Fee Fee Baptist Church

Author: Tara Smith

  • Music Musings – Vol. 60, No. 14

    Summer Concert Reminder

    Please remember that you will need to request a ticket to attend the upcoming concerts:

    • The Lesters on July 26
    • Timothy and Hosanna Noble on August 9

    To register go to our website and click on the Summer Concert banner, (or navigate to the Ministries heading and scroll down to Summer Concerts). Click on the green Reserve Tickets button for either or both concerts. Tickets are FREE of charge, but attendees will need a ticket to attend so we comply with the mandated seating limitations. You will have an opportunity to contribute a love offering at each of these concerts. If you do not have a computer are unable to order tickets, please contact the church office and someone will assist you.

    A Shelter in the Time of Storm

    I leave you with a lesser known hymn we recently sang in our 8:30 a.m. July 5 service. The message seems appropriate in this time of stress and uncertainty.

    Verse 1

    The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide.

    A shelter in the time of storm;

    Secure whatever ill betide,

    A shelter in the time of storm.

     

    Chorus

    O Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,

    A weary land, a weary land;

    O Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,

    A shelter in the time of storm.

     

    Verse 4

    O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,

    A shelter in the time of storm;

    Be Thou our helper ever near,

    A shelter in the time of storm;

  • Community Connection – Vol. 60, No. 13

    Blood Drive on July 22-23

    Our blood drive back in May went so well and the American Red Cross was so thankful they asked us to host another one. On Wednesday, July 22 and Thursday, July 23 from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. we will be hosting another blood drive. To comply with social distancing restrictions, all donations MUST be scheduled ahead of time. There are a few ways you can schedule your donation. You can go to the Red Cross website (https://www.redcrossblood.org/) and use the Sponsor Code FeeFeeBaptistBridgeton (no spaces), to find our drive. It can also be found by searching by zip code and date. You may also call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Then simply schedule your donation for a specific time one of those days. The blood drive will be held in the Family Life Center. Everyone donating can park in the back of the church in the lot by the gym and enter through the gym doors. On the blood drive page on the church website you can find some helpful info about donating including who is eligible to donate and how to donate. If you have any questions about any of this please contact Andrew at andrew@feefeebc.org.

    Impact Week – August 2-8

    Impact Week is back!  Last year we did our first Impact Week and it was such a great event we decided to do it again. Impact Week is a week focused on pursuing the good of the community around us. With all of our mission trips getting cancelled this year and so many people in need right now, we thought this was a great time to get out there and serve people in our own neighborhoods. We are looking at serving places like St. Louis Area Foodbank, Loaves and Fishes, and doing our Free Market again (so we will be collecting school supplies) as well as many other unique opportunities. More details will soon follow, but just wanted you to already be praying about how you might serve that week!

  • Announcements – Vol. 60, No. 13

    Thank You

    The church has received a Thank You letter from De Paul Hospital:

    Dear Fee Fee Baptist Church,

    Thank you for thinking of the DePaul doctors, nurses, and care givers with your generous donation of food. We are so appreciative of your thoughtfulness. Your support provides strength to our care team allowing them to continue to carry on our mission and serve the patients in our community. Thank you for your kindness. Together we are making a difference.

    Be blessed,

    Ellis Hawkins, President at DePaul Hospital, Hospital Administration, Doctors and Nurses

    Welcome, New Member

    On Tuesday, June 16, 2020 —

    Presenting herself as a candidate for church membership by statement of faith:

    • Rennae Jones
    Sympathy

    Our love through Christian sympathy is extended to

    …Sharon Meyersick on the passing of her niece, Teresa David, on June 8.

    …Jackie (William) Rinehart on the passing of her sister, Gwen Rhyneer, on June 21.

    Mobile Food Market

    We love our partnership with the St. Louis Area Food Bank to get free groceries into the hands of families in our community. The next Mobile Market Mondays will be on July 13 and July 27, at 10:00 a.m. until noon in the church parking lot. Contact Andrew to volunteer, andrew@feefeebc.org.

    Fee Fee Cemetery Now Hiring

    Fee Fee Cemetery is hiring a Cemetery Manager position. The Cemetery Manager is the primary point of contact, performing coordination and administrative tasks, along with some light/moderate physical work. This is a permanent, part-time position with the ability to work remotely some of the time. Work schedule will vary based on need and circumstances. Contact (314) 739-2415 if interested.

     

  • Music Musings – Vol. 60, No. 13

    Summer Concert Information

    As you know we have two concerts scheduled for this summer. The Lesters will be here on July 26, then Timothy and Hosanna Noble will be with us on August 9. Because we will need to limit number of attendees this year, we are asking that you reserve your seats by emailing Tara@feefeebc.org and giving her the number in your family that will be attending each event. This is very disconcerting to me (no pun intended), since we have always advertised and encouraged attendance as these concerts have served as a great outreach opportunity for our community. But safety is of prime concern and we must follow state and county mandates.

    The Blessing

    The Blessing is a top-rated scripturally rich worship song (ranked #2 this week). The beginning of the song is straight from Numbers 6:24-26:

    “The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

    The Lord make His face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

    The Lord turn His face toward you

    and give you peace.”

