Good afternoon church,

We have a lot going on tomorrow! I wanted to remind you of a couple things:

Our offering tomorrow morning will be a special one, our yearly Harvest Offering. Everything we give that exceeds our weekly budget will go towards our recent addition, investing in future FFC plants and satellites, as well as setting aside funds for future global partnerships. Please think and pray about what you can give, above and beyond, towards what God is doing at FFC.

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the Women’s Ministry Christmas Tea! This is a great opportunity to fellowship with other ladies at FFC! You can sign up in Ankeny in the cafe, or in Bondurant at the front desk. To learn more, visit ffclife.com/womens-christmas-tea

Our annual Autumn Night of Worship and Prayer is happening tomorrow night at 6pm! This will be a time to gather as believers to praise and thank the Lord through song and prayer. You won’t want to miss this special night.

Lastly, FFC Youth high school small groups will still be meeting tomorrow night after the Night of Worship and Prayer, at 7:30pm, instead of the usual 7pm.

We’re looking forward to worshipping with you tomorrow! We’ll be continuing our One series in the book of 3rd John. See you tomorrow, Lord willing!

Tanner Battles
Communications Director

FFC,
 
Last night at VBS I watched over 200 kids sing and dance to a hymn that is almost 150 years old—“O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus.” I doubt many, if any, of them knew that; what they did know as they sang the truth of the old song was that God’s love is “vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!” This core doctrine of Christianity — God’s all-loving nature—forms part of the foundation of the Gospel, and it has been handed down to us generation after generation. I went home thankful and refreshed that such a historically important aspect of our doctrine, in all of its rich orthodoxy, was pressed into so many little minds in our own time and culture.  
 
Perhaps that picture will provide a small glimpse into what I hope our next teaching series will do—connect you to churches of ‘yesterday’ in order to showcase Jesus, beautifully and gloriously, today!  Beginning July 10, in a new series called “When Ancient Meets Current,” we’re going to look at the seven churches described in Revelation 2 and 3, seeing both the good and bad of these actual local assemblies in real cities. You’ll probably be surprised how relevant each one is; how ‘fresh’ the old actually feels. After all, in a very real way, we are connected to them; we in the 21^st century church stand on the shoulders of those in the first-century church, all of us “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19-20). They, too, like us, are part of God’s universal family, and we are not wise to distance ourselves from our biblical heritage. We can learn much in our day from what God said to them in their day.
 
To help us further appreciate God’s timeless work, we will be incorporating some other “ancient” elements into our service as well, such as historic church creeds, vital doctrinal confessions, older hymns, and even some stories of saints of old whom God used at critical junctures in the life of the church.  We’ll be merging these into what we already do in order to portray to the maximum degree the grand narrative of our God over the course of human history and time—sending his Son into the world to redeem a lost people to the praise of his glorious grace (Eph. 2:11-14)!     
 
Let me challenge you to embrace the freshness of old in our upcoming series! How? For starters, read those two chapters in advance over the next two weeks. Learn the seven churches by name. Investigate the history of those cities. Discuss the texts over a meal with a friend or your family. Memorize a key verse from each church letter.
 
In addition, let me exhort you generally to pray for God’s Spirit to open your eyes to truth. Prioritize your weekly church attendance by making the weekend service a family value. Arrive early. Sit together. Meet others. Sing loudly. Linger and fellowship.  
 
Combined, I think we’ll see that those seven churches, in many ways, really aren’t that much different from us. More than likely we’ll see a merger take place between the ancient and the current, and we’ll know even more clearly why Jesus is the “same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Who knows—we may even have the kids belt out one more time, “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.” And this time we’ll join them!
 
With you as we make his passion our mission!
 
Pastor Todd

FFC,

This weekend, we will bring our final expository message from James—“Bringing Back the Wandering Brother”—rooted in the final two verses of the book (5:19–20). (I say ‘final expository message’ because we will have a concluding review week on July 3 with testimonies from our leadership and congregation, as well as Q & A with the elders.) But as far as a text-driven message, this coming week is the last one in our current series “Shoe Leather Theology.”

As I prep for this last message, God is prompting me to thank you for, and urge you to give, your attention to doing God’s Word, not just hearing it. That’s been the bottom-line point of this series: Obedience! I’m grateful to God for the privilege to pastor among a people who take seriously the words of our Lord when he commanded us to “make disciples of all nations… teaching them to obey everything I commanded you.” Truly, it’s through obedience that we grow and mature. 

