Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page

FamilyGram A Publication of Family Bible Church

March 2016 Volume 2016 Issue No. 3

in this ISSUE

Birthdays and Anniversaries page 9

FBC Faces Page 7

Getting Ready - Part 7 page 1

Family Easter Devotions Page 8 Missions page 4

Silver Eagles page 11

OneCry Prayer Mtg

page 11

Youth News page 6

Worship page 10

Psa. 46:1-3 (Note: This is the seventh in a series of special interest short articles to help you and your family prepare for coping more effectively with var-ious emergency situations.) The coffee was freshly brewed and the cookies were waiting to be set out as my neighbor knocked on the door again and then came in. “Hi, how’s things?” he said. I answered, “OK, how about you?” He smiled his big familiar smile back as he reached for his first cookie and got right to the point about what was on

his mind. “I think you told me that you’re from California – have you ever lived through an earthquake down there?” As I got up to pour Keith his first cup of coffee I said,

“Well, you can’t live very long down there and not. In fact, Carol and I went through a dozen or so but the one we both remem-

ber most was the famous 1989 quake in October that they called Loma Prieta. I was at work at Moffett Field at the time which was only about 25 miles northwest of the epicenter. It was 5:04 pm when

the first very violent shock hit and a heavy computer monitor crashed to

the floor right beside my desk and a sec-retary next door began to scream. Man, I’ll never forget it. I believe that more than

(GROW—Continued on page 2)

March 13th

GETTING READY - PART 7

by Dick Haines Some Useful Tips on

Earthquake Preparedness

are pleased to announce that our Children’s Ministry has under-

gone a change in organizational structure and we are excited about the strong skill-sets on board in this vital ministry

Lisa Knott, who has been doing a great job wearing all the Children’s Ministry hats, will be sharing some of those hats with Charmaine Eggett.

Charmaine comes with a boat-load of ex-perience since she served as Children’s

Ministry Director for several years.

Going forward, Lisa will be our Sunday School Director, in charge of grades K-6. Charmaine will be our Nursery Director in charge of all our 0-5 year old kiddos.

We here at FBC are blessed with an amaz-ing group of people who work with our children and are confident that our kids will be blessed by the combined strengths of these two highly qualified women!

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 2

sixty people died and thousands were injured in the bay area.” Keith had stopped munching and was listening to me intently. He was fascinated; perhaps he was marveling that we came through it alive. “Did you know that Pa-cific Northwest geologists have been predicting a really big one somewhere here in the greater Puget Sound region?” I asked. “Their records show that one occurs about every two hundred years and the last one was back in 1700. It caused huge tsunami waves and did a lot of damage all up and down the Pacific Coast, even way up on Vancouver Island.” He replied, “Yeah, and I read somewhere that Oak Harbor’s emergency plan says something about it might happen here and that we should be gettin’ ready for it.” I nodded and said, “But, just like the Rapture, no one but God knows when it might hap-pen.” I continued, “So doesn’t it make good sense for everyone to be as prepared as possible be-forehand?” Keith agreed and said, “So what should we do dur-ing and right after the quake?” “Here are a few general suggestions to start with: 1. If you’re inside your home or

a commercial building when the quake hits DROP – COV-ER – HOLD ON. This just means get down quickly on all fours and under some-thing strong like a solid table and also as far away as possi-ble from plate glass windows that might shatter. Then just ride it out. If it’s a really bad one you probably won’t be able to walk or run anyway.

2. When the shaking has slowed way down or seemed to have stopped carefully step as far away as possible from broken glass on the floor and also put on shoes with solid soles if you don’t already have them on. Then grab some blankets and get

(Ready—Continued from page 1) yourself and everyone else with you out-of-doors as soon as possible in case more after-shocks are coming. The first temblor might not be the big-gest one. Sometimes they can go on for hours; they will finally calm down over time.

