“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
 
Actually, it was in November of 2019 when the streaming service Disney+ introduced to the world the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. Over the course of 2 seasons and 16 episodes, viewers followed Din Djarin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, as he set out to retrieve, protect, and reunite Grogu (lovingly referred to by millions as “baby Yoda”) with his kind—namely Jedi’s.
 
With a blend of sci-fi meets the old west, outstanding character development, and an engrossing plotline that kept viewers guessing and begging for more week after week, The Mandalorian became an international sensation garnering multiple awards and award nominations, along with inspiring multiple spin-offs which will be introduced in the years ahead.
 
One of the most iconic scenes came at the conclusion of season 2, as Grogu reaches out to touch Din’s helmet, and the Mandalorian removed his helmet (which is forbidden by his sect of Mandalorians) so that he and Grogu can look at each other face to face for the first time. Tears are shed (by more than just the actors at this point), and Grogu leaves with a young Luke Skywalker, who bids farewell with an iconic “May the Force be with you,” before riding off into the proverbial sunset to pursue whatever adventure lies ahead. It was an epic exit, and an epic ending to an epic story.
 
There’s something to making a grand exit. It sticks with you, seals a figure in that moment in our minds and in our hearts. Rather it’s Grogu heading out with Luke, Humphrey Bogart bidding Ingrid Bergman ado in Casablanca (“Here’s looking at you kid…”), or Moses ascending “Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah” (Deuteronomy 34:1), surveying the Promised Land he would never enter, those final moments carry with them a weightiness that is hard to put into words.
 
It should come as no surprise then, that the final moments of Jesus’s time with the apostles, those forty days between His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father should carry with them a weightiness like no other. But unlike these characters from the film, or even Moses, Christ’s final moments leading up to the ascension also carry with them a very real excitement and expectation for what is to come.
 
Join us this Sunday as we follow Christ from Earth to Heaven, and in the process not only get a picture of the glory in which He left, but also of the glory in which He will return.
 
Shaun

EASTER MISSION

Bethel Hills Community

Wow! What a start to our Easter offering for Bethel Hills Community, your giving has been more than generous. Let’s just say that we set our goal way too low. $15,000 probably should have been our starting place. God has used our church family to show that miracles and blessings are still in abundance. His work through us is helping to make a difference in families in our community who often find life a struggle. When you want to know what and how much people love, follow their money. Well, you’ve shown a heart of compassion and generosity to Bethel Hills Community.

As of Easter Sunday, our offering has surpassed expectations and there are still more gifts coming in that demonstrate our love for what God is doing in this new ministry. It’s not too late, if you’d like to be a part of this blessing, you may still donate to this special offering. Your donations will go to help repair and prepare the chapel for use as soon as the new residents move into the community.

You can donate through a variety of ways: give on Sunday mornings, drop a check off at the church office throughout the week, donate through the Church Center App or give online through our church website.

Thank you for opening your hearts and your wallets for the mission of making a difference in our community for Christ.

BABY DEDICATION 

Sunday, April 18, 2021, we will be hosting a Baby Dedication during the first service at 9 AM. Parents of children 2 years and under are invited to sign up at the Connection Point so we can include your family for this special day. Parents will commit to raising their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and the Church will commit to helping parents fulfill this pledge. We will be pairing families up with prayer partners, senior members of our Church that will commit to praying for your child and your family for years to come. We will have a special gift for each family, and refreshments will be served after the first service as we celebrate these precious children that the Lord has entrusted to the care of our Church family.

To register for the Baby Dedication click here.

CHURCH IN THE PARK

April 25, 2021

It’s time to begin thinking about getting outside and enjoying the beautiful weather of spring. On April 25, First Christian Church will be moving our Sunday morning services out to the pavilion in the city park in Union. We’re planning on making a day of fun events for your family and neighbors to enjoy.

The Chili Cook-Off and Dessert Auction fundraiser to send students to the Christ in Youth, CIY MOVE event in June. The cost is $5 per person for all the chili you can eat, with a live dessert auction to follow, all in hopes of raising $4000 so we can fully fund each student’s trip. Please sign up at the Connection Point if you are interested in donating chili for the cook-off, or dessert for the auction. We will also be taking donations for crackers, cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce in the weeks leading up to the event. We look forward to seeing you and your family at Church in the Park and this year's Chili Cook-Off!

If you would like to register to bring Chili click here or if you would like to register to bring dessert click here.

WOMEN'S MINISTRY BIBLE STUDY
Click here to see the trailer.

THE WAY YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY

The Way Young Adults Ministry is a Mission Minded Community Group for 18-30-year-olds who want to grow together in their relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ.

We meet monthly to connect, study the Word, share meals (and life) together, and pray for one another—all with an eye for inviting others to the faith, both locally and abroad. We are a family, and empowered by Christ we will make a difference together in our homes, our communities, and our local Churches—This is the Way!
 
Our first meeting will be held from 7-9 PM on April 16, 2021, at the Huels’ Home, located at 3392 S. Service Road, Union, MO 63084. For more information please visit us on Facebook at The Way Young Adults Ministry or email Shaun.

