Time flies . . .

I'm writing this article for the New Year and Christmas hasn't even ar-rived yet, but it's close. I don't know if I've ever seen a year go by as fast as 2015. They say: "Time flies when you're having fun." I know that's true from my childhood days of playing with my friends and even now when I am busy doing something I like to do. Thomas Edison, known for working 16-22 hours a day at times, said, "I never did a day’s work, it was all fun." He must have been right. He had hundreds of inventions to prove it, one of which was the light bulb.

I look back over my years, as I am sure you have, and I can't believe how time as flown. Mary and have been married for over 52 years and it seems just like yesterday that we were teenagers together and now we're great grandparents. I guess it seems short because we've had such a good family life and loved doing things with our kids.

Time has flown by since we started Friendship Assembly in 1980. I've had fun as a pastor, I love our people, we've got the best church anywhere. We've been busy, but it's been a fun

Editor: sreeder@friendshipag.net

From The Pastor

time doing God's work. Considering we started as a couple of teenagers wanting to do God's will and really not knowing much or having much guid-ance, God has blessed us. I've made a few mistakes that I wish I could undo, but overall its been a great ex-perience, adventure and calling.

I pray you, your family and your over-all well-being for 2016 will be great. I hope your physical, spiritual and finan-cial well-being will be the best they have ever been. I guess, No!, I know that what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 is something you can count on, "Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

Many, many, many happy returns this year.

James E. Hagan

Senior Pastor

719-574-3155

friendshipag@msn.com

P.S.—Thank you so much for the little things you do and say all year and for the sacrificial gifts. God Bless You.

In format ion,

please . . .

To provide the Office with

your new information or

updates please use one

of the green cards from

the seat pocket. You may

drop it in the offering

plate or the offering box

in the Foyer.

Thank you!

1st A Jennifer & Tom Carr

1st B Joli Davison

1st B Ed West

3rd B Marisela Delgado

3rd B Naomi Wright

4th B Brittney Littrell

5th B Sharon Cox

5th B Mary Hagan

5th B Carrie Carl

6th B Don Stites

6th B Lydia Anderson

7th B Peggy Banks

10th A Lorenzo & Rene' Grant

10th B Elton Faust

10th B Andrea O'Connell

11th A Jason & Denise Anderson

11th B Susan Jackson

13th B Nina Garcia

13th B Joyce Javorsek

15th B Nola Kelly

16th B Marybeth Hawkins

17th B Virginia Hickman

18th A Ron & Sherryl Reeder

18th B Garrett Jackson

20th A Charlie & Shirley Wood

21st B Kim Beever

21st B Fred Cox

21st B Jacob Fox

21st B Katelyn Kressman

23rd B Pam Romero

23rd B James Spencer

24th A Steve & Grace Head

26th B Ken Fauska

30th A Richard & Cynthia Selmon

31st B Roger Arrowsmith

31st B Alicia Santellana

ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. . . . . .will be held Sunday Evening, January 31st following the Evening Worship Service. Two Board seats will be voted upon. All are welcome to attend this meeting but only Ac-tive Members may vote. Thank you to the current Board Members for their service in 2015: Ernest Austin, Dave Holm, Larry Redmond, Johnny Smith & David Weihrich.

Page 2 Friendship News

Refuge Student Church Grades 6 ~ 12

It’s already 2016, Refuge students! We are looking

forward to getting back to our normal services this

month and we can’t wait to see you there! Join us

every Sunday evening at 5:35pm for pre-service

games and at 6pm for our worship service down-

stairs. If you are interested in joining the Worship

Band, don’t hesitate to contact Tierney – we would

love to have you join our team!

Our theme of Mercy for our services will continue

through January and it has been amazing to see how

much you have learned through the preaching, the

prayer nights, and the group discussion nights.

Tiffany Hice is still in contact with Springs Rescue

Mission and other organizations for our service pro-

jects and we will announce the dates as soon as we

hear back from them.

Mark your calendars for our Super Bowl Party on

February 7th! The Refuge leaders are planning a great

time with contests, games, and plenty of food, so

check out our Facebook page (The Refuge at Friend-

ship Assembly of God Church) for all the info.

As always, invite your friends to all of our services

and events and contact Pastor

Brad or Tierney with any questions

or prayer requests! God bless!

Happy New Year, Merge family! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas filled with the love of Jesus Christ! We would love to see all of you ages 18 and older at our weekly Merge services on Wednesday evenings at 7pm downstairs. After a time of worship, Pastor Brad teaches an amazing study from God’s Word. Our current series, The Gospel of Mark, is coming to an end and then we will dive into the Old Testament and study the book of Jonah.