3. Fire is the second biggest im-mediate danger after a quake. If your home uses propane or natural gas turn off its main input supply valve. There’s usu-ally one on the top of the pro-pane tank. Turn the valve clockwise (looking down at it) as far as it will go. You do know where the valve is don’t you?” I

asked. Keith shook his head sideways and then said a little sheepishly, “Well, I’ll find out when I go home.” I went on, “There’s probably anoth-er propane (or gas) valve located near where the gas line enters your house. Turn it off as well. Then check to see if you

have any water pressure in your outdoor hoses in case you need to help put out fires. If your water lines have burst inside you may need to turn the water off complete-ly at the main street valve. I hope you have a big main-valve wrench within easy reach. 4. Once you know that

your family is safe (and if it’s possible) move your car out of your garage and into your driveway or the street as far away from your home as possible. But don’t block the street so emergency vehicles can get by. Then you and your family should stay inside your car and listen to the radio for emergen-cy information. Don’t go back inside your home until emer-gency officials say (by radio, cell phone, internet, or in per-son) that it’s safe to do so be-cause some buildings can still collapse after a quake has end-ed.

5. If possible go to your neighbors on both sides to see if you can help them in some way. And don’t try to call 911 because it

probably won’t matter; police and the fire department will be re-sponding to the biggest emergen-cies.

6. Be glad that you not only stored up drinking water beforehand but that you didn’t keep it all in the same location. Some of it might be under piles of rubble.

7. Keep your family and yourself warm and dry. This will be a time of stress and your personal re-sistance will be important to avoid sickness.

8. Finally, ask God if you might be given an opportunity to share your faith with others about what you believe about God and His power not only to make the earth tremble but also how He wants to come alongside them as a friend. Do you remember what Peter wrote… ‘Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you to explain why you have the hope of eternity that you have and do it gently and reverently’” (1 Peter 3:15) ?

Keith looked at me with a somewhat blank look. It was obvious that he didn’t know this verse so I went on, “What I mean is, just give yourself a go-ahead to share your faith even if you think it won’t come out right. Re-member that this will be a time of great stress and hardship and people will be

looking for comfort and peace from others. “But what should we do later on?” he asked. I replied, “Keith, as you know, every quake is different and will cause different kinds of damage so

that’s hard to answer. But if you aren’t injured, your family is safe and no oth-er emergency aid coming right away then it’s up to you to apply emergency first aid to others who may need it. That first aid kit in your “bug-out-bag” in the trunk of your car could come in real handy. You might need to give CPR as well, who knows? And you’ll also have to be pretty creative “on-the-spot”. I mean, if you think that some-one is still trapped inside a structure then you can go check it out. First be quiet and listen for any noises inside. Smell for smoke and gas. Explore all around the outside to find safe ways to

(Ready—Continued on page 3)

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 3

S am Nelson was one of the mentors that God brought

into my life when I was a teen. I admired him as lot. The interest he took in me was, for me, like winning the lottery. He was a very successful businessman who had a real love for God. And did I mention that he had horses and actually hired me to work with them. Sam bought a truck for me to drive, bought matching clothes for his son, me, and for himself to wear when we presented at horse shows. He had several award win-ning Appaloosa horses. When I was just 16 he gave me responsi-bility that helped shape me for manhood.

After football practice, I would head out to the barn to feed and water the horses. There were a few of his horses that he had the veterinarian teach me how to ad-minister shots and various other medical procedures. For this city kid, it was more fun than going to Disney World.

One day after practice I headed out to the barn for my chores, but decided to stop by my girlfriend’s house on the way. That put me to the barn about an hour later than normal. After feeding, watering, and the various

chores had been complet-ed, I stopped by his house to say “Hi.” That was a regular part of my evening. Instead of being greeted as “his other son,” which was how he introduced me to his business associates, I found a terse and irritated reception. He had gone out to check on things about the time I would normally finish and found nothing done.

I never rearranged my schedule again. In fact, I learned a number of important lessons about organizing work and time through that experience which has served me well to this day. I was very quickly back in good graces and with the important lesson of the big “O” imbedded in my soul. The “O” stands for obe-dience. Obedience is the third mark of discipleship in the acro-nym GROW which we use to measure whether we are making disciples or not.

A careful explanation of the philosophy behind obedience will make the difference in wheth-er we are drawn to it or in some fashion uncomfortable with it. I would suggest that we think of obedience as synonymous with success. The whole concept of

