sale dates set

� The April Centennial event

� A scavenger hunt for adults

� More good news for Helmetsof Hope

� This and more inside!

“And anyway, it’s a lot easier for us to judge others

than it is to judge ourselves.”

In the weeks before Easter Sunday - a seasonthe “calendar” of the Church calls “Lent” - we’reencouraged think. Not about political issues. Notabout other people’s problems. Not about ourplans for our next enjoyable activity. We’reencouraged to think about ourselves. And whenwe think about ourselves, we’re encouraged tothink not of how great we are, or how much betterwe are than other people, or how indispensablewe are to our friends, family, and/or workplaces.The season of Lent encourages us to think aboutourselves candidly, uncompromisingly, with aneye to acknowledging our weaknesses and, insearch of personal improvement, confessing ourneed for Jesus.

Let’s call it self-reflection, and let’s admit that it’snot easy.

We spend so much time trying to impress orsucceed, that candid self-evaluation is not easy.In everyday interactions with others, our objectiveusually is to put our best feet forward, toshowcase our better, calmer, less judgmentalsides, to secrete from public view the unseemlierdimensions of our characters. But self-reflectiondoesn’t cater to such protective instincts; in fact, itexplicitly prohibits them in at least two ways:

1) It demands honesty in our reviews, honestywhich usually admits that the “best feet” we putforward to others are not the “feet” we always use 2) Self-reflection is an intensely personalexercise. We don’t review ourselves first forothers’ consumption; we do it for ourselves, forour own good. If I tell you about myself, I mightreveal some of my insecurities, a few of my bad

habits (if I had any!! () and some of my lesscommendable thoughts, but I won’t tell them all toyou because candid self-evaluation usuallyproduces less than stellar personal portraits, andI don’t want to risk your drawing less than stellarconclusions about me.

And anyway, it’s a lot easier for us to judge othersthan it is to judge ourselves. I know what I think ofthat politician or the other, just as you know whatyou think. I know what I think of those rich peoplewho this week were indicted on charges relatedto their paying hundreds of thousands of dollarsto get their kids into select colleges anduniversities, just as you know what you think ofthem. Judgments about political leaders and richpeople’s misconduct are easy to come by, in partbecause we’re not their targets. But if you ask meto judge myself, to look myself in the heart andspeak the truth, then I am the target, and that’suncomfortable.

Jesus spent a lot of time by himself - in “lonely”places and on mountains, for example. I suspectthat he spent some part of that time in self-examination - in candid self-appraisal whoseconclusions shaped his destiny. Consider his timein the Garden of Gethsemene on the night of thearrest that led to his crucifixion. He takes Peter,James, and John with him, then makes anadditional journey away from those three to findisolation. There he examines his options,explores his values, and ultimately decides tosurrender his will to God’s. That’s painful self-examination! Yet, it was self-examination that led,ultimately, to victory for Jesus and for us.

[AFB concludes inside back page]

It’s ALWAYS a brand new year - time for you to make needed life

changes - when you start today.

ANDfromBILL (continued)

Many Christians don’t put much time into the spiritual dimensions of these weeks before Easter. Butthey’re powerful agents of change that can lead us to deeper self-awareness, and more passionateconnections to God. May your journey to the cross bless you, feed you, and call you away from yourselfand toward healing, holy self-reflection.

New additions to the “To thePointe” Sunday groupWe’re excited to report new additions to our “Tothe Pointe” adult Sunday group, which meets, asdo our other Sunday groups, at 9:00am onSunday mornings.Currently thegroup is about athird of the waythrough thePsalms, eachweek reading andreflecting on thecontent and meaning of the Bible’s mostworshipful collection of verses.

It’s a large task - they’re plenty of months left inthe group’s journey through the 150 psalms - butit’s worth the effort... and your time, if you’re notalready connected to a Sunday group. Duringadverse weather, the To the Pointe group meetsin fellowship hall (lower level). When spring finallyarrives, the group will likely move outside, to thepicnic tables of The Pointe. Join them!

Updated online giving plansWe’re frustrated to say that progress has beenslow in our efforts to incorporate online andmobile giving in our church. The principal issue

has been our need to change web hosts (thecompany that actually puts our website on theInternet). We’ve opened an account with anonline giving provider, but because our currentweb host does not offer secure online giving, wehave to complete a change to a new host. Thatprocess is underway and should be completed bythe end of April, which means we should be ableto go live with new online giving options as ofMay 1. We’ll keep you informed.

Rummage sale date set; startcollecting items! We’ve set the date for this year’s rummage saleas Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8. Now isthe time to begin scouring your attic or closets orstorage rooms or garage in search of items youmight be willing to donate to the sale, whoseproceeds will support the ministries of our church.

You may bring your items to the church on anySunday, or during the week, at any time thebuilding is open. We’re collecting items in one ofthe classrooms on our building’s lower level. Ifyou need help getting your donation to the churchand/or to the lower level classroom, just say theword. We’ll have people willing to help.

