Worship Online with Us

If you are unable to attend our Sunday morning worship services in-person, please join us online. We stream both services Sunday mornings live at 9 and 11 a.m. and both are available to watch later if you can’t watch live. We also have many previous services available to watch if you missed one. Please don’t forget to let us know you are watching with the “I’m Here” button at the top of the page.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Sammi’s Corner

David is still out of town, so I’m taking over his corner (*evil laugh*).

On a real note, though, on Sunday I had the honor of preaching my fourth sermon at this church, and it’s brought such great joy to my heart hearing how it’s been thought provoking, convicting, and motivating to so many people. For those who were not able to be there, I spoke about idolatry, and how while people in modern day America generally do not bow down to idol statues like what we see in the Bible, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have idols of our own. An idol is simply anything that we place ahead of our relationship with God. To end the sermon, I asked people to consider what their idols in life were and to choose one that they wanted to surrender into God’s hands. Those who wanted to, wrote it down and then we demonstrated that surrender by dropping what we wrote into the offering plate.

I just wanted to tell you it was such a beautiful and humbling experience reading through all of the responses this week. About 100 people replied, with a wide range of answers- everything from addiction to mental health issues to feelings of inadequacy. Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and please know that you are each being prayed for individually.

Surrendering an idol to God isn’t always easy and is almost never immediate, but I can promise you that it is always worth it. Every opportunity we have to draw closer to the Lord is valuable and more meaningful than we could ever imagine. Thank you again to everyone who was there on Sunday for allowing me to speak into your lives and walk alongside you on your faith journey.

(I look forward to preaching again soon in April!)

Love and hugs!

Sammi

---

Congregational Prayer Requests

(Please join us in lifting up the following items in prayer!)

PRAYER QUILT IN THE NARTHEX

None

 

DEATHS

First Church is saddened to announce the death of Judith Humbert, who passed on February 13. Services are scheduled for Friday, March 20, at 10 a.m., at FUMC.

First Church is saddened to announce the death of Merle Wessel, who passed on February 28. Services are scheduled for March 18 at 10 a.m., at FUMC.

 

PRAYERS FOR OUR SPECIAL CARE

Liv Stevens, Jim Unsworth, Elizabeth Vick, Bob Young, Selena Alderman, Carolyn Allen, June Becker, Bill Carpenter, Ruth Clark, Mary Anne Cooper.

 

OTHER

None

 

PRAYERS FOR OUR CHURCHES

Dove of the Desert UMC- Glendale

Maryvale UMC- Phoenix

Faith UMC- Phoenix

 

(Got a prayer request? Need someone to pray with? Need support? Our congregational care team is here for you! Please contact the church office to have them forward your request to the congregational care team, fill out the form on our website https://firstchurch.church/prayer-requests/, or reach out to the congregational care team directly by emailing patricia@firstchurch.church.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Congregational Celebrations and Praises 

(Please join us in praising God for these celebrations!)

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES (Celebrating 50 or more years of marriage)

None

 

SENIOR MILESTONES (Celebrating 80+ birthdays)

Barbara Harvey 3/3

Pat Kelly 3/9

Sharon Green 3/10

Jim Copeland 3/17

Patricia Magyar 3/17

Terry Lutz 3/18

Fred Moor 3/20

________________________________________________________________________

Lura Turner Homes Mission Project- March 14th

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Scholarship Applications Now Open

Our scholarship applications are now open! Please click here to apply! The deadline this year is Monday, March 16th, at 4:00 pm, and late applications cannot be accepted. Applications can only be submitted electronically, and we request that you submit a photo of yourself along with your application. Applicants will receive an electronic confirmation of a successful submission.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Groups and Gatherings Committee- Get Engaged!

Do you have a knack for bringing people together? Do you like planning a great movie night for your friends, or family activities after the big game? If so, we have a great way for you to serve your church!

We’re developing a Groups and Gatherings Team to plan events and activities for our church throughout the year. The team will be able to plan as few or as many events as they’d like, with no pressure, and will have support from church leaders when needed.

Unlike our established administrative committees, there are no regularly scheduled meetings, no minutes to take, and no reports to present! The team will meet/communicate as needed to share ideas and plan some fun events for our church and the community, including things like board game nights, movie nights, outings to go to dinner, attend a theatre performance, or whatever else sounds fun to you!

Does this give you some ideas? If you are looking for a way to serve that is creative, flexible, and FUN, please email Sammi at sammi@firstchurch.church to join today. Thank you for bringing more engagement to our church!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Pancake Breakfast- March 15th

Please join us on Sunday, March 15th from 9 am to noon in Asbury Hall. Enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast and help support BSA Venturing Crew 2041’s Northern Tier Adventure! The recommended donation is $10. We look forward to seeing you!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Giving Report

Here is an updated giving report from Carrick Sears. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday Social Hour

Please join us for our First Sunday Social Hour Gathering every first Sunday of the month between services at 10 a.m. in Wesley Lounge. The next one will be April 5th. We look forward to seeing you!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Afternoon Book Group

The Afternoon Book Group meets on the fourth Tuesday of most months at 1:30 p.m. in the library. We welcome all who love to read and discuss and travel the world through books. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24. The book is Flights of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard.

---

Community Yoga Classes

First Church offers two weekly yoga classes to our community. Classes meet Tuesdays, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m., and Thursdays, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. The cost is $12 per class or four classes for $40. Email the church office for more information: info@firstchurch.church.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

First Church Business Directory Updates

Business Directory July 2025

Here is an updated first church business directory.

---

Visit our website https://FirstChurch.church and click on the “Give” button at the top of the home page, or scan the QR code at the bottom of this message with your mobile device for a quick and easy link to the giving page. You can set up a recurring frequency or give when you want to by making a one-time gift using your checking or savings bank account.

You may also give electronically using your bank’s bill pay service.

Another way to give electronically is Text-to-Give with your debit or credit card.

1. Enter (888) 303-7535 in your cell phone text messaging program and a dollar amount without including a “$” sign as the message (example: type 20 to give twenty dollars).
2. You will receive a reply with a link to enter your contact and debit or credit card information.
3. After you complete the registration, you will receive a verification text as well as a receipt by email.
4. For future giving, simply send a text message with the amount you wish to give. That’s it!

---

Check Your Spam and Junk

Sometimes email from our Church’s domain, “.church” isn’t recognized by all email providers. Please check your spam and junk mail folders periodically to see if something from First Church or other senders to your address might be filtered out of your inbox.