We would like to say a big “thank you” to all of you who have supported Springs Rescue Mission by giving your offering at our services – the impact you have made on the homeless in our city is tremendous and many of them have come to know Jesus as their Savior as a result of the ministry of Springs Rescue Mission and you were a part of that – thank you! In this New Year, we hope to start offering service projects at places like Mercy’s Gate and Springs Rescue Mission, so be on the lookout for these great opportunities as 2016 progresses.

The Art of Marriage Conference will again be happening here at Friendship in February! We saw many marriages blessed and strengthened at our last conference and are looking forward to seeing that again this year. The con-ference will be held on Friday, February 26th from 6pm-8:30pm and Saturday, February 27th from 9am-4pm. The cost is $65 per couple and this includes the conference, your workbooks, a light dinner on Friday, and breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Childcare is provided, but there will be an extra charge if you wish to order lunch for your child(ren) on Saturday. Please see Pastor Brad or Tierney with any questions and be sure to sign-up in the foyer at the events table – invite your friends and co-workers!

The Merge Family Sports Nights will also be starting in February and we will let you know the exact dates soon.

Join us on Friday, January 8th, at 6pm at Pastor Brad and Tierney’s house (2919 Flintridge Pl 80918) for the next Merge Home Group Bible study - Pastor Brad and Tier-ney would love to get to know you better! We are studying Prayer and the theme for the potluck dinner is Chili Night – kids are always welcome. Don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Brad or Tierney with any questions or

prayer requests and may God richly bless you in this New Year!

Pastor Brad & Tierney, _________

bwilliamson@friendshipag.net

MERGE Family Ministry (18 ~ 49) Here we are in 2016 with a return to

worship music. Remember that we worked on several new worship songs

prior to the Thanksgiving and Christmas sea-

sons and we will now pick those back up. Please be in prayer that God will greatly anoint

us. Without God, we are like empty noise mak-

ers, but all things are possible through God. Be

in prayer and have many times of worship aside from church time. God loves us and wants to

be with us, so let's make time to be with Him!!

If you know of someone who can contribute to the team, tell them to see me and I will get with

them to build our team to greater heights. Re-

member that all Keenager events are open to the Music & Media

team members.

Music & Media Ministry

Pastor James Kressman

jskressman@friendshipag.net

Pastor Brad and Tierney

refuge@friendshipag.net

Volume 22, Issue 01 Page 3

PRAYER TIMES Keenagers (ages 50 & “wiser”)

Devote a little time before Sun-day Evening Service to pray for our missionaries and for fellow believers who are being perse-cuted in other countries, beginning at 5:30pm in the Sanctuary.

*There is also Ladies’ Prayer Meeting* *on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m.*

Happy 2016! It's a new year with new op-

portunities to serve our Lord and Savior Je-sus Christ. We also have new opportunities

to have some great events. Our first is called, Popcorn & A Movie, featuring the

Christian movie, WAR ROOM. It is set for SATURDAY, 01-24-2016 2-4PM downstairs.

Then we have our biggest event of the year with our annual Valentines Banquet on FRI-DAY, 02-12-2016 which starts at 6:30PM.

This year’s banquet will be a sit-down, semi- formal dinner in the tradition of years gone

by. The cost per meal will be $15/person and the menu choices will be set out during

January. On the 27th of February at 1PM we are taking a Magic Town Tour with vans

provide followed by a nursing home ministry on 03 11 2016 with a 9:30 departure time. Please come join in and have

lots of fun with our Keen-ager's group in 2016!

The Royal Ranger boys closed out the year working on a leather craft project/merit, taught by visiting Ranger Commander, Tim Weigel. The boys and Commanders were im-pressed by the lessons taught.

The Royal Rangers, boys and Commanders had a Christ-mas/New Years celebration on the 30th of December. We Rangers are thankful for all the prayers and support we have received this past year and look forward to bigger and better things next year. We plan on doing our annual Pinewood Derby, Father/Son campout, Turkey Shoot and much more in this coming year. As always, you are wel-come to join us and be a part of Royal Rangers.

ROYAL RANGERS meets weekly on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm. There are groups for young men Kindergarten through Seniors in high school. Periodic campouts and activi-ties are announced at Outpost Meetings on Wednesdays.

**Men’s Bible Study meets in the Church Library MONDAYS

from 7:00 ~ 8:30pm each week. This is open to all men and

there are already some from other churches who participate.

For more information, including topic, please contact John

Edwards.

