The bids for the Phase 2/3 project came back a few weeks ago, but the Phase 2 Committee – as well as the architectural and construction teams – was not satisfied with all of the results.  In response, they have all continued to work to redefine the building drawings in order to resubmit some of the items to solicit additional bids.

Please keep praying for your Phase 2 Committee.  They have diligently worked on your behalf with a desire to bring honor to the Lord as we reach our community with the gospel of Jesus.

Our Phase Two Committee has been meeting almost every Thursday for several months.  This Friday, April 30, we expect the construction documents from the architect to be completed and ready for the contractor.

If memory serves me correctly, the contractor will need a couple of weeks to prepare the documents to go out for bid.  Then there will be a couple of weeks for the bid process.

The Planning Committee for the City of Fayetteville unanimously approved our plans a couple of weeks ago.  Praise the Lord!

Pray for wisdom as the committee works on some final details of the plans.  Pray for favor from bidders.  Pray for God to be glorified as we seek to honor Him above all else.

We serve a God Who desires for each person in Fayetteville, NW Arkansas, North America and around the world to hear about His love for them as demonstrated through Jesus Christ.  Our purpose in providing this space is to assist us in telling the good news about Jesus to each person in our area and to provide a space for all who trust in Jesus to come and be equipped as disciples of Jesus.

May God be praised!

Click this link to see the updated Phase II drawings!

On December 20, the Phase II Committee members attended every adult Sunday School department to make presentations of the recommended improvements to our church campus. That evening during the regularly scheduled business meeting, the committee offered this motion:

Motion that authority be granted to the Phase 2 Committee to proceed with the construction and renovation of the former Goff-McNair properties with a connecting foyer at an estimated budgeted cost of $3,650,000. This authority will include initiating bids, granting bids, and overseeing construction. All costs, including but not limited to, construction costs, architectural fees, city permits, surveys, and furnishings, are included. A variance over 5% will require additional church approval.

There was an excellent presentation by the committee chair, Johnny Quinn, followed by a time of Q & A. As planned, the motion was tabled until Morning Worship on Sunday, January 17, 2010 with the intention of voting on it by ballot without discussion.

This Sunday, January 10, 2010 the Phase II Committee will be hosting two informational meetings. The first will be at 9:00 a.m. in Mitchell Hall; the second will be at 5:00 p.m. in the North Building. This time is primarily planned to be for answering questions about the plans, discussing financial considerations, and offering suggestions. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Phase II Committee has been prayerful and patient about their work, desiring to present a wise plan that will glorify God, strengthen the church, and assist us as we reach our community with the gospel. I am grateful for their faithfulness. Now is the time for the rest of us to make a decision as one people with one heart. Let us join together to pray diligently, to be informed of the decision set before us, and to move forward for the glory of God.

Doug

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.    2 Corinthians 2:14

Our God is a great and good God! Worship during Celebration Sunday inspired and encouraged me as I listened to the video testimonies and humbled me as I saw family after family coming forward to give their four-year pledge card for the One Heart, One Treasure campaign. At the same time, each family member was picking up a small, wooden heart as a reminder to pray. Wonderful!

Now that the pledge total of $1.5 million has been received, the Phase 2/3 Committee will renew their fine work with the architect and construction team to develop a wise plan for our church family. In the weeks ahead they will be praying for God’s wisdom and leadership as they help us provide space to reach our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just as we did with our last campaign, the reality of the pledges will help us understand the phases that we can wisely undertake to expand and improve our facilities. While we all would have appreciated the total being double or triple what was pledged, I celebrate the tremendous unity of this great church as we give faithfully and joyfully as the Lord leads. And, if you and your family pledged in obedience to the Lord, rejoice that He allows you to join in His work. We are blessed!

Our calling to reach Fayetteville is as clear as ever.  The need for space continues.  Now we have the joy of rolling up our sleeves, seeking the Lord’s wisdom, and moving forward as one people. Praise the Lord!

Doug

Bible Passage – Luke 9:18-25

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

“Get to the point” is said a lot at my house, usually from one sibling to another. Here Jesus gets to the point of what it means to truly follow Him.

Jesus said commitment to Him is all about self denial—a foreign concept to our selfish natures. If we are honest, many of us don’t even want to get up out of the chair to reach for the remote on the coffee table. We hit our snooze alarms. We get impatient at fast food drive in places. What do we know of denying ourselves for Christ?

However, if you are a Christian, you’ve already taken the first step towards understanding what it means to deny yourself. You’ve realized God’s way was better and chosen His plan instead of yours. Simply continue that journey you began when you first accepted Him.

“God, self-denial is impossible for me. As I finish this devotional, I pray you would daily help me choose to follow Your plan instead of mine. Empower me to live out these truths I’ve learned.”

