First Baptist Church North Platte



Plat Firs

Church is an Action Word

Last month I spent a week in the suburbs of Chicago taking a class called “Missional Ecclesiology”. That term is a mouthful. So, let me explain the term a little bit. “Ecclesiology” is a combination of two words. “Ekklesia” is one of the words for the church in the New Testament. “Theology” is the study of God. Ecclesiology is the part of theology that studies what the Bible says the church is.

The word before “ecclesiology” is “missional”. This term has been used so often and in so many ways, people often lose track of its meaning. Most simply, however, it talks about the church being a “sent” people. When people talk about a church being “missional”, we talk about going out in the world around us, led by the Spirit, to live, act out, and share the gospel among our neighbors and friends in their culture and their language and their customs. The opposite of “missional” is “attractional”, which is where the church expects people to come into the church instead of the church going out into the world.

The church is, as David Fitch says, “defined by practices that embody beliefs”. In other words, church is not a building or an institution. It is a community of practice, or practices. We don’t go to church. We do church.

The practices that embody our beliefs are practices that connect us to God’s faithful presence, that help us care for one another, that help us move out into our homes and neighborhoods, and into the public sphere living our faith in ancient and yet uniquely contemporary way. A church is a group of people who live a certain way in fidelity to their commitment to the Lord, who has transformed and is transforming their lives as apprentices of Jesus. The practices that are most foundational are the practices we have discussed in worship for the last few months, practices that are put in different nomenclature in our mission and vision.

As I mentioned in worship last Sunday, this idea of a church as a community of practices is not new. Whether is it the Greek word “Ekklesia” that describes the habit of gathering, or the language of calling God’s people the “Way”, Christian people have been known by their lived belief since the beginning.

So, as we think and dream of ways to move forward as a congregation, and as we consider God’s unique calling on our lives together, let us remember to LIVE JESUS. Living as the body of Christ, exercising our faith passionately and cooperatively will make all the difference.

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• We will have book club again on August 4th. This time around the book will be Gilead by Marilyn Robinson. Cost of the book is $8.00.

• We will have a church potluck on July 28th. There is currently no agenda except gathering and having a good time being together and sharing a meal with one another.

• We are expanding our prayer walk ministry, and taking it off-site. This is a time of silent prayer, together for ourselves, our church, and our community. Locations are stated on the calendar. Budget a maximum of a half-hour of time to participate.

• We will be having a 24-hour prayer vigil on Saturday, July 20th beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending on Sunday, July 21st at 9 a.m.

Our goal is to have 24 hours of uninterrupted prayer for our church, community, and the world.

Prayer will be done in half-hour shifts, thought people can be encouraged to take more than one shift. The prayer tower, as well as the Associate Pastor’s office, will be open for this purpose.

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Getting to Know You

At their June gathering, Middlers learned more about each other through some fun games.

In the phot o, Margene Phares writes what she appreciates about Ardis Stadler on a paper pinned to Ardis’s back. Everyone left with a page of compliments that others had written for them.

Another getting-to-know-you exercise was telling “secrets.” Each person was given a paper to write down a secret that others maybe wouldn’t know about them. Here are the “secrets.” See if you can guess the person who had the secret.

Choices are: Ardys Stadler, Bob Phares, Cynthia Gardner, Dorothy Power, Gene Stadler,

Mabel Clark, Margene Phares, Marilyn Cogley, Marlin Clark, Mary Henry, Pat Danatt, Ruth Wohler

1. I played the oboe in high school.

2. My friends and I dyed my hair when we were juniors in high school. My hair turned purple!

3. I have bi-polar depression and I have a friend who has MS

4. I have a friend whose pants fell off in Sunday School.

5. I have never lived anywhere except North Platte and within a four-mile radius.

6. I’m a plant killer.

7. I was raised in a woman’s dormitory.

8. When I was in junior high, I was in Lincoln for Band Day and three friends and I were locked in the state capitol after it was closed.

9. I was a waitress at the Midway Hotel in Kearney.

10. I play guitar. I also taught soldiers in prison at Fort Riley, Kansas.

11. I played the clarinet in grade school and junior high.

12. I spent most of my working years running my own 4-wheel-drive tractor.

Find the answers elsewhere in this newsletter.

