November 2015 Vol. 48 No. 11 “The Great Bend Christian”“The Great Bend Christian” November...

“The Great Bend Christian”

November 2015

Vol. 48 No. 11

At the end of 2015 the First Christian Church of Great Bend Kansas will have: 1) Conducted 112 worship ex-periences, averaging about 190 people, where the Gospel Mes-

sage of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed, transformed lives, and introduced Christ to those who came for a visit. 2) In the past 2 years we have started to grow, seeing more and more people getting involved in the important ministry of this church. 3) Conducted over 400 different learning experiences through Sunday School, Wednesday Night Programming, Youth Group, Bible Studies, CWF, Young Adult Group, Financial Peace University, etc. 4) Served around 40 meals where we gathered around tables to feast and share life with one another, drawing us closer as the family of God. 5) Made over 500 personal phone calls to people who are in need in our church plus made over 200 visits to members in the hospital or shut-in from Kansas City to Wichita, also serving communion monthly, to those in the hospital or shut-in. 6) Renovated our children’s wing, along with our children’s Sunday School Program, creating space where our kids can come and learn about God in their own way in a safe and fun environment and we are starting to see more and more kids. 7) Hired our incredible new Youth and Children’s Pastor, Rev. Sue Bishop. 8) To give you a gist of the people that we will have helped in 2015, let us give you a sampling of what we have done for people in need:

given out more than 12 different prayer shawls,

provided 50 different meals to help people through difficult situations,

provided hotel rooms for families who needed a place to stay after their home was destroyed by fire,

paid the rent of at least 5 people keeping them from being evicted,

sent out around 30 different college boxes to support our students during finals,

helped pay electric and water bills to make sure that families have the basic necessities,

sent out 140 boxes to kids all over the world through Operation Christmas Child,

provided clean drinking water for thousands of people in sub-Sahara Africa in our partnership with the UMC and the Water-for-Foundation.

9) Donated more than 7,000 dollars and provided free office space to our regional church, which supports, cares for, and provides leadership and programming for all Kansas Disciples. 10) Sent 6 kids to camp. 11) Put on a Vacation Bible School for around 97 kids, most of which were not from our church, sowing seeds that we believe will begin to grow in those kids' lives helping them to become the people God has created them to be. Continued on Next Page……………….

“The Great Bend Christian” November 2015

Continued from Front Page…….. AND all of these amazing things that we do as the First Christian Church in Great Bend are accomplished because of you and your generosity, because you have made a commitment to God and this church to give your time, talent, and wealth. Please take a moment and think about just how much this church is doing to proclaim the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ, and to bring heaven to earth. Then take a moment to rejoice and feel proud, because you truly are a part of something very special. You truly are a part of God’s plan to bring about the sal-vation of the world. BUT we believe this is only the beginning of what it is God is planning to do through our church. We believe that we are being called to do even bigger and better things for the sake of Christ in our community and in the world in the coming year! For instance, now that we are finishing up our discernment process, we are planning to begin to reshape our church around who and what God is calling us to be with our new mission state-ment. We are planning to do even more missions, which will involve 2 different projects where the whole church can come together and get their hands dirty, along with adult and youth mission trips. We are planning to con-tinue to reach out to more and more kids and young adults of our community so they can encounter and be taught the Gospel Message. We are planning on creating even more classes where people can come and grow deeper in their faith, along with maintaining and expanding our other areas of ministry. SO in the spirit of expectation, we want to invite you as members of this incredible church to begin to do, and give even more in 2016, so that we can do and be even more as the First Christian Church! The truth is, the more we give our time, talents, and resources in support of the ministries of this church, the more we will be able to do for the sake of the Kingdom in 2016, because “The more we give, the more lives we change.” SO please take some time to prayerfully consider what it is you believe that God is calling you to give in support of the expanding ministry of the First Christian Church of Great Bend. Once you have made a decision, please take some time to fill out the pledge card that has been included with this letter, which will help us to create a budget that will support our work for the next year. Also, for your information, we have included a wish list line item budget for you to review to see exactly how we are planning on spending our money for the sake of Christ in 2016. THEN get ready to get involved as God’s Spirit begins to move through this church in even more power-ful ways, using us as his hands and feet to transform lives, our community, and the world.

