Fee Fee Baptist Church

Author: Tara Smith

  • College & Outreach – Vol. 62, No. 15

    First Impressions Team

    Calling all friendly faces! We are looking for greeters to join our First Impressions team for the coming school year. If you can smile and open a door, you’re qualified! Serving as a greeter is a fantastic way to welcome members and guests to our services. Pew Research Center regularly finds that one of the most influential factors in US adults choosing a place to worship is a sense of feeling welcomed by leaders and members. Thankfully, this is something entirely in our control. If you or someone you know is interested in serving as a greeter, join Logan in the Welcome Center after service on August 14 to express your interest!

    “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him,” (Colossians 3:17).

    This text communicates a beautiful truth: Mankind is created to worship. By design, we are worshippers. Our words communicate to others what we value and find worthy of praise. Our bodies tense up or grow excited in response to things that excite our eyes. Our feet carry us to locations where we glorify the things we enjoy. Yet sin regularly warps our most natural worship into something self-serving and that dishonors God. Paul reminds a church surrounded by idol worship and mysticism to guard their words and deeds, ensuring their actions give thanks to God the Father and the Lord Jesus. What a fitting reminder for our church today. In a culture centered on the self, we are bombarded with the do-it-yourself, “you are the master of the universe” false doctrine. Whatever you do, whether actions and speech, bring glory to God through it.

  • Music Musings – Vol. 62, No. 15

    Christmas Choir Sign-ups

    We will soon begin rehearsals for our Christmas choir. Our Christmas musical this year is titled Hope is Born EMMANUEL. The music celebrates HIS coming and gives voice to our yearning for HIS promised return. This musical contains many beloved Christmas music selections. There are excerpts from Handel’s Messiah as well as stunning arrangements of many familiar carols.

    We need a large Christmas choir to have the best presentation for our community. Please consider joining us as we sing this spectacular music. You do not have to sing in choir on a regular basis to sing with us. Singers for this project do not need to be a member of our church or any church for that matter. Rehearsal part specific recordings will be provided, and the rehearsals will be held on Sunday afternoons 2:00-3:30 p.m., (date TBD).  Dates for the Christmas presentation will be Friday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, December 17 at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 p.m.

    Please consider singing with us. We need you. Sign up in our Connection Center or contact ronna@feefeebc.org or tara@feefeebc.org.

  • Prime Time – Vol. 62, No. 15

    I have just returned from “The Big Southwest Monkey Bus Tour,” as my grandkids named it. I spent three weeks in an RV with 3 adults, an 11-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy and 2 dogs. I can hear some of you groaning and wondering what I was thinking! I was thinking that I needed to thank God for the absolute, breathtaking beauty of His creation and the opportunity to share these moments with my family!

    While we were traveling, I worked quite a lot on Adult VBS and wanted to make sure to extend a personal invitation to attend. We are going to look at a familiar Jesus and some familiar Bible accounts from a Jewish cultural perspective. If you love Jesus now, you will walk away with a richer understanding and love of who He is, why He came, and His love for us.

    We will see how Jesus did not come to turn the world upside down but rather right side up! We will understand exactly what it means when it says that the Messiah will have healing in His wings. We might not exactly understand what that means but the woman who had bled twelve years got it and believed it, and we will finally understand that cultural idiom. I can’t wait to help you see the richness of scripture from a Jewish perspective.

    Join me August 22-25, from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. Bring your Bible, notebooks and pens, and your anticipation of studying scripture. Not only that, but we will have some good music and singing led by Ronna. And of course, there are always those wonderful snacks. Come on out for our annual Adult VBS and bring some friends, too. Adults of all ages (not just Prime Timers) are welcome!

  • Chi Alpha News – Vol. 62, No. 14

    Progressive Dinner

    Make sure your youth sign up for our Progressive Dinner on Friday, August 12, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We will be heading out for dinner that night at various homes, and it will include an appetizer, salad, entrée, and dessert course…how fancy! So, grab your finest dinner attire, invite your friends, and bring an empty belly for this super fun evening!

    Final Chi Alpha Summers

    The last night for our Chi Alpha Summers for the year is coming up on August 17! You don’t want to miss it! Then we will be taking a break for a couple weeks, and our regular Wednesday Night Activities at church will resume in September.

