Pastor’s eNote: 2nd Week of Lent

Prayer is such an important part of our Lenten journey toward Easter. I hope that you have found time to begin using our Devotional Prayer Guide along with 40 Days of Prayer by praySeattle. Both of these resources are helpful to shape a daily practice of prayer. Our daily Unifying Prayer at 12:24 p.m. along with the weekly Wesley Fast also disrupt our ordinary rhythms of the day so that our hearts are drawn to the Lord. The chapel at FFMC is open from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Wednesday for prayer with praySeattle hosting a set of prayer stations based on the Lord’s Prayer. Take a moment to visit our website to learn more about each of these opportunities: www.ffmc.org/lent24

Worship on Sunday was a wonderful time to lift up the Name of Jesus who sustains us every day. I am so very grateful to God for all of you in the FFMC family who have been praying during my medical leave. It is good to be back serving our church the way that God has called me to serve. I am officially back to work full-time and am looking forward to reconnecting with all of you.

I encourage you to be in prayer for our Leadership Team, which has its first meeting of 2024 this Thursday night. We have much work to do as we prepare for the beginning of our church’s fiscal year on September 1, 2024. God is doing great things at FFMC, and our Leadership Team is focused on discerning God’s call for us as a church. We look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months as we prepare for our church’s Annual Meeting on June 23, 2024 following worship.

This last weekend we had 11 youth (middle and high school) share in our Lock-In overnighter at the church led by Jayde McCarrell. Jayde has done an outstanding job leading the youth ministry while I was out on medical leave. New leaders in our church, like Jayde, are helping us chart a vibrant course into the future. We should give thanks to God for the community of young people being formed in our church.

This coming Sunday we will be continuing our series “Practice Makes Possible” with the next sermon focused on using the Bible well. The Bible is such a rich and powerful book through which God’s Spirit is speaking to the church today. I hope you will join in worship this Sunday, either online or in-person, to experience how God is at work in the whole Bible.

Grace to You All,

Pastor Craig Brown

(February 20, 2024)