    The song was written as a blessing over our families, our children, and our generations. It is a song that aims to turn hearts to receive blessings from heaven, especially at a time such as now. Even during a pandemic, God still commands blessings over our lives. I won’t quote the entire song, but here is a lyric from Deuteronomy 7:9 that is particularly meaningful:

    “May His favor be upon you

    And a thousand generations

    And your family and your children

    And their children and their children.”

    This song reminds us of God’s bigness as well as His nearness. It further reminds us that His promise of future hope will go beyond this moment. You can find this song on many of the streaming music services right now. Find it on YouTube under “The Blessing” by Kari Jobe with Elevation Worship.

  • Bible Study Corner – Vol. 60, No. 13

    We are in the planning stage of returning to Bible Study. To avoid crowds, classes might be meeting in person at church on different days or evenings of the week. More details will soon follow, so stay tuned!

    In the meantime, many virtual Bible Studies are continuing and if you would like to be plugged in to one, please contact email gloria@feefeebc.org or text.

  • A Word From Pastor Zach – Vol. 60, No. 13

    If you remember, back in January, we launched a new vision for the church. Our mission statement is that 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 boil down that mission statement to the simple phrase, “Build and Pursue.”

    Since that whole series took place pre-pandemic, I thought it would be helpful for us to evaluate how we are doing as a church in aligning with that mission during these last few months. I think it is incredibly humbling to see how our church has been so flexible and creative in our mission to build and pursue during these last few months.

    When it comes to building our lives on Jesus, we had to really go digital. I am thankful that Fee Fee was more prepared than most churches. We already had the capability to stream services, so we were ahead of the curve among the majority of Evangelical churches. Additionally, I was so thankful for how our different Bible study leaders were incredibly flexible in switching to meet over Zoom, Facebook, or even email! We even had a digital choir! Also, I have really enjoyed our times of prayer each day, Monday through Thursday, on Facebook. Digital discipleship hasn’t always been ideal, but it has been such a blessing to see our church body adapt and respond. We are truly building our lives on Jesus in a number of ways.

    However, we didn’t just look inward and only focus on our church body and growing internally. We have taken on major initiatives to make sure that we are pursuing the good of our community. Here are just a few of the ways that our church has been meeting needs in our community:

    • We had 23 people sign up to volunteer to serve our community through our website to meet various needs that have arisen.
    • We partnered with the St. Louis Area Food Bank and have had nearly 80 volunteers work so far. Also, we have had 682 cars come through our mobile food pantry, which represented 2,717 people!
    • We have had over 20 students and volunteers serve on “Mission Mondays,” where our youth go around and help in our community doing yard work and meeting other needs.
    • We partnered with the American Red Cross and had volunteers donate blood; with another opportunity to do so July 22-23!
    • We have our Meals on Wheels crew that have been faithfully preparing meals and delivering them week in and week out.
    • We served a meal to one of the COVID-19 floors at DePaul Hospital.

    Not only that, but our church has also been exceedingly generous as we talk about missions. Your contributions to the benevolence fund have been so helpful in our efforts to provide for different people in need, including paying someone’s rent and providing work clothes for another person.

    Additionally, I was blown away that we exceeded our goal for the Annie Armstrong offering and have received $12,050 at the time of this writing.

    Now, I am not saying all of these things so we can rest on our laurels. We all know how much need there still is in our city, our nation, and our world. Instead, I want to encourage and inspire each of us. If you haven’t volunteered yet to serve, there are going to be other opportunities.

    One big change we are making is that we are moving our Impact Week to August 2-8. We gave 455 volunteer hours to our community last fall. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do something similar this summer, even in the midst of a pandemic?!

    I can’t wait to see how God works in and through our church in the days ahead. It is a joy serving alongside you as we get to proclaim the truth of the gospel through word and deed! Let’s continue to “Build and Pursue” for the glory of God!

    In Him,

    Pastor Zach

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 60, No. 13

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble,” (Proverbs 4:12).

    The Lord only builds a bridge of faith directly under the feet of a faithful traveler. He never builds the bridge a few steps ahead, for then it would not be one of faith. “We live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Cor. 5:7).

    Whether the barrier is a river, a mountain, or a gate, all a child of Jesus must do is head directly towards it. If it is a river, it will dry up as he comes near it, as long as he forges ahead. If it is a mountain, it will be removed and “cast into the sea,” (Mark 11:23 KJV), providing he approaches it with unflinching confidence.

    Is some great barrier blocking your path right now? We sit and weep in vain, while the voice of the Almighty tells us to never stop moving upward and onward. Let us advance boldly, whether it is dark and we can barely see the forest in front of us, or our road leads us through the mountain pass, where from any vantage point we can only see a few steps ahead.

    Press on! And if necessary, like the ancient Israelites we will find a pillar of clouds and fire to lead the way on our journey through the wilderness. God will provide guides and inns along the road, and we will discover food, clothing, and friends at every stage of our journey.