Yours In Christ, Your Stewardship Committee P.S. Pledge Cards are due November 13th. These can be mailed in, brought by the office, put in the offering plate on Sunday Morning, or by filling out the online stewardship card at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5JL2WRN and hitting send.

Pray, Dream, Build

The More We Give, the More Lives We Change


SPECIAL PRAYERS: Cancer: Teri

Everett; Ashley Olivier Gorney; Mary

Lyne Grandclair; Brian Hutchinson; Steve

Rusco; Jean Smith; Sammy; Susan Wilson

Other Needs: Jenny Allford; Doug

Bender; Larry Dannebohm; Bill Fairchild;

Dorothy Fross; David Hart; Rowen

Hughes; Don Jones; Deserai Klug; Carol

Langen; Shelly Leroy; Amber Lloyd; Mich-

ele Martin & Baby Girl Elizabeth; Haley

Rader; Janice Rose; Donna Rusco; Terry

Utley

CONTINUED PRAYERS: Cancer:

Brenda Billinger; Laura Brown, Corina

Dean, Shelby Jones, Shelly McFarren,

Leona McIntosh, Lance Morris, Doug

Schenkel, Emily Severson, Donna Stejskal, Kerry Watkins, Kadin White

Other Needs: Bob Allford, Mabel Bender, Maddi Braymer, Bob Brown, Ted Brown, Myrna Camp-

bell, Derek Christendon, Bev Christiansen, Cody Clark, Dr. Roy Danks; Jane Daraio, Marguerite

Davidson, Dale Deaver, Denise Ehrlick, Mildred Harders, Betty Hartle, Barbara & Bart Hoar, Dixie

Hughes, Sarina Johnson, Scott Jordan, Babette Kinderknecht, David Kirby, Todd Klein, Martha

Knight, Marvin Koch, Jaxon Kretchmar, Emily Ledford, Gayl Lee, Doug Nairn, Brad Patzner, Terry

Piland, Juanita Thomas, Anneliese Ward, Connie Weiser, Larry Weiser, Cory Yadon, Mike Zager

MILITARY SERVANTS: Brandon Deason, Derrick Deason, Steven DeWhitt, Blake Frager, Dan

Fritz, Ted Jackson, Steven McGee, Cody McNorton, Adam Schwartz

Save the Date! Sunday, November 22

6:00 pm at FCC Spend an evening enjoying the music of

Frankie Valens who sings renditions of

“This Magic Moment” and

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”!


Lunch Bunch

November 18, 2015, 11:30 am

Joy Group

Hostess:

Lesson:

November 24, 2015, 12:00 pm

New Day Group

Hostess: Stacy McReynolds

Lesson: Julie Ford

November 30, 2015, 7:00 pm

WANTED: Anyone willing to learn how to

prepare communion for the Late Service

Please contact Sharon Engle

at 817-929-9824

October 28th – Group 4

November 4th – Group 3



If anyone is interested in

shadowing Vicki Sheets with

weddings in 2016 and seeing what is

done as the Wedding Hostess,

please contact her at

620-792-2640.

Web Site: www.fccgbk.com

FCC's podcast:

http://bit.ly/1CCGBPodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/firstchristiangb

http://www.firstchristiangb.org


NEWSLETTER

DEADLINE REMINDER!

The Newsletter Deadline is the

20th of each month.

Anything received after the

20th will go into the following

month’s newsletter.

Thank you!

Kathy Rose, Secretary

What beautiful cards

we received for our 65th

Anniversary! We so

enjoyed them. We are

truly blessed!

Fred & Dorothy Behrens

Casey and Michele Martin are proud to

announce the birth of their daughter,

Elizabeth Ann. Elizabeth was born on

September 29th, weighing 3 lbs. 9 oz. and

was 17 inches long. Her siblings, Tate,

Haleigh, and Levi welcomed her into the

world. Her proud grandparents are

Randy and Vickie Booze.

