First Baptist Church of Bloomington IL

Hello everyone! As much as we love our outdoor worship services; due to the forecast heat index of around 90 tomorrow, we will be indoors. As an extra bonus - we will have ice cream and cookies after worship as we celebrate our High School graduate!

The next planned outdoor service will be August 11 at 10:00am. Our service will be streamed live as always at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FBCBloomingtonIL/live

A great day for worship together and picnicking at Underwood Park at our evening Vespers service on Wednesday, capped off by a double rainbow!

It's a beautiful day to be out on the water! The Kayaking group is meeting at the Mucky Duck Marina on Lake Bloomington at 2:00 today for an hour of kayaking and a devotional afterward. Kayaks are available for rent, or bring your own!

And the prairie restoration project is underway! A big thanks to Jeff Siegrist at Martin Tractor, Inc. for the time and tractor to get the planting underway. Likewise to Pheasants Forever - FDL County Chapter for essential help in getting this project off the ground, providing expertise, financial assistance and help with equipment. And a huge thank-you to Brett Irwin at the McLean County SWCD https://www.facebook.com/mcleancountyswcd for invaluable knowledge and assistance along the way.

Each Wednesday during the summer, LOGOS will be posting a journaling prompt. All are welcome to participate on this fun journaling activity! Journals are available for free at the LOGOS table in FBC. Prompts will be posted on the FBC page and the LOGOS website https://www.firstbaptistbloomington.org/.../youth.../

Each Wednesday during the summer, LOGOS will be posting a journaling prompt. All are welcome to participate on this fun journaling activity. Prompts will be posted on the FBC page and the LOGOS website https://www.firstbaptistbloomington.org/connect/youth-childrens-ministry/

Coming up Wednesday, May 8: A Journey with Paul and John - where Pastor Brian and Gabrielle share about their trip following in Paul's footsteps in his second missionary journey, and visiting cities in Turkey to which the Letter of Revelation is addressed.

(The vespers service and Presentation are separate, but will share the central theme).

Vespers Service: 5:45pm (will include a reflection based on the experience)
Meal: 6:20pm
Presentation on Greece and Turkey: 6:30-7:30pm

Even if you did not RSVP, but are available to come to the Closing Ceremony tonight,please come! We have had some last minute asks and it is absolutely alright to join in the fun!

Hello FBC family and friends! Looking for someone with a camera-equipped drone that could spare a few minutes. Thanks!

The Mainstream, April 2024 I pray that everyone had a blessed Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Spring has sprung and lots of exciting things are happening across the Great Rivers Region.

Amen! Well said by our brothers and sisters up in Brookfield WI.

If you have tried to visit our church website ( www.firstbaptistbloomington.org ) in the past week, you will have noticed that it is not working right now. The company that hosts our website is experiencing problems with the server on which our website is stored, and while they are working on getting it fixed, we do not know when that will happen.

Our livestream, Zoom Bible Study and email are still up and working!

Here are some quick links to our online ministries:

Our YouTube Live Stream can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FBCBloomingtonIL/live

Join Our Zoom Bible Study by clicking here at 6pm on Sunday evenings:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3096624253

We anticipate the website being restored soon, and will update this post when that happens.

Blessings!
-the FBC office staff

Hello friends! The server for our church website seems to be down today, so here's the link for our 6pm Zoom Bible Study Sunday night:

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

We are having technical difficulties this morning with the First Baptist website server. Please join the stream here:

Sunday Morning Service 4/7/24, First Baptist Church Bloomington Sunday Morning Service 4/7/24, First Baptist Church BloomingtonFBC of Bloomington IL is a diverse, intergenerational church focused on helping one another gr...

Our weekly Zoom Bible Study and monthly check-in for reading through the Bible together will not be meeting tonight due to it being Easter Sunday, but for those interested, Pastor Brian made a video summary of Numbers and Deuteronomy that will be available at 6pm here:

www.youtube.com

Awkward....

