Month: March 2025

FBC Trivia Night – April 26

Think You’re Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Prove It at Trivia Night!

April 26: 6:30-8:30pm

Join us for a fun-filled, family-friendly trivia night where you can test your knowledge against friends, family, and even fellow challengers from FBC! Bragging rights (all in good fun) are on the line for the winning table—so bring your A-game!

  • Sign up as a team of 6-8 players (5th grade & up) or register as an individual, and we’ll match you with a team.
  • Team Captains: When signing up, include your team name, a contact person with phone number, and the total number of players in the comments section.

Need Childcare?  
We’ve got you covered! Childcare is available for $5 per child (under 5th grade), but spots are limited to 15 children. If you need childcare, reserve your spot by signing up each child individually with their name and age—we can’t accommodate walk-ins.

Sweet Treats & Snacks!
Desserts and drinks will be provided, but teams are welcome to bring their own snacks if desired.

RSVP by 4/19/25 to secure your spot!

Think you’ve got what it takes? Gather your team, sign up, and let’s see who comes out on top!

Pollinator Habitat update

2026 Update: 

We are pleased that we have received another generous grant from the Illinois Prairie community foundation Nature and Environment Fund. The $2000.00 awarded to the FBC Community Pollinator Habitat Phase three will be used for educational signs. The Support from IPCF has allowed us to do so much to enhance the habitat.

Since beginning the Prairie Habitat project, the Facilities committee has been hard at work making additions to the pollinator habitat. Some of our money from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation grant has been used to purchase 4 bluebird nest boxes. These were installed at the edges of the habitat to give the birds a good flight path and to be easily accessible for clean out. In order to try to attract bluebirds as intended, we need to be diligent about checking the boxes once a week and cleaning out other bird eggs before they hatch. We need to monitor the boxes from May – September. If you are interested in signing up to assist with this necessary task, please see Sue Strauch who will be compiling a list of names. Instructions will be provided on how to clean out the box.

We were also gifted a purple martin house which you will see at the top of a tall pole off the parking lot. This was donated to us by the Grand Prairie Bird Alliance who will be maintaining it. Eventually we hope that the church will take on this responsibility. This has been strategically placed so these birds have an open flight path from the pond at Northpoint to the box. It may take a year before we see these birds, but we do hope that they will come!

Additionally, we have had donations to provide for benches visitors can use to enjoy the paths mown into the habitat.

 

Latest News & Worship Information

  eLink and bulletin for March 8-15

                (Click to join live stream)​

 

 

 

Upcoming at FBC:

SUNDAY, March 8 Daylight savings Time Starts
9:15 am Choir Rehearsal
 9:45 am  Coffee & Conversation
10:00 am Worship Service
11:00 am Coffee & Conversation
11:15 am Small Groups for Adults: Art Journaling, Pathfinders & Koinonia
5:00 pm  Online Bible Study

MONDAY, March 9 
1:30 pm ABWM Meeting
4:00 pm Facilities Meeting

WEDNESDAY, March 11
10:00 am Hope Pack delivery
4:30-5:00 pm LOGOS arrival
5:00 pm Adult Small Groups 
6:00 pm Vespers Service
6:15 pm Shared Meal-
7:00 pm Choir Rehearsal

THURSDAY, March 12
7:00 pm Board Meeting

FRIDAY, March 13
11:30 am Meet & Eat  

SUNDAY, March 15
9:15 am Choir Rehearsal
9:45 am Coffee & Conversation
10:00 am Worship Service
11:00 am Coffee & Conversation
11:15 am Small Groups for Adults: Art Journaling, Pathfinders & Koinonia
 5:00 pm Online Bible Study

 

Ministry & Events

Art Journaling – March 8-29
Art Journaling 101 begins Sunday mornings, March 8-29 from 11:15 to 12:15 pm. Join us for some artful fun learning the benefits and techniques of art journaling, as well as some drawing secrets. Bring a journal or composition book, and a watercolor paint set if you have one. Together we’ll learn how to tend the soli of our hearts through self-expression!

