APRIL 26, 2020edmondchurchofchrist.com

I P R A Y T H A T Y O U R H E A R T S W I L L B E F L O O D E D W I T H

L I G H T S O T H A T Y O U C A N U N D E R S T A N D T H E

C O N F I D E N T H O P E H E H A S G I V E N T O T H O S E

H E C A L L E D — H I S H O L Y P E O P L E W H O

A R E H I S R I C H A N D G L O R I O U S

I N H E R I T A N C E

E P H E S I A N S 1 : 1 8

HOSPITALIZEDRONDA GREENWAY - Community SouthCONTINUED PRAYERSGlendell Norman, Betty Wright, Kay Shough, Rosa Manhalter, Mary Carney, Betty Maston, Sharon Vaulner, Brenda Risley’s father, Lorraine Griffin, Tina Mansfield, Rodney Chambers, Paul Eubanks, David & Kafie Carman, Kaye Boyce, Budd Hoaas, Vickie Trotter’s brother, Linda DeBusk, Wiley & Judith Risley, Bobby Higgs, Nancy Dew,

Dorothy Budde, Carole Whitehead, Glenda Smith’s son, Kaden Gee, AJ Cunningham, Kristin Burton’s mother, Linda Walts, Jim Hawkins, Richard Shough, Bill Collin’s mother, Jane Nelson’s daughterTHOSE IN THE MILITARYChris Gehri, Bradley Martin, Alex Young, Miller Burkson, Clayton Williams, Cody Phillips, Alison Young, Cassie Essary, Abe Spillman, Dustin Laxton, Aaron Mashburn, Cade Mashburn, Brian Hughey, Will Givens, Steven Washko

CONGRATULATIONS TOJAKE AND REBECCA JONES on the birth of Hobie Charles. He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. His big sisters are Finley and Scout and his big brother is Ike. DIRECTORY UPDATE MYRNA ALBRIGHT 2801 Shortgrass Rd., Apt. 244 Edmond, 73003

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

MAKING MUFFINS FOR MOM DRIVE-THRU SATURDAY, MAY 9, 10:00AM - NOON, NORTH OVERHANGEnter from the 9th street entrance next to Search. Dads, bring the kids to pick up your Muffins for Mom kits. Make posters or decorate your car to show appreciation to moms. Be sure to have your signs displayed on the passenger side of your vehicle. Your artwork will be used in a video celebrating all the great moms!

Unfortunately, some people have allowed a bad experience with other Christians to sour them on the church. A biblical understanding of who the church is, and is not, helps us have realistic expectations of the church. The church is not perfect in the sense of doing and saying everything correctly. But the church is beautiful because we are redeemed by Christ and function in this world as His body.

Consider inviting someone you know who has stepped away from God or the church to hear this important message. Email or text the link to Sunday’s online worship.

SAMPLE INVITATION:I have been thinking about you lately and hope you are doing well during this unusual season of uncertainty. Like many other churches, my home church, the Edmond Church of Christ, is offering online worship services every Sunday. We are currently in a special series of messages called “Open Arms” intended to humbly ask those who have walked away from the church or God to reconsider. According to our minister, the purpose of these messages is not to judge people but rather to acknowledge some of the reasons people walk away and ask us all to reconsider our view of God, faith and the church in light of what scripture reveals. Would you consider watching these messages online? If you are interested, I would also enjoy visiting with you about your thoughts and reactions to these messages...

CLICK OR SHARE THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH THE SERVICE SUNDAY AT 9:30AMOR SEE ANY OTHER ARCHIVED MESSAGES.

SUNDAY SERMON SERIES

Open Arms Finding Your Way Back“(Un)Beautiful Bride”

Watch on youtube.com/edmondchurchofchrist

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP APRIL 26, 2020

CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE STUDY & DISCUSSION GUIDE TO GO ALONG WITH THE SERMON

While we will not be meeting for worship face-to-face for the foreseeable future, we will continue to worship, and we will continue to function as the Body of Christ. Please join us Sunday via our YouTube channel. Each Sunday a new service will be available at 9:30 am, and can be accessed anytime afterwards. This is a great opportunity to be reminded that the church is not a place, but a people.

Children’s Bible Hour & Bible ClassThere are a few Bible Hour videos on our YouTube channel. Link below. There are some children’s Bible lessons attached to the bulletin email for you to do with your children.

Communion“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” - Acts 20We will have a “drive-thru” pick up for communion supplies on Saturday from 10-11:30 am in the circle drive. If you are unable to drive thru, please call the office and we will arrange for supplies to be delivered.