HIGH HILL CHRISTIAN CAMP

High Hill has set the dates for their summer camps.  To register or find out more information click here or go to www.highhillcamp.org/summer-camp/. 

JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE 

Jesus Storybook Bible - Family Reading Plan

Hi parents! This week's Jesus Storybook Bible reading is week one for April, "The teeny, weenie...true king".  You can find it on page 116 of your book. Gather the kids around and have fun reading this story. 

Keep it simple. Read the story and ask your kids what their favorite part of the story was? Or what picture did you like the most? And then say a short prayer. That's it!

We pray this is a blessing to you and your family. 

NEW CITY KIDS

We love having kids' classes, and we, also, love having your kids in our services, too. We understand that for some parents this can be a tough challenge, but we want you to know that 1) we love your children and they are never a distraction and 2) we are working on adding more classes for both services, in the weeks to come.  This is where YOU come in…We need YOU and many more people serving in our kids' ministry to make this happen. 

What Should You Expect?

Happy Room: The Happy Room is available all of 1st and 2nd services for nursing moms or any parents who feel more comfortable watching the service live on the tv, while their babies, toddlers, or preschoolers play.

We love seeing the littles in service and learning how to worship our Savior. What an example for them to see their mommas and daddies worshipping and hearing the Word, BUT we also, understand that sometimes parents feel more comfortable with their kiddos in a room with toys. So, the Happy Room will be available whenever you might need it.

MarketPlace!

The Marketplace will be open on the last Sunday of every month.

All children can earn MarketPlace money by bringing their Bibles, wearing their lanyards, and memorizing the Bible verse. If your child does not have a Bible and you are unable to get one for them, please let us know and we can make that happen.

1ST SERVICE:

• Check-In ALL kiddos when you arrive.
• ALL kids go to family worship together, until just before the message.
• After the worship in song/just before the message, kids will be dismissed.

UPTOWN:

• Parents of 0-5-year-olds will walk kids to their class to drop them off.
• Nursery- 0-2-year-olds.
• Pre-K- 3-5-year-olds.

DOWNTOWN:

• Our K-5 kiddos will head to the lobby, where their teachers will walk downstairs to class with them.
• At the end of the service, all kids can be picked up in their classrooms. Please bring a pickup tag to give to the teacher. K-5 kiddos will be in the large group room downstairs.

2ND SERVICE:

• Check-In ALL kiddos.
• All kids go to family worship together until just before the message.
• After the worship in song/just before the message, nursery age kids only will be dismissed. Parents of 0-2-year-olds can walk them back to the nursery.
• Nursery- 0-2-year-olds.
• Pre-K- 3-5-year-olds.
• K-5- No Class.
• Midtown: 3 years- 5th grade This is only available for the kids of parents who are serving that specific Sunday. 

*Reminder: All teachers and helpers need to check-in prior to service when they are serving. Thank you!

Midtown is available ONLY during 2nd Service and ONLY for kiddos whose parents are serving either 1st or 2nd service that week. These kids need a place to be since they will have already been to 1st service, and, in some cases, their parent is serving during 2nd service, leaving them with no one to sit with.

All kids can be picked up in classrooms after service. Please bring the pickup tag to give to the teachers when you pick up your child. Midtown kids will be downstairs.

I hope that helps! Please don’t hesitate to ask, if you have any questions. We are excited to get to spend time with your children, as we point them to Jesus and His Word and teach them who God says they are. 

Kids Sunday Video

We are always looking for more families to help us create our Bible story video. If your child (or children) would like to participate, please contact Shanda Ratcliff, or email us at kids@fccunion.org.

212 STUDENT MINISTRY

Greetings 212 Family, I pray this finds you and your families doing well.  We will once again be meeting Wednesday, April 7, 2021.  As you all know we have seen a significant decrease in COVID cases in the past few weeks, and as such we have adjusted our rules to help ensure the safety of students and volunteers.  The following is the list of rules that we have come up with to ensure that 212 continues to be a safe place for students to come fellowship and grow together in their faith in Jesus Christ.
 

1. Social distancing will be observed to the extent possible by staff, volunteers, and students.
2. Café will be limited, and any food or drink distributed will be handled by masked and gloved sponsors so as to limit the threat of contamination of any kind.
3. We will continue to begin 212 meeting outside, weather permitting, and then ask that all students and sponsors use hand sanitizer upon entering the building, as well as upon entering and exiting restrooms.
4. Masks will NOT be required for staff, volunteers, and students, but will be optional.
5. Tuesday Night Jam is canceled until further notice; however, we will continue to have worship practice from 6-8:30 PM on Tuesday evenings.

 
We are asking parents to help go over these rules with their kids prior to their arrival Wednesday, so they have a good idea of what to expect.  We have returned to our normal hours, from 6:00 PM until 8:20 PM until further notice.  As we have learned over the past few months, everything is subject to change in the event the State or County change their guidelines.  Again, we are excited to begin gathering together, but again we want each of you to know that we are doing everything in our power to ensure the safety and well-being of your students, your families, and our sponsors.  If you have any questions or ideas you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to contact me at shaunratcliff@fccunion.org or 636-583-5839 ext. 104.