The Big O

Elders Position & Area of Oversight Phone

Tyler Black 360-682-5969

Steve Burt Chairman

Adult Ministries/Parental Guidance/Men's Ministries

310-500-8200

Brian Haynes Worship Ministry

Ushers/AV/Welcome Team

206-349-7688

Ron Lawler Senior Pastor

MOPS/Women's Ministry/

206-240-0740

John Radka Secretary, Small Groups 360-320-7877

Jason Stapert Treasurer 360-675-4312

Pastors Position & Area of Oversight Phone

Ron Lawler Preaching and Teaching 206-240-0740

Dan Potter Youth & Family 206-604-4439

Brian Haynes Worship 206-349-7688

Kirk Kallander Church Administrator 360-679-1585

Your Leaders Are Available To Serve You

get inside but never enter just by yourself or with-out letting someone else know what you’re plan-ning to do. It will definitely be a time for team-work by many people…and it’s definitely best to wait for emergency personnel to arrive to get someone out of the structure. I think we can agree that this is where neighborhood mutual as-sistance should come into action.” He nodded in agreement and said, “Wow, let’s hope and pray that we don’t have an earthquake here.” “Amen to that,” I replied. As he was getting up my friend gave me his big familiar smile and headed for the door leaving a trail of cookie crumbs across the floor from the several cookies still in his hand. He turned and said, “I think I may have some important news for you next time.” “OK,” I replied, “I’ll look forward to it and re-member, faith, not fear.”_ (Next time in Part 8: What if the Electricity Goes Out?)

(Ready—Continued from page 2)

a message

from

obedience is about getting things as right as possible. Thinking and doing right will necessarily move us in the direction of, if not land us in the middle of success.

The closer we walk in obedience to God, the more we will find our way prosperous. Re-member the words of God to Joshua (1:8), “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” [Obedience] “Then you will be prosperous and success-ful.” (NIV) Obedience is about getting our thinking and actions as right as possible (nobody is perfect), which moves us to the most successful position possible!

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 4

H ello Praying Friends and Family,

The New Year is fully un-derway! We wanted to give you an update about:

Our church's Prayer Room

This Spring's teaching and training opportunities

Requests for prayer

Reasons for praise

Starting Off the New Year with Prayer! La Bonne Nouvelle Church started our New Year off with 3 days of 24 hour prayer. Every hour slot was filled, which means that there was always someone in the room praying. You might wonder how people could focus on prayer for that long. We try and provide dif-ferent posts that follow a general theme. People can move around the room during their hour or two hours of prayer and interact and pray at the various posts. The theme I chose this year focused on the various passages in the Bible mentioning stones. It started as I once again read the passage in Joshua 4 where God tells Joshua to choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe, and have them pick up twelve stones from in the middle of the Jordan, to pile up on the other side to remind the people “…so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” (vs. 24) People were invited to pick up a stone and remember a time when God showed up in a powerful way in their life and then thank Him for His faithfulness. Other posts included one focusing on we, the living stones,

that make up the church. People were invited to pray for our church family and to think about the unique part they play in building up our church. Another post pictured the stone that was rolled away when Christ rose. This post invited peo-ple to pray for those they would like to see come to know Christ and vic-tory over death and sin. It was encouraging to see how our church and even others who don’t attend our church came and spent time with God, reflecting

on His faithfulness, His power to change lives and to build His church.

Teaching and Training Opportu-nities Mark’s main ministry is training church leaders in French-speaking Europe. This Spring brings several opportunities for that:

Teaching courses on Luke and Hebrews at the Belgian Bible Institute

Teaching a 1 Corinthians class at the Geneva Bible Institute

Teaching an intensive course on the exegesis of Mark at the Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence

In addition, I have been asked to join an advisory commit-tee at Tyndale Theological Semi-

nary in Amster-dam. This is a chance to en-courage this ex-cellent English-speaking gradu-ate school with

students from all over the world.

1. We had a wonderful time over the holidays as a family. Luc and Alison were both able to come and join us for Christmas.

2. The Alpha Course has a num-ber of people attending who are truly open to God and a faith in Him. Pray for Gilbert, Chris-tianne, Christophe, David et Phillipe.

3. Our home group is a constant source of spiritual encourage-ment to us!

We have a trip to Poland com-ing up. We go once a year to visit and encourage our mis-sionaries there. Pray with us that we will have wisdom and bring encouragement. Pray for safe travels.

Pray for our kids, Luc (22), Ali-son (19) and Anne (15), that they would all follow the Lord with all their heart, mind and soul and live for Him! Pray for us as we are far away from Luc and Alison. It is getting harder and harder to be separated.

Pray for these individuals com-ing to the Alpha course, that they would come faithfully and that their eyes and heart will be open to the gospel. Pray that those of us who lead Alpha would have the strength and encouragement to keep going and be faithful.

Pray for our dear friend who is suffering from mental illness.