The Annual Sporting Clay Shoot

will be Sunday, November 1st. We

will meet in the church

parking lot at 1:00 pm and travel to

LaSada. Bring a shotgun and at least

50 rounds of target loads

(No. 7.5 shot or smaller).

See Lane Moore for questions.


It’s time to pack our Operation Christmas Child Boxes!

Donations of items for the shoeboxes may be placed in the box in the narthex or

you may give money to help pay for the $7.00 shipping cost of each box.

Boxes, and/or items are needed by Sunday, November 8th.

Contact Jennifer Cauley with any questions. Thank you!

Come and enjoy breakfast hosted by the

Fellowship Sunday School Class on Sunday,

November 1st. You don't even have to get

up early, as you will be setting your clocks

back for the time change. We will serve

pancakes, sausage, Mexican quiche, fruit,

orange juice, milk and coffee. This yummy

start to the day can be yours with only a

donation for Operation Christmas Child

shipping costs, so join us before or after

church (depending on your choice of ser-

vice). We will serve from 9:00 am – 9:45

am. If you want to get to Sunday School,

come a few minutes early and pick up some

breakfast – we will accommodate you!

See you there!

Everyone is invited to attend the All Church

Thanksgiving Dinner Sunday, November 22nd,

immediately following the 10:20 am service.

Turkey, dressing, green beans, potatoes, gravy,

rolls, and drinks will be provided.

Last names beginning with A-K please bring a

side dish or salad.

Last names beginning with L-Z please bring a

dessert.

Please bring enough for 10 people plus your-

self.

Anyone interested in helping serve or clean-

up, please contact Rachelle Sheets (620-282-

2994) or Karen Lindberg (620-617-8444). Thank

you!


SUNDAY MORNINGs 9:00-10:00 am

CHILDREN’S CLASSES (West Wing)

PRESCHOOL (3 & 4yr & PreK)-meets in Preschool Rm

YOUTH (6th-12th Grades)- meets in the Youth Rm

DISCOVERERS ( K-2nd Grades)

NAVIGATORS (3rd-5th Grades)

Nov. 1 DISCOVERERS—Bible Time Workshop

NAVIGATORS– Art Workshop

Nov. 8 DISCOVERERS—Music Workshop

NAVIGATORS—Storytelling Workshop

Nov. 15 DISCOVERERS—Game Workshop

NAVIGATORS—Science Workshop

Nov. 22 DISCOVERERS—Movie Workshop

NAVIGATORS—Music Workshop

Nov. 29 ALL—Thanksgiving - Art Room

ADULT CLASSES (East Wing)

FELLOWSHIP CLASS FRIENDSHIP CLASS

Our Family Dinner and Children’s Programs continue for

all the Wednesdays in October and ending with Wednes-

day, November 18. We will resume in February 2016.

Preschool, AND

MEET 6:15-6:45 PM ON THE SAME WEDS.

PRESCHOOL & K-2nd Graders (DISCOVERERS) meet in

the Art Room. NAVIGATORS (3rd-5th Graders) meet

in the Music/Bible Time Classroom. Parents, please pick

your children up at their

classrooms at 6:45 pm. Choir member children will be

taken to the Preschool Room, where a nursery attendant

will watch them.

We had over 100 people help with the Pumpkin Patch in some way, whether it was

unloading or cleaning up or helping to cover the 168 hours the Pumpkin Patch was open!

6th-8th Grades 9th-12th Grades

CHI RHO & CYF planning to attend the Kansas Disciples Youth

Convention Nov. 13-15 We will leave the church parking lot at

5:45 pm, so please be here a few min-

utes before to get loaded up.

Since we are staying in a hotel, you will

only need a weekend bag.

Please eat supper before you come!

SAVE THE DATE !!! CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

SUNDAY, DEC. 6TH 3-5PM This year we are presenting an inter-generational program of the Christmas Story that requires very little rehearsal time. Children, their families, and other interested adults will gather at 3:00 pm to learn a song, make props and scenery, etc. Then all 4 groups will come together in the Sanctuary to “present” their parts of the story. It promises to be a fun and wonderful reminder of what Christmas is all about! Adults, if you just want to watch and not be a participant, then join us at 4:00 pm! After the program we will have a Birthday Party for Jesus!! Set this date aside NOW!