You don’t have to wait for Easter Sunday to find new life!

HOLY WEEK 2019 scheduleHoly week is the annual seven day period beforeEaster Sunday during which Christians praise,remember, mourn, and prepare to celebrate.

It’s the most spiritually complex period of theChurch’s year: from Palm Sunday’s seeminglycontradictory praise of Jesus who comes in thename of the Lord juxtaposed against the realitythat those who welcome him with palm brancheswill soon be the ones who cry for his crucifixion,to Holy Thursday’s poignant reminder of the nightJesus forever transformed a meal into amemorial; from Good Friday’s painful reminder ofhuman sin to Easter Sunday’s exuberant praiseof our God who overcomes all human frailty. HolyWeek is a roller coaster spiritual ride, one madenecessary by the roller coaster reality of our lives.We invite you to join us for the followingexperiences:

– Palm Sunday (April 14, 10:30 a.m.) – As partof our “Who Is He to You” sermon series, we’llexplore the view of the cross as seen by thecriminals crucified alongside Jesus, and how theyreflect the conflicts we all embody.

– Holy Thursday (April 18, 6:30 p.m.) – We’lltake our place around the table with Jesus as heinvites us to commit ourselves to remember, notonly the way and the reason he died, but purposeand passion of the way he still lives. When youhear him invite you to eat and drink inremembrance of him, who will YOU say he is?

– Good Friday (April 19, 7:00 p.m.) – We’ll remember and surrender to the power andauthority of the cross. It will be a night ofconfession and confirmation: Confession of oursins and confirmation of our place among thoseJesus died to save.

– Easter breakfast (April 21, 8:00 a.m.) – It’sour annual launch to Easter Sunday. Bring foodto share if you can; if you can’t bring food, comeanyway! God ALWAYS provides.

– Easter Egg Hunt (April 21, 9:00 a.m.) – Achance for kids to search and find and... enjoy.[We invite you to contribute to this year’s hunt byproviding one or more packages of individuallywrapped candies that we’ll stuff inside plastic eggshells and distribute/hide for the hunt. Look forthe collection bin in the church lobby beginningMarch 24).]

Good news for Helmets of HopeGod continues to bless our signature ministry,Helmets of Hope, which provides 20 essentialhousehold supply items to veterans who move offthe streets and into housing of their own with thehelp of VA subsidies.

! We’ve received nearly 15 times more infinancial donations during in these firsttwelve weeks of 2019 than we did during thesame time frame lastyear.

! We’ve receiveddonations from seventimes as many donorscompared to last year,an outcome which fuelsour hopes for anexpanded Helmets donor base, one of theministry’s prime objectives this year.

! Just this week we received a significantsupply order from the Salvation Army, whichserves as our partner in Galesburg, Peoria,and a new program that serves veterans inthe Bloomington and Lincoln, Illinois, areas.

Our centennial year is an invitation to look back AND

Our Centennial Event for April:A Multicultural potluckThis year’s multicultural potluck (this Saturday,March 16, 5:00 p.m.) has two specialcharacteristics, both of which cry out for yourattention and invite your participation:

1) It’s our March centennial event - the seriesof monthly events we’re holding during our 100th

year as a congregation

2) We’ll be joined by people from the AfricanCongregational Church which approached uslast year about using our building to house theirSunday afternoonworship before Godopened the door toanother facility forthem.

The “rules” of thispotluck are nearlyidentical to those of anyother meal function wehold: Bring food toshare if you can, but ifyou can’t bring food,come anyway. GodALWAYS provides.

The one difference from our other meal functionsis that if you bring food, we ask you to make itreflective of one or more ethnic/nationalheritages. Those DO NOT have to be to beyour own heritages! Pick one (or more) andhave fun!

Of course, you’re welcome to reflect your ownheritage. In recent years, Bill Coley hascelebrated his grandpa and mom - via Englishand Norwegian foods, respectively - and this year

will honor his grandma with a couple of Germandishes. But the choice is yours!

The presence of the African CongregationalChurch folks will bless us with new friends, ofcourse, but also with Togolese cuisine. Behonest: When’s the last time you tasted aTogolese dish? We’ve invited our guests to joinus for dinner, both as guests and cooks. We’reexcited that they’ve agreed to join us. Please dothe same.

Our April centennial eventWe’ve had to make a change to our Centennialevent plans for April. That event is now set to bea family/group game night and potluck, set forSaturday, April 13, beginning at 5:00 p.m. We’lleat potluck style (bring food to share if you can,but come anyway if you can’t bring food; GodALWAYS provides!) then play games that areeasy to learn and fun to play, especially in groups(we know of some options that will be there; we’llwelcome the games you bring).

Way back when in the 90's and the first decade ofthis century, we frequently had game nights,almost always to the delight of everyone involved.So our April Centennial event will be a throwbackof sorts to the way we were. Bring friends, family,and of course, yourself.

