First Methodist Lake Providence

What’s Happening in Ministry?

Good morning! Hope you are doing well after our winter hibernation. We know many folks had power outages, and some continue to have water supply issues. Hopefully things will be better as we move farther from the event.

We will have church on Sunday, February 28 at 9am in the sanctuary. I hope people will start returning to regular attendance as the restrictions ease and vaccinations increase as we deal with Covid. I will be talking about Jeptha in Judges 11, and it’s an interesting, if hard story to hear. Hope to see your singing faces on Sunday morning!

We will have a NOW Committee meeting Monday, March 1 at 5:30pm.
For those still wanting to maintain distancing, you can watch our services on Facebook Live.

Lake Providence on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LakeProvidenceMethodists

Take care, and please call if you need anything. Hope to see you soon!

Celebrating the Holy Season!

Hey friends, good morning! We hope you are having a blessed, happy, and safe Advent and Christmas season! Please remember to continue in prayer for all the folks affected by Covid, especially our front line workers. And please remember to be as careful and safe as you can during this holy season in difficult times.

It’s a wonderful time for worship as we celebrate Jesus who is the only reason for this holy season! Please see the schedule:

Sunday, December 20 at 9am — Advent Lessons & Carols Service. Come join us for a series of scripture readings and lots of singing that tell of the coming birth of Jesus!

Thursday, December 24 at 5:30pm — Christmas Eve Candlelight. Come join us for a series of scripture readings and lots of singing as we celebrate the birth of Jesus! We will celebrate communion with our individual elements, and we ask that we maintain physical distancing, sit in family groups, and wear masks as appropriate to your situation. We will stream the Christmas Eve service live on Facebook.

Sunday, December 27 at 9am — First Sunday of Christmas. Come join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus in song, scripture, and preaching! Clélie will finish her series on discipling, evangelizing, and worshipping with her sermon “Lives of Worship.”

The church office will be closed December 22, 2020 — January 1, 2021, and we will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021. If you have any needs, please call Clélie or Henry.

Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 9am — Epiphany Sunday. Come join us as we watch the wise men have a beautiful experience with the newborn Savior! We will celebrate our first communion of 2021 with individual elements and appropriate physical distancing. Henry will start the year with a sermon from Genesis called “Let’s Start at the Very Beginning.” We will be reading through the Bible this new year and preaching on the texts we encounter each week.

Relief for Friends in Iowa, Louisiana

Hey friends, good morning! As we mentioned this past Sunday, we will be collecting money and goods for Gulf Coast Relief in Iowa, LA. We have been in contact with our friends Dr. Doug and Patti Ezell about the items they need.

We have already been collecting money for relief for damage from Hurricane Laura, but with the damage from Hurricane Delta, we are asking for more money to help with these specific items which we plan to deliver at the end of the week.

We have compiled a list of the items that are needed:

Re-usable Rubber Gloves (2 sets large, $3/set)
First Aid Items
- Band-aids (Equate Variety Pack, 120 count, $7)
- Acetaminophen (Equate 2-pack, 500mg, 500 count, $7)
- Ibuprofen (Equate 2-pack, 200mg, 500 count, $14)3. Trash Bags (39 gal, Hefty Lawn & Leaf, 20 count, $8)
Bleach (Great Value Concentrate, 81oz, $3)
Bug Spray (Cutter Back Yard Bug Control, 16oz., $6.25)

If you buy all items listed in the quantities indicated, the total price is approximately $51.25 plus tax (these prices obtained from Walmart.com), but you may purchase whatever items you may wish.

If it’s easier on your schedule to provide money, we will purchase the items for delivery. You may put the money in the mailbox at the church or drop it at the parsonage on 914 Island Point Drive. You can drop your items at the parsonage.
As mentioned, we plan to deliver on Friday, so please get your money or items to us by 7:00pm on Thursday, October 15.