    Youth & Family BBQ

    Our annual Youth & Family BBQ will be on Sunday, August 21 right after the second service! Sign your family up in the Rafters for this event! This will also be our official “Welcome!” and first week for our incoming 6th graders and their families. So make sure that you are there to give them a warm welcome!

  • Music Musings – Vol. 62, No. 14

    Final Concert of 2022 Summer Series

    First of all, let me thank you for your support of the concerts we have had this summer. Your attendance and appreciative comments have been so encouraging. It has been interesting to see the varied talents of these gifted artists, from excellent playing and singing, to ventriloquism and blue grass and Southern gospel. And of course, we don’t want to forget the amazing contribution of our handbells and choir as they presented the Patriotic concert.

    Our final concert on July 31 will be presented by The Lesters. This family group of gospel singers is very familiar to our community. The family organized their gospel ministry over 90 years ago and the descending generations have kept it going! While the family lineup has changed through the years, the present group is made up of Brian Lester, his son Jonathan and wife Bailee (along with their children who make an appearance now and then). This family singing group has endured through five generations. Don’t miss this concert. It will be a blessing! Invite friends and neighbors. This is a free concert, but a love offering will be taken.

    Thanks, too, to our Socials Committee who has provided yummy ice cream treats following each concert!

    God Sings Over Us

    Here is a favorite verse of mine:

    “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;

    He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love;

    He will exult over you with loud singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV).

    God’s love for us is unending. He sings over us to take delight in us.  He sings over us to calm our fears. Think about this: When we sing to God, we are reflecting the image of our Creator, the God who sings over us.

  • Prime Time – Vol. 62, No. 14

    I wish all of you could be experiencing the beauty of God’s amazing creation with me as my family and I travel through the southeast. I cannot believe He spoke such beauty into existence and lets us dwell in His glorious creation.

    Don’t forget to sign up for the Science Center OmniMax trip on Thursday, August 4. We will watch a film on Ireland and then go to lunch at The Fountain on Locust. Who will try dill pickle soup with me? You can wash it down with some ice cream. The bus will leave church at 10:00 a.m.

    Again, I want to remind you to take care of yourself during this worldwide record-breaking heat. Drink A LOT of water, stay in air conditioning whenever possible, and come to church on Sunday!!

  • A Word From Pastor Zach – Vol. 62, No. 14

    Church Family,

    As I’m writing this article, I am still trying to catch up on sleep after our mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a blessing to serve there, and it was incredible to see one person accept Christ during one of our prayer walks through neighborhoods close to our church! It makes all the time, energy, and effort that goes into a mission trip worth it when we see the eternal ramifications!

    One of our team members, Jonathan McPhillips, compared our traveling to the DR and meeting with this lady, Eva, to the parable of the lost sheep. Just like the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one, so we left our homes to go to another country and got to see God miraculously save a lost soul! That’s why we do missions!

    Speaking of missions, you will get the opportunity to hear about this trip and others in greater detail at our Missions Celebration Night on Sunday, August 7. Come at 6:00 p.m. to hear reports from our different missions teams and members who spent time serving the Lord nationally and internationally this summer.

    In addition to hearing reports of mission work that has already been done that evening, we have the opportunity as a church to do some incredible local mission work the day before. On Saturday, August 6, we have our annual Free Market for our community. This Free Market is kind of like a community flea market. However, there is one major difference: everything is free! I want to encourage you to sign up to man a table and give away things to our community.

    In addition to giving away things that you might put in a garage sale, we also pass out new backpacks to kids in our community who are getting ready to head back to school. Would you prayerfully consider stuffing a new backpack with brand new school supplies so we can give it away to kids in our neighborhood? We talk all the time about pursuing the good of our community. The Free Market is a great way to do just that!

    One final way that we are pursuing the good of our community that weekend is that we are hosting a free Family Swim Night at the Bridgeton Recreation Center’s outdoor pool on Friday, August 5. We want our community to know that we care and a simple way that we can do this is to invite them to join us in a great time of fellowship that Friday night. Pray about inviting neighbors and friends to this outreach event.