Last week we continued our series, Freedom in the Kingdom, by looking at Galatians 2:1-10, and the unity of the Gospel as presented by each of the apostles. Once again we seen Christ exalted through His work to both establish and preserve the Gospel through the ages. This week we will be taking a break from our series as Hailey Bialczyk and Robby Rash step up for Student-Led Night. Hailey will be delivering a message on the importance of not holding anything back from the Lord, and being vulnerable enough to share our struggles with Him through prayer, as well as with our brothers and sisters in the Church for prayer. Robby will be speaking on the Lord’s return, and the importance of each of us placing our faith in Christ Jesus. He will also be encouraging us to stay focused on Christ and our citizenship in heaven, and to not be distracted by the temptations of this world as we await the Lord’s return. This promises to be a special evening, and we are really looking forward to hearing the Lord speak through these young people!
 
I’d like to leave you with a Word from the Apostle Paul, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
 
Paul writes with joy as he speaks of seeing the faith and love of the Church at Thessalonica grow. In the same way the life of any minister is blessed as they see their flocks grow spiritually, and it continues to bless me each and every week as I get to see the young people in our fellowship mature in their relationship with Christ.
 
Student-Led night often serves to magnify that growth, as young people boldly step forward to share what God is doing in their lives, to share His Word, to share how their relationship with Jesus Christ is bearing tangible fruit in the way they live and interact with the world around them.
 
For that I give thanks to God, and pray wholeheartedly that our students, our families, that each and every one of us would continue to grow in faith and love. Grace and peace to you friends; God bless and keep you in the week ahead.

Shaun

I AM MUSIC

We Need You
As I Am Music, our student-led worship band and music ministry, has grown so has our need for leaders and teachers. If you are musically gifted and would be willing to spend Tuesday evenings from 6-8:30 PM pouring into our students, I Am Music is looking for you. Even if you could only spare one Tuesday a month, please contact Shaun at shaunratcliff@fccunion.org so we can work together to help our students grow as musicians, Christians, and leaders.

Wednesday Night @ 6:30 PM & Sunday Morning @ 9 AM   

We pray you are finding our new adult class helpful to you as we learn to become more like Christ. We are excited about it as well. 

We just wanted to give you a couple of updates about a couple of changes.

1. We will not be live streaming the class BUT we will be pre-recording the class and posting it 'live' on our Facebook page every Wednesday evening at 6:30. Ultimately nothing will change but this will help protect the live conversations.
2. For those attending on Wednesday evenings, we are asking you to park downstairs at the rear of the building and to use the downstairs doors. With the students meeting upstairs, this will help us keep our facility secure. 

Also, it's never too late to join the class and we have a few books still available. Come join us!

PRAYER

WOMEN'S MINISTRY

MEN'S MINISTRY

Bible Study

CELEBRATE RECOVERY

Join us in the Fellowship Hall downstairs for Celebrate Recovery.  We will start with a time of food and fellowship at 6:00 PM.  We have childcare starting at 6:30 PM. Please sign your child in at the welcome desk and a team member will assist you in helping them to their class.

We know a lot of us are huggers...please ask before hugging, and maybe try to just offer a high five or fist bump for a few weeks.

We are LIVE!  Please check us out on Facebook to view our large group Live!  We want to spread the love of Jesus to everyone in recovery from life's hurts, habits, and hang-ups, and while we don’t share some things, we understand the others are uncomfortable in sharing space due to COVID.  At this time please feel free to worship at home and interact!  We love you all! 
 
Check out our Facebook page at @FCCUnionCR. If you have any questions, comments, or requests feel free to email us.

TAI CHI FITNESS  

Tai Chi Fitness Fun for All!

Monday's from 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM, First Christian Church, Union will be a place to participate in a free class for (mostly) senior citizens, but anyone pursuing a healthier life is welcome.  Tai Chi fitness is a program developed by Dr. Paul Lam, a Chinese physician living in Australia.  It is used worldwide for anyone who wants to improve their physical health and strengthen themselves for fall prevention.

Tai Chi originated in the orient, but the emphasis will be on Christ, beginning and ending each session with prayer.  Any reference to any kind of oriental philosophy will be turned toward Christ and His sovereignty.

The medical field and Medicare recognize its effectiveness in improving health and vitality. It is a slow-moving exercise designed to deliberately make a mind/body connection, enabling awareness of our center of gravity, weight distribution and where our balance lies.  It is not rigorous, and we don’t get down on the floor.  If necessary, this program of Tai Chi can be done by holding onto a chair or even sitting in one.  So, if people can get into the building, they can do it!  Sessions will be held downstairs in the large, blue room nearest the glass double doors.

Questions?  Call the church office, ext 5, or Jenny Hannaford.

RIGHTNOW MEDIA