Help Decorate for Easter
Help us beautify the sanctuary for our celebration of the Resurrection! We invite you to purchase an Easter lily to be displayed during our service on Sunday, April 5. These flowers may be given in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special person in your life.  The cost of each lily is $17.00. Following the service, you are welcome to take your plant home to enjoy or share it with a friend. To ensure all names are included correctly in the commemorative list, please PRINT your dedications clearly using CAPITAL LETTERS. The sign-up sheets will be in the narthex until March 26, 2026

America for Christ Offering 2026
Thanks to the generous donations to the America for Christ (AFC) Offering, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) has provided financial support to American Baptist churches and affiliated organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico year over year. Some examples of the positive impact your dollars have had on our beloved communities:

      • Funding direct assistance to the residents of Youngstown, Ohio, that included food boxes, meals for children, clothing banks and distribution of commodities such as diapers, school supplies, clothing, and housewares.
      • Funding youth education and enrichment programs as well as senior services that delivers lunch, health education and socialization opportunities, and groceries in bulk through a food pantry, among other things, to communities in and around Kansas City, Kansas.
      • Funding Rainbow Acres, a faith-based residential community with a wide range of programs for developmentally disabled adults from more than 15 states and representing an array of faith backgrounds including American Baptists.

These are just a few of the ways your dollars provide aid and comfort to those in need; there are many more. Please help us continue to bring healing and hope to communities, families, children and Jesus’ disciples in 2026 by supporting this year’s America for Christ Offering.

Tending the Soil of our Souls
In the six weeks before Easter, we’ll be exploring how Jesus’ parable of the four soils can help us look at our own lives and ways that we can grow as disciples walking in Jesus’ way.  It’s a season to invite God to move in our lives in new ways. 
As one invitation to try something new, the sanctuary seating has been changed back to a pattern we used several years ago.  This arrangement, which we’ll use through the season of Lent, is a way to think about the people we sit near, and an invitation to reach out and get to know them better. 
Some Ideas for this season:

      • For those not engaged in a small group or class, Jennifer Devine is starting a class on art journaling after Sunday worship from March 8-29.

      • Check out the table near the front of the sanctuary for ideas on ways to grow our faith and care for our souls, including ideas on a ‘digital fast’ from technology and social media.

      • We’re inviting people to illustrate ways that we care for our souls using canvas panels that can be decorated, painted and illustrated.

If you have other ideas that you are practicing, we’d love to hear about it.  Please tell Pastor Brian or share with the church office

Volunteer cooking opportunity with the Agape Ministry
The AGAPE student ministry at ISU is seeking volunteers to cook for its 6 pm Monday evening meals for about 20 people.  Recipes and ingredients are provided. Just show up at about 4 pm and cook.  One to two people are needed each time.  Staying to eat and clean up afterward are optional.  Cooks are needed on the following dates:
                       March 23     March 30      April 27
Those who are interested or have questions should contact Phil Grizzard at (309) 750-7925.

Meet and Eat Friday March 13 @ 11:00 am
You are invited to share lunch and conversation with members and friends of the congregation at the next Meet and Eat lunch on Friday, March 13th at 11:00.    The Feeding the Soul Committee will be providing the main dish of mini meatloaves, with yummy side dishes.  Come feed your soul as well as your body.  

Through the Bible in 2026 –The Bible Project
Come share in a journey to better understand the books of scripture and how they fit together into one story using fantastic resources from BibleProject. We will be featuring two short videos per week that will bring us through the whole of scripture and key concepts in a year.

Supporting the Ministry Together:

FBC

      • Online Giving 
      • Lenten Art Project 
        As we reflect on the parable of the four soils through Lent, we would like your help in creating a visual meditation that illustrates different ways of ‘Tending the Soil of our Souls’. 

            • Take a 5”x7” canvas panel from the table in the front of the sanctuary
            • Use whatever media you wish on the canvas panel
            • Turn it in during the six weeks of Lent and we will add it to the display.

Contact Us: 

Office Hours —
Mon. -Thurs.– 9 am -1:30 pm.; Fri: 9 am – 11 am

Office Phone – (309)-662-4253
Church Office: Secretary@fbcblm.org/ 309-662-4253
Pastor Brian: Brian@fbcblm.org/920-924-6857
Director of Children and Youth Ministries: Michelle@fbcblm.org/618-303-3630
Vespers Coordinator & Praise Team Leader: Allison@fbcblm.org/309-846-0403