How Good

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalms 133:1)

I thought of that verse last evening as I labored together with such a great group of FBC men and women. They were gathered for the regularly scheduled Tuesday work night, and wonderful progress was made on the Phase 2 building project as a result. I mentioned to Brother Jeff as we worked together on what used to be the sound room and will now be an entry way to the auditorium, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to work on the church building together in unity!"

This evening, Wednesday, we gather for prayer at 6:30. We will be praying for many things, both in our world and in our personal worlds. We will also be praising God for all He has done and is doing. And we will do it in a building that He has used for 150 years... a building that He is reworking so that it will be more effective for Him in the time remaining before He comes.

Will you join us as we pray... as we give thanks?

Tuesday Work Night

PROGRESS!!!

Wasn't it great to worship in our own house this past Lord's Day?  God continues to work here in Randolph, and we continue to work alongside Him, striving to do our part in reaching Randolph for Christ.

Tuesday at 6:00 we will once again gather for a work night at FBC.  There is another round of tarping to be completed so that we can get the final bit of concrete poured.  There is some carpentry and tear-down work yet to be done (although we're coming to the end of the tear-down work).  There is clean up that needs done.  And there are always a few miscellaneous tasks that somebody could help with.

Can you give an hour this Tuesday evening?  Watch God's work PROGRESS here in Randolph.

In the words of Dorothy

Starting this Lord's Day, July 27th, Friendship Bible Church is back home. We will meet in our own sanctuary this Sunday. Praise to our God Who is so faithful to provide. And thanks to those men and women who have worked so hard on the building project to enable us to get back home. Special thanks go to Bill and Sean for their leadership and time.

Some details:

We will stick with our abbreviated one hour service. No Sunday School. Meet at 10:30 and we will do our best to be done by 11:30.

There is currently only one entrance to the sanctuary, and that is the handicapped door. Walk up the ramp on the back of the building to access that door. The front door is now usable as an emergency exit, but we don't want it used yet as an entrance.

Parking is going to be a bit chaotic as the parking lot is not marked. The deacons will be on hand to help with parking and keep things flowing.

The only potties are outside potties. Friendship Bible Church has come full circle, and just as in our earliest days (we were founded in 1828, after all), you have to go outside to potty. Again, we will strive to keep the service short, but tinkling before you leave home is suggested. We will have multiple celebrations as we progress through this project, but access to the bathrooms will be a cause for shouting. And it will be soon.

The basement and the construction areas are off limits. Please help us keep everybody safe by observing these restrictions. Parents, please keep children away from these areas.

As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "There is no place like home," and this Sunday, FBC will be coming home. Join us as we worship our living Savior at 10:30.

Concrete Is Still Flowing!

We have a partial floor in the basement, a beautiful set of concrete front steps, and concrete steps half completed in the new addition.

The concrete is flowing fast because Bro. Billock had the great idea of tarping the work site so that the concrete contractors could work even in the rain. We have seen great response from these guys as a result.

TONIGHT, FRIDAY, 6:00 PM - We need to do a bit more tarping. If we can get it done this evening, we will get a major portion of the floor finished tomorrow.

We need just a half-dozen men to give an hour or two this evening toward this effort. Will you join us? We are coming to the end of these concrete related tasks, but we have just a bit more to do. Let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap! After these floors, we will soon see walls!

Tremendous Tuesdays at FBC

Here are a few tasks slated for our Tuesday work night. We will start at 6:30 at FBC. If you can spare a bit of your Tuesday, come break and build with your church family!

Tuesday tasks:

Remove far southwest window
Build floor southeast corner
Remove plaster/lath from sound room and foyer
Tarp front steps for concrete?
Frame in door to sound room for drywall
Build temp doors in basement
Set up the auditorium for use
Ready the sound room for use

Concrete!

Truck is enroute. Floors today!










Thank you to the men who helped tarp last evening so we can pour in the rain today!

