Bringing the Gospel Light of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) into your Home

V O L U M E 4 0 , I S S U E 7 J U L Y 2 0 2 0

EVENTS CALENDAR
We’re back!
July 4 Independence FCC resumed in-person congregational worship on May 24, keeping within social dis-
Day
tancing guidelines. Bible study groups resumed on June 17 and Sunday school classes
July 8 Board meeting, on June 21. As of this writing, Children’s Church has not resumed. VBS will not be in
7:00 pm person this year, but will be an online experience with videos, art projects and parent
resources.
July 20 Blood Drive,
2:00-6:00 pm

Drayton Iszac Harris gave

his confession of faith and was
baptized June 14 by
Ryan Beenken.
Congratulations and
welcome to the FCC
family, Drayton!
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:

Pastor’s
With Sympathy—
2 We extend our deepest condolences to Tara Fugate and family
Column

Birthdays/
in the loss of her husband, I.B. Fugate III. May God hold the
2
Anniversaries family and friends of I.B. in His comforting arms.
Board
3
Meeting Lighthouse Learning Center
Youth Pastor 3 July Item of
the Month Is
Children’s
Pastor
3 sidewalk
chalk
Blood Drive/
Virtual VBS/ 4
Birth/Marriage
PAGE 2

From the Pastor’s Desk

You might not think
about it much, but
you probably see it
every Sunday. It’s
something about
your pastor. He is
white. And if you
look around the
church on any given
Sunday morning,
you’ll notice that our
congregation is pre-
dominantly white.
That’s not really all that sur-
“… it is our job to prising, because Gallatin itself
consider our broth- is 97.3% white. We don’t
often have need to think about
ers and sisters in
race issues.
Christ, no matter
And yet race has been in the
what the color of
news a lot recently. The
their skin, and lift
shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
them up to God in in Georgia has combined with
prayer, and to stand protests over the death of
George Floyd to bring it roar-
up for them in their
ing back to the front pages.
time of trouble.” And as a middle-class white
male, I often don’t quite know
what to think about it all, ex-
cept for to be mad that it can
happen in the first place.
Many passages in the New
Testament address the race
issue: Acts 10 shows that no
one is unclean, and that all
can be given salvation from
Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:28
shows us that before the
throne of God, we are all on
equal standing when it comes
to our salvation.
Skin
But even before the New Tes-
tament, the Old Testament is
filled with passages that talk
about race. The Israelites
were called to treat the for-
eign-born just like the native
born (Leviticus 19:34). And 2
Kings 5 tells the story of a
man named Naaman.
Naaman was the commander
of the enemy army. In fact, he
very well may be the leader of
the army that attacks just one
chapter later in 2 Kings 6. But
in chapter 5, he learns a valu-
able lesson.
He is an Aramean, and the
king sends him to the Israelite
king in hopes that the king
can heal him. He winds up
meeting Elisha the prophet.
And Elisha tells him to go
wash in the Jordan.
Namaan is upset. He thinks,
“I was telling myself: he will
surely come out, stand and
call on the name of the Lord
his God, and wave his hand
over the place and cure the
skin disease. Aren’t Abana
and Pharpar, the rivers of
Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel? Couldn’t I
wash in them and be clean?”
Truth be told, he is right. The
Jordan River is notoriously
muddy. But there is no con-
nection between the water
itself and the cure. The cure
comes from his obedience.
It takes the wisdom of his
servants to calm him down
and convince him to wash.
And sure enough, when he
washes – in the Jordan – he is
made clean. And when he is
made clean he declares, “I
know there is no God in the
whole world except in Israel.”
Notice the racial overtones of
this story: Namaan is an Ara-
mean (a Syrian). Yet that
doesn’t bother Elisha. He
offers a way for Namaan to be
healed: to wash in the Jordan.
Yet Namaan’s own racial
beliefs temporarily delay the
healing. And when he is
healed, racial and national
boundaries break down and
he praises the God of Israel.
I don’t have all the solutions.
I worry that even writing this
article may be trite. Race con-
tinues to be an issue in our
nation and I believe much of
the problem is truly systemic.
But I do know that before the
Lord, the God of Israel, we
can all be united. And I do
know that is our job to con-
sider our brothers and sisters
in Christ, no matter what the
color of their skin, and lift
them up to God in prayer, and
to stand up for them in their
time of trouble.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Kyle

Sue Gillilan 2 Nathan Baker 11 Jordan & Carly Talbert 20

Cliff & Lois Agenstein 3 Patrick Treece 11 Kay Woodruff 20
Priscilla Johnson 3 Kyle Adkison 12 Wayne & Ruby Teel 22
July Mike Walker 5 Dalton Albrecht 12 Kathy Henderson 23
Sherry Carpenter 5 Vicki Corwin 12 Bob & Sue Bird 23
Birthdays Cynthia Barnes 5 Rick Hughes 12 Lois Carter 24
& Luke Johnson 5 Steven & Macon Schweizer 12 John Corwin 24
Drayton Harris 6 Frances Bradley 13 Tyler Hazzard 27
Anniversaries Jerry Hogan 6 Junior Stith 13 Willie Butler 28
John & Lacey Corwin 6 Ruby Teel 15 Kevin Corwin 28
Georgia Creason 7 Kason Butler 17 Hailey Holcomb 28
Amy LaBrie 7 Tyler Butler 17 Shelta Creason 30
Garold & Shirley Walker 8 Matt Swofford 17
Berkley Wells 9 Marge Hennen 20
 VOLUME 40, ISSUE 7 PAGE 3

