August 18, 2020

First Connect

www.fbcokc.org 405- 232-4255

FBCOKC – A family of faith, growing in God’s love, striving to be faithful.

There are so many things in our lives this year that feel different. My children are begging to go to school, who would’ve ever thought! Friends and co-workers love going in to work because it feels normal and stabilizing.

Worshipping in our church is absolutely one of those things that will forever feel different. I find I am more grateful and cherish the experiences of gathering together in this place as the body of believers. Communion is a

sacred practice that connects us with Christ. When we take the bread and the cup, we are remembering the body and blood of Christ that was shed for your sins and for mine.

There were times in my journey with God that communion wasn’t as meaningful as other times. Perhaps it became a habit rather than an experience with God. The day we took Communion as a church family after studying the Passover story will stay with me forever. To understand better the gravity of the words spoken by John as Jesus passed by, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Now as the pastor, there is nothing like serving Communion to this beautiful and faithful family of God.

Next Wednesday we will have a special opportunity to take communion during a Drive Thru Communion experience at 6:30. Enter the parking lot off Robinson and you will receive the elements under the portico from two ministers wearing masks and taking every precaution. You will also receive a short reflection if you would like to pull into a parking spot in the north lot to reflect and to visit with a minister as we walk around. We can pray together or just visit. This will be a more solemn experience. We hope you will take the time to prepare. Perhaps listen to worship music in your car as you drive to the church. We hope you will join us. The children are welcome to play on the playground during this event.

Please know I pray for you often. We are one family. We are united in our love for Christ. One of the beautiful things to me about the Lord’s Supper is it is something that all believers for the last 2000 years have participated in, regardless of country or race or denomination. All who call on the name of Jesus observe the Lord’s Supper in one way or another. We all remember and we all give thanks. Dear church, go face your day walking in the strength of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face to-ward you and give you peace.

Sarah

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

FBCOKC—Come be YOU with US!

I relate the following for a reason.

In the summer of 1987 I took eleven OBU students to China. It was my first trip to China, and for some of the students, their first trip outside the USA. Our destination was Ürümqi, capital city of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in far northwest China. Xinjiang Province borders Mongolia to the north, Tibet to the south, five countries to the west, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has disputed boundaries with India to the south and east. We were there to begin a summer language program with Xinjiang University, teaching conversational English to Chinese and Uighur students who had been learning English from teachers for whom English was a second language.

In that first summer I began very cautiously and quietly to try to find out about Christians, or a church, in Ürümqi. I was able to ascertain that there was a church meeting in a building across the city from the University. So, on a Sunday morning, I ventured out in search, and found the church, morning worship in progress.

When I arrived at the church they were baptizing, outside, as the worship went on inside. For a baptistery they were using a galvanized steel bathtub, like two #2 wash tubs put together. To keep water in the tub there was a constant bucket brigade from an open hydrant across the street. I watched. Every person being baptized was an adult. Needless to say, my appearance at the back door was noticed. As the worship continued a gentleman who spoke English approached me and we began a conversation. The room was full, mostly middle age and older.

Our conversation lasted almost an hour, all the while the worship continued. After brief ‘get acquainted’ talk, I asked about the church, for I knew that churches in China had been closed at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, including the Three-Self churches, churches sanctioned and regulated by the Party. In fact, the church in Ürümqi had been shut down, the building confiscated and re-purposed by the government, and the membership scattered. And that scattered church began to meet in small groups in houses – the house church movement – with no professional ministry, every Bible study and worship lay-led. And so it remained for more than ten years.

The church in Ürümqi had been founded by a convert of Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, and had done well. Then in 1966 the pastor was removed, resettled, reassigned and placed in a re-education program. Ultimately he was sent to a hard labor, building a road through the Taklamakan Desert. He was not alone; pastors, musicians, artists, professors, writers, any who might be suspected of non-compliance with the Party, were disgraced, humiliated, sometimes tortured – re-educated.

But the small groups continued to meet. When the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 after the death of Mao there began a slow recovery. My remembrance from that Sunday morning conversation is that by 1979 or 1980 the Ürümqi church had its building back and began to restore it for church purposes. For ten years the church house had been empty of worshippers, but the church had not been stopped.