Open ArmsFinding Your Way Back

“(Un)Beautiful Bride”1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Watch on youtube.com/edmondchurchofchrist

GIVINGPlease consider from the following ways to continue your giving: 1. Mail a Check (801 S Bryant Ave, Edmond, OK 73034) 2. Give Online (click the link below and choose “OFFERING” in the designation menu) 3. Use the new secure mailbox outside the office doors.

CHURCH OFFICE: (405) 341-3353The church building will be closed for the time being. We have forwarded the phone so that we will still be able to take your calls. Please call if we can help in any way.

REACH OUTEncourage One AnotherIn this time of social distancing it is more important than ever to keep in touch. Our members who are in Senior Living facilities are essentially shut-in. Consider sending a card or have your children send some artwork. A list is available in the member section of CCB.

If you can help others:Call the office if there is any way you may be able to help your church family.

If you need help:Call the office to let us know your need and we will try our best to connect you with someone who can help.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE ONLINE

Worship & GatheringsIn compliance with directives from authorities, we are canceling all Edmond church of Christ public gatherings for the foreseeable future. This decision impacts all worship services, Bible classes, and other activities at our building.

CONGRATULATIONS COLLEGE GRADUATES UNDERGRADJames Bagwell, OCJames Bobo, OSURiley (Wilson) Carr, OCTyler Carr, OU

Ashley Hamlin, UCOKarlee Norman, OCCaleb Kingsley, HardingHalsey Shelley, UCO

GRADUATE SCHOOLLindsay Allenbach, EDS OSU Mitchell Ford, MS OSU

SONSHINE SCHOOL KEEPINGIN TOUCH Normally Tuesday and Thursday are Sonshine School days. There are 140 children, ages 6 months to 5 years old, along with 25 teachers missing school right now. The teachers and administrators are busy making sure the children get a dose of “sonshine” while they are home. Teachers are keeping in touch with students through texts, notes and goody bags. Administrators are reading children’s books and singing favorite songs on social media. And even Granny Bible and Caroline, favorite puppets that the children see at chapel time, are making appearances.

“All of us at Sonshine School are so looking forward to being together at school! We miss the camaraderie of our teachers and all of the sweet faces of our kiddos,” - Rachel Burkett, School Director

Sonshine School

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

GIVE THANKS OR MAKE A PRAYER REQUEST...“We are committed to praying for each other because we believe there is great power in prayer.” - James 5:16If you would like to share news about something for which you are thankful or a specific prayer request, click on the link to our new Prayer Page.

Prayer Page: edmondchurchofchrist.com/home/prayer-request

LOU ELLEN SPENCER1927–2020 Lou Ellen “Lou” Spencer was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Robert and Josephine Allison. Lou graduated from Mesquite High School and the University of North Texas. She was a member of Phi Sigma Alpha and the Art Club. Lou married Ralph Spencer in 1949 and they had three children. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph; her parents, and two brothers. She is survived by her children, Dr. Clark Spencer, Michael Spencer, and Suzanne Hill; seven grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews and countless friends.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF ...

CLICK TO SEND A NOTE TO THE SPENCER FAMILY

WATCH SEARCH ONLINE www.searchtv.org

WATCH EVERY SUNDAY7:30am KOCB-TV Channel 34 (OKC, OK)

APRIL 26“The First Gentile Convert”

SCHEDULE OF SERVICESAll services, Bible classes and events are canceled or postponed until further notice.Sunday service and other content may be viewed on the Edmond Church of Christ YouTube channel. New services will debut each Sunday at 9:30am.

Evan BurkettJohn FriasBrenda GordonShawn McElroyKevin Rayner

Kent Risley Jeremy RobertsonRandy RoperTony Sepulveda

MINISTRY STAFFBlaine AllenbachRichard BlankenshipTom BreningerBrad BuxtonMike CainMark ColemanAndy DeanJim GoodinSylvan Gordon

Brent KeckLyle KelseyDavid KingDale LollarJack LowryLarry MillerMerritt RobertsLendon Shotts

SHEPHERDS

www.EdmondChurchOfChrist.com/People/MissionariesOUR MISSIONARIES

youtube.com/edmondchurchofchrist

2020 GIVING SUNDAYS COMMISSION SUNDAYSAnnual Plan $ 2,052,076 $ 414,591Plan thru Last Sunday $ 628,187 $ 138,197Given Last Sunday $ 42,632 $ 40Given thru Last Sunday $ 640,686 $ 132,275

Edmond Church Feeds Hungry Schoolchildren During Coronavirus PandemicBy Ann Jayne

No breakfast. No lunch. You can’t eat breakfast or lunch online.Amid the coronavirus pandemic, meals that many Oklahoma schoolchildren

enjoyed during the day have disappeared since classes are postponed and now online.

Enter Cara Jernigan, who is in the Young Families Class at the Edmond Church of Christ.

