Pastor Albert has accepted a call to the Community Church of Douglaston in Queens, NY. Christmas Eve was his last service at Faith Church. Below you will find his farewell message to Faith Church.

 

 

Wherever you are this year on your level of anxiety, uncertainty, or pain—Wherever you are on your own spiritual journey—Wherever you are in the midst of holiday stress or pressure—We invite you into this journey of Advent. You are encouraged to participate in the daily reading that will be available here. Simply click on the links below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The world as we know it has changed over the last few months and the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of us. Pastor Albert has been interviewing people from different walks of life and professions on how the virus has affected them specifically. What has it been like for someone who is an EMT and is on the front line of assisting people every day? What has it been like for someone who is expecting her first baby in this time of isolation? Watch these episodes to get a perspective on the pandemic from pastors in South Africa, London, and Queens NY, a restaurant worker in our local community, a doctor in New Zealand, and many more. Learn what they and those in the same shoes are experiencing and how you can support them better and pray for them more effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the characters in the Passion narrative look at Jesus, what do they see? In most cases, people misunderstood who He is and what He was doing. In some cases, by faith, people recognized Him correctly. Our Lenten series this year, based on the Gospel according to Mark, will examine how the various people around Jesus viewed Him—and how we should view Him. We will “fix our eyes” on what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, and celebrate what God sees on account of His work: our justification for His sake.

On Ash Wednesday, we will see how, in spite of Jesus’ repeated predictions about His upcoming Passion, the disciples with “Misjudging Eyes” fail to recognize that soon He will not be with them, and they cannot see the anonymous woman’s anointing of Jesus as preparation for His burial. But Jesus sees her actions as a beautiful deed that will be proclaimed throughout the world wherever the Gospel is heard.

 

On the First Sunday of Lent, we will look through Judas’s “Betraying Eyes” and learn why he did this awful deed. Yet the behind-the-scenes-reality is that Jesus was “handed over” (another way of translating the verb for “betray”) by God the Father Himself, so that Jesus could die for the sin of the world.

 

 

In the third week of Lent, we stare into the “Denying Eyes” of Peter and the other apostles. They could not see how they could ever fall away from Jesus, but after Jesus is betrayed by Judas, ten of them flee, and Peter—when he is spotted by a servant girl and sees that his own neck is on the line—sees fit to deny Jesus, which leads to his own eyes weeping in remorse. We sinners likewise deny our Lord in many ways, but Jesus denied Himself to take up the cross for our salvation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Good Friday, we will be meeting for our Soup Luncheon and Fellowship at 12 noon, This will be followed by our worship service, where we will look through “God’s Eyes” to see what is happening during the Passion: the once-for-all atonement for the sin of the whole world and the justification of all sinners on Easter.

 

Finally, Easter Sunday gazes upon “Angel Eyes.” The angel in the tomb knows the whole story of Jesus’ resurrection. When he sees the women, he proclaims the Gospel to them, shows them where Jesus’ body had formerly lain, and tells them that they can see Jesus themselves in Galilee. Likewise, the “angels” or messengers of the Church in the apostolic ministry tell God’s people where they can find Jesus and His salvation in the Means of Grace.

Eyes on Jesus will continuously focus our eyes on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and risen for our justification. This is a vision that will never disappoint, for by trusting in Jesus, He promises that we will gaze upon His beautiful face now by faith and forever in heaven!

 

On the evening of January 11, Faith Church hosted a night of Improv with the Excited Raspberries. The evening started with a delicious dinner for those who opted for dinner and show tickets, Later the doors were opened for the show only and more people joined for a night of fun and laughter. The cast consisted of players from different comedy troops who came together for a special performance at Faith Church. Among the stars were our very own Teresia and Haley, who knew many in the crowd and made the most of drawing a laugh based on their local knowledge of the people in the audience. Thank you to all who made this a memorable event.

 

We often do the Christmas story a disservice due to its familiarity. More times than not, we romanticize the events of the Nativity as we put them on postcards, in children’s plays, and sing about them in popular Christmas carols. But living through the events of the Christmas story would have at times felt dreadful.  A teenage girl with her future ahead of her was rocked by scandal—even though she didn’t do anything wrong. A newlywed couple was uprooted from their home, their family, and their support system during the most inconvenient time of their lives. A king who was already losing his power to a Roman occupation discovered a new king was born that would be an even greater threat to his authority.

 

We invite you to join us for an Advent Series based on the book The Christmas Option: The Hidden Options Found in the Christmas Story  by Jonathan Malm, We will be telling the Nativity story in a unique and powerful way and together discover new meaning for our lives in a familiar Christmas story.