Elders Corner:

Constitutional Changes

The Elders will be calling for a special congregational meeting to be held on April 2nd for the purpose of ratifying some proposed changes in our church’s constitution.

These proposals can only be made by a vote of the congregation. Most of the changes are just for clean up or clarity, but one of the changes involves the process of placing nominations for church leadership on the annual ballot.

The process, as it stands, has proven to be redundant and cumbersome, and the elders would like to streamline it. We are also working on a program to identify and train up prospective elders. In order to insure that those who have been identified, and have successfully completed this training, and have been deemed by the elders as worthy of eldership, make it onto the annual ballot, changes in the process need to be made. In order to make these changes, the elders feel it would be best to have the process entirely as outlined in the Operations Manual.

So one constitutional change proposal will be to remove any reference to a “Nominating Task Force” from the constitution. This will make it easier to modify the process of placing names on the ballot while still insuring that whatever changes are made to the process must meet the approval of the Ministry Action Team.

This is where amendments to the Operations Manual are made.



More explanation will be available on April 2nd. In the meantime, feel free to ask questions of the elders.

Mike Smith

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Shirley Conley requests prayer for Gary who is home with a bad cold. Pray it doesn't progress into pneumonia.
• PRAISE! Praise God - a doctor will do a procedure on my back Thursday in Hood River. Just overnight in the hospital. ~ Mary Batty
• Please lift up those who are battling addictions - to alcohol, drugs or tobacco - pray that they are able to break free from this bondage.
• Please continue to lift up the Last Days of Jesus. May we glorify God! ~ Goodman's
• Pray for Marina (my dad's care giver) as she has breast cancer surgery on Friday followed by radiation and chemo. ~ Joyce
• Pray for healing of Dad's sciatica . The pain prevents him from sleeping and walking any distance. ~ Joyce

CELEBRATE THE WINS:

Our daughter Carrie Clark has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She started treatment March 9th and 10th. We thank Jesus that she feels better, at this point, than she has in months. Her cancer is not curable but is treatable. Please pray for strength in the journey ahead of her. Praise God for His daily presence in our lives. ~ Sherry Clark

Even if you cannot join us at church for Sunday Morning prayer, you can pray with us from home.

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER TIME:

• Praise and thanks to our Gracious Heavenly Father
• Sunday school teachers/Bible Zone leaders/Worship leaders
• Pastor Mike-God to lead and guide/ wisdom for Associate Pastor Search
• Last Days of Jesus/Joyce & Jennifer in GNC
• The Dalles area churches in the spread of the Gospel message
• Elders and leaders in training and direction
• Israel 2024 trip planning
• Missionaries our church supports
• Our younger generation in our body
• Many dealing with health issues.

Ready to worship? Here's a preview of Sunday morning's worship music. Click here.

Memorial Service for

Linda Wheeler

Saturday, March 18th

11am

First Christian Church

Ladies - mark your calendars for Ladies Luncheon at 11:30am on Saturday April 1st. Bring your kids, grandkids, or even your neighbor kids, they’re all welcome to this fun event. 

Beginning Sunday March 19th:

Adult Sunday School back to just one class.

Mike Smith will teach "Luke: Part 2" in the basement Fellowship Hall starting at 9:15 each week.

On the second Tuesday morning of each month, I’ve been invited to pray with others in The Dalles who minister to youth. At the meeting last month (and again this morning), I was so energized by the fellowship of our common faith in Christ as others prayed not only for the children & youth of our community, but for the ministry of The Last Days of Jesus. I realized that this ministry isn’t just “mine” but others see its value in reaching out to others with the good news of Jesus.

I left the meeting thinking about Philemon 6. Because of the way it was worded in the translation in which I first memorized it (NIV84), I used to think “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith” meant evangelism. Now it is true that sharing your faith with someone who doesn’t yet share it does help us with the rest of the verse: “so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” But once I learned the Greek for this verse, I saw that the word “sharing” was actually “fellowship” (koinonia). So, it’s really the sharing of our common faith that energizes us to realize every good thing we have because of Jesus.

Sometimes, when it seems difficult for our team to fill cast roles, I get discouraged and wonder if the ministry of The Last Days of Jesus should even continue. If others aren’t committing, should I even do my behind-the-scenes duties or just let the passion play go by the wayside so I can focus on my other ministries? But then God brings to mind the young man portraying Jesus this year, Josiah Chrisman, and his wife Stephanie, who is now helping with social media, and the many others the Lord has been drawing into this outreach (in His time, not mine, mind you) and I realized that I can't give up or give in to doubts.

The fellowship of the other local youth ministers and of our cast & crew has encouraged me this year that 1^st Corinthians 15:57-58 still rings true for The Last Days of Jesus: “But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (NKJV) Because of Jesus, we have victory over sin & death! And this message should still be proclaimed in our community! So, what we’ve all been doing in the months leading up to the dramatic presentation of it is worthwhile.

So, all that to say, thank you all for your faith & faithfulness in continuing to support & pray for us and in encouraging participation among God’s people from all over the Gorge area. As we come down to the last few rehearsals, and have jumped through many hoops & hurdles to get here, please keep lifting up this outreach and what God wants to do through it for His glory.

Attached is a pdf of our poster (on legal size sheet) and bulletin inserts (two per letter size sheet) for you to use to get the word out that, come April 6^th-9^th, we are on!

Again, thank you for your faith which energizes me to keep going!

Blessings!

Jennifer Goodman, Secretary

The Last Days of Jesus, Inc.

511 E. 9^th St., The Dalles, OR 97058

lastdaysofjesus1979@gmail.com

www.ldoj.org

Our Elders are available in the study after service if you desire personal prayer.

2023 Summit to Summit

April 21-23

Washington Family Ranch



Regular registration $230

Registration form

Men's Breakfast

Saturday March 18th ~ 8am

Invite a friend or neighbor and come enjoy some great food and fellowship.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOXES 

Our boxes (and gift-filled toolbags) have arrived!  We received this email this week:

"Thank you for your gift .God .Bless you Greatly l am very Happy My name is Matías l live in Ecuador South America"

Please continue to pray for the kids who received our OCC Shoeboxes.

2023 Church Directories are now available. Feel free to pick up a copy today!

www.fcctd.org