Whiteboard: One More Thing

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and like a Steve Jobs' product reveals of old, Advent dares to declare to us, "There is one more thing..."

And just like those old Apple product launches, Advent is saving the biggest, best, most important thing for last. Because the Fourth Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Love.

Love.

That foundational gift from God that once we accept it changes us forever.

Love.

That blessing that forces us to reinterpret everything that we thought we knew.

Love.

That one more thing that we need to really, truly be ready for the gift of the Christ child at Christmas.

So this Sunday, we'll celebrate the gift of love as we prepare our hearts and prepare our world once again for Christmas.

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Matthew 1:18-25 The Angel and Joseph

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’,which means, ‘God is with us.’

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Christmas Skit Script

During worship on Sunday December 11, 2016 the kids of FCC Scottsdale presented a Christmas Skit as part of our Christmas Cantata Musical Celebration.

The skit was written, at the invitation of our Music Director Sandi DeFeo, by my 10-year-old son (and aspiring filmmaker!) Henry Frederick-Gray.

You can listen to the full audio of the Christmas Skit on the church's website, and by popular demand you can find the full script posted below!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Christmas Cantata Musical Celebration such a wonderful success!

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What Can I Give Him?
A Christmas Skit
First Christian Church Scottsdale

by Henry Frederick-Gray

(The play opens with Henry, standing at one of the center Praise Team microphones, sorta talking to himself.)

Henry: Alright, getting ready for the Children’s portion of the Christmas Play. Gonna tell everybody about the gifts we bring…

(Jordan, Darren, and Jennica walk up to the Praise Team Microphone nearest the Lectern. They are distracted by the phone that Jordan is holding in front of himself.)

Henry: Oh, are you guys here to play the part of the Wisemen in the Christmas Play?

Jordan: What? No, we were just playing Pokemon Go.

Darren: We think there might be a Jigglypuff in here!

Henry: Oh…

Jennica: Did you say something about a Christmas Play?

Henry: Yes. We’re doing a Christmas Play here at the church and I still need the Wisemen to show up. They are the ones who will give gifts to Baby Jesus and help us understand what kinds of gifts we can bring him.

Jordan: Cool. Do you think baby Jesus plays Pokemon Go?

Henry: I doubt it.

(Hannah, Scarlett and Morgan walk up to the Praise Team Microphone nearest the pews. They are each carrying an object.)

Henry: Are you all the Wisemen?

Scarlett: You mean Wise Women.

Henry: Okay, sure. Did you bring gifts for the Baby Jesus.

Hannah: We sure did. Check it out. (Hannah holds up the iPad box) I brought him an iPad!

Kids: Whoa!

Darren: Wait a second, is that really appropriate for a little baby?

Hannah: What do you mean?

Darren: Well, it is a gift for Baby Jesus, right? But didn’t the APA just change the guidelines on screen time for kids? I don’t think babies are supposed to have iPads. Even if they are the Baby Jesus.

Hannah: Oh, you are probably right…

Scarlett: Well look what I brought him! (Holds up the Lego Death Star Box) It is the biggest Lego set that money can buy!

Kids: Whoa!

Scarlett: Yeah, and it comes with Luke Skywalker…

Henry (Trying to interrupt Scarlett): Scarlett, I don’t think….

Scarlett (Doesn’t notice Henry’s interruption, keeps talking): …and Han Solo…

Henry (Getting Louder): Scarlet, I don’t think that…

Scarlett (Keeps talking): …and Princess Leia…

Henry (Even Louder): SCARLETT, I don’t think that…

Scarlett (Keeps talking): …OH, and Darth Vader

Kids (Loudly, together): SCARLETT!

Scarlett (Finally looks up from the Lego Box): Yes?

Henry: I don’t think that is the most appropriate gift for the Baby Jesus. I mean, isn’t it really just a big box full of choking hazards?

Scarlett: Oh, you’re probably right…

Morgan: Hey, check out what I brought him! (Holds up a T-shirt and a marker).

