Vol. 22 No. 7: July 2017

Important Contacts in the Church

Pastor: Rev. Ryan Travis, 217-413-4272 Email: pastorryan@firstchurchdecatur.org Prayer Chain: Bette Fankhauser , 877-6723 Email: blfankhauser@comcast.com Playmates Preschool: Interim Director: Alfreda Tribout Newsletter Editor: Bill Huebner, 876-1446, cell 855-7677 Email: wshuenber.editor@prodigy.net

Our Mission is to worship God,

Welcome all who seek God, and

Express our faith in our actions.

Church Contact Information:

3465 N. MacArthur Rd.

Decatur, IL 62526

Telephone: 877-2216

Email: firstchurchdecatur@sbcglobal.net

Website: www.firstchurchdecatur.org

Office Hours: Mon. –Thursday, 8:00-4:30

Congregational Comments is a publication of 1st Congregational UCC, 3465 N. MacArthur Rd., Decatur, IL. 62526-1450. Published monthly, it is used to keep its members informed

about programs of the church and to report news about First Church’s people

Worship and Sunday School Times

9:00 am - Traditional Worship Service 9:15-10:15 am Sunday School 10:00 am - Fellowship Hour 11:00 am - Contemporary Worship Service 11:15-11:40 am Sunday School

A Note from Pastor 2 VBS 2017 5 Happenings 7

Events 3 VBS Needs 5 Birthdays &

Anniversaries

9

First Church FRB 3 General Information 6 First Church Sunday

Moring

10

2017 Confirmation 4 Finance Notes 7 Calandar 11

2017 Graduates 7 2017 Church Goals 12

Inside this issue:

A Note from Pastor Ryan Our congregation is blessed to welcome Connor Butts, Gavin Butts, and Mitchell Da-ley into formal membership through the rite of confirmation. These fine young men have affirmed the vows of their baptism and pledged to remain faithful to Christ and his church, and for this, we praise God. As part of the confirmation process, our confirmands committed the Ten Command-ments to memory. But they didn’t just memorize them; they also learned the spiritual principles they represent and the purpose they serve for us today. By some counts, the Old Testament law contains 613 commandments – most all of which were made complete in the person and work of Jesus Christ and do not apply to Christians. For example, we do not offer animal or grain sacrifices because Jesus, as the Lamb of God, is the final sacrifice to remove the guilt of our sin. The Ten Commandments, however, are unique. They are the only commandments written

directly by God. All other commandments were given through human mediators, but God personally etched these in stone. They also are referred to in numerous places in the New Testament, indicating that they are binding on us.

So what are the purpose of the Ten Commandments? It is important to understand that they aren’t

merely a “checklist” that, if we successfully completed it, would make us righteous. That was the grave mis-take the rich young ruler made when he came to Jesus, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. He de-clared to Jesus that he had kept the Ten Commandments since youth (Mark 10:17-22). Now, it’s probably true that he had never murdered anyone, committed adultery, or bowed down to an idol. But had he harbored anger in his heart against others? Did he ever look at another lustfully? Remember, Jesus taught that these inward dispositions and emotions violated the spirit of the commandments, leaving us guilty of breaking them (see Matthew 5). Specifically, the rich young man violated – in spirit – the first two commandments, “You shall have no other gods but the LORD” and “You shall not practice idolatry,” because he trusted in wealth to pro-tect and deliver him, not God. Thankfully, we are made righteous by the grace of God through faith in Jesus alone, not obeying laws – even the Ten Commandments (Ephesians 2:8-9). It’s a good thing because we all fail to keep God’s law perfectly.