    This has been a busy summer, but I have been so thankful for the many ways that I have seen God’s hand at work. Please be in prayer for the weekend of August 5-7. From our Family Swim Night to our Free Market to our Missions Celebration, it is a great weekend for our church! Let’s pray for God to continue to move in our church and community!

    In Him,

    Pastor Zach Crook

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 62, No. 14

    From Bob Goff’s “Live In Grace, Walk In Love: A 365-Day Journey”

    “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,” (Colossians 3:12).

    Most people don’t know this about me, but I carry a slingshot and a compass with me everywhere I go. They remind me of fun and adventure and also teach a couple of lessons.

    When I travel to conferences to speak to a new group of friends, I’ve got my slingshot. We shoot salt water taffy at each other there. When I go to Iraq to check up on our school and find ways to support refugees in the region, I take the compass with me and we guess where north is. I get a couple of leaders together and instead of talking policy, we knock over a few cans together. I’ve learned it’s heard not to become friends with someone you have some fun with. Try it sometime.

    When I first set out to learn how to love people more, I wouldn’t have thought just to play with them more. But that’s how love works. We set our hearts on building relationships with people, and then we find a way to live into it. We won’t figure it out through reading a book. There’s no way to chart it out. With a compass in hand, we figure out where true north is and keep heading for that. God doesn’t give us a blueprint. He just tells us to be humble and connect with people who might not have been our first choice.

    No map will take us where God wants to lead us, because He created each of us for a different purpose. He made you the way you are so you could bring your flavor of love and creativity to the world, and your expression of love will look a little different than mine. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a great thing.

    Put on kindness and humility and let love lead the way. You won’t be disappointed with where it takes you. And wherever you go, bring a slingshot and a compass.

  • College & Outreach – Vol. 62, No. 14

    “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,” (John 14:26-27 NIV).

    The disciples couldn’t see the upcoming events but would learn that there would be much to fear. One of their own betrayed them and sells their teacher to the Romans. Peter denied his savior three times out of fear of capture. The disciples saw their beloved rabbi hang on a cross for crimes he didn’t commit, giving his life for the sake of others. Jesus laid in a tomb for three days as the disciples’ world seemed to end. They would have been reminded of this encouragement, thinking it was impossible to control their fear.

    What about your life? When bills are overdue and the money is nowhere to be found; or a loved one is in an accident and you rush to the hospital, unsure if you will make it in time. In our darkest hour, we often find it a struggle to “not let your heart be troubled.”

    We don’t face these dark times alone. The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, “will remind you of everything [Jesus] has said to you.” God is a god of order, not chaos. When circumstances lead us to fear and worry, we’re reminded that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Take your fears to the God of peace, be comforted by our Advocate! May the God of peace guide and protect you, both now and forevermore.

  • Announcements – Vol. 62, No. 14

    School Supplies

    Once again we are collecting school supplies to give out at Free Market on August 6 to kids in our community. Donations can be left in the bin in across from the Connection Center marked “School Supplies.” Please only donate new supplies.

    • Backpack
    • #2 Wooden Pencils
    • 24-Pack Crayons
    • Colored Pencils
    • Washable Markers
    • Dry Erase Markers
    • Elmer’s Glue Sticks
    • Ink Pens
    • Erasers
    • Fiskar Scissors
    • Spiral Notebooks (Wide-Ruled)
    • Wide-Ruled Notebook Paper
    • Composition Notebooks
    • Pocket Folders (3-holes)
    • 3-Ring Binder
    • Clorox Wipes
    • Hand Sanitizer
    • Kleenex
    • Highlighters
    • Post-It Notes
    Mobile Market

    We love partnering with the St. Louis Area Food Bank to get free groceries into the hands of families in need in our community. Anyone is welcome to come get groceries on the second Monday of each month, at 10:00 a.m. (until the food runs out).

    Our upcoming 2022 dates will be:

    • August 8
    • September 12
    • October 10
    • November 14
    • December 12
    Sympathy

    Our love through Christian sympathy is extended to

    … Joan Agee on the passing of her daughter, Mischelle Agee, on July 11.

    Thank You

    The church has received Thank You cards from …

    • Charles and Rosanna Murray
    • Sue Chadwick and family
    • Bob and Jean Nowlin
    • Louise Richard
    • Joan Agee

    (Thank You cards may always be viewed in the office.)