(DeNeui—Continued on page 5)

News from The DeNeuis in France

Encouraging times with our home group

Selfie with students at the Belgian Bible Institute

Our church transformed into a Prayer Room

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 5

She is now convinced that this mental illness is due to her involvement in our church and so she has pulled completely away from spir-itual things. THIS IS A SPIR-ITUAL BATTLE. Pray for Lisa as she tries to spend time with her weekly, to be a friend and listen. Pray for a breakthrough and for healing and spiritual protection.

Pray for Mark as he travels to teach regularly, that God would speak through him and that his students would be excited to pass on all that they learn!

To make/modify a financial com-mitment or give a special gift to-wards the DeNeui's ministry go to https://www.worldventure.com/give/select.php?id=a5OF00000004J3cMAE&type=m

Copyright © DeNeui, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is: 18 rue des Chevreuils 68870 Bartenheim-la-chaussée France

(DeNeui—Continued from page 4) Biscuits One Sunday morning at a small Southern Baptist church, the new pastor called on one of his older dea-cons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”

The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, “Lord, I hate lard.”

Now the pastor was totally per-plexed.

The deacon continued, “Lord, I ain’t

too crazy about plain flour. But after You mix ‘em all up together and bake ‘em in a hot oven, I just love biscuits.

“Lord, help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don’t like, whenever we don’t understand what You’re doing, that we need to wait and see what you’re making. After you get

through mixing and baking, it’ll prob-ably be something even better than biscuits.

Amen”

Romans 8:28

"God's Spreading Goodness"

April 15-17, 2016 Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ron Frost,

serving around the world with Barnabas International

Additional visiting Global Partners that will share in the week-end:

S Rod Powell - East West Ministries

S Jim and Michele Laxson - Village Missions

S Jim Mock - Navigators

S Rick and Lisa Kellum- Bridges International (CRU)

S Roy and Elvia Sprague - N.I.C.E.

S Herb and Martha Reynolds - WAVS

S Larry and Susan Weil - OMS

S AND MORE to be announced.....

There are three ways to get something done:

J Do it yourself. J Hire someone else to do it. J Forbid your kids to do it.

Homiletics (Jan.-Feb./96). Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3.

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 6

Jr. Hi: 7-8:45 C-3 Topic: Bible 201

Sr. High Jr. High

Dinner @ 6:30

Sr. High 7-8:45 C-6 Small Groups Belonging

Dinner @ 6:30

Dinner @ 6:30

Jr. Hi: 7-8:45 C-3 Movie Night—Bring

Green Snacks

Jr. Hi: 7-8:45 C-3 Topic: Bible 201

Sr. High 7-8:45 C-6 Big Group—Sacrifice

Sr. High 7-8:45 C-6 It is Finished

Dinner @ 6:30

Sr. High 7-8:45 C-6 Big Group—Fellowship

Jr. Hi: 7-8:45 C-3 Topic: Easter!

Sr. High 7-8:45 C-6 Big Group—Resurrection

Dinner @ 6:30

Jr. Hi: 7-8:45 C-3 Topic: Bible 201

9:50 am Sunday School

Jr./Sr. High in C6 Book of John

9:50 am Sunday School

Jr./Sr. High in C6 Book of John

9:50 am Sunday School

Jr./Sr. High in C6 Book of John

EASTER 9:50 am

Sunday School Jr./Sr. High in C6

Book of John

Attention Students looking at College Come with me on a College Road Trip!

We will drive a tour of Washington to visit CWU, Gonzaga, Whitworth, WSU, Whitman, UW,

and Northwest University. Tours of each school will be provided by the admissions offices

where many questions regarding academics, social life, faith issues, and more can be

asked. We will leave Monday (April 4) of Spring break and be home Thursday (April 7).

Cost will be around $50 to cover travel, food and lodging.

Call Dan Potter to sign up your student today!

Isaiah 40:31

God Bless,

Daniel Potter

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 7

et you didn’t know….

...our pretty pianist Lisa Sta-

pert was a real tomboy growing

up. She spent many days deter-

mined to keep up with older

brother Shawn and

the neighborhood

boys. It’s hard to

imagine looking at

her beautiful smile,

but little Lisa lost multi-

ple teeth when she flew off her

bike while chasing or being

chased (she doesn’t remember

which) in a game of “cops and

robbers”.

