Fee Fee Baptist Church

Author: Tara Smith

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 62, No. 5

    “Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes,” (Matthew 7:28-29).

    The Sermon on the Mount is considered one of Jesus’ earliest and most outstanding collections of teachings. It includes the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, and a host of other familiar sayings and parables.

    But the most essential part of the Sermon is not what it says. Matthew notes that the first reaction to this set of teachings was amazement that Jesus was saying these things on His authority. Why were Jesus’ listeners surprised at this claim?

    Whenever the scribes taught, they appealed to the highest authority to substantiate the truth of what they said. Rabbis would often provide lengthy genealogies—lists of their past teachers—to support what they taught. They appealed to others. In contrast, throughout this sermon, Jesus appealed to the highest Authority there ever was—Himself. He was God in the flesh, the divinity in human form. Every single time He said, “But I say to you…”, it was a theological thunderclap. Yet He told it fourteen times!

    Jesus entered the scene as a type of Moses. He was a Second Moses like He was a Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:47). He was teaching on a mountain; Moses received the tablets on Mount Sinai. But Moses was an intermediary between God and humans; Jesus was both a human Intermediary as well as God Himself. Instead of writing on tablets of stone, He writes His Word in our hearts.

    As we march through the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, do not forget the incredible claim Jesus made concerning His authority. If Jesus expected His listeners to pay attention to His words because of His authority, how much more should we pay attention to Him, not just in this sermon but also in our whole lives! Jesus was not just a messenger; He was the Author. He humbled himself and became a human being so we might know what is true, and more importantly so that we might know Him who is the Truth.—

  • Music Musings – Vol. 62, No. 5

    March Playlist – I imagine you have been holding your breath waiting to see what the March playlist would look like!!! Well, here it is! It seemed appropriate to offer a tribute to Irish music for March. I hope you enjoy it!

    Listen here: https://bit.ly/3vC3T4O

    Who is Like Him  

    The Sky Family

     

    Come Thou Fount

    Celtic Worship

     

    In Christ Alone

    Celtic Worship (ft. Steph Macleod)

     

    Because He Lives

    Celtic Worship

     

    Morning Has Broken / Morning Chorus  (Medley)

    David Phelps

     

    My Lighthouse

    Rend Collective

    Amazing Grace

    Celtic Thunder

     

    Joy of the Lord

    Rend Collective

     

    You Raise Me Up

    Celtic Woman

     

    I’ll Fly Away

    Daniel O’Donnell

     

    40 (inspired by Psalm 40 and Psalm 6)

    U2

     

    Revival Anthem

    Rend Collective

  • Prime Time – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Once again, we have a change of plans for our activities. Instead of going to Warm Springs Ranch on March 11, (since it isn’t open until April), we will go to the Science Center to watch Wings over Water on the Omnimax. The bus will leave at 10:00 a.m. Lunch TBA. I am open to suggestions! The cost will be $11.00 plus lunch.

    I hope you have the Scott Joplin House and lunch on your calendar for March 28! This is a state historic site and features an authentic player piano that fills the house with his melodies as you walk through the flat on Delmar.  There is also a museum which celebrates Joplin’s life. The cost is $6.00, plus lunch.

    Speaking of calendars, here are the tentative plans for the next quarter. Thank you for your patience as we navigate the waters of closed restaurants, staff shortages, and the supply chain. Flexibility is a wonderful quality.

    Pencil in these activities for the upcoming quarter:

    Tuesday, April 12 Lunch then dying Easter eggs and building Easter baskets for the children at Loaves and Fishes.
    Tuesday, April 26 Luncheon and tour of Oakland House – $22.00.
    Monday, May 9 Warm Springs Ranch – $16.00 plus lunch.
    Saturday, May 14 Prime Time Banquet.
    Thursday, June 9 Heritage Museum and Lunch at Lewis and Clark.
    Friday, June 24 Josephine’s in Godfrey, Illinois – Lunch and shopping.

    I am looking forward to many of you joining us on these fun excursions. Invite some friends to join us. Remember we were made for connection with God and with others.

  • Bible Study Corner – Vol. 62, No. 4

    “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. A worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth,” (2 Timothy 2:15).