In the Christian Celtic tradition - the Holy Spirit is described as a wild goose: untameable, unpredictable like the "wind that blows where it will" of John 3:8

Spotted today during this morning's Easter celebration, an invitation to wonder: where might the Spirit be leading us in light of the resurrection?

On Easter, we celebrate the heart of the good news of our faith: that Jesus, Son of God, though crucified, was resurrected by the power of God in victory over death, sin, and every other spiritual and political power of oppression. It is the reason for the hope we claim.

Come explore and celebrate that hope together!

For those unable to attend in person, our livestream is: https://www.youtube.com/user/FBCBloomingtonIL/live

Ecumenical Good Friday Service - noon at First Presbyterian Church of Normal IL (2000 E. College AV)

Today is 'Good Friday' - the day we remember Jesus' suffering and crucifixion - an act which the world sees as foolishness and a stumbling block, but which Paul described as the wisdom and power of God. Come grapple with this mystery and reflect on the love Jesus pours out for the world in this act, and how we can possibly call it good, as Christian churches across Bloomington/Normal come to worship together at the ecumenical Good Friday service.

For those who cannot attend in person, a livestream will be available here:

Good Friday | First Presbyterian Church

In our 'Maundy Thursday' service tonight at 7pm, we will be invited to reflect on the story in parallel with the 'songs of ascent' Jesus and his disciples would sing as they went up the Mount of Olives that night; the psalms declaring God's salvation alongside the events of that night.

For those unable to attend in person, we will be livestreaming the service at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FBCBloomingtonIL/live

ps: if you're wondering - 'Maundy' Thursday comes from the Latin 'mandatum' - meaning 'commandment' recalling Jesus' words at the last supper in John 13:34: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another."

If you've noticed our East field looking a bit like spring has passed it by, here's why: we're almost ready for the next step of our Pollinator Habitat project!

What’s happening on the East lot? Another round of Glyphosate will be applied in the next few weeks when the temperatures warm up a little bit more. In late April or early May, the seeding will happen! The net result of the seeding will be a somewhat barren and unkempt looking field. It will not look very pretty this summer, which is the expected result for the first year. But in the end, we will have nice environmentally friendly attractive pollinator habitat for our community. So, keep watching and checking back in on the progress. Additionally, we anticipate a cost savings of approximately $2,400 on mowing and maintenance for the field.

We want to thank Pheasants Forever and Illinois Prairie Community Foundation for their support. They have fully been in favor of this effort and have provided valuable information, support, and encouragement in addition to awarding us grant money for the project.

Jesus is the love of God made visible, a love that invites us to respond with trust, gratitude, awe at a hope that this world cannot take away. Come explore how faith, hope, and love meet in the words and actions of Jesus in Holy Week, as we remember his crucifixion, death and resurrection.

March 24 - Palm Sunday Worship at 10am
March 28 - Maundy Thursday Worship at 7pm
March 29 - Ecumenical Good Friday Service, noon at First Presbyterian Church of Normal IL
March 31 - Easter Sunday Worship at 10am
* Easter Breakfast at 8:45
* Easter Egg Hunt for children around 9:15

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 29: Lori & Matt Mann

Lori & Matt Mann | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 28: Ann & Bill Clemmer

Ann & Bill Clemmer | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 27: Ray Schellinger

Ray Schellinger | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 26: Kihomi Ngwemi & Nzunga Mabudiga

Kihomi Ngwemi & Nzunga Mabudiga | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 25: Dan & Sarah Chetti

Dan & Sarah Chetti | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 24: David Sagar

David Sagar | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 23: Katie & Taku

Katie & Taku | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

All through the month of February, we'll be featuring our International Ministries Global Servants, asking you to pray for them and the people they do ministry with.
February 22: Deliris & Moise Carrión- Joseph

Deliris & Moise Carrión-Joseph | International Ministries International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, FEIN #13-5563392 is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.