Board meeting summary

Following is a summary of the June 10, 2020 attendance numbers again, but receipts Bids for a new digital sign were presented,
meeting of the General Board. are still behind budgeted expectations. and the matter was tabled until the Sep-
Twenty-two members were present at the The Worship Committee provided refresh- tember meeting.
June 10 meeting of the General Board and ments for Pastor Kyle and the congrega- The board approved Linda and Bill Stew-
two dialed in by phone conferencing. tion on his birthday, June 7. Lay Pastor ard to buy a new push mower.
Membership Committee reported that Barry Robinson will be the guest speaker A motion to rescind the May motion not
senior graduate gifts have been ordered on Father’s Day, June 21. Small gifts will to award scholarships this year carried.
and will be presented at the June 28 wor- be available for the men and a drawing After discussion, a new motion carried to
ship service. will be held for gift certificates for the award $300 scholarships to the four appli-
oldest and youngest fathers present. cants: Jessica Hart, Drayton Harris, Annie
The Outreach Committee reminded us of
the July 20 blood drive. They fulfilled one Children’s Pastor Emily Miller reported on Nelson and Madalyn Shubert.
request from the Ever Ready Love Fund. her plans for Virtual VBS on July 13-16. Pastor Kyle and Amy will appreciate help
Stewardship/Finance Chairman Dan A motion to contribute the budgeted with their move to Gallatin on July 3.
Lockridge reported that it is nice to see amount for camp to CCMA was approved.

Youth Ministry Pray, Encourage, Grow.

Are you thirsty for God’s Word?
Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
David, the writer of Psalm 42:1-2, is thirsty for God and he wants struggling, stressed and angry.
more of God just like we want that sip of water when we’re tired And once I spend time in God’s
and thirsty. This verse reminds us that God refreshes us and re- word I feel at peace and re-
stores us when we spend time with Him, just like water refresh- freshed. As a young child, my
es and restores us when we are hot and thirsty. grandfather would take me with him to deliver Meals on Wheels
for his church and I have remembered that he set that example
I remember being an active teen in high school and being so
for me. He showed me how his hunger for God empowered him
hungry my stomach would growl waiting for the bell to ring for
to go help feed the hungry. Now I’m trying to follow in my grand-
lunch. What do we do when we are hungry? Do we just sit
father’s footsteps and I challenge all of us to do so. Let us show
around hoping to get food? Or does our hunger cause us to act?
our children how to hunger for God’s word and act upon it. We
Do you sometimes not even realize you’re hungry even when
should be so hungry for God that it causes us to act. Our hunger
you get “hangry”? Now, I find myself stressed out as an adult
for God should empower us to go out and be His hands and feet.
and I’ve worked through lunch and I get cranky. One of my co-
In His Service,
workers will tell me to go eat because she knows me well. In
relation to God’s word, I know I need His word most when I’m

Children’s Ministry
In this current world of unknowns, it was un-
known what to do this year for VBS. Bethany
(Vandiver) and I had talked along with Pastor
Kyle, knowing that we didn’t want to cancel the
event completely. Our greatest concern was the
safety of our children and teachers coming to VBS
as well as the safety of the children and teachers
at Lighthouse Learning Center. Finally, the deci-
sion was made to do virtual VBS, getting the gos-
pel into the homes of each child who signs up to
participate (see page 4). Prestonwood Baptist
Church in Plano, Texas, has done an amazing job
with putting out a free virtual VBS for any church
to use at their discrepancy. “KIDZ Adventure
Week” is packed full of age-ranged videos, parent
pages, and activities. This is a great gift to many
smaller churches who do not not have the tech-
nology and manpower to make those “awesome”
kids’ videos. Please be in prayer as VBS reaches
many of our community children. Pray the Lord
will be heard in the homes, even past the chil-
dren’s ears and into the adults that do not know
the Lord. May the gift of technology be use for His
glory!
PAGE 4

Blood Virtual VBS July 13-16

For the safety of our children during the COVID-19

Drive pandemic, we will have Virtual VBS this year rather

than in-person. Participants were asked to register
by June 25 so that supplies could be ordered for the
MONDAY, JULY 20 activity boxes. If your child was not registered,
2:00 – 6:00 pm they can still view the videos.
First Christian Church
1501 S Main St, Gallatin July 13-16 – Join the FCC Children Facebook page and log on
for Virtual VBS.
Book your appointment at
savealifenow.org/group,
enter Group Code: WB
Contact the FCC office at And they lived HAPPILY ever after . . .
660-663-3415
or Sheri Croy at
Shelley Fales-Mapp and Kevin Mapp were married
sheri.croy@yahoo.com June 20, 2020 in a beach wedding in Jupiter, Florida.
Medical Eligibility Questions? We wish the couple a lifetime of love and happiness!
Call 1.800.688.0900

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
Mike and Mitzie Wiley welcome a new granddaughter, Cambree Elizabeth, born June 15, 2020. Cambree is the daugh-
ter of Bob and Jessica Wiley, St. Joseph, and weighed in at 8 lbs., 13 ozs. She is welcomed home by two brothers, 4-
year-old Beckett and 1 1/2-year-old Cohen. Congratulations!

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) NonProfit

1501 S Main St US Postage
Gallatin, MO 64640 PAID
Phone: 660-663-3415 Gallatin, MO 64640

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