**Lots of good food, fun and fellowship. Where??? At the Men’s Fellowship Breakfast, Saturday, Jan. 9th from 8:00am - 9:30am. At the Dec. 5th breakfast we had 32 men and young boys in attendance, with 1 first time atten-der. We also had Birthday Cake to celebrate our Bro. Howard Banks' 80th. We heard from S. M. Lockridge on The Lordship of Jesus Christ. You do not want to miss January's Breakfast, we'll be hearing from David Ring. Thanks again to all of you who make the breakfast possi-ble: Ernie Austin, Barrett Curlis, John Edwards, David Hagan, Dan Mach, Glenn Saylor, Gene Snow, Ed West. Thanks So Much.

**The Friendship Assembly Men's Outreach Team Ministry is going well and we are truly blessed. We would like to invite you to speak with one of our team leaders (Mark Hamann, Glenn Saylor, Gene Snow, and Lorenzo Grant) to find out how you, too, can do a Christian Man's Good Work of Helps.

We Pray That We'll All Be Ready... We Pray That We'll

All Be Ready... We Pray That We'll All Be Ready.....

For His Return. We Pray That We'll Get

Our Business Straight, So We Can All

Meet At The Gate. We Pray That We'll All

Be Ready..... For HIS Return.

David Weihrich Senior Commander

Men’s Bible Study

Royal Rangers ~ Outpost 141

Lorenzo Grant, Coordinator

Pastor James Kressman

jskressman@friendshipag.net

Page 4 Friendship News

Women’s Ministries

As we welcome the New Year, please join us on Saturday, Janu-ary 23rd at 2pm. We will be plan-ning our year’s activities during this time. Also, we will be collect-ing diapers for a Diaper Drive we are doing to support Life Network’s Pregnancy Center. They are in need of diapers in the lar-ger sizes: 4 and 5. Another thing we will be discussing is our outreach for the year of mak-ing fleece lap blankets. If you would like to provide some ideas for our monthly activities and/or learn more information please join us. If you have any questions please contact or Connie Shackelford or Alice Garibay. If you would like to get involved with Women’s Ministries

please consider one of our many areas:

Ladies’ Prayer ~ Tuesdays at 10:00am in the Sanctuary

Helping Hands ~ might be the place for you if helping peo-ple is your thing. We help God’s people in their time of need. We carry food to them after surgery or after hospitalization

and such. Please contact Alice Garibay for details.

Alice’s Crochet Group & Little Scrappers ~ meet together the first Thursday of each month (January 7th) at 6:30pm. You can bring what you would like to work on: scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, etc. If you do not know how to crochet, knit, or scrapbook, there are several ladies who can help you. THIS YEAR WE WILL BE MAKING FLEECE LAP BLAN-KETS FOR A LOCAL NURSING FACILITY! If you have any questions please contact Alice Garibay or Connie

Shackelford.

Ladies’ Breakfast Club ~ meets the last Saturday of each month (January 30th) at the Perkins Restaurant on Chelton &

Platte, 8:30am

Harvester's Circle ~ meets each Thurs-day at 9 a.m. (resuming January 14th) in the Fellowship Hall downstairs & makes quilts and crafts for annual sale to sponsor Missions! Questions?

please contact Ruth.

Girls Ministries

2015 was a great year for Girls Ministries! We have some great

things planned - Volunteer Days, field trips, parties, visitation, our

Annual Sleepover and much more!!

I want to say a special thank you to all of our sponsors. Without

you, this ministry would not be possible! Thank you, for your faithfulness and dedication:

Erin James & Brittney Littrell: Rainbows Club, Judy Poplawski: Dai-sies Club, Glory Zappitelli & Cassandra Hiller: Prims Club, Patty

Addis: Stars Club, Marisela Delgado: Friends

Club, Brianna Willingham: Girls Only Club &

Rebekah Poplawski for filling in when needed

MEETING WEDNESDAYS ~ 7:00pm ~

Ages 3 thru 12th grade

Connie Shackelford Coordinator

Friendship will continue to h a v e t h e monthly food collections for Mercy’s Gate (third Sundays) in 2016.

MERGE Family Minstries also plans to do some additional outreach with Mercy’s Gate, Springs Rescue Mission and other. Watch the bulletins and newsletters to get involved

in BEING the church to C o l o r a d o Springs.

Our Community

Penny Kressman GM Coordinator

Volume 22, Issue 01 Page 5

Missions: Home & Abroad

PRINT VERSION

ONLY

Page 6 Friendship News

Christmas As-s i s t a n c e within Friend-ship &/or by reference of a Friendship at-tendee only.

Grounded Café

Come visit us downstairs in the Fellowship Hall

We are excited to once again be offering fresh ground coffee drinks thanks to our very own Refuge student leader, Aaron Hopkins! Stop by the café, located down-stairs, Sunday EVE-NINGS for a cappuc-cino, latte, chai, and more and we offer a va-riety of flavors. All pro-ceeds go to the Refuge Student Church – thank you!