It is that time of year once again when

we want to offer all of you an opportunity

to invest in the future of the First Chris-

tian Church of Great Bend, so this congre-

gation can continue to do incredible things

in the name of Christ for many years to

come. To do this, we are asking everyone

in the church to give a one-time gift, over

and above your normal giving, to our en-

dowment fund at the Golden Belt Commu-

nity Foundation. At this point we have

approximately $50,000 in our fund on

which we earn about 5% on every year to

support this church. Our goal is to continue to build up this fund year by year until we get to the

point where we will be able to use this fund to support the church and its ministries in a big way.

Like last year, we are going to be participating in the Golden Belt Community Foundation’s

Match Day on December the 1st. On this date, the Foundation is going to match our giving based

on a percentage. For instance, last year the church put in $4,220, which was matched at 4.86% or

$1,458.60, giving us a total of 5,878.60 added to our fund. This year the percentage for the

matching funds is going to be even bigger, so we want to put in even more money to get an even

higher return.

Please take some time to think and pray about making an investment in the future of this

church, so we can keep the ministry of FCC going for generations to come. If you would like to

give a one time gift to go towards our endowment, all you need to do is make your check out to the

church, and put “Foundation” in the memo line, or if you are giving cash, please put your cash in an

envelope marked “Foundation,” and drop it in the offering plate or bring it by the office before

December 1st. Thanks for your consideration and support.

Starting November 1st,

we begin a new sermon

series over the Book of

Jonah. In this 4-week

study, we are going to be

walking step by step

through this incredible book

to learn more about why it

is not a good idea to run

from God, why it is

important to cry out to God

from dark places, God's

radical forgiveness, and

forgiving like God.


WANTED: CHURCH MEMBERS & THEIR

CARS Instead of handing out candy from your

front door, come to the church parking lot, bring a chair, and pass out candy to all the children we have invited through the Pump-kin Patch and the Great Bend Tribune. To make it even more fun, decorate the trunk! Wouldn’t it be fun for the children if we had

20 or more cars!??!

Saturday, October 31st 4:00—6:00 pm


Past 5 Weeks Attendance and Gifts

*Special Offerings include donations to: Wednesday Night Dinner Donations, Sound System Fund, Outreach, DMF Reconciliation Offering,

Pumpkin Patch Donations, KDYC Registration Fees

20 27 4 11 18

Sunday School 57 72 95 72 76

Early Service 29 36 39 28 36

Late Service 130 152 161 136 138

Children’s Church 12 18 12 13 7

TOTAL 171 206 212 177 181

General Offering 2,911.27 4,725.96 10,244.80 3,003.32 8,761.10

Special Offerings 586.01 167.10 346.00 1,155.30 2,976.25

TOTAL 3,497.28 4,893.06 10,590.80 4,158.62 11,737.35

First Christian Church

5230 Broadway

Great Bend, KS 67530

The Great Bend Christian (USPS 576-380)

Published Monthly

By First Christian Church 5230 Broadway

Great Bend, KS 67530

Postmaster Send Address changes to: First Christian Church

5230 Broadway

Great Bend, KS 67530 Periodicals Postage Paid

At Great Bend, KS 67530

Sunday Services

8:15 am Early Worship

9:00 am Sunday School

10:20 am Morning Worship

5:00 pm Chi-Rho

6:00 pm CYF (6th-12th)

Wednesday Activities

5:30 pm Family Fellowship Dinner

6:15 pm Pre K–2nd Grades (Discoverers)

6:15 pm 3rd - 5th Grades (Navigators)

6:15 pm Chancel Bell Practice

7:00 pm Chancel Choir Practice

If you need to contact our staff:

Rev. Josh Leu, Minister

[email protected]

Rev. Sue Bishop, Associate Minister of Children

and Youth

[email protected]

Kathy Rose, Church Secretary

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

November 2015 Vol. 48 No. 11 “The Great Bend Christian”“The Great Bend Christian” November...

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