Whiteboard: Stewardship Sunday

This Sunday we are going to celebrate for a whole bunch of reasons!

We’ll celebrate because it is All Saints Sunday! This is our opportunity to honor those saints who have come before us – those pillars of Christian virtue who loved the faith so much that they handed it to you and to me.

But notice how I worded that. You see, All Saints isn’t just about recognizing that particular group of folks who have been officially canonized by the church (although that list is important too). No, saints are those folks who have passed the faith down to us. They are Sunday School teachers and prayer partners, Shepherding Group Leaders and youth group sponsors and sometimes they are even pastors. This Sunday we’ll recognize those saints who have gone on before us (we’ll have a special prayer for the members of FCC Scottsdale who have died in the past 12 months) and we’ll recognize the saints that are still hard at work all around us in the hope that we can recognize the saint that is inside of each and every one of us.

Which leads me to the other reason we’re celebrating this Sunday: It is Dedication Sunday! This Sunday we’ll wrap up our Stewardship Season by collecting and blessing our 2014 Pledge Cards. We’ve been using the theme Saints Alive! Living Generously! this Stewardship Season, and this Sunday will be our opportunity to do just that – to celebrate the saints at FCC Scottsdale, to celebrate the wonderful things that we are doing together to help further God’s kingdom by being the hands of Jesus at work in our community, and to give generously to support our church.

Oh, and if you forget your pledge card (and I’ll confess, I leave mine on the kitchen table just about every single year!) then don’t worry…we’ll have plenty of extras on Sunday morning.

Your generosity helps makes our ministries possible at FCC Scottsdale. So come join us this Sunday and help us celebrate Saints Alive! Living Generously!

Whiteboard: Children's Sabbath

During our Stewardship Campaign the Whiteboard will be displaying our Stewardship Theme...

...Saints Alive! Living Generously!

Two Sundays ago we kicked off our Stewardship Season by talking about generosity. Last Sunday we continued our theme by celebrating Reformation Sunday and talking about the great saints of history and the way their influence is still felt among us today. This Sunday we'll be focused in on our youngest saints as celebrate the Children's Sabbath at FCC Scottsdale. 

"Sponsored by the Children's Defense Fund, the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths Celebration is a way for faith communities to celebrate children as sacred gifts of the Divine, and provides the opportunity for houses of worship to renew and live out their moral responsibility to care, protect and advocate for all children."

Our youth will be leading us in worship this Sunday with several, special musical numbers. They have been working hard to get ready for this Sunday and you won't want to miss it!

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Psalm 119:97-104

Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.

Our New Website

It's launched!

Check out our NEW website at www.fccscottsdale.org!

Make sure and reset your bookmarks and enjoy the new design and interactivity of our new church website!

Whiteboard: World Communion Sunday

This coming Sunday we'll celebrate World Communion Sunday!

It really is one of my favorite Sundays of the year, and I've often said that it should be THE major high holy day for us as Disciples of Christ. 

You see, on World Communion Sunday we  celebrate the Unity of Christ that dwells at the very heart of our Christian Faith and lift up the Communion Table as the central place for our worship. World Communion Sunday resounds with the theological themes that are so close to our hearts as part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) – unity, diversity, the celebration of Communion at an open table!

This year we'll be combining our observation of World Communion Sunday with a celebration of Global Ministries Sunday as well. Global Ministries is the worldwide missions arm of our denomination. They work to "receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation and peace."

What better way to celebrate the unity of Christ that exists among the diversity of his people all over the world than to lift up our common global missions where Disciples are serving our brothers and sisters in faith throughout the globe!

Our worship service was written (almost entirely) by different Disciples missionaries serving all over the world. You'll hear stories of their work, we'll share prayers that they have written, and we will celebrate at the Lord's table with a special Communion Meditation put together by our missionaries. It will be an extraordinary Sunday...a true high holy day for the church!

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1 Corinthians 11:23-26 -- The Lord’s Supper

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.