Jennica: What is that?

Morgan: It is a white t-shirt and a black marker.

Jennica: Why did you bring a white t-shirt and a black marker for the Baby Jesus?

Morgan: I was hoping he would autograph it for me!

Jennica: Um, I don’t think baby’s know how to sign autographs.

Darren: And besides, wouldn’t that really be more of a gift for you instead of a gift for the Baby Jesus.

Morgan: Oh, you’re probably right…

Jordan: So what are we supposed to do now?

Henry: I don’t know. I really wish those three Wisemen would show up. We could really use some help with this…

(From off stage we hear: Knock, Knock, Knock)

Sandi: Henry, did you use your Dad’s church credit card to order pizza again?

(The kids look around, excited)

Henry: No. Not this time.

(The kids hang their heads down, sad)

Sandi: Okay, well go see who is at the door.

(Brian, Eric, and Brayden enter from the sacristy door by the Baptismal Pool. They are wearing crowns, carrying their gifts, and walk to the Pulpit Mic).

Henry: Thank goodness you guys are finally here! Did you bring the gifts for Baby Jesus? We are having a really hard time figuring out what we are supposed to give him.

Brian: I brought him Gold.

Eric: I brought him Frankincense.

Brayden: I brought him Myrrh.

Jordan: Um, none of that sounds particularly appropriate for a little baby.

Brian: That is true. But we weren’t bringing him gifts fit for a baby. We were bringing him gifts fit for a king! Gifts that would help him in his life and ministry. Gifts that would help us to know who he is and what his ministry was all about.

Hannah: Well, we’ve really been struggling to know what kind of gifts we are supposed to bring him.

Eric: Well, maybe you can think about it differently. Instead of thinking “What kind of present do I want to give the newborn Christ child?” maybe you should ask yourself, “What does Jesus really want more than anything else in the world?”

(The kids nod their heads in growing recognition, clearly thinking about this question)

Darren: I got it!

(The kids huddle up and pretend to whisper ideas excitedly back and forth. Every now and then one of them pops up nodding and smiling at the congregation. After a few seconds they return to their microphones.)

Brayden: So, what did you decide?

Jennica: Well, we decided that the best gift we could bring for Jesus probably isn’t the XP from our Pokemon Go game.

Hannah: And it isn’t an iPad.

Scarlett: And it isn’t this totally awesome Lego Star Wars set.

Morgan: And it isn’t a T-shirt for him to autograph.

Darren: What Jesus wants more than anything else in the world, is for us to love him…

Henry: …and to share that love with the world.

Jordan: So what gift should we give him?

Kids and Wisemen (all together): We’ll give him our heart!

Whiteboard: Advent 3

During our Worship Service on Sunday we will be graced with a special service featuring our Chancel Choir, Praise Team, and Kids Choir!

That means that everything will be a little bit different than a typical Sunday morning Worship Service (we’ve rearranged the Order of Service to make it all happen) and it will be a little bit different than Cantata Sundays in year’s past. 

For starters, our kids are going to be featured throughout the Musical Celebration. In fact, the youth of FCC Scottsdale will be performing a Christmas Skit written by Henry Frederick-Gray (yes, my son!). 

What’s more, there will be parts during the Musical Celebration that we’ll invite the entire congregation to join us in singing our praises to God and the Christ child. 

It is going to be wonderful and I hope you can join us!

Whiteboard: Advent 1

Advent is a season of preparation.

It is the beginning of a new year for us in the worship life of the church. A year that does not begin with the revelry and celebration of Christmas or with the cosmos reshaping events of Easter. 

No, our year begins with preparation because faith is about the journey as much as it is about any end destination. So we carve out this time to get ready, to prayerfully consider our preparation. What do we need to do to steady our hearts and steel our wills as we eagerly anticipate the birth of Christ once more in our hearts and in our world.

This Sunday we will gather. 

We will pray. 

We will sing. 