So, can we just dispense with the Ten Commandments and do whatever we want? No way! They are

there for a couple of reasons. Though we are led by our consciences as informed by the Spirit and the Word of God, we still have sinful natures to battle. We can’t rely on our hearts alone to guide us in the right way, as our hearts are often deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9). As such, the Ten Commandments serve as a check on our sinfulness, guiding us to change course when we wander astray, allowing us to keep our bearings. Second, the Ten Commandments crush any sense of self-righteousness we might develop. If we read them as Jesus taught them – that they must be obeyed perfectly at all times from the heart, even in our emotions and thoughts – we cannot help but realize our helplessness when it comes to overcoming sin on our own power, and we turn to Christ in humility to ask for help and forgiveness. We learn to reply on the Spirit, not our own ideas or efforts, and we allow the Spirit to change us by doing so.

Understanding the Ten Commandments in this way helps us to see that they aren’t established to cur-

tail our fun or cramp our styles, but that they were given as gifts by God to help us live in spiritual liberty – free from the need to try to save ourselves or to be carried away by inward desires that ultimately would destroy us.

July 2017 Page 2

EVENTS

July 2017 Page 3

Normal CornBelters vs. Windy City ThunderBolts

First Congregational United Church of Christ

The Normal Corn Crib 1000 West Raab Road Normal, IL 61761 Saturday, July 22nd, Gates: 5:35PM, Game: 6:35PM From $10

Join the Normal CornBelters for a Saturday evening of fun at The Normal Corn Crib on Saturday, July 22nd, as we host the Southern Illinois Miners at 6:35PM! Gates will open at 5:35PM. July 22nd will also be First Congregational United Church of Christ Night! All members of this great group will receive Reserved Box Seats at the discounted rate of $10.00! With any questions feel free to contact Sean Mendyk with the CornBelters at 309-451-3437 or contact Chris Leman at 217-417-2218 or chris.leman@fbfm.org .

FFDO

FFDO will be on Friday, July 7 at Crawford's Pizza in My Zion at 6:00. Let me know if you can make it.

Sandy Harmison

Routed in Community Grounded in Faith

Food Resource Bank News

Our Foods Resource Bank growing project corn crop is growing, but it is stressed by the hot weather and limited rainfall. If you would like to contrib-ute to the input costs for our 5-acre corn crop, please use an envelope in the pew or designate on your check or envelope that it is for FRB And please pray for rain."

First Church Food Resource Bank Growing Project

July 2017 Page 4

2017 Confirmation

Mitchell Daley, Gavin Butts and Connor Butts were confirmed on June 18

as members of First Congregational , United Church of Christ

VBS 2017

July 23-27

Sunday through Thursday

6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

First Congregational

United Church of Christ

3465 N. MacArthur Rd.

877-2216

July 2017 Page 5

VBS Needs We will need these items for our VBS snacks. Many of these quantities have been divided according to pack-aging. If you can donate any of these things, please sign-up on the sheet on the VBS bulletin board in Fellow-ship Hall. Thanks

125 napkins 2 small bottles of hand sanitizer 150 dessert plates 70 9oz plastic cups 105 zip lock sandwich bags 13.5 oz bag Gummy Worms Two 13 oz boxes animal crackers 30 oz carton Goldfish crackers 12 oz. box Corn Chex 16 oz. bag of stick pretzels 10 oz bag reg marshmallows

10 ½ oz bag mini marshmallows 35 mozzarella cheese sticks 35 6” corn tortillas 2 (24-30oz) jars of marinara sauce 25.6 oz box Graham Crackers 2 small jars of marshmallow fluff 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips Small bag of shredded coconut Two 9 oz. bags Tostitos Sopapillas 35 Yoplait Vanilla Go-Gurt

VBS 2017 is fast approaching at First Church! Hope your summer calendar includes this event on Sunday, July 23 – Thursday, July 27 from 6:00 – 8:30, with the preschool children having the option of leaving at 8:05 and dinner available for the volunteers at 5:15. Pre-registration is not required, but it really does help us in our planning! If you have any children planning to attend who are 3-years old through those who have completed 5th grade, please pick up a registration form on the bulletin board across from the church office or in fellowship hall, complete and return it to us as soon as possible.