Lisa was born in Viborg, South

Dakota. She and Shawn spent

their childhood there. Later, she

went on to attend the University

of South Dakota, majoring in mu-

sic and psychology. She met hus-

band Jason in college while both

worked at a church-sponsored

camp. They married as college

students, and graduated, Lisa in

1997, and Jason in 2000.

emy. Soon after, he was offered a

position as law enforcement ranger

at Deception Pass State Park.

Since 2006 the Staperts have called

FBC home. Jason teaches the

Parenting Class on Sunday morning

and serves an elder. Lisa plays

piano and keyboard on the worship

team and is an integral part of Pot-

ter’s House, our own Christian

band. Potter’s House includes Bri-

an Haynes on guitar and keyboard,

Sarah Burris singing harmony,

Carrie Potter on violin, and Kevin

Blas on drums. The band records

each song professionally and per-

forms them in con-

certs around Western

Washington. Lisa and

Brian have composed

several of the songs in

the band’s repertoire,

and they hope to be

published before long.

We know that with

Lisa’s legendary de-

termination they will!

Lisa Stapert By Julie Fakkema

After graduation Jason and

Lisa moved to Missoula, Montana.

Jason did seasonal work with na-

tional parks and became a grocery

manager for Albertson’s. Son Tris-

tan was born there in 2002. In

2004 the family moved to Colorado

when Jason

was transferred

to an Albert-

son’s in Greely.

Lisa refers to

that year in Colorado as the

“wilderness time”. While there God

was able to get their attention and

realign their future to what He had

planned. During that time

Jason and Lisa met with a

previous supervisor/

mentor employed with

national parks. He en-

couraged Jason to apply

for the parks law enforce-

ment academy. Jason did

so and was accepted, leav-

ing Lisa, Tristan and newborn

Bridger in South Dakota for a rig-

orous four-month stint at the acad-

Driving Lessons by Kathy Cheek

"How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadows of your wings." —Psalm 36:7

When I taught my oldest daugh-ter to drive, I did it with a racing heart, wringing of hands, and biting of my nails. When we ar-rived home, I ran for the nearest

bottle of Tylenol. Amy's driving gave me a throbbing, stabbing, pounding headache.

I sprawled across the couch with a cool cloth over my eyes, at-tempting to relax and wait for the headache to subside. I was wishing I'd never have to get in a car with her again. In my opin-ion, she didn't stop soon enough, slow down soon enough, or brake soon enough.

But today, she is a very responsi-

ble driver. I must have been a good instructor after all.

I knew God was her protector and that he was watching over her when I was giving her les-sons and she was learning to drive, but I didn't act like our calm and caring Heavenly Fa-ther was overseeing my daugh-ter's driving lessons. I under-stood enough about God's ways

(Driving—Continued on page 11)

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 8

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

--Luke 23:34

s we all know, words are powerful…

especially dying words. And as we near

Easter Sunday, it's important that each of

us remembers just exactly what Jesus had

to say right before His earthly life ended.

One of the last things Jesus said while

hanging from the cross were words of for-

giveness.

Today I want to ask you, if Christ could pray

a prayer of forgiveness for those who were

putting Him to death, can you pray a prayer

of forgiveness for those in your life who mistreat you?

ere is a simple devotional guide to help families worship Christ together during Easter time. It

might be ideal for Saturday evening before Resurrec-tion Sunday. Family Worship is the regular and inten-tional assembling as a family unit to worship God by reading scripture, praying and singing praise. This brief worksheet will help you lead your family in a short time of devotion on Saturday. Children should be involved as much as their age al-lows. This devotions should last be-tween 15-25 minutes.

Step 1: Gather the Family

If this is a new experience for your family, keep it very simple. Have the whole family gather in the living room together. Even the very young children should participate. Turn off any radios or televisions that might be distrac-tions.

Step 2: Read Scripture

If your children are confident readers, ask them to read portions of scripture from their Bibles. Prepare in advance to explain any difficult words.

Read Mark 15:33-47: Discuss v.35 w here

Jesus says to God “Why have you forsaken me?” Explain this was Jesus quoting Psalm 22, which foretold what would happen to the Christ. As Jesus took on our sins, he suffered the great punishment in our place. He became our substitute and took what we deserved.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: Discuss the cen-tral elements to the Easter story. (Died, buried, raised, appeared to witnesses). Discuss the im-portance of the phrase “according to the scrip-

tures.” Explain that Jesus’ death was predicted and promised in the He-brew Bible. Discuss the importance of Jesus appearing to many witness-es. Explain this was a real historical event, not something imaginary. Many real people saw it.