We will share the old, old stories and join our hearts with the dreams that God has for us today. We will prepare our hearts and talk about hope. Because it is into a world just such as this that Christ Jesus came to reveal the fullness of God's love, the promise of God's forgiveness, and the opportunity of a life truly worth living.

Come and light a Candle of Peace with us this Sunday at FCC Scottsdale.

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Matthew 3:1-12 The Proclamation of John the Baptist

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.” ’ 

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

Three Things from Admin Council

Administrative Council had their final regularly scheduled meeting of the year, this past Sunday immediately after the worship service.

Here are "The Three Things You Should Know" from that meeting:

1. Regional Assembly/Asamblea was a huge success
   Thank you to everyone who kept the joint Arizona Regional Assembly/Asamblea in your prayers. It was a different kind of event, because for the first time in a long time we held our Arizona Regional Assembly in conjunction with the Hispanic Convencion's Asamblea. It was a wonderful event with over 300 brothers and sisters in Christ gathering from all over the state of Arizona. Thank you to East Mesa Christian Church for doing such a lovely job hosting our meeting. The worship services were inspiring, the breakout sessions were life giving, the community spirit was palpable. We had a full slate of representatives from FCC Scottsdale in attendance...and oh by the way I was formally installed as the Moderator of the Christian Church in Arizona!
   
2. Admin Council approves a full Nominating Slate for the Annual Meeting
   You'll be seeing the names in the coming days and weeks, but know that our Nominating Team did an incredible job putting together a full slate of Officers, Elders, and Ministry Team Chairs for the coming year. That slate was approved by the Administrative Council and will now go to the full congregational meeting (scheduled for December 11, 2016 immediately following the Worship Service) for final approval.
   
3. Another Successful Stewardship CampaignYou’ll remember that here at the church we received a $10,000 Challenge Grant. For every increase in a pledge this year it will be matched dollar for dollar up to a grand total of $10,000. What’s more, that grant will be used to double every new pledge we received this year! Well, as of Dedication Sunday we have received pledge increases totaling $7,666 and new pledges totaling another $5,040 meaning that the total of $12,706 more than exceeds our Challenge Grant! Great job church!

Whiteboard: Thanksgiving

I try not to preach Henry stories very often.

The truth is, I could preach a story about my son every single Sunday, but that wouldn't really be fair to him...or to the Gospel for that matter!

But this Sunday I simply can't help myself. I'm going to start my sermon with a Henry story.

While I won't ruin it by telling the whole story here on the Blog, know that it involves my 10-year-old getting surprisingly animated about something a morning drive-time DJ said while I was dropping him off at school on a recent morning.

Oh, and know that it my Henry Story has everything to do with Thanksgiving...or for that matter, how easy it is for us to forget about it.

To pass it over.

To gloss over it.

To skip past giving thanks in the name of hurrying on to whatever so called important thing is next on our to do list.

This Sunday is Thanksgiving Sunday at the church, which means that we'll be carving out the time to do exactly what the Psalmist calls us to do: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.Give thanks to him, bless his name."

This Sunday, let us do just that!

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Psalm 100 A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Whiteboard: Thanksgiving

I try not to preach Henry stories very often.

The truth is, I could preach a story about my son every single Sunday, but that wouldn't really be fair to him...or to the Gospel for that matter!

But this Sunday I simply can't help myself. I'm going to start my sermon with a Henry story.

While I won't ruin it by telling the whole story here on the Blog, know that it involves my 10-year-old getting surprisingly animated about something a morning drive-time DJ said while I was dropping him off at school on a recent morning.

Oh, and know that it my Henry Story has everything to do with Thanksgiving...or for that matter, how easy it is for us to forget about it.

To pass it over.

To gloss over it.

To skip past giving thanks in the name of hurrying on to whatever so called important thing is next on our to do list.

This Sunday is Thanksgiving Sunday at the church, which means that we'll be carving out the time to do exactly what the Psalmist calls us to do: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.Give thanks to him, bless his name."

This Sunday, let us do just that!

