A Sip of Faith

Impossible Made Possible
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79)
 
This morning, I’m thinking where did the time go? We are approaching Christmas Eve this week, and its as if the month of December just passed us by! During this month, I have been preparing myself….through prayer, meditation, reading the scripture, and fasting…preparing for the second coming of Jesus. How about you? How have you prepared? How has you changed or transformed in order to welcome Him?
 
For a lot of us….we don’t think we will see the second Advent in our lifetime. Or maybe we don’t think it is real…. But I look at it like this….. if I am preparing….and should I be called to heaven before the second Advent… I know that I have served and worked through my preparation to be more Christlike… and thus I hope Jesus finds favor on me when judgement comes.
 
In a blink of an eye….it will be a New Year. And Advent continues beyond Christmas Day. So what will be our plans for change in the New Year? How will we prepare ourselves through being more Christlike? I know this sounds almost impossible, but through Jesus, the impossible is made possible! Our scripture is known as “Zechariah’s Song”. Elizabeth his wife was old and barren. Yet through God’s gift, she is with child who we know as John. The impossible made possible. And in his song, he tells his future child to ‘prepare the way”.
 
This week as we near the arrival of our Savior Jesus…let us prepare the way…by preparing ourselves in being more Christlike…and let us continue throughout the New Year. Ask for strength, courage, and empowerment from God, for only He can make the Impossible Possible.
 
Shalom,
Pastor Dave

A New Name for the Merged Church

Fellow Members of North Fayette and Friendship UMC:

Last Sunday we officially installed our new Pastor and leadership for our newly merged church.  Our next step is to select a name for this new church that will carry on the legacy of both North Fayette and Friendship.  That is a strong legacy, dating back to 1890 for Friendship and 1984 for North Fayette, that we must now build on to continue the mission to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

In the fall of 2021, we announced several times in our services that we were discussing new names and asked for inputs from the congregations.  At our leadership summit on February 12th, we discussed all the names submitted and how they would support our vision to serve as the church ‘destination’ for our surrounding community.  Of the names, four options came to the top of the list:

  • Mosaic Community Church
  • New Beginnings Community Church
  • New Fellowship Community Church
  • New Faith Community Church

So, what of our legacy “North Fayette” and “Friendship” names?  We plan to create a more extensive historical display in our sanctuary and other areas of the church to tell the story of each legacy church.  We also discussed renaming “The Grove” to “Friendship Hall” and other actions to hold on to our history while building for the future. 

You input is important as the Board of Servants prepares to vote on a new name at the February 28th Board meeting.  We will hold a church ‘Town Hall’ immediately after our service on Sunday February 27th to answer questions and to receive your comments.  You can also email or call Rev. Adamson (pastor@nfumc.com, 770-789-8529) or myself (stevejustice@bellsouth.net, 770-964-5323) to provide your feedback. And our Board meeting on Monday February 28th at 7pm is open for any member to attend. 

Working together we will continue to expand our ministries to our community to positively impact people’s lives by sharing the love of God to all.

 

Yours in service,

Steve Justice

2022 Chair – Board of Servants

School Supplies Drive 2021 – A Big Thank You!

To the Congregation of  North Fayette and Friendship UMCs,

We have faced challenges this past year and a half that most of us have not experienced in our lives.  In the face of all this, the congregations of North Fayette and Friendship UMCs  have responded with extraordinary generosity, continuing a long tradition of supporting the needs of our school children and their families.  You – the members of this fellowship working together – have joined in the most inspiring outpouring of caring I have ever seen. 

Your donations have already provided our students with school supplies, food, shoes, clothing, hygiene supplies and much-needed medication, and the depth of the funding will  help to sustain these efforts.

Bill and I have always felt that we belong to the kindest, most caring church around.  You prove this all year long with numerous outreach programs. But the support our school children receive from you is above any other I know.  We are honored and proud to call all of you friends!

On behalf of all the people in the Fayette County Schools, I thank you for your caring spirit and generous heart!

— Kim Bryan, Member of North Fayette United Methodist Church and School Social Worker for the Fayette County Schools.

Board Notes – July 2021

The transition of pastors from Rev. John Tomlin to Rev. Kimberly Dugger proceeded well through June with Rev. Dugger officially introduced to the congregation at our July 4th service – our first in the sanctuary since March 2020. We are slowly ‘dusting off the cobwebs’ as we adjust to being back in the sanctuary and, as happens with any pastor change, Rev. Dugger adding her own imprint to our worship. 

As part of the dual appointment of Rev. Dugger to both NFUMC and Friendship UMC along with discussions of a merger between the two churches, we will adjust our July services to allow our congregations to get to know each other better.  We will hold one service each Sunday with the Friendship congregation to join us at NFUMC on three Sundays, while the service on Sunday July 18th will be hosted by Friendship UMC.  We also plan to have our Southwest District Superintendent Rev. Susan Landry to join us after the service on Sunday July 25th for a Q&A session.  Your Board will also be there to answer questions.  Everyone is encouraged to attend.

 Your Board and our other volunteer leaders are working hard to address maintenance issues across our buildings including repairs to air conditioners, roof, lighting and A/V.  The good news is that your giving continues to be strong which allows us to make these needed repairs, but we are in a slight cash deficit for the year to date.  We have done very well even in the midst of the pandemic and the Board continues to work hard to reduce our costs even as we seek to expand our ministries. We are also in talks with outside groups to use The Grove for special music and arts events to bring in people, and some additional revenues, to our church. 

This is an exciting time for our church as we welcome a new pastor and hold talks to merge with Friendship UMC.  It will be a challenging time, but worthwhile for both churches. Essential to our future is your continued faithful participation in the life and ministries of our church through your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. Together we have the opportunity to grow our ministries to the local community to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Yours in Service,

Steve Justice – 2021 NFUMC Board Chair

Copyright © 2025 . All rights reserved.