  • Family Front – Vol. 60, No. 13

    It has been so good to worship together in person these last few weeks.  It was wonderful to have kids in worship again! We have provided onetime-use Praise Packs with a few activities for a child to go along with the worship service. I’d like to see the children engaged rather than just ‘busy.’ Of course, you are free to bring your own activities for your children to do. It is okay, too, if you choose to stay at home to worship! We will look forward to seeing you again soon as you feel comfortable getting out.

    Ministry Opportunities

    Despite the sheltering in place, we have some great opportunities to serve our community.  We still have the Mobile Food Market every other Monday and another blood drive on July 22-23. Watch for other opportunities for volunteers to serve in the near future!

    KidsZone Bible Study

    Just a reminder, there are weekly Bible plans on our church website that you can use at home as well as some downloadable activities. The KidsZone lessons follow the sermon series, “I AM,” the statements of Jesus in the book of John. You can find these on our website on the KidsZone page.

    I miss you all immensely!  I pray for you often that the Father will give you all the patience and love you need to carry on leading your children to know Christ better. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you lead your families.

    “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go,” (Joshua 1:7).

  • Prime Time – Vol. 60, No. 13

    These are exciting words – “Mark your calendars!” for Adult Vacation Bible School! We will meet July 27-30 (Monday through Thursday) from 9:00 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. in the Dining Room. We will be sitting at the round tables and social distancing. I’m hoping you will attend but completely understand if you do not yet feel comfortable. I have absolutely no idea what I will be teaching but am open to suggestions. I was thinking it is about time for an Old Testament book. Please email gloria@feefeebc.org or text me with any ideas!

    I hope you are still reading with us from the Gospel of John. As I read chapter 16 today, Jesus was telling His disciples that He was about to leave them, but He was going to send the Holy Spirit who would always be with them. I love the fact that we are never ever alone. The Spirit of the Living God is in us – encouraging us, empowering us, and leading us.

    My friend Laura Jo Jones shared a video with me yesterday about shoulder taps. A man was having dinner with his wife, and while looking around the restaurant, he noticed an elderly lady all dressed up who was soon joined by her family. As he sat there, he felt the Spirit tell him to tell her how nice she looked. He thought this was strange but the impression would not go away. After he paid his bill, he went up to the lady, squatted in front of her and said, I just wanted to tell you how lovely you look. To his surprise, she looked him in the eyes and responded, “I know who you are.” He assured her that they had not met before, but she replied, “my husband died a year ago and that is something he would have said to me. Thank you!”

    We need to respond when the Spirit taps us on the shoulder. Even though it might seem silly or uncomfortable, respond in love and obedience. God can use us at just the right moment to bless others and ourselves when we are listening to His Spirit.

  • A Word From Pastor Zach – Vol. 60, No. 12

    2020 has been an interesting year, hasn’t it? Honestly, interesting might be too kind of a word for what 2020 has been…it has been absolutely ridiculous! It seems like the story that I thought might dominate the first half of 2020, the horrible wildfires in Australia, happened years ago. In reality, it was dominating the news cycle just months ago. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught me, it is that any illusion of control that humanity has tried to assert has been rendered useless.

    While that might seem incredibly discouraging, I actually think there might be a silver lining in the storm cloud that has been 2020. Humanity has to come to grips with the fact that it is not in charge. This is one reason why I think studying the “I Am” statements that Jesus makes in the book of John is so helpful for our church this summer. It is a reminder that He is the one who is in control. He is the one who we should rely on.

    Pastor Louie Giglio wrote a book titled I Am Not But I Know I AM. In that book, he says, “As we will soon discover, admitting we are not God—not in control, not running anything, not responsible for everyone’s well-being, not the solution for everything and everyone, not at the center of all things—doesn’t belittle us; it frees us.”

    He absolutely hits the nail on the head. When we admit we aren’t in control, it isn’t belittling…it’s freeing! We are free to trust God and not try to figure everything out on our own. We are free from trying to be perfect and are led to trust in Christ’s perfection instead. 2020 has shown us that we don’t have all the answers. But the good news is that we know the One who does!

    Throughout the book of John, Jesus makes seven “I Am” statements that reveal to us different aspects of His character. He calls Himself the following: the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Gate; the Good Shepherd; the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the Resurrection and the Life; and the True Vine.

    Each of these “I Am” statements are packed with truth that give us a clearer picture of who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish during His time here on earth. It is my prayer that an in-depth look at these different statements will be an incredible source of encouragement for us as we continue to navigate through this pandemic.

    2020 has shown us our limitations as a society. However, even though we are so limited, we serve a limitless God! God is sovereign, on His throne, and He will be our Solid Rock. We can all say with confidence that even though we are not, we know “I AM!”

    Please join us this month as we read through the book of John together and find encouragement in who Jesus says that He is.

    Finally, it was so encouraging for us to be able to gather again for corporate worship on June 7! I was thankful to see many of you, but I also know this pandemic has made it where many of you are still worshipping with us online from home. I miss you and can’t wait until it is safe for all of us to worship together again!

    I’m praying for you, church! I can’t wait to see how God works in and through us in the days ahead.

    In Him,

    Pastor Zach