October is Pastor/Staff appreciation month. A basket will be in the foyer for you to de-posit your cards and notes of appreciation for all those people who give of their time and talent so generously. Let us all show our thanks for the blessing of our Pastors and staff at FCC.

EVERYONE IS INVITED (yes, this means YOU!) to Celebrate God’s Blessing for 50 years at First Christian Church! We’d also like to share God’s blessing with our community, so please plan to bring a non-perishable boxed or canned good for We Care’s Holiday Dinner Baskets. Hurry and get your FREE tickets NOW because October 16th is the last day they’ll be available! We need ALL who plan to attend to get your tickets now so we know how much meat, rolls, and baked beans to order (YUM!). What’s the plan for Sunday, October 30 you may ask? We will begin with an Open House from 3-5 PM with tours and mingling with old friends. At 5:00 pm, we’ll all gather in the Family Life Center (also known as the gym) to celebrate with an all church potluck, and enjoy some entertainment (you won’t believe it until you see it!), and a few trips down memory lane. Chuck Richardson will be our Keynote Speaker for the evening! What do we need you may ask? We are asking everyone to bring a homemade dish (9x13) to pass! It can be either a Salad, Side Dish (veggie, potato, or rice types), OR a dessert. We are also still looking for any photo’s taken at FCC or at ANY FCC event (camp, retreats, etc.). We’ve received some really old ones, and some really new ones, but, can you dig a little more for the 80’s & 90’s? We’d really love to have them to scan and share. If you want the photo returned, please mark the back clearly with your name and address. Don’t forget! We’re also collecting recipes to make the 3rd FCC cookbook, while also compiling the old recipes of the past two cookbooks into the new one. Please email your recipes to info@fccmorris.org as soon as possible. We plan to have the cookbooks available for distribution by Christmas. There will also be FREE Valet Parking available for those of you that feel that evening trek back to your car makes you a little nervous, or your parking makes me nervous, so just pull on up to the doors, and let the greeter know you’ll be needing their service! If you have any questions, please contact Coral Bleifield or Shannon Holliday. We are SO excited at all the joy and love going into planning this event!

Saturday, October 29 • 3:00-7:00 p.m.Join us for our community Trick or Treat Party in the Family Life Center. There will be carnival games, inflatables, and a cake walk, as well as food that attendees can purchase (pizza, hotdogs, chips, and pop). There will be a drawing for door prizes, and each child will receive a treat bag. This is a great way to help make sure the children in our community have a safe and enjoyable Halloween. To help with event, contact Tim or Alaina or you can use our FCC Connect on-line.

We will need many volunteers to help make this event a success:• Kitchen - help with refreshments and food• Monitors - for inflatables (must be over 16), carnival games.• Greeters• People to pass out candy• People to run the prize tables• Baked goods for the Cake Walk - pies, cakes cookies, etc. (Bakes items can be dropped off Friday and Saturday prior to the event.)• Donations of individually wrapped bags of candy

FALL TRICK OR TREAT PARTY

Please bring these items to the office by Sunday, October 16th. Costumes are welcome, but since this is a family event, NO scary or gory costumes will be permitted.

The week of October 24th we will need some help stuffing the candy bags, please contact Tim or Alaina if you are able to help that week!

JOIN A LIFE GROUP Do you sense God leading you to help advance His mission here on earth? Are you ready to give more of your gifts, talents, or resources for God’s kingdom?

I Am A Church Member Experience begins on Sunday, October 2nd! This 6-week journey will challenge us to move from membership to mission. Every member’s role is vital to the success of the church! Our prayer and goal for these 6 weeks is for everyone to draw closer to God and to His Mission.

What is the best way to take this 6-week journey? Join a life group. Every life group participant receives a devotional book (electronic or paper).

What is a life group? LIFE GROUPS are FCC’s groups of 12 - 15 people that meet together each week for 60 - 90 minutes in convenient locations across Morris and surrounding areas. These groups are the perfect place to meet new friends, grow in your faith, and learn more about the Bible…all in a relaxed and fun environment.

How do I join a life group? Go to www.fccmorris.org and check out our new “life groups” tab today.

CARD SHOWERPlease take a moment and drop a birthday card in the mail for Dorothy Harper. Her birthday is October 11. Her address is Dorothy Harper, Heritage Health, 873 Grace St. #43, Jacksonville, IL 62650.

