March 30th, 2007

Buddy Greene Kicks Off Coffeehouse Season April 1, 6p.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 6PM, FAITH CHURCH FELLOWSHIP HALL
DOWNLOAD FLYER – CLICK HERE: chouseflyer2.doc

Longtime Gospel and Bluegrass favorite, Buddy Greene, kicks off Faith Church’s 2007 Coffeehouse season with what will be a memorable evening of great music, laughs and of course, great coffee and food. He’ll be bringing a couple of special friends so this is a coffeehouse you won’t want to miss!
Aside from being the writer of “Mary Did You Know”, Buddy is also a world-class virtuoso harmonica player and stellar guitarist (he got his start playing guitar for country legend Jerry Reed). Mixing in bluegrass, country and gospel influences, Buddy Greene makes each concert a unique experience – weaving great songs, stories and humorous asides to the delight of audiences all across the country.

Now in our 3rd season, Faith Church Coffeehouse is a free quarterly event given as a service to our community. Some have said that you’d be hard pressed to find a better free music event in Nashville for hearing the best talent, enjoying good food and even providing quality childcare.

We love music, art and food and what better way to do something nice for our community? Don’t worry, we’re not going to be using this event to preach at you (You can visit us on a Sunday for some great teaching from Pastor Jerry!) We just hope you’ll to come out and have a wonderful time with great music, great food and great people. It’s our way of saying ‘hello’ to the neighborhood.

Also, if you’re a parent of young children – we can understand how difficult it is to get out so we provide nursery up to age 5 and a special, supervised event for kids 5 and over. Our nursery is actually connected to the fellowship hall, where the coffeehouse is held so it is very easy to check in on the little ones!

Past coffeehouse artists have included Grammy-winning songwriter Gordon Kennedy, writer of Eric Clapton’s smash hit, “Change the World”, Grammy-winning songwriter Tricia Walker, Legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy, Grammy-winning vocalist Ashley Cleveland and Americana singer-songwriter Kenny Meeks, among others.

Visit Buddy Greene’s website: www.buddygreene.com

March 27th, 2007

Update from Pastor Jerry (and Claire) in Kenya, Africa – 3-26-07

Posted by Pastor Jerry in News!

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Dear Faith Church family,

It’s hard to know where to begin. This has been such an incredible experience thus far. We have seen and experienced things that we knew about but having seen them firsthand, we are amazed at how urgent and pressing the needs here are.

We have visited churches where the members welcomed us with unbelievable warmth. They shared their needs with us, primarily health needs, education needs and water needs. We visited some members in their homes and saw the extreme situations in which many people are living. We visited schools where the children are making great strides in very simple and basic surroundings. We visited medical clinics, which were living day-to-day on medicines and not even sure if they would be able to stay there. The needs in this part of Kenya are very great.

However, in the places we went where our gifts were given, the members greeted us with unbelievable love and appreciation. The people in Marich where our gifts provided food for the hungriest of the hungry were very thankful for our help. We distributed some of the corn to the families there. We met with some of the students and families of students we are helping with tuition and they too were very thankful for the help they are receiving. We met with a grandmother who was living with and caring for 8 grandchildren in a mud house that was leaking and falling apart and our gifts are helping her to build a better mud house with a wooden frame. Our gifts are really making a difference here!

I was happy when meeting with the people in the area of Lodwar to tell them that we had taken an offering to help them further and they were very pleased with that news. God is doing wonderful things here through our gifts and the work of Rev. Murupus and the Reformed Churches in East Africa.

This gives you just a brief overview of the things we have been doing in the past 9 days. We are eager to share more of our experiences when we get back. Please pray for us in the last 3 days as we travel to the southwest part of Kenya. Thanks for your prayers. We have been strengthened greatly by them!

Jerry and Claire

March 5th, 2007

Notes from the Pastor’s Desk – March 2007

Posted by admin in From the Pastor's Desk

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Alone in Africa

As the plans for our trip to Kenya were coming together, several of our friends and family who have traveled overseas kept asking one question: “Will someone be there with you?” These experienced travelers know the importance of having someone on the ground there with you when in a developing country. We could assure them that either Rev. Joseph Murupus from the Reformed Church in East Africa or Mr. Francis Multhoka from Christian Reformed World Relief would be there in Kenya with us at all times. It was a comfort to us knowing that even if we were in unfamiliar and perhaps potentially dangerous situations, we would have someone we could rely on.

Then we looked at our itinerary a bit more closely and we started having some questions. On Tuesday of our second week we will be flying from Eldoret to Nairobi and then we are scheduled to go to the Masai Marah Game Reserve. As we were learning more details of our schedule, we began to wonder if we would be on our own for this portion of our trip. As of this writing, that is still unclear and it has made us a bit anxious.

We had taken a lot of comfort from knowing that we would have someone with us, helping us and watching out for us. When that was left uncertain, we felt vulnerable at the thought of being alone in Africa and not knowing anyone. Such adventure is very new to us and I must admit that thinking about this raised a level of discomfort.

As we process this, I immediately I thought of Jesus’ disciples when Jesus started warning them that He would be dying and ultimately leaving them. They had spent over 3 years with Him in almost daily contact, learning from Him and being strengthened by Him. They all had taken some significant risks in following Jesus and then He started talking about leaving them. If I was a disciple at that point, I would be really nervous!

I would be thinking of all the things that we were supposed to be doing. I’d be thinking of all the hassles we would be facing from the Jewish religious leaders, perhaps even the threat of death. I would feel very alone with my teacher and friend right there with me.

It is at this point that Jesus speaks some powerful words of reassurance to His disciples in John 14:15-20 where Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

Jesus understands those moments when we feel alone or frightened or overwhelmed. Jesus understands that we need someone to be with us. And so He sent the Holy Spirit so that we would not be alone and orphaned in this world. No matter where we are – in Africa or Nashville or any other place, God is there with us through the Holy Spirit. What a rich blessing that is for those who believe in Jesus.

Pastor Jerry

March 2007