So let me ask you—how’s your obedience coming along? How has God convicted you over these past six months? What’s changed since January that has been the result of God’s sanctifying Spirit at work in your life? As I think about these questions as well, I’m reminded that obedience always has roots in God’s Word and God’s Spirit; together they empower what we do. Without both, we’re just going through the motions of pseudo-spirituality in the futile strength of the flesh. So, by all means, stay in the Word and “be being” filled with the Spirit.

The final couplet of verses for this weekend will once again challenge us towards obedience, specifically as it relates to reaching out to others. Let me encourage you to come with your heart wide open for God’s Spirit to use God’s Word to sanctify us even more deeply. In fact, I boldly want to stir you to…

• Make the weekend gathering a priority and adjust your schedule accordingly.
• Read the verses in advance.
• Pray expectantly.
• Arrive early. 
• Participate eagerly.

Together, let’s close out this series strong. Let’s gather, hear, and obey. In doing so, we’ll be getting our theology all the way down to our feet. And that’s the kind of church that will make a difference locally and globally — a church committed to making God’s passion our mission!

For the fame of Jesus,

Pastor Todd

Happy Monday FFC!

If you can believe it, Vacation Bible School 2016 is just 6 days away! We’re so excited to have fun learning, playing, singing, and crafting with the kids of our church and community! If you haven’t seen our promo video yet, you can check it out here.

If you haven’t signed up your child yet, you can do that here.

We still have some other needs as VBS approaches:

• We still need snack donations. If you’re interested in helping out in this way, email Becky Doubleday and she’ll let you know exactly what items we’re in need of.
• Decorating! We need hands to help decorate this week. Decorating and setup will be taking place beginning at 6pm here at the church today through Thursday this week, and also on Sunday after second service.
• While we have most of our VBS crew and worker spaces filled, we need people who would be willing to be subs in case they’re needed.

If you have any questions about VBS, contact Children’s Director Becky Doubleday.

We can’t wait for VBS to begin on Sunday night! We’ll see you there!

Tanner

FFC,

Having just arrived back from central Asia, I wanted to write to all our flock and just express the deep gladness we share as we participate with God in his global gospel work. Make no mistake—it is his work, solely and wholly. But how amazing that he invites and includes us into it! Frankly, it is this very God-orchestrated, Spirit-empowered, Jesus-magnifying work that ignites the flame of joy within our souls. Let me illustrate.

As many of you know, this past weekend I was privileged to accompany our central Asia church planter, Timur, to his hometown, handing him off to the team there in central Asia. It was a powerful day watching the end of one thing and the beginning of another merge into a divinely ordained moment. The room was full of both committed believers and curious seekers; more than 50 altogether. From this God will, we pray, birth a local expression of his body (i.e., a church) who will reach out and “make disciples of all nations” who will, in turn, reproduce what they saw and plant yet another church. Oh, the genius of God!

I was no sooner heading home after the six-hour gathering and it hit me deeply once again—a multiplication of disciple makers is the heart of our God! Yes, people from every language worshiping the Almighty for his own renown is the ultimate end, and the means by which God will accomplish that is a continuous multiplication of disciple makers (Matt. 28:19-20, Romans 10:14-15). My response to that needs to be to see the fields as “white unto harvest” (John 4) and pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers. What divine joy is ignited deep down when you see God doing exactly that.

That’s when, in seat 16D on an Airbus 330, my heart exploded with gratefulness. For while I had just left a planter in central Asia, another one was actually in the middle of preaching right here in Ankeny. That’s right —Brad, who spoke this past Sunday, was one of our original six people (three couples) who helped plant FFC. And now, 12 years later, God is using him as an under-shepherd to teach the sheep. What’s more, the other man who helped plant FFC, Jason, was preaching at that moment in Missouri where God used him to replant a church by bringing together two churches for greater impact than either had alone.

It doesn’t stop there. Just 15 minutes away from FFC, over 100 people—Carlos and FFCB—were meeting then as well in an elementary school in Bondurant, many of whom just a little over three years ago left the “mother ship” in Ankeny to reproduce in their own area in a more localized, targeted fashion.

My mind had only scratched the surface. An FFC couple is bound for India this coming July to assist front-line church planters with their God-given gifts, another is in training in Mexico preparing for church-planting life in a less-access nation, and a team of more than 20 FFCers were heading to Utah the very next day to actively engage the precious people there who have been blinded by Satan through the false religion of Mormonism.

My mind was ready to race to more disciple makers, but my heart, poundingly overflowing, stopped. Yes, somewhere over Asia my heart stopped. Okay, not literally. But whatever we mean by that, it happened. My heart stopped and my soul worshiped. To witness the grand power of our missionary God in the middle of our very own assembly brought me to silence. Then tears. Then more silence. And ultimately, deep gladness that God would be so gracious as to include us in his global gospel work.