When, after more than an hour, I left the church, the bucket brigade was still active. They were still baptizing.

The reason I relate this experience is for our encouragement, to remind us that our church doors were not closed by an evil enemy, it was a pandemic that covered Asia, Europe, and the Americas. And we reopened at our own discretion, carefully, partially, but very much alive, and with no fear except of the virus. And if some of us are not yet back in attendance the reason is reasonable. And in fact we are there every Sunday, even if by device in hand. And we pray for our church family and for our staff and send our tithes and offerings. Sandy and I have not been in church – the church house – since early March, but like those Christians in China sequestered in homes for ten years, church is very much alive for us. If I were to catch the virus, COVID19, even at my age I would likely survive, for I am a healthy 84 year old. Sandy, however, has almost no immune system, the result of a rare bone marrow failure disease. She survives because the miracle of modern medicine has developed an infusion that stops the hemolysis. She cannot risk getting the corona virus.

We so look forward to being back, as do so many others of our membership now confined at home. The church at Ürümqi reminds me that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against’ the church, whether it be the hell of those who would shut us down or the hell that we are going through under this pandemic. All over the globe and throughout history the church, churches, have survived worse, from Decius 250AD and Diocletian 303-313AD to China 1966-1976AD, and more. And they have come back strong. We will come through this time strengthened, focused, even more strategically poised for our mission.

Mack

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

Loving Our Community This Summer

During recent months, many people have been asking how we can help to serve our community. One of the ways has been the continued service of food distribution through CareForOKC.

Reopening Update: W e w ill resum e Children ’s Ministry Sunday School (babies-5th grade) and Giggles on Sunday, August 23rd. This will give the family recovering from Covid-19 enough time to rest and regain their strength. Thank you for loving on them and praying for them. We love our FBCOKC children and families! Can’t wait to have you back in the Children’s Area on August 23rd.

August Deacons m eeting has been m oved to August 31, 2020

CareforOKC is in need of em pty egg cartons

Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

If you’re interested in using Common Prayer or have questions, email bradstewart@fbcokc.org or call the church office and I’d love to chat. Sign-up is located in the Commons and books can be purchased for $10. Thanks for considering this opportunity to grow in your faith, friends.

Sarah Stewart, Pastor

Andrew Bowles, Minister of Students and Missions

Brad Stewart, Minister of Discipleship

Steven McConnell, Minister of Music

Don Clothier, Pianist

Ariel Koerner, Praise Leader

Jordan Browne, Children ’s Coordinator

FAMILY BUILDING COMMUNITY

If you are unable to view our services & sermons online, either during the live stream or on-demand later in the week, and would like a copy, please let the church office know. We can burn a copy of the sermon onto a CD for you to listen to at your convenience.

FBC/OKC MINISTERS

Bedlam Canned Food Drive – Begins September 6!

It’s time to start getting excited for the annual BEDLAM CANNED FOOD DRIVE!!!! Competition begins Sunday, September 6! OSU has won the past two years but the Sooners and Green & Gold are ready to dethrone the Cowboys!

Just a reminder that we’ve added a third option to the competition. In addition to OSU and OU, you will now be able to give cans for “Green and Gold” which includes Oklahoma Baptist University and Baylor University! Let’s see who can give the most canned food donations beginning Sunday, September 6 through Sunday, November 1 to benefit CareForOKC. We will be using these donations to make Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for families in our community.

You can score points for your team (OU, OSU, Green and Gold) by donating non-perishable food items (see list below for suggestions) at the Drop Box in The Commons or Fellowship Hall. Monetary donations are also accepted at https://fbcokc.org/give or in person at the church office or during the offering in worship. $1 donation equals one can. Click on the link below to donate and designate your donation as part of the Bedlam Canned Food Drive and whether your gift is for OSU, Green and Gold, or OU. And look for weekly updates on which team is winning!

Suggested Items to Donate:

Stuffing mix (Stove Top, ect..)

Chicken broth

Cake Mixes

Cranberry Sauce

Canned Vegetables (green beans, corn, ect…)

Canned Sweet Potatoes (yams)