Living OUT During COVID-19

Dear First Alliance family,

We miss you! We look forward to hearing stories of how God is moving during this time and are excited to celebrate Easter together as a FAC family this coming Sunday on-line. I am grateful for Dan’s Palm Sunday teaching and his sensitivity to the uniqueness of this Easter.

As we look OUT in mission, we do not forget as a team that there are great needs IN our community.

Though this message is about the ways we are loving our city and beyond during this time, we want to reiterate that we are here to talk and pray with you via phone, Facetime, or over the computer in all the avenues that it offers. For us to move OUT, we must be connected to the vine, experiencing UP, and moving towards one another in discipleship and care, experiencing IN. Please continue to reach towards us as you have need!

Looking OUT

During this time, the Joshua Project surveyed a large population experiencing the pandemic and found two interesting statistics. They found that during this time 22% of people that did not identify as Christians wanted to talk or were more open to spiritual conversations and 40% of Christians have more drive and desire to share their faith and source of hope. Therefore, this is a unique season for the Church, and we believe that we are poised “for such a time as this.”.

We have wonderful stories of caring for our schools through your generosity, filling the bellies and encouraging the hearts of medical professionals at our three major hospitals, and have had multiple conversations encouraging and equipping other churches during this season.

As you look ahead during this season, here are some ways you can participate in our church’s OUT movements…

“Drive By, Drop Off” Food Drive, this Wednesday 4/8 from 1-5pm!

During the last couple weeks our opportunity to be “crisis” response to approximately 60 families has grown to around 100 families in our city. Also, in the last couple weeks with the intensifying of the pandemic as well as bus routes stopping in distributing food, not all of our partners’ kiddos can get their meals provided from their schools. We are continuing to partner with these schools’ Family Resource Coordinators to get meals packed and delivered to families. Your generosity to the FAC general fund has given us freedom to purchase food, but because some of the stores’ quantity purchase restrictions, we would love to invite you to help us by dropping off needed items to us to pass on to them! We will be collecting this coming Wednesday, April 8th, from 1-5 pm on the side of our building closest to our neighbors in the apartments.

Here are some needed items for our partners and their families:

  • Frozen vegetables
  • Frozen chicken nuggets
  • Frozen pizzas
  • Bread
  • Peanut butter and jelly
  • Rice
  • Pasta
  • Breakfast Foods
  • Fresh fruit (if available)
  • Snack food
  • Activities for kids: board games, craft supplies, etc.
  • Hygiene supplies

Also, if you are willing to be a part, please be prepared to answer this simple question when you drop off your items. “How do you or have you seen God move during the Covid-19 pandemic?”. This can be shot through your (open) car window and we will shoot for only a sentence or two, please! The staff working the “Drive By, Drop Off” will shoot this video answer on their phone. This will be a part of a future Sunday worship service.

Praying as a part of OUT- Prayer night, TONIGHT, Monday 4/6, at 6:45 on Facebook live!

A church on mission with evangelistic fervor and Christ’s compassion and mercy is a church that is praying! Please continue to pray with us for those in our church, our city, and the world.

Also, we will be hosting our monthly prayer meeting TONIGHT, April 6th, on Facebook LIVE at 6:45. If you cannot participate via Facebook, it will be posted on our website at 8pm Monday night as well under our daily connect and virtual services section.

We will be utilizing our new FAC Covid-19 Prayer Guide at our prayer meeting and would love for you to have it too. Please download it and use it on one of your devices or print out the PDF file and use it during the week. We desire to intercede for our church and city in a unified way!

Invite to Easter

Easter is coming our way. This holy day for the Church also is a day that provides unique opportunities for inviting and evangelism. Even though we are not physically together, this does not change for Easter 2020. You can utilize the graphic provided via email, text messaging, or social media to invite those you know to join us for our online Easter service. This service will have wonderful worship, testimonies, and a Biblical message that both celebrate an empty grave and introduces people to Jesus and the Gospel.

You could simply copy and paste this simple invite:

“Hello! I would love to invite you to join my family and I online at our church’s (First Alliance) online Easter Service this coming Sunday. We wish we could celebrate and host you in person, but we are excited to enjoy this service together in a unique way this year! You can log on at https://faclex.com/dailyconnection/ on Easter Sunday!”

Check out “Caring During Covid-19”

If you have not checked out the new “Caring During Covid-19” button on the top of our webpage, please do. This is a centralized spot for us to ask and answer these two simple questions…

  • What opportunities do I have to help others?
  • Is something overwhelming to you right now that you should ask someone for help?

We have seen a great response to this new part of our website and would love for you to check it out at www.faclex.com/care. This empowers our team to be able to respond to needs and activate and mobilize those who desire to help!

First Alliance Church, thanks again for continuing to be dedicated to all three of FAC’s movements during this time: moving UP towards God in worship through our online services and prayer night, moving IN towards one another in disciple through these new avenues virtually, and moving OUT towards the world in mission through your generosity and creativity during this season. I have been so encouraged by our church’s response during this time. I truly believe that First Alliance has been and will be salt and light in our city during this season.

Grateful,
Zach Meerkreebs
Pastor of Outreach