We accept cash and debit cards – all pro-ceeds go to support the Refuge Student Church. Thank you!

JUNIOR BIBLE QUIZ

Our team will be competing this month. Previous matches have been slightly easier due to the fact that

less than 200 of the questions were covered. The January match will

now cover all 576 questions. Our young men are up to the challenge

and have been studying diligently. I'm sure they appreciate prayers of-

fered on their behalf.

BGMC

Last year's competition was exciting. The overall offering for the year

was $3,625.45 That's just a little lower than last year's amount of $3,859.21. It's the season of new goals and our goal for BGMC this year

is to outgive the amount we gave last year. It's rewarding to know we

are a part of being God's hands extended to those in need.

You will notice I left the Boys vs. Girls Contest out...so drum roll,

please.....It was another very tight competition! The girls, who won last year by a mere $6.53...have been de-throned. The boys are the new rul-

ers, winning in another close race by $21.43!

Girls: $1,802.01 Boys: $1,823.44

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Thank you to the Parents and Grandparents who faithfully brought

their children to rehearsals and encouraged their kids to work on songs

and quotations. The kids were great! Thank you to Tierney and her

Drama Team for doing such a fantastic job on the live play! John and

Malou...I'm deeply humbled by how you allow the Campos family to in-vade you during the Christmas Season for many days and hours so that

the filmimg and editing of our amazing kids turns out great. “Who

knew...” how awesome Ron Reeder would bring such fun and whit to

the stage-Thanks. Thanks Pastor Brad for all the scary, last minute,

technical difficulties that you fixed before it was too late. Thanks to Pas-tor James and the Worship Team for making the music of the program

really special (and in tune.) Thanks Trevor & David Hagan for moving all

the beastly, heavy stuff. There are many more “Thanks” due as well,

may God Bless each of you for all your encouragement and support!

FAITH CASE After a brief break due to preparations for the

Christmas Program, Kids' Church is back. We are

wrapping up our investigation of The Fruit of the

Spirit. I wonder if we will catch The Spoiler????

After we complete our Assignment, we will begin a look at key stories in The Old Testament

with some fun challenges.

Ann Campos, K.C. Director

acampos@friendshipag.net

Kids’ Church

Volume 22, Issue 01 Page 7

CLASSES FOR ALL AGES

Sundays 10 ~ 10:30 am

Children’s & Teen’s Classes & Room #s Nursery, ages newborn—36 months (East Addition)

Pre-school, ages 3-4 (1b)

Kindergarten, ages 5-6 (W1)

Primary, 1st-2nd grades (W2)

Middler, 3rd-4th grades (W4)

Pre-Teen, 5th-6th grades (W5)

Young Teen, 7th-8th grades (W6)

High School, 9th-12th grades (Basement-6)

Sunday School

Adult Classes available:

Powerful Living (Adult): Radiant Life Curriculum (Basement-4)

Pathfinders (Adult): Spiritual Growth (East Addition)

Living the Life (Adult): D E C I S I O N S (Basement-3)

Women’s (Adult): Closer Walk with Jesus (Library 1a)

The WORD (Adult): Competent to Counsel (1e)

“Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5

JANUARY 2015

A link to the updated Church Calendar is at the bottom of the home page of our website: www.friendshipag.net

Willie & Sara Arevalo Sun. School Coordinators

COMING IN FEBRUARY DAVE RAMSEY’S

FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY

FRIENDSHIP ASSEMBLY OF GOD

3685 New Center Point

Colorado Springs, CO 80922 Phone: (719) 574-3155

E-mail: friendshipag@msn.com

Website: www.friendshipag.net

SUNDAY SERVICE TIMES:

*Sunday Early Morning Worship, 8:30 am

Kids’ Church (ages 3-12) meets after praise and worship

*Sunday School, 10:00 am

*Sunday Regular Morning Worship, 10:45 am

Kids’ Church (ages 3-12) meets after praise and worship

*Sunday Evening Service, 6 pm

Refuge Youth Church, 6 pm

Kids’ Church (ages 6-12) meets after praise and worship

WEDNESDAY FAMILY NIGHT ACTIVITIES:

*Adult Bible Study, 7:00 pm

*MERGE Bible Study, 7:00 pm

Girls Ministries, 7:00 pm

Royal Rangers, 7:00 pm

*Attended Nursery is Available; ages newborn-36 months.

* CRY ROOM is available for parents training children to stay in

the service and is located at the rear of the Sanctuary.

Online Giving Option: https://friendshipag.generush.org/