“I wanted to be His hands and feet,” said Jernigan, who also is the new executive director of elementary education for Edmond Public Schools — a post she assumed a week before spring break.

Title 1 schools are permitted by the federal government to provide free meals to students each day. Edmond has only two Title 1 schools. However, the district has several schools that have more that 50 percent of kids in poverty. The school system does not receive federal funding for food for these schools.

So Jernigan got busy, networking and incorporating local churches to help feed kids during the COVID-19 crisis.

She brought the need to the attention of Evan Burkett, the Edmond church’s campus minister.

“She quickly assembled a task force of local churches and institutions to help address an urgent need among some of the elementary students in our area,” Burkett said.

At a recent shepherds meeting, Burkett laid out a plan to help. The elders quickly funded a program to allow the congregation to prepare and distribute grab-and-go

breakfasts and lunches for students who attend Will Rogers Elementary, next door to the church building.

“This is basic Christianity,” Burkett quoted one shepherd as saying.

The Edmond church family sprang into action. Volunteers from the College, Catalyst, Seekers

and Pathfinders classes met at the building. They donned gloves and masks and stuffed sacks with meals aligned with the federal nutrition guidelines.

Then they handed out the meals in a drive-through at the circle driveway by the new addition to the church building.

Another group traveled to the Oak Ridge Trailer Park, set up a table and handed out meals to kids who live there. Oak Ridge Trailer Park is an area with a high need for meals.

On Mondays, meals are prepared and distributed by healthy church members from the ages of 16-59. The Catalyst class prepares and distributes the sack meals on Tuesdays. Wednesday meals are the responsibility of the Seekers class, while Thursday meals are prepared and provided by the college Class. Rounding off the week on Fridays are volunteers from the Pathfinders class.

This is basic Christianity...

Beginning around 9 a.m., volunteers meet to prepare the breakfasts and lunches. Hannah Risley from the Seekers class (ages 23-30) said that breakfasts are the same each day: cereal bowl, carton of white milk and juice.

Lunches on Monday, Wednesday and Friday consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrots and ranch dressing, a bag of chips, an apple or applesauce and a carton of milk.

Tuesday and Thursday lunches are the same except the sandwich is ham and cheese. The food is delivered by U.S. Foods, who normally distributes the food to all of the schools. When the church runs out of something, a shopping trip to Sam’s ensues.

Michael Reese of the Pathfinders class (30s) said that once the sandwiches are made, then the non-refrigerated items are assembled into sacks. After finishing one day’s meals, the groups start working on the meals for the next day, getting everything but the refrigerated items prepared.

“It’s great to serve,” said Reese, who enjoys seeing the children happy about getting food. “It brings a sense of normalcy regardless of what’s going on. The church is still providing food and a service to the community and kids.”

About 70 meals per day are handed out at the Oak Ridge Trailer Park.Emily Rowland of the Catalyst class also is a fifth-grade math and science

teacher at Frontier Elementary. Rowland said some of the kids at the trailer park are shy. “But they come back every day,” she said. She said the parents seem very appreciative, too. One parent told her, “This is awesome!”

“I’m used to seeing kids, so I’m just happy to have something to do, to be productive,” Rowland said. “It’s been fun.”

Carly Spencer is also a part of the Catalyst class, comprised mainly of recent college graduates.

“I didn’t know the trailer park was there,” said Spencer, a fourth-grade grade teacher in the Putnam City school district. “I didn’t realize how much need is in Edmond.”

It’s great to serve ... regardless of what’s going on. The church is still providing food and a service to the community and kids.

Rachel Burkett, Evan Burkett’s wife, helped distribute food during spring break. Once the schools closed for quarantine, Burkett said she worried about the poor kids who weren’t getting fed.

Teachers from Will Rogers have also helped distribute the food. Rachel said that is good for the students because they know the teachers. She said the caretakers at the Oak Ridge Trailer Park are also very helpful.

“They know all of the kids and give them a lollipop when they get their food,” Rachel said. “They are very invested in the kids.”

Burkett said this is probably the last week that the church will be distributing meals. Jernigan confirmed that beginning April 20, there will be food distribution at five other sites. Since Will Rogers school is under construction, it will not be a distribution center. Edmond church members may then be called upon to help

“I go in being so willing to help and impact someone, and I come away being helped and impacted,” Risley said. “This brings me a lot of joy, and it is encouraging to see their faces when they get a simple lunch.”

Amid all of this “stuff” that has messed up everyone’s lives, God’s people are doing what we are supposed to do. We are taking care of each other and feeding others who are hungry. Because when we feed others, we are feeding Jesus (see Matthew 25:31-46). Even if it’s a simple lunch. After all, He did the same thing with a few fish and loaves of bread.

Matthew 25:35-3635 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was

thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’