    Are you building your life on Jesus and pursuing the good of the community? Bible Study helps us to build our lives on Jesus. Are you taking advantage of all the opportunities offered to get involved with Bible Study. There are classes for all ages on Sunday mornings at 9:45 a.m. There are Women’s and Men’s studies on Wednesday nights from 6:00-7:30 p.m. We also have small groups, T-groups, and Marco Polo groups. If you are looking to get connected, contact Gloria at gloria@feefeebc.org or come talk to me personally. I’ll find you the perfect fit!

  • Community Connection – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Blood Drive – March 18

    You can save lives by signing up to donate at our next Blood Drive on Friday, March 18, from 12:00-5:00 p.m. Go to www.feefeebc.org/blooddrive or go to the Red Cross website (www.redcrossblood.org) and use the Sponsor Code “FeeFeeBaptistBridgeton” to find our drive and schedule your donation. Alternatively, you may call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to schedule. The drive will be held in the Family Life Center, so please park in the gym parking lot for easy access. On the blood drive page on the church website you can find some helpful info about donating, including who can donate and how to donate. If you have any questions about this please contact Andrew (andrew@feefeebc.org).

    Volunteer with Joni and Friends

    On Saturday, March 26, from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., we have an opportunity to volunteer at Joni and Friends 2nd Annual Walk ‘n’ Roll. This event raises disability ministry awareness and needed ministry funding. Joni and Friends has been providing hope and help to those with disabilities for decades now. We are going to volunteer at this event by helping with set up, clean up, and serving lunch. There is no age limit to serve, so kids are welcome to serve with their parents! Sign up to serve in the Connection Center at church or by contacting Andrew (andrew@feefeebc.org).

    Tom and Lela Warner Missions Fund – February 27

    We will have a special offering for the Tom and Lela Warner Missions Fund on Sunday, February 27. All money given towards that fund goes to support our members that go on mission trips. If you give, make sure to label your gift with “Warner Mission Fund.”

  • Music Musings – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Opportunities Await

    Save the date on July 3. We will be organizing a choir to present a concert on July 3 as part of our concert series. We will present a concert with a theme highlighting the freedoms we enjoy in our great country, and more importantly the freedom we have in Christ, our Savior.

    Please give some serious thought to participating in this event. You will soon hear more about a rehearsal schedule. You do not need to be a current member of our choir to participate.

    Highlighting Spirituals

    As a salute to Black History Month I am presenting a short playlist for the purpose of sharing some spirituals that played a vital role in black history. You can listen here: https://bit.ly/357HLUr

    1. Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around – Performing Arts Academy’s Elite Ensemble. This is a spiritual made famous during the Civil Rights era. It is a song of resistance, power, and strength.

    2. My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord – Traditional Spiritual arr. Moses Hogan, UT Arlington A Cappella Choir. This spiritual tells a story of help, resistance, and grounding in faith.

    3. Wade in The Water – The Spirituals Choir. It is believed that Harriet Tubman used this song to warn slaves to get off the trail and into the water to prevent dogs – used by the slavers – from finding them.

    4. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Plantation Singers. It is thought that this song is about abolition and being rescued from slavery. The call was for abolitionists to visit the southern United States where slaves were being held and carry them home.

  • Chi Alpha News – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Bandana’s Fundraiser

    On Tuesday, March 8 we will be having a fundraiser for our Summer Mission Trip to Washington D.C. at Bandana’s BBQ in Maryland Heights! So, mark your calendar now for your lunch and/or dinner plans for that day, grab some friends or family members, and go smell that smoke at Bandana’s! A portion of your meal will go back to our missions team. Thank you for your continuous support of our student ministry!

    DNOW Weekend 2022

    Sign-ups for DNOW 2022 have officially begun! Our annual DNOW weekend is happening April 1-3. This year, our theme is “Stand”, and our students will be challenged to put on the whole Armor of God to withstand the battles they face every day in their lives, all while enjoying amazing worship, a guest speaker, playing fun games, and building stronger community together. The total cost for this weekend is $40 ($10 deposit due at registration). Register now in the Rafters, the Connection Center, or online at dnow.feefeebc.org. The best part about this weekend is that guests are completely FREE! So, invite your friends to this weekend, and let’s see how God moves in the lives of our students!

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Taken from Jamie Snyder’s YouVersion Devotional “Like Jesus”

    “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” Colossians 3:12.