Two Nails

During the cleanup of the ceiling in the basement, Bro. Bill found these two nails, which were lying unused on a cross brace. They evoke so many thoughts, don't they? Who put them there? How long have they lain there, unused, in God's house?

Two nails, faithfully staying right where they were put, year after year after year. What a picture of our little church in Randolph! There is so much history in the old building where the Friendship Bible Church gathers. These two nails are a graphic reminder of that history. But there is also a vibrant future. In close proximity to the very spot these two nails lay for probably 150 years, new walls have risen, and new facilities are under construction. God's work in Randolph may have been going on for a century and a half in that old building, but if He wills, it is still going on, and will until Jesus comes!

Some updates:

The foundation has passed inspection, and the basement walls have been back filled. The concrete work on the front steps is imminent, and then the walls of the addition will start going up. Continue to pray, and provide, as God leads you.

This Lord's Day we will once again meet in the Randolph Town Hall. Be faithful to assembling!

A couple of fun events are taking place this weekend:

Saturday - motorcycle ride to Burton, with lunch along the way. Meet in the church parking lot at 10:00 AM.

Sunday - Pastor's Masters golf at Tannenhauf. Tee times start at 1:30.

Learning to Pray

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1 NKJV)

Join us for midweek prayer meeting - in the FBC sanctuary, Wednesdays at 6:30. We are learning. Learn with us.

Pray for the RRODAAT Teams This Week

Two teams are heading out into our Jerusalem this week. Pray for their encouragement as they take the good news to our neighbors. Pray for fruit. Pray God would send more laborers like them into the fields.

Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14:23 NKJV)

Phase 2 Updates and Help Wanted Ad

Pending any weather issues, the walls should be poured tomorrow. Backfilling of the walls is tentatively scheduled for Thursday. Praise The Lord!

We are at the point now where we can begin recognizing some real economies in our building project by doing some of the work ourselves. Here are some ways in which you can help right now:

1. We need 2 people to help with light work in the basement tomorrow about noon.

2. We have an immediate need for the following tools. We need a 5 ton or greater hydraulic jack (either a bottle jack or a floor jack will work), and we need a 110V electric winch. If anybody has one or both of these that we can borrow, we could use them onsite tomorrow.

We are going to start having a work night each Tuesday evening, starting this week (tomorrow). The pastor will be there as soon after work as possible, but there will be work to do throughout the evening, so come as your schedule allows. Here are some of the tasks we need to get done, and we will start on these as much as we can tomorrow evening:

1. We have a bit more demolition to do - tearing out the old closet above the old staircase, as well as some of the wall in the foyer. As before, bring any demolition tools that you think may be helpful.

2. Need carpentry work to rough the opening and the floor under the old sound room. Also building the temporary doors in the basement (plywood).

3. Need ceiling cleaned out in basement. There is a bunch of old stuff in there that can be removed.

Forward for the Savior!

Weekend Update

The worship service will be at the Randolph Town Hall on Sunday at 10:30.

The walls continue to rise on the Phase 2 addition, so if you have not yet joined us for one of the services at the town hall, you're running out of time. We will be back home in the Friendship Bible Church sanctuary very soon now.

Join us as we worship our great Savior!

Pray

"Proceed with much prayer, and your way will be made plain." (John Wesley)

Prayer Meeting every Wednesday at 6:30 PM. We will meet in the FBC Sanctuary this evening. Please enter through the handicapped door.

Walls!

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height... (Nehemiah 4:6)

Praise and Pray!

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. (Ezra 3:10 NKJV)

The footers are poured and if the Lord holds off the rain we will see ICF walls next. Praise and pray, brothers and sisters! Praise and pray!

Family Matters

Worry About Nothing. Pray About Everything.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV)

Prayer meeting tonight is at the home of Rusty and Edna Siciliano. Join us at 6:30. There is nothing better you can do with your Wednesday evening!