Easter Season Ministry 2019As part of our annual Easter celebration, we purchasetwo lilies for display on the worship center platform.Donations in excess of the cost of the lilies support thegeneral ministries of our church.

Please consider this form to be your invitation tocontribute to our church as you honor the people ofyour life. We will publish a list of donors and thosehonored/remembered in Sunday worship flyers and inthe April newsletter.

Please complete and return this form with yourdonation by Thursday, April 18.

(Detach at the dotted line and place in an offering tray, or leave it in the church office.Please include cash or a check made out to First Christian Church, using the memo lineto identify it as an Easter season gift. Thank you.)

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Complete, Detach, and Return by Wednesday, April 18, 2019

I wish to contribute $ toward this year’s Easter season ministry (Please include thisform with your donation; donations of any amount are welcome and appreciated. Checksshould be made out to First Christian Church.)

This donation is from: _________________________________________________

It honors/remembers:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Follow Jesus today - toward his cross -

and forever - away from his empty tomb.

A scavenger hunt on April 27The recent strength of financial donations to itnotwithstanding, our Helmets of Hope ministrystill relies primarily on fundraisers to underwriteits service to veterans. The next big Helmetsfundraiser will be a scavenger hunt aimed atadults on Saturday, April 27, beginning at 6:00p.m.

Participating teams will travel around the QuadCities area to collect items and take groupphotos in settings and locations described on theevent’s score sheet. That sheet will contain farmore options than teams will be able to completein the event’s two hourtime limit, so teamswill have to choosewhich items to pursue.Adding to the strategyof the event will be thefact that tasks will offera different number ofpoints for theirsuccessful completionthan others,depending on their difficulty.

We ask you to spread the news of thisscavenger hunt to friends and family. Suchevents are quite popular these days - they’refast-paced, team-based, and a lot of fun foreveryone involved. PLUS, our signature ministrywill benefit greatly from the proceeds. Here arethe details:

WHEN: Saturday, April 27, 6:00 p.m.

COST: $15/person; four person teams, at leastone cell phone camera among them (teams offewer than four people will be acceptable)

DETAILS: All participants begin the hunt at ourchurch, where they receive the score sheet,design their strategies, and launch theiradventures. They then must return to the churchby 8:00 to turn in their items and show thephotos to prove their completion of the tasks.

AND you can help us create another elementof the hunt’s fundraising potential. We’regoing to raffle off theme-based gift baskets tohunt participants. We invite you to donate theitems of your choice in the following categories(or make a financial donation, which we’ll use topurchase basket items for you):

! Family/Game Night! Fishing/Outdoors! Automotive! Date or Movie Night

Whatever you offer will help construct basketswe hope hunters will deem worthy of theirpurchase of raffle tickets. Look for a collectionarea in the church lobby beginning April 7.

FCCEM crafts groupOur FCCEM Crafts! group meets on the secondand fourth Thursdays at FaithBallard’s home (5437 10th

Ave, Moline) presently, towork on projects for theHelmets of Hope craft fairscheduled for September ofthis year.

It’s casual, creative, and fun as the group enjoyseach other’s company over the food participantsprovide, the conversations they create, and theitems they work on. Join them!

Attendance

DATE Sunday Groups Sunday Worship

February 17 6 8

February 24 7 15

March 3 11 18

March 10 9 17

FinancesIncome through February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,549.00Expenses through February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,071.78Needed for 2019 Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,768.64

Prayer Matters

Recent Concerns

Maurene Unzel & Karen Lavalle - Maureen’s son and Karen’s brotherGreg Lavalle died unexpectedly on March 13. We will celebrate his lifeduring a funeral in Ottawa, Illinois

Janet Neff - Her carpal tunnel surgery from December (left hand) hasfailed, leaving numbness and pain; Janet also recently had a successfulheart procedure.

HomeboundEthel Dawson

Serving in April

- Welcome Team - - Multimedia Operator -Bonnie Thompson Noelle, Ashlie Ledbetter

- Praying at the Table - - Presenting LifeSounds -Faith Ballard Shari Coley

- Preparing Communion - - Serving Communion -Deb Langley Dawn Dumoulin

- Providing Childcare -Dawn Dumoulin

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

A Birthday in AprilJeanne Simpson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Marley Casselman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Dawn Dumoulin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27McKenzie Casselman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Bonnie Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

An Anniversary in AprilLarry & Janet Neff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Rich & Barb Hakanson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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

Thanks for the extra help!Last month we invited you to help us pay forour necessary, but unusually large utilityusage during the bitter cold snap in themonth of February. Several householdsresponded with gifts over-and-above theirusual giving. Thank you! You may of coursestill donate to thiscause at any time.Our latest gas &electric bill showedthat we used two tothree times as muchenergy in thatmonth’s billing periodas we did last year atthe same time.