Dear Faith Community Church Family,
We have traveled the Advent journey together through Isaiah’s prophecies of hope and healing and now have come to the week when we celebrate the birth of the promised Savior, Jesus Christ. He has come as our “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
At tomorrow’s Christmas Eve services, we will be celebrating Jesus’ arrival through a service of Scripture and music. Our services will be held at 5:00pm (in-person) and 6:15pm (in-person and livestream).
To access the 6:15pm livestream service, click here.
As I shared on Sunday, we have exceeded our goal of contributing 100 bibles to the Cavallion orphanage in Haiti! In fact, as of today we have not only raised enough funds to cover the cost of 100 bibles, we have also raised enough to purchase an additional 150 bibles, which will allow our presbytery to reach the goal of donating 1200 bibles to the orphanages of El Shaddai International Ministries in Haiti. Beyond the costs of the bibles, we have approximately $1000.00 of donated funds remaining, which we will be putting toward the costs of our mission trip with Chicago Friends of Haiti in July. Praise God! I am thankful to minister among a people who are so generous in spirit, mercy oriented, and missionally minded.
Guest Preacher this Sunday
This Sunday, Phil Smith, one of our missionaries serving with Leadership Resources International, will be preaching on John 16:33. Please also pray for me as I will be preaching on Sunday morning at Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Elgin.
To access the 9:45am Sunday worship service, click here.
January 3: New Sermon Series & Congregational Meeting (4pm in-person and livestream)
On January 3, we will host our next congregational meeting at 4 pm in the Mission Center. The aim of this meeting is to share what’s next for our church following our Refocus 2020 strategic priorities. We encourage everyone who is a member of FCC to prioritize attending, either in-person or online. Also on January 3, we’ll begin a new five-week sermon series dedicated to exploring our identity as a gospel-centered community.
Don Johnson Assisting with Congregational Shepherding
This past year Don Johnson has served our community through preaching, teaching, and administering the Lord’s Supper. As you are aware, Don is ordained in our denomination and a member of the Chicago-Metro presbytery. The Faith Community Church session has asked Don to assist in shepherding responsibilities under the authority of the elders and also to be present at session meetings in order to provide an additional voice of experienced pastoral wisdom in discussions. At our upcoming congregational meeting on January 3, the elders will provide more information on how Don will be assisting with shepherding tasks in the upcoming year.
Prayer Requests
Dolores Signorelli: Please pray for Sam Signorelli’s mom, Dolores, who will possibly undergo surgery this week due to bowel obstruction. Pray also for Sam who is visiting his mom and family in Indiana this week.
Velazquez family: On Monday, December 14, Salvador Velazquez, the brother of Dario Velazquez, went to be with the Lord. Please pray that our God would strengthen, encourage, and comfort the Velazquez family during this time.
I look forward to celebrating the coming of our Savior together on Thursday at our Christmas Eve services.
In Christ,
Pastor Rhett