the EVANGEL
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF FIRST FREE CHURCH
Dear First Free Church Family and Friends,
As I write this, Pastor Alex, ministry leaders, and students are traveling down the highway en route to Ocean City, MD, for a week of evangelistic ministry on the beach and boardwalk. In a few short days, we'll celebrate the first anniversary of our return to worship in the Auditorium after our facility renovation. After that, we'll have our summer Day of Prayer and Fasting ahead of Summer Blast and Pop, Mission to McKeesport, Family Sunday, and our July General Assembly meeting. A busy summer is in full swing at First Free Church!
Summer is a break in some ways, but not from church ministries and events. We have so many great things happening at First Free.
Grace and Peace, Pastor Kevin
https://www.myfefc.org/ summer-at-first-free
Hospitality: Opening Your Home to Share Everyday Life With Others
By Abigail Buck
If hospitality sounds like a chore, you may need to divorce this biblical practice from cultural expectations to allow God to bless you and others through obedience to His word. Over and again, both the New Testament and the Old call the people of God to be given to hospitality. Yet we modern Christians may only open our homes to others during the holidays after we’ve thoroughly scoured every surface, decked our halls, and banished the clutter behind closet doors. But Scripture’s admonition to be hospitable should be more of a regular practice than a special occasion. It is my suspicion that we have let Martha Stewart, Pinterest, and the Food Network dictate our expectations around hosting others. With the bar set so high, it’s little wonder that we’ve abandoned what appears in Scripture to be an ordinary part of life, turning it instead into an infrequent, elaborate event.
Some years ago, I recognized that I should be treating the neighborhood I live in like my very own mission field. I—unlike the missionaries I know—have the distinct advantage of knowing the language and understanding the culture of the people living on my street. Unhampered by visa renewals, the need to raise support, or the legalities of witnessing in a closed country, I am in a prime position to begin making friends and telling them about Jesus. But where to begin! Gone are the days when people favorably receive cold calls or knocks at the door by friendly strangers carrying pamphlets. So instead of going to my neighbors, I used what the good Lord gave me, my kitchen and my kids, to bring my neighbors to me.
As a family, we’ve tried lots of things, bigger street-wide events and more intimate gatherings. Here’s what I found worked for us and our neighbors. Elaborate events, while fun, are too difficult to maintain. My “make a wreath breakfast” for the women on my street was well attended but exhausting. I scoured thrift shops for weeks to find the materials for that bright idea. Ultimately, the ladies just enjoyed getting together and having breakfast. The wreaths were literally a throw away. The big neighborhood Easter egg hunt was fun, but time consuming and expensive. I only managed to pull off one these would-be annual events—and that was before kids number two and three! After trying a few more half-baked ideas, I began to feel more like an events coordinator than a missionary. But my family’s efforts weren’t wasted. We had made more than a few acquaintances and even some friends. Plus I learned what worked and what people tended to appreciate, so I began to direct my efforts accordingly.
With three kids and a limited amount of energy, I’ve found that being outside in our front yard is a low commitment, low pressure way to connect with new neighbors and keep in contact with others. Especially since the pandemic, we live in a neighborhood of walkers. On any given evening, we might chat with six neighbors before the sun sets. Some only stop for a few minutes, but more than a couple will stay longer. Because of this latter group, we bought a table and chairs for our front yard so that through the late spring and early fall I can regularly invite neighbors for dinner or dessert without the added pressure to clean my messy house! We haven’t completely abandoned the big events either. This will be the third year that we’ve hosted neighborhood movie nights; this is very much a family endeavor. Both my husband and I are blessed with godly parents who continue to support us even in adulthood My in-laws spend the week leading up to the movie night helping get our yard in order, and my mother always spends at least a day helping me get snacks ready. It’s a fun night for the neighbors, but also for my kids.
Following in the footsteps of my mom, I purpose to include my children, especially while they are young, in the ministry that I do, and my ministry to my neighbors is aided rather than hampered by my children. I wish I could say that they are always well groomed and well behaved, but lying is a sin. Still, the promise of temper tantrums and soggy diapers only seems to add charm to our invitations. Our most regular guest are single people who like a little variety to spice up their otherwise orderly and quiet lives. In all seriousness, an opportunity to partake in family life is a blessing we should not take for granted. Allowing others to share in our ordinary family life is a gift many crave. And the gift is reciprocal. My children have adopted aunties and uncles up and down our street who have never missed a birthday, Christmas, or even Easter. One dear neighbor can hardly pass our front door without being called to push one or another of my children in the swing we hung in the front yard.
Ultimately, all this neighborly interaction increases our opportunities to talk to our new friends about Jesus. I will be honest, I am not the boldest saint when it comes to witnessing, but I pray for opportunities to share the gospel with people who desperately need forgiveness. I have also committed to talking openly about my faith without a filter. It is my hope that my neighbors will look at our family and see more than nice, if slightly odd, people; I pray they will see Christ’s work in us and they too will want what we have. For a mother with young children, hospitality is the ideal way to incorporate ministry to people outside my family into ordinary family life. It adds meaning and enjoyment to everyday tasks like preparing dinner or tidying the house and is a useful tool for showing my children how to care for others.
Growth Groups at First Free
By Timberly Painter
Growth Groups are a small group of men, women, or couples who meet to study God’s Word, pray, and form a small group of friends. Several groups meet on Wednesday night during Connect but some meet on other days of the week. We also grow in our love for each other just like a “family.” Marilyn Ashoff and I have led a group of “girls” (we prefer that over ladies so we feel young) for several years and we have seen growth spiritually in the knowledge of God’s Word. We also have formed new friendships, become prayer partners, have fun together with a monthly “Girls’ Night Out”, and we do some special project each month such as sending Valentine's cards to Senior Citizens, collecting items on a Christian Camp’s “Want List”, and purchasing Christmas gifts and a tree with ornaments for a family at Auberle’s Women’s shelter and much more. We keep in touch with a weekly group email and our ladies know if they have an urgent or not-sourgent prayer request, we are only a text away and the prayers for that need start right away! We have seen amazing answers to prayer happen when our ladies lift these needs up to God. We also are emotionally there to encourage one another. We laugh together, cry together, and celebrate together. We also learn from each other since we have various ages in our group— some have raised their kids and some are still in the process so we can bounce ideas off of each other. Please consider joining a growth group in September. Let Pastor Kirk know that you are interested in a couples’ group or a group meeting on another night or just show up on the first Wednesday night Connect begins in September if interested in a Ladies’ or Men’s group. If you have small children or teens there is something for them to do on Wednesdays too. On Wednesdays we meet in various rooms from 6:30-8:00 pm.
Commemorating Our One-Year Anniversary!
On Sunday, July 9th we will be commemorating the first anniversary of our return to worship in the Auditorium after our facility renovation with a cupcake reception in the Main Lobby! We are so grateful to God for His provision and grace through this renovation, for those who have served this project and for the patience of our church family! Let’s remember and celebrate!