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Psalm 100 A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Whiteboard: Go and Do the Same

This Sunday our Stewardship Campaign comes to a close with Dedication Sunday!

We have had three wonderful weeks of celebrating the blessings of Worship, Mission & Ministry here at FCC Scottsdale. We kicked off the campaign on 10/23 by talking about Worship, a week later Rev. Al preached about Mission, last Sunday we focused on Ministry, and now we are ready to wrap up the campaign with Dedication Sunday!

Dedication Sunday means that we’ll be dedicating our Pledge Cards at the end of the worship service…so this is your friendly reminder to bring your Pledge Card this Sunday!

I hope that you have been keeping up with the campaign and that you are as excited as I am about the wonderful things that God is doing with us and through us at First Christian Church Scottsdale. We are praising God in new ways by sharing our Lenten Special Services with our sister congregations at Foothills and Coolwater. We are serving our community in new ways by partnering with Tumbleweeds. We are deepening our faith through the Summer Adventures in Learning series, new small group ministries, and a full cadre of Sunday School classes. That is Worship, Mission & Ministry right there! And it is all made possible by your generosity and faithfulness in giving.

I also hope that you have been prayerfully discerning the ways that you can support our church. Last Sunday we passed out our “I Can…” Checklist that had 30 volunteering opportunities on it that you can choose from. If you didn’t fill one out and drop it off in our basket, know what we’ll have extra copies available in the Fellowship Hall this week. AND, lest we forget: We have a $10,000 Matching Grant before us this year too! For every increase in your pledge this year it will be matched dollar for dollar up to a grand total of $10,000. If you are new to our community and haven’t pledged before that means that your entire pledge will doubled for the coming year! And, if you forgot to turn in a pledge card last year, well, good news because your entire pledge will be doubled for the coming year!

I personally will be increasing my pledge this year in the hopes of maximizing this generous Matching Grant…but more importantly I am increasing my pledge this year because I believe in the good work of this church. I believe in the Worship, Mission & Ministry of First Christian Church Scottsdale and I am happy to support it with my time, talent, and treasure.

I hope to see you at Dedication Sunday! Don’t forget your pledge card…but know that if you do we have extra copies available in the pew racks too!

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Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

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Acts 11:1-18 -- Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’

Whiteboard: I Can

Our leadership team this year wants to emphasize that stewardship is about more than money. When we are sharing our blessings with each other here at the church that means that stewardship is about sharing our time and talents in addition to sharing our treasure.

In order to demonstrate the ways that we share our time and talents as part of the continuing Ministry at FCC Scottsdale this Sunday you’ll find an “I Can…” Checklist as an insert in your Sunday morning Worship Bulletin.

The “I Can…” Checklist lists off thirty different things that you can do help us further our Ministry programs right here at the church. The list ranges from “Come to Worship” and “Pray” to “Fold and Prepare The Newsletter for Mailing” and “Be a Substitute Teacher for Sunday School.” 

 In fact, if you would like a sneak peak at all 30 items listed on the checklist, well, check out the photos below!

Now, I don’t anticipate anybody will check off all 30 items on the “I Can…” Checklist, but I do hope that you will look over that list and check off the things that you are currently doing to further our Ministry here at the church and check off those things that you might be interested in participating in over the next year. 

We’ll collect the “I Can…” Checklists during the worship service and share the data collected with our different Ministry Team leaders here at the church to help coordinate our efforts.

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Acts 16:16-34 Paul and Silas in Prison

One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Pictures from The Fifth With First

We had another excellent installment of "The Fifth With First" last weekend, including an incredible Workship Project where we partnered with our friends at Operation Fix-It!

Meanwhile, back at the church Rev. Al Beasley preached a wonderful stewardship sermon (on Mission, nonetheless!) and after the service church members stuck around to pack 50 School Supply bags for our outreach partners at the Paiute Neighborhood Center!

Here are a handful of photos from our Workship Project with Operation Fix-It. If you would like to seem more photos from "The Fifth With First" then visit the church's Facebook page at facebook.com/FCCScottsdale!