IRON SHARPENS IRON FOR WOMENAttention Women! We will be attending the Women’s Iron Sharpens Iron Conference on November 5th as a group. Join hundreds of other women from around the region at the Iron Sharpens Iron Women’s Conference this fall! Come for the fellowship and the inspiring worship, grow through the challenging messages of some of the nation’s premier speakers and recieve resources to continue to help you on your journey of faith. All keynote sessions and each of the 10 different seminars are uniquely designed with you in mind. Whatever season of life, whatever joys and struggles you are experiencing--- God has answers and His faithfulness will be evident through each experience of the day. Please sign up today and join

us! This one-day conference is for women of all ages, beginning with women age 13 and older. The cost is only $54 ($39 for students), which includes lunch. There will be ten different seminars for women at this conference so we know there will be something for every one of us. Please sign-up after services in the north end of the foyer.

THE HOME STRETCH We have arrived at the final three months of Thrive. I have witnessed God’s great generosity expressed through His people. Thank you for all of your sacrifice and generosity. FCC has grown in this area to significant depths. I am grateful to God and to you for your giving habits. With that said, we are desiring to finish strong. So, here’s an update on the latest numbers and where we want to get to by December 31st.

-Our Thrive goal from day one has been: $3.6 million (reaching this goal would leave us with a $1.3 million mortgage)-Our Thrive giving to date (as of 9/8): $2.6 million-The estimation of giving for October, November, and December is: $300,000+

You can see that our giving to date plus anticipated giving leaves us short of our goal by approximately: $700,000. There are two basic reasons for this shortfall.

1) Although our PLEDGED giving has always been at 100%+, our UNPLEDGED giving has fallen short by approximately $200,000+. That includes those who did not choose to pledge as well as any potential new givers.

2) The total cost of the children’s wing project went up by $500,000 from the original estimates given to us at the beginning of our Thrive campaign. Costs usually increase during a construction project. During the time we were communicating Thrive to the congregation and anticipating architectural design, our cost went up even more due to increase in material costs and inflation.

Even with these shortfalls, the finance team has been asking God for a miracle season of giving. We don’t know where God might work in people’s lives to give in miraculous ways but we trust you are open to God’s moving in your life to participate in that miracle. We also believe that no matter where the final mortgage numbers land, God will provide for our every need as His church.

Above all, we have seen numerous families benefit from the new children’s wing, either by bringing new families to church on Sunday or by utilizing the new indoor/outdoor playground all year long. Plus the Rainbow preschool has just launched a record number year with more students and families coming than ever before. We know God is in the process of blessing this project more than we could ever imagine or anticipate. These children are worth it all to us! I pray that you will pray for and join the excitement this new wing has brought to young families in our area. We have also been able to send 17 people over two trips this past summer to the Hancocks in Mexico to participate in great kingdom work at Mosaico church.

Again, thank you for learning and growing in generosity. Ask God what He still wants you to do and be obedient to His leading. God bless you all. You have been a true blessing to many already! May these next 3 months be truly miraculous!

-Scott Zorn

The RadicallyGenerous Life

Aug 28 Sept 4 Sept 11 Sept 18

Weekend Services 660 599 804 731

Missions $60 $0 $40 $40

Benevolent Fund $35 $240 $150 $50

Scholarship Fund $20 $0 $0 $0

General Fund $20,372 $29,675 $24,437 $20,880

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH STATS

Joining our community of Faith in 2016: 36

First Christian Church

455 W. Southmor Rd.Morris, Illinois 60450

(815) 942-3454(815) 942-0806 fax

info@fccmorris.orgwww.fccmorris.org

See us at: facebook.com/fccmorris

CHURCH GOAL

Current Total: $2,659,490.98

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$750,000

$1 Million

$2 Million

$3 Million

$3.6 Million

MOBILE FOOD PANTRYThe next Mobile Food Pantry will be held on Wednesday, October 12 in Gardner at the Gardner American Legion, 426 Industry Ave.

MOBILE MEALSThis month, FCC is helping with Mobile Meals. If you signed up to deliver meals, please re-member your assignments. If you are unsure of your route, please contact Kim Carr with any questions. Thanks for your help with this very important program.

NEW MEMBERS

BAPTIZED AUGUST 28, 2016Mason Carlson

BAPTIZED SEPTEMBER 11, 2016Max Cobarruvias