Lisa Falknor

Bible Passage – Matthew 14:15-21

“But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.”  Matthew 14:16

We forget that Jesus asked the disciples to feed 5,000 people without the advantage of fast food on every corner and the nearest Wal-Mart down the street. Even in our day, feeding such a multitude is an overwhelming task.

Isn’t that just like Jesus?

First, He shows us the draining needs of the people around us. Then we throw up our hands in exasperation and say, “There’s no way I can handle what You’re asking me to do.”

That’s just the place God wants us to be: God-confident instead of self-sufficient. We should recognize the enormous task He asks of us and see our inability to perform it alone.

Only when we turn to Jesus to meet the needs through us can we rest assured that the 5,000 needs around us can be met. We live the verse, “I can do all things.” This passage reminds us of the last half of that thought, “through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Lisa Falknor

Bible Passage – Esther 4:1-17

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”  Esther 4:14

The plot was in place to destroy the Jews. The people mourned and fasted. The Jewish people could not reverse the edict that had been issued nor stop the coming destruction. But Mordecai, though distressed, saw that there was one who had opportunity to turn the tide. He implored Esther to go into the king’s presence and beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

Esther was afraid, uncertain of her standing with the king, for he had not called for her in 30 days. How could she go forward to him without being summoned? By law, this was an offense punishable by death. By her estimation of things, the situation was hopeless and out of her control.

Mordecai, still seeing the opportunity for resolution, challenged Esther. Could it be that God had brought her to that place, at that time, for the very purpose of intervention on the behalf of the Jewish people? Indeed, this was God’s plan and provision for his people!

FBC has a unique position in our city. Our physical location puts us in the heart of Fayetteville – a heart that needs Jesus. Could it be that we are called to make sacrifices for the eternal benefit of the people of this city? The answer is yes! We are called to this place at this time to be a part of God’s plan for reaching our community now and in the future. How will we respond?

“Father, guide our steps. Thank you for allowing us to be used in your plans. Thank you for providing the resources which allow us to give.”

Ellen Tidwell

Bible Passage – Matthew 28:16-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  Matthew 28:19

The familiarity of these verses may make us unmindful that something stupendous is happening on this unknown mountain where Jesus is meeting by appointment with a small group of disciples still reeling from the almost ungraspable wonder of Jesus’ resurrection. The risen Messiah, with absolute authority in heaven and earth, now charges them with a stunning universal mission, a plan to establish God’s kingdom throughout the world. They had no support group, no money, and the empowering Spirit had not yet come. They had only faith and the willingness to obey. The evidence of their success is our presence in this far-away part of the world, disciples like them, commanded to “make disciples,” calling people to absolute commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

More than evangelism is involved. We are to go “teaching” Jesus’ life in word and deed to new disciples, “teaching” them to obey his commands, “teaching” them the Christian life. We are to be disciplers, helping others grow in discipleship. This is more than a commandment; it’s a blessed privilege. Is there any greater joy than having a part in someone’s salvation and growth in Christian maturity?

The Great Commission comes with a splendid promise: “I am with you always.” The abiding presence of the Lord is the Christian’s greatest gift. “Always” means “all the days,” the days of weakness, pain, failure, sorrow, and joy. He is with us as we go and make disciples. Like the psalmist, we can rejoice in his unfailing presence: “I am continually with you; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”

“Lord, lead me to some soul today.”

Lyna Lee Montgomery

Bible Passage – Matthew 9:35-38

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Matthew 9:36

A favorite story of many of my students is told from the point of view of a four-year-old being brought up in the care of a stern grandfather well-respected by his neighbors for the rectitude of his life, a harsh punisher of the sins of a little boy. He was, Davy says, “a true Christian. He knew the will of God and wreaked it on us.” Privately Davy prayed to be saved “from the Christians.” It was only when he saw from his grandfather a humble, loving, self-sacrificial act of compassion that he understood that he had “a granddaddy is on our side” and thus a new understanding of “a true Christian.”

Perhaps all too often an unbelieving world, like Davy, sees the will of God as something joyless “wreaked on us” in punishment. In wonderful contrast, the gospel writers’ portraits of Jesus emphasize his compassion and the compassion he wants to see in his followers.

In the miracle stories before our passage, Jesus had met huge needs, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, quieting a rough sea. But he saw in those he healed A deeper illness, the spiritual sickness of sin, and he healed the souls as well as the bodies of needy sheep.

Then the figure of speech changes from sheep harassed and helpless to an abundant harvest in need of harvesters. The waiting harvest is the crowds with desperate needs, needs of being healed and comforted, fed and clothed, loved and saved. Jesus calls us to the fields where the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

“Lord, make me a compassionate worker in the harvest today.”

Lyna Lee Montgomery