    When you were a child, did you ever play the game King of the Hill? If you didn’t, the game is just as it sounds. Players gather around a hill and then scratch, claw, bite, push, pull, and do whatever it takes to be the one standing on the hill when the game ends. But let’s be honest–that is not a game that is restricted to the playground in elementary school. Isn’t that what life looks like sometimes? As we grow up, the message ingrained in our minds is to chase hard after wealth, success, influence, and luxury. Do whatever it takes, but fight to be King of the Hill. The mentality of that game stands in stark contrast to what it means to follow Jesus.

    A life of radical humility is not an easy to path to walk, but it is the path we’ve been called to. Jesus made Himself nothing and then turned to us as His followers and said, “Follow me. Follow me into obscurity. Follow me into selflessness. Follow me into an others-focused life. Follow me into my kingdom, the way is paved with radical humility.” If this is a blueprint for what our lives are intended to look like, how are we doing? Consider the following questions:

    – Is your life built upon finding more ways to be served? Or finding more ways to serve?

    – Do you find yourself daydreaming about moving  higher on the proverbial ladder? Or moving lower in practical ways?

    – Are you striving to create additional layers of material comfort in your life? Or are you diligently working to reallocate possessions to those in urgent need?

    Imagine that after you have died, a headstone is placed at your grave, and the etched epitaph reads, “Not to be served, but to serve.” Now imagine the people who knew you best and loved you most showed up to visit your grave and they read that inscription. How would they respond? Would they think, That’s not exactly accurate? Or would they quietly nod their head in agreement, recognizing how well those words capture your life story?

    Each of us would love to have the words “Not to be served, but to serve” etched on our headstone. But even more important for followers of Jesus is to have those words etched on your heart.

    Serving, instead of being served, sounds so poetic, but it can end up being quite painful. Just consider Jesus. He came from heaven to earth to serve people. Not to be served by people, but to serve people, and the very people He came to serve placed Him not so gently on a cross. I am not suggesting that by living a life of selfless service that you are destined for persecution, but don’t be surprised if it happens. The road paved with selfless service is the road less traveled; it is a road that leads against the flow of culture, a road marked by obscurity, and perhaps pain, but most importantly a road that leads to life.—

  • Announcements – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Wednesday Night Dinner

    The next Wednesday Night Dinner will be on March 9 at 5:00 p.m., and Meatloaf is on the menu for the night! Yum! Make sure to sign up in the Connection Center!

    Snow Policy Reminder

    Weekday/night activities will be canceled on the days that the Pattonville School District goes to virtual learning due to inclement weather. This includes day and evening activities, including all Wednesday night activities. You may also check the closings on KTVI Channel 2 and KSDK Channel 5 on TV. For Sunday closings, check the TV channels listed above, Facebook, the Fee Fee App, or the church website.

     

  • A Word From Pastor Zach – Vol. 62, No. 4

    Church Family,

    Sometimes it’s wise to take a minute and reflect on why we do what we do as a church. Obviously, first and foremost, we do everything that we do to glorify God. He created us, he saved us through his Son, Jesus, and he sustains us. He and he alone is worthy of worship. We should live to worship him.

    While we know that we need to glorify him in all that we do, it is always helpful to think about how we can best do that. Here at Fee Fee, our mission statement is as follows:

    Fee Fee Baptist Church exists to make disciples who build their lives on Jesus and pursue the good of our community for the glory of God.

    We often shorten this mission statement to the phrase “Build and Pursue.” Part of what we want to do is make sure that we are offering opportunities to engage with this idea of building and pursuing. For example, just a couple of weeks ago, on February 13, we had our Mid-Winter Bible Study. This is something that we did that was designed to help us build our lives on Jesus.

    Now, coming up on March 20, we are going to have our first “Pursue Sunday.” This special worship service is going to highlight different partnerships we have in our city to help advance the Gospel and pursue the good of our community. We are going to hear stories about the work that God is doing through different places likes Loaves and Fishes, Room at the Inn, and Joni and Friends. The whole idea behind this Sunday is to raise awareness of organizations that are already pursuing the good of our community and highlight ways for us to get involved.

    This special Sunday is also going to be a day where we have only one united worship service. We are going to combine our worship services and have only one service at 11:00 a.m. It is great for us to occasionally join together and rub elbows with one another, regardless of which service you usually attend. We will have our Bible Study time at 9:45 a.m. followed by our united worship service at 11:00 a.m.

    I would love for you to join me in praying for this special “Pursue Sunday.” Let’s pray that we continue to pursue the good of our community for the glory of God! It’s going to be a great Sunday, and I can’t wait to worship with you on March 20!

    In Him,

    Pastor Zach Crook