Thanks so much for your generosity and your willingness to help our brothers and sisters in need, it is a blessing to serve alongside of you as God’s church. Please call Clélie at (504) 919-4998 or me at (504) 919-6006 if you have any questions.

Image Credit: “Helping Hand Silouette.“

Sunday, September 27!

Good afternoon! Hope you are having a blessed and happy end to the week in spite of the rain! Please keep all the folks affected by the hurricanes and the rain in your prayers, we’ve had a tough season along the gulf coast this year.

We wanted to let you know we’re having some special music with Dr. Mark Clark on Sunday. He’s a ULM professor of voice and performance, and it’ll be a blessing to have him share.

Also, a couple of housekeeping items. We’re using Phonetree to send voice and text messages to help people keep in touch with what’s happening. You should receive a phone call and a text today; if you don’t receive these, please let us know so we can check to make sure everything is working correctly.

And, just as a reminder, we broadcast our 11am service at Tallulah for both churches on Facebook live. You can access the broadcast if you’re unable to be with us on Sunday at either church’s Facebook page.

Lake Providence on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LPfumc

Tallulah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstUMCTallulah

One more thing! Henry does a video devotional 3-4 times per week at lunchtime, and you can see those on my Facebook devotional page called “a soul table.” You can also drop by his blog at https://asoultable.org for more devotional resources.

Henry on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asoultablewithhenry.

Believe it or not, this week he will broadcast my 100th episode! It’ll happen tomorrow, and we’ll go live at lunchtime! We’ll be talking about Luke 1, and hope to see you there!

Take care, and hope to see you soon!

Re-opening for Worship, May 31 at 9:00am! Hope to see you there!

Good evening! Hope you are having a blessed and happy week as we get ready to head into summer!

As we communicated in last week’s email, Bishop Cynthia Harvey has requested that our Louisiana churches to wait until May 31 to re-open for worship, provided that we follow all the necessary precautions for gathering publicly in the middle of this crisis. We will social distance appropriately, utilize hand sanitizer that will be provided, and wear masks. Unfortunately, that is the shape of our worship for a short time.

Additionally, we will not be holding any small groups, e.g. Sunday school, fellowship meals, or things like vacation Bible school for a short time, either. But, we will return to meeting together very soon!

You know, May 31 is a great Sunday to re-open for worship because it is Pentecost Sunday — the birth of the church! So, we will celebrate appropriately, and we look forward to worshipping together. It may be a little different, but the real blessing is being together in God’s presence once again. Psalm 122 tells us: ‘I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up—the tribes of the Lord—to praise the name of the Lord….”’ Let us rejoice as we go up together into the house of the Lord to join with all who praise God’s holy name this Pentecost Sunday!

If you have any concerns about gathering because of your own vulnerabilities or someone you love’s vulnerabilities, please continue to be cautious in your social interactions.

We look forward to seeing you face to face, and we pray God’s blessings upon you as we prepare to worship together this holy weekend of Pentecost!

Thanks for Our Memorial Day Remembrance!

We want to thank all our friends who joined us on Friday, May 22 to place flags on the graves of our veteran heroes. We enjoy the many freedoms for which they so bravely fought in so many wars across so many lands. Let us ever remember their service and sacrifice, not just on Memorial Day, but every day we live in the freedoms bought with such a precious price.

What a blessing to remember these service members who gave so much! We must ever be watchful over what has been given to us for the price of freedom is the blood, sweat, toil, and tears of so many in the history of our nation.

Take a moment to visit Bro. Henry’s blog on Memorial Day: “If We Break Faith.”

We hope to see you on Sunday, May 31 at 9:00am as we re-open the church following the shelter-at-home orders!

Welcome to First Methodist Lake Providence

Hey friends, we will now post what’s happening in mission and ministry on our website! We hope you will join us as we journey in faith together. Please follow us on the site to get all the latest information sent to your inbox. Thanks for dropping by our site, and we look forward to seeing you in person soon. Blessings, and take care!

Take a moment to Follow us on Facebook! Thanks, we look forward to seeing you in worship!