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July 2019

Sun |Mon |Tue |Wed |Thu |Fri |Sat | |  |1

8:15 a.m. Prayer

Walk

 

6:30 p.m.

Cub Scouts |2

 

 

 

9:30 p.m. Ladies Bible Study |3

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk |4

Office Closed |5

OFFICE CLOSED |6

9:00 a.m. Prayer Walk McDonald School | |7Communion Sunday

9 a.m. Sunday School

10:15 Worship

6;30 p.m. Epicenter-Pizza & Movies |8

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk

 

 

6:30 p.m.

Cub Scouts

 

7 p.m. Deacon Meeting |9

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:30 p.m. Ladies Bible Study |10

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk |11

7 a.m. Men’s Bible Study

8 a.m. Men’s B-fast

6:30 p.m.

Young Adult Night |12

OFFICE CLOSED |13

9:00 a.m. Prayer Walk 1st Baptist Church | |14

9 a.m. Sunday School

10:15 a.m. Worship

6:30 p.m. Epicenter-Cody Park |15

8:15 a.m. Prayer walk

 

 

 

6:30 p.m.

Cub Scouts |16

 

7:00 p.m.

ABW

 

 

9:30 p.m. Ladies Bible Study

  |17

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk |18

7 a.m. Men’s Bible Study

8 a.m. Men’s B-fast

1 p.m. ABW

6:30 p.m. Young Adult Night |19

OFFICE CLOSED |20

9:00 a.m. Prayer Walk County Courthouse

9:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. 24hrs. Prayer Vigil. | |218:30 a.m. Welcome Coffee

9 a.m. Sunday School

10:15 Worship

3 p.m. Centennial

6:30 p.m. Epicenter-Dude Night |22

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk

 

 

 

6:30 p.m. Cub Scouts |23

 

 

7 p.m. Executive Board

 

9:30 p.m. Ladies Bible Study |24

8:15 a.m. Prayer Walk |25

7 a.m. Men’s Bible Study

8 a.m. Men’s B-fast

6:30 p.m. Young Adult Night |26

OFFICE

CLOSED |27

9:00 a.m. Prayer Walk 1st Baptist Church

| |28

9 a.m. Sunday School

10:15 Worship

Epicenter- Leaves on Mission Trip |29

8:15

Prayer Walk

 

 

 

6:30 p.m.

Cub Scouts |30

 

 

 

 

9:30 p.m.

Ladies Bible Study |31

8:15 a.m.

Prayer Walk |  |  |  | |

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The Home Visitor Newsletter

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July 2019

North Platte First Baptist Church Office Hours

100 McDonald Road M-Th 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

North Platte, NE 69101 Friday -Closed Worship Hours 308-532-6772

Sunday School 9 a.m. cwalker@

Sunday Worship 10:15 a.m.

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Pastor Clint Walker

Answers to Getting to Know You

1. Gene Stadler

2. Margene Phares

3. Cynthia Gardner

4. Bob Phares

5. Mabel Clark

6. Marilyn Cogley

7. Marlin Clark

8. Pat Dannat

9. Ruth Wohler

10. Ruth Wohler

11. Ardys Stadler

12. Mary Henry

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EPICENTER SUMMER SCHEDULE

July 7th 6:30 p.m. Pizza @ Movies

July 14 6:30 p.m. Cody Park (bring a few dollars for ice cream/rides)

July 21 6:30 p.m. Dudes Night-Boys only

July 28-August 2 Mission Trip in Pawhuska, OK

Please invite your friends. Your invitation

might be what brings them to Christ!

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MISSION TRIP!!

Alice Nekuda helped Eryka, Kayla (Dolly), Olivia and Brittany make their owned personalized pillowcase for the upcoming

Mission trip to Pawhuska, Oklahoma on July 28th-August 2nd.

SEW MUCH FUN!!

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The book club has been rescheduled for Sunday, July 7th at 5 p.m. Location TBD.

The book to be read and discussed will be Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis who uses the characters in the book to address Christian theological issues, primarily those to do with temptation and resistance to it.

Please let the church office know if you need a book ordered.

MIDDLERS

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