Step 3: Pray

Lead the family in a time of prayer. Include elements of Praise, Thanks-giving, Confession and Requests. The prayer time should focus on the pas-sages you have just read and be a re-sponse of worship to God.

Step 4: Sing

Select a song that is familiar to your family. Using a worship CD may be helpful. Many families prefer to sing without background music. Choose songs that re-mind you of the cross and resurrection of Jesus. So-journ Kids has posted some wonderful original music you can use. “The Cross Is Not The End” and “God’s Love Goes On Forever”.

Despite what you may be going through today, can you

look past your own "junk" and extend forgiveness to

others?

Jesus' dying words on the cross are a powerful

example of how you and I ought to treat those

who mistreat us. Are you willing to follow His

perfect example in every area of your life today?

Will you extend forgiveness to those who don't

deserve it?

I challenge you to pick up your cross today…

and live out the life of forgiveness Christ has

given you!

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 9

Gloria & Rick Bonacci Charmaine & Gordon Eggett

Maggie & Chris Brady Lynett & John Radka

Shelly & Scott Darnell Mira & Stephen Thomas

Ana Brown 3 Stephanie Hilkey 19 Ashlyn Pearcy 21

Luke Brown 1 Dennis King 23 Robert Presler 4

Kimberly Cherry 4 Von LaQuet 24 Austin Rogers 25

Gil Daigle 7 Ron Lawler 1 Brittany Rogers 29

Dylan Dearing 11 Scott Matthews 16 JoAnn Rogge 19

Jacob Bachman 24 Lia Edwards 4 Ghena Medina 10 Alan Schell 23

Jason Bachman 17 Tommy Edwards 20 Bob Miles 27 Holly Schell 15

Mark Barlup 28 Karen Fenwick 22 Bev Miller 27 Benjamin Trimmer 18

Autumn Bellamy 21 Stephanie Gebhard 13 Cindy Minich 1 Lew VanSant 23

Ethan Brady 23 Brian Haynes 27 Nathan Ott 25 Kevin Wilson 1

OUR HEARTS ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS.

Am I loved?

Am I wanted?

Am I worthwhile?

And the cross answers back…

You are loved, really. {Psalm 103:11}

You’re valuable, truly. {Matthew 10:31}

You’re chosen, always. {1 Peter 2:9}

It’s the final answer on who we really are…

The exclamation mark at the end of God’s declaration of love for us. And so we celebrate!

Holley Gerth at coffeeforyourheart@holleygerth.com

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 10

W hen we sing a song on

Sunday morning or hear it throughout the week, are we just singing and hearing a song? Or are we singing and hearing a story!? See, when a song is written it is written for a reason.

Before the insurgence of what we know as “hymnody” in the church, many churches sang almost exclu-sively the Psalms. But even each one of these Psalms that was put to music was a story written down in a form that the writer and his/her hearers could remember.

Psalm 51 is a great example of a someone’s story coming to life in song. David writes this Psalm with the note attached saying, “For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had com-mitted adultery with Bathsheba.” From that story comes this magnifi-cent psalm/song of confession.

“Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to you great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only,

have I sinned

and done what is evil

in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.”

These are just the first four verses of the psalm. But from this psalm we also get the passages, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (v. 10 NIV) and “Restore to me

From the Worship Desk

the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sus-tain me” (v. 12 NIV).

But what about some other psalms, hymns and spir-itual songs? The hymn we know today as, “O for a Thou-sand Tongues to Sing” was orig-inally titled, “For the Anniver-sary Day of One’s Conversion” and penned in 1739. Written by Charles Wesley upon the first anniversary of his conversion this hymn originally contained 18 verses. Today we usually sing verses 7, 8, 9, and 10 in our corporate worship settings. Charles Wesley would, on regu-lar occasion, allow himself to be locked up with men on death row at Newgate Prison on the night be-fore their execution. He used this opportunity to encourage these men and share the gospel of Christ with them before their impending death. From these experiences, his conversion and the inmates at Newgate Prison, came the hymn we sing today, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” (Then Sings My Soul. Morgan, Robert J. Thomas Nelson Publishing, Inc. 2003)