Our theme is MAKER FUN FACTORY – Created by GOD – Built for a Purpose. We will meet Decker, Tina, Bubba, Skyler and Abbee as they help us with our daily Bible Point, Story and Key Verse. We will have a week full of jaw-dropping experiences that will spark our imaginations. Kids (and adults) will discover they’re lovingly crafted by God, experiencing God in new and wildly creative ways!

Our mission project, through Operation Kid-to-Kid, will help bring clean water to families in remote villages in Peru. The congregation will have the opportunity to contribute to this project, as well. Look for our “Clean Water for Peru” display to appear very soon and drop off your monetary donations!

We still need leaders for: Spotlight VBS to take pictures and put them into a PowerPoint program for viewing at each evening’s closing segment; and Bible Discovery as a “back-up” for Pastor Ryan. We also need help with set-up and take-down of the main set. Please let us know as soon as possible if you will help.

Supply lists will be on the bulletin boards, in case you would like to help us out in this way.

Thanks! Director Marsha Mower

General Information

July 2017 Page 6

General Church Attendance

Date First Service Second Service

May 7 75 31

May 14 80 31

May 21 79 27

May 28 54 28

WERE YOU THERE?

Finance Notes

July 2017 Page 7

May 2017 FINANCIAL REPORT

May 17 YTD

Budget Income $16,288.92

Budget Expense $17,714.72

Income

Exenses

2017 Graduates

Erica Moster Andrew Butts

Congratulations to our 2017 graduates

No Data Available

At this time

Happenings

July 2017 Page 8

God’s

Busy Hands

Tuesdays

1:00 - 3:00 pm

FFDO

Friday, July 7

6:00 pm

Crawford’s Pizza

Mt Zion

VBS 2017

July 23-27

Normal

Cornbelters

Game

Saturday, July 22

5:35 pm

First Congregational Unit-

ed Church of Christ Night!

Book Club

Thursday, July 20

1:00 pm

Admin Meeting

Monday, July 10

5:30 pm

Council of Ministry

Teams

Monday, July 17

5:30 pm

July Birthdays and Anniversaries

God bless you on your birthday and each day the whole year through. May all His blessings bring you joy in everything you do. 5. Joe Seitz 6. Shirley Kuhn Nancy Leoucis 7. Robert Blackwell Gerald Ruff Darla Weltmer 9. Aiden Miller 13. Christina Clark 15. Carl Jacobs Charles Zweck 16. Albert Wilson 19. Lindsay Malone 21. Ellen Whitrock 22. Connor Butts Gavin Butts 23. Zoey Clark 26. Hayley Bunselmeyer Alexis Fankhauser 27. Sharon Burbes 28. Lois Shelton 31. Jonathan Brownfield

And may the many bless-ings that have come from God above fill your hearths with all the joy of His enduring love. Happy Anniversary.

3. Dale & Beverly Capshaw 7. Harold & Sandy Harmison Jerome & Elizabeth Scherer 9. Christopher & Amy Leman 19. Mark & Melinda Bunselmeyer 24. Nicholas & Sally Lauer 25. Robert & Carol Blackwell Richard & Sheila Mannweiler 27. Kelly & Christen Cantrell

Remember to Pray for and Visit Members

Who are in Assisted Living and Nursing Homes

Primrose Retirement Community Claude Young—Room 228 Keystone Carolyn Jones—Room 216 Vonderlieth Living Center, Mt. Pulaski, IL Alice Roach Hickory Point Christian Village Al Wilson—Room 202 Patricia Weiss—Room 325 Evergreen Place Mary Lou Phipps— Room 208 Fair Haven Christian Home Lois Shelton—Room 113

