FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for January 12, 2017
The January 12, 2017 meeting for the Atlanta Chapter of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Those in attendance were: John and Julia Jefferson; Judy Neyland; Leland Davis and Mark Childers.
In Matthew 18:20 there is a verse that says “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” God really directed our fellowship and sharing. We are very blessed.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, February 9, 2017 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Time, 6:30 p.m. We do hope all of you will be able to attend.
Following this message is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining…
John Jefferson
MINUTES:
We began the meeting with prayer and then John informed the members of Jerry Burgess’ surgery on January 16, 2017. Jerry is in the hospital in Rochester, MN at this time and he and his wife, Janie have an apartment nearby as they will be there at least two weeks for recovery. Jerry’s heart surgury is very delicate and only a few doctors actually perform it. He treasures our prayers and cards and letters. His temporary address is:
Jerry and Janie Burgess
c/o Aspen Suites
1211 Second Street SW
Rochester, MN 55902
John then gave out more of the small cars and coins that can be used in ministry. He gave the order forms to each member. The cars and coins are free with a donation requested.
John then showed us the “Three Card Rope Trick” with the gospel message given by Julia. The message is that as Christians, we all belong to the Lord, and God loves us all the same. Even though we have different gifts and abilities, we should not feel that one of us is superior to another. We are all one in Christ. Do we use our gifts and talents for the glory of God?
Mark then illustrated the fact that he emphasizes that his presentations are illusions—not “magic”. He uses distraction to cause the audience to look somewhere else as he causes the illusion to occur—or so he says! He illustrated this using a zip change bag and the appearance of the silk in the coke bottle. Squirrel!!!
John then presented a “ cups and ropes” routine. He had two ropes with knots on each of the ends. He asked Leland and Mark to be his assistants. John tied the two ropes together with a wand in the middle of the knot. He then had each helper to slide the rope through the handle of a metal cup. One cup had SIN written on it and the other had the word, EVIL written on it. The helpers then gave John one of their ropes. John tied a knot around the cups and handed ends back to the helpers. Then, each of the helpers threaded his ropes through the handles of the plastic cups. The messages written on them were, GOD and MAN. At this point, we have the wand, which represents Jesus, surrounded by sin, and separating God from man. John then pulled the wand up and out of the knot saying that Jesus rose from the dead. In so doing, the metal cups fell off of the ropes to the floor and God and Man, represented by the plastic cups, were able to remain on the ropes, and come together. Jesus conquered sin and evil and allowed us to be one with God.
Leland showed us his Christmas science effects that he used with the children at his church. He placed several very small red, green, blue and gold bells in a glass and poured 7-Up into the glass. The bells proceeded to “dance” to the delight of the children.
Leland then brought out a bowl with 2 pretty bottles in it. He asked a helper to select 2 colorful Christmas ornament bulbs. He then placed one on the top of each bottle. Out came the turkey baster and Leland proceeded to put “water” in each ornament. Slowly, the ornaments produced a lovely volcanic effect!!! Leland’s message was that Christmas is an exciting time of the year. Jesus was born and came to save us from our sins and allow us to be with Him!! Our celebration of His birth is full of joy and love. It’s amazing that a little baking soda and vinegar and lots of creativity can allow us to tell the story of our Jesus. Thanks, Leland.
The rest of the evening went so quickly that I forgot to take notes!! Everyone was sharing and we were all laughing and enjoying the fun. One thing I do remember is to use Repositional Elmer’s Glue with a card trick!
We reluctantly ended our meeting. We prayed for Randy, as he is sick, our other absent friends and for Jerry Burgess. We hope we will all be able to attend next month.
Until then…
Julia