Another song from 2004, “Indescribable” was writ-ten as Laura Story was driving on a mountain road. Story had recently left the band that she played with to start something new. That something new be-came an opportunity to record music she had written. Howev-er, at the beginning of the re-cording process she had not penned enough songs to pro-duce an entire album. So on that day, driving down this mountain road she began prais-ing God singing the lines, “Indescribable…

uncontainable…you place the stars in the sky and you know them by name.” Later she would sit down with her Bible open to Job 38 where God de-scribes his own power and might and finish the song we now sing in our churches across North America. It wasn’t, how-ever, until Chris Tomlin was encourage by his recording la-bel to record Indescribable that it became popular church wide. (You can read the song story by going to this link http://worship.com/2007/09/laura-story-the-story-behind-the-song-indescribable/)

When we sing these songs on Sunday morning and read them in the scriptures we

have a great oppor-tunity to not only wor-ship God but also con-nect with the story of the church around the world and throughout generations. There are lots of resources out there to find the sto-ries behind different

songs and I encourage you to go find them. You may connect in a new way to that song you have stuck in your head. Or that old familiar hymn may have new meaning when you know the story behind its being written.

I will share a new song story each month for the rest of 2016 as part of the FamilyGram article. I hope that you find en-couragement through these songs and that you learn more of God and draw closer to Him as you sing.

What’s in a Song? Part 1

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 11

The Decision America Tour - State Capital Prayer Rallies

“America is at a crossroads, and I believe we should take every oppor-tunity to stand up for the things of God and His Word.” –Franklin Gra-ham

Franklin Graham is traveling to all 50 states in 2016 to hold prayer ral-lies, to preach the Gospel, and to challenge believers to take a stand and take action. He’ll be urging Christians to vote, to live out their faith in every part of their lives, and to pray for our nation just as Nehemiah cried out to God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore hope to His people.

The date for Washington state in not yet set - but keep checking at the website: https://decisionamericatour.com

Next OneCry Women's Prayer meeting: (No meeting in March) Praying for the Spirit of God to bring an outpouring of Revival and heal-ing to our nation. The Lord is our El Elyon - the Sovereign God; and our El Shaddai - the All Sufficient One - we seek Him for our families, com-munities, state, and nation. If you feel the burden of our need for prayer at this critical time, please join us. Praying friends are always welcome. Thursday April 7, 2016. 6:45pm-8pm. 4470 Sunday Dr ive, Oak Harbor. Questions?: contact Ruth 360-675-0244 or email Ruth at ruth98277@comcast.net

and God's character that I knew he didn't want me in a state of panic and biting my nails to the quick when our girls reached the driving age.

When God watches over us, he's not biting his nails and he doesn't want us to either. He wants us to trust him to watch over us and our children, whatever their age is. Our lives are in God's hands, and our children's lives are also in the hands of our Heavenly Father.

When I taught our other daughter to drive a couple years later, I remembered the lesson God taught me with her sister. When Mary unwisely pulled out in front of a car she should have let pass by, I deliber-ately unclenched my jaw and immediately prayed, “Please, Lord, help me trust you...and please help me stop biting my nails.”

As a result of driving lessons, I learned to trust God with the lives of my now-grown daughters. I have much more peace than I did before, and I understand more clearly how much I can trust God.

A prayer for you: Lord, when I start to worry about the safety of my family, I know in my heart that they are in your care and that's the best place to be.

(Driving—Continued from page 7)

Family Bible Church FamilyGram Page 12

Upcoming

EVENTS

Every Tuesday 6:00 PM The Pier—College & Career

Every Wednesday 6:30 PM Prayer & Praise—Library

WOW Bible Studies

9:15 AM Wed Mornings 6:30 PM Thu Evenings

Silver Eagles 12:00—2:00 PM Friday, March 18

Good Friday Service March 25

Easter March 27

LOOKING AHEAD Global Partners Conference

A

Family Bible Church is a non-denominational church. We are located at 2760 N. Heller Road, Oak Harbor. Our Sunday service times are 8:30, 9:50 and 11:20 AM

with Sunday School running concurrently. Church office hours are 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM, Monday - Thursday. You can contact us by calling 679-1585. Our FAX # is 679

-6144. Email address: familybiblechurch@comcast.net. Web location: www.oakharborfamilybible.org.

f Follow us on Facebook at Family-Bible-Church-Oak-Harbor-Washington Articles for this publication may be submitted to campbellbeth47@aol.com.

Easter Word Search