July 2017 Page 9

Decatur Rehab Health Care Beverly Capshaw McKinley Court Dale Capshaw

First Church Sunday Morning

LITURGISTS

Date 9:00 AM Service 11:00 AM Service

July 2 Judi Carpenter

July 9 Chuck Zweck

July 16 Darla Weltmer

July 23 Marsha Mower

July 30 Sharon Burbes

July 2 Mark & Jeanette Flenner

July 9 Sandy Harmison

July 16 Betty Wheatley

July 23 Skip & Marsha Mower

July 30 Kathy Richardson

July 2 Bill & Alice Huebner Ruby Voyles/Shirley Zimmerman

July 9 Dave & Pat Mahr Wes Pietsch

July 16 Dave & Marlene Gant Joe Moretti/Maureen Ruski

July 23 Ev & Shirley Kuhn Angie Miller

July 30 Kristin Hargrove Kathy Richardson

July 2 Darla Weltmer, Marsha Mower, Marilee Gordon , Matha Crookshank

Ruby Voyles/Shirley Zimmerman

July 9 Marsha Mower, Dave Carpen-ter, Pat & Margie Malone

Wes Pietsch

July 16 Marilee Gordon, Sandi Pleasants, Marsha Mower

Joe Moretti/Maureen Ruski

July 23 Joe & Carol Roberston, Chris & Amy Leman

Mark Flenner

July 30 Marsha Mower, Bill & Alice Huebner

Kathy Richardson

Thank you to all who participate in these very important activities!

July 2017 Page 10

July Calendar

July 2017 Page 11

S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1

2 9:00 Tradi-

tional 10:00 Fellow-ship Hour 11:00 Con-temporary

3 4

1:00 God’s

Busy Hands

7:00 AA: Al-

anon

8:00 AA

5 6 7 8

9 9:00 Tradi-

tional 10:00 Fellow-ship Hour 11:00 Con-temporary

10

5:30 Admin

11

1:00 God’s

Busy Hands

7:00 AA: Al-

anon

8:00 AA

12 13 14 15

16 9:00 Tra-

ditional 10:00 Fellow-ship Hour 11:00 Con-temporary

17

5:30 Council

of Ministry

Teams

18

1:00 God’s

Busy Hands

7:00 AA: Al-

anon

8:00 AA

19 20

1:00 Book

Club

VBS Set-Up

All Evening

21 22

23

6-8:30 Vacation Bible School

24

6-8:30 Vacation Bible School

25 1:00 God’s

Busy Hands

6:00 VBS

7:00 AA: Al-

anon

8:00 AA

26

6-8:30 Vacation Bible School

27

6-8:30 Vacation Bible School

28 29

30 9:00 Tra-

ditional 10:00 Fellow-ship Hour 11:00 Con-temporary

31

2017 Church Goals

Your Council of Ministry Teams has approved the following 3 goals for 2017:

2017 Church Goals

Living into who are (or have become). The reality is we are a “small church” and need to celebrate what we can do, let go of what we can’t do and look at organizing/working together in a way that is supported by our true size, utilizing our resources in the best possible way.

• Goal No. 1 - Review our organization structure to better align with other United Church of Christ churches of our size and improve the staffing and effectiveness of our ministries.

• Goal No. 2 – Develop new Outreach ministries to Decatur and the surrounding area.

• Goal No. 3 - To come to understand for ourselves, and be able to articulate to others, who Jesus is to us, both as individuals and as a community.

The current status of these goals is as follows:

• Goal 1 - Gary Baker and Marsha Mower have started the rewrite/consolidation of the Org Manual, Constitution and By-Laws, to incorporate our current ministry team model.

• Goal 2 – Outreach Ministry Team Co-Leaders, Joe Moretti and Gary Baker, are visiting the local agencies we support, to assess the needs and determine if we need to reallocate the support we give.

• Goal 3 – Pastor Ryan is crafting a First Church-specific study that would include small groups that meet for a series of six weeks or so to discuss a specific topic while getting to know each other more intimately. He foresees this taking place in October, running into early November.

First Congregational UCC

3465 N. MacArthur Rd.

Decatur, IL 62526-1450