Please don’t hear any of this as a self-patronizing editorial about our body, or as a corporate “attaboy” to First Family Church. Not at all! Hear it and read it as what it is in all of its practical reality, theological simplicity, and yet divine mystery — God will build his church!

That’s what our eyes long to see and ears long to hear. That’s what our mouths long to tell. That’s what our souls so desperately need to know: That God will keep his Word and build his church. Here. There. Everywhere. And as every bit of our spirit, soul and body watch our Trinitarian God do what only he can do through a people who can’t do anything without him (John 15), then every bit of our entire being will be overwhelmed by every bit of the One from whom all blessings flow. This is when his passion will become our mission.

That flight ended, but my deep gladness hasn’t. That God would do his work in us, then through us, is a thought so high and wonderful no man or woman should remain unmoved. Rather, may the humble privilege God grants us cause our hands to raise, our arms to extend, our feet to go, our mouths to speak, our homes to open, our resources to be invested, and our lives to be expended in grateful worship of the King of all the universe and Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ the Lord.

For his fame among all peoples,

Pastor Todd

Dear FFC,

For all practical purposes, summer is upon us. Memorial Day is over, and most people are already looking ahead to the next three months. No doubt we welcome the warmth and the “breaks” these weeks afford us.

Yet, even in the God-ordained rhythm of the seasons, it is wise to maintain our spiritual consistency and connections. As your pastor, let me provide some bullet-point ways to do exactly that, all the while wrapping this in an FFC update of sorts.

• Prioritize time for your spiritual family. Even though most of our small groups take a break physically over summer, don’t take a break relationally. Stay in touch. Arrange periodic get-togethers. Go the extra mile so that your love for one another continues even if you’re not meeting regularly for a bit (Hebrews 13:1). This also magnifies the importance of the weekly large-group gathering. Frankly, it may be that one of our campus services is the only time you’ll see some of your spiritual brothers and sisters for a few weeks. By all means guard that time and prioritize the Sunday opportunity.
• Prepare as eagerly for church as you did for school and as you do for work. For example, pray throughout the week for the upcoming service. Read the passage individually or as a family in advance. Arrive early so you can 1) engage with others without feeling rushed, 2) check your children in (if necessary), and/or 3) not miss the opening part of the service. Additionally, check the church calendar, worship folder, or Web site, asking yourself, “Are there things happening today for which I need to register? What’s coming up that needs attention?” Over the summer there will be weeks we’ll adjust various components of our services, changing some things to highlight aspects of our summer teaching series. You’ll see some different songs, the use of creeds and confessions, and some variety in our structure and flow. So I encourage you to be intentional and proactive in preparing so you can can get the most out of every Sunday service.
• Participate visibly and vocally. It’s obvious the summer months offer special ways to serve—VBS, Summerfest, Family Camp, to name a few—but remember there are other on-going needs as well. Certain elementary classes need leaders over the summer, often our youth ministry needs homes and drivers for events, new families moving to Ankeny before the fall will be visiting FFC and need welcomed, and we still send financial support to our gospel partners around the world. Keep your radar on throughout the summer months, stay faithful and generous with your giving, and be a helpful voice to our guests.
• Lastly, remain persistent in making God’s passion our mission—that his “glory be declared among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples” (Ps. 96:3). We’ve had one goal in mind since we started in 2004: to make disciples of all peoples! (Matt. 28:19-20) We do that by celebrating together, growing together, and serving together (Acts 2-4). Both locally and globally, whether across a culture or within the same culture, God’s glory drives us and his Word focuses us to that end. Let’s stay “all in” for that glorious cause this summer. 

Thank you for your love for Jesus and your commitment to his body, the church, which he purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28). I look forward to seeing God’s purposes continue to unfold in our life collectively as a church and in your life individually as a Christian, especially over the next three months.

For the fame of Jesus,

Pastor Todd

Greetings All –

We just completed another great year of ministry in our Lighthouses, the small group ministry of First Family. In a recent informal survey, 80 percent of you indicated you are part of a Lighthouse. That is awesome! This is indeed a testimony to the caliber and quality of our Lighthouse Leaders. As we’ve stated before, Lighthouses put the “family” in First Family.

Most of our groups break for the summer and will resume in September. At the conclusion of each Lighthouse year, we like to survey our church family and get your opinion regarding the Lighthouse Ministry. This gives us the opportunity to assess our ministry, make necessary adjustments, and continuously improve our group ministry.

Please take a few minutes to complete our brief online survey. Your opinion matters.

Here’s the link: https://ffcankeny.wufoo.com/forms/z13dp5zx0dknbra/

Blessings!

Chris Eller