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First Presbyterian Church
is a Community called to love God through Worship and Prayer, receiving and serving our neighbors with the compassion of Christ, open to new beginnings and the spiritual growth of children, youth and adults.
First Presbyterian Church
214 E. Thayer Ave. Bismarck, ND
Phone: (701) 223-6091
OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY 8:00AM - 4:30PM
Email: firstpresbyterian@fpcbismarck.com
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First Presbyterian Childcare Center - (701)-258-7490
childcare@fpcbismarck.com OR cccasst@fpcbismarck.com
Here and now
We welcome you all to come worship
You can visit us at 214 E Thayer Ave. or
tune in at 10:00am Sunday to our Live Feed on Facebook
First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck
2024 SCHOLARSHIPS
The Scholarship Committee of First Presbyterian Church is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of scholarships for our church community. To be eligible for consideration to receive a scholarship, a student must be an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck or must have been an active participant in the life of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck for at least three years. The awards are given for students at any level of study beyond high school. Four years is the maximum for receiving scholarships: these need not be consecutive years. Graduate students may apply for scholarships, providing they are within the four year maximum.
The deadline to apply is May 17, 2024
Pastor Leanne's Message for the month of October 2024:
"Magic and Answered Prayer"
When kids are little, they don’t completely distinguish between magic and faith. To them, prayer is almost like wishing on a star, or presenting Santa with a wish list. We tell them that God loves them and answers prayer (because God does!), and they believe us and start dreaming. And in their innocence and non-complicated thinking they will ask God for everything from a new favorite toy to a request for help when Mom and Dad fight. Sometimes, I have found, that they don’t even remember what they pray… requests made to God can be impulse conversations –a prayer that God would supply them with the latest thing they saw online or help their teacher be patient. And in my eyes, it is normal not to understand the mystery of prayer – who of us adults can say we comprehend it all. At least they are learning that they can take everything, (and I do mean everything) to God in prayer.
But not so much for us adults. We have seen enough and experienced enough that we now know prayer is not like rubbing a rabbit’s foot. By now, all of us have prayed intently about things and situations for which we never felt we received an answer. God is no longer like Santa Claus - sometimes, we feel like answers to prayer are more like a spinning wheel from Wheel of Fortune. We ask, then we stand by in anticipation and anxiety and wonder at what point the wheel stops turning, and if, when it stops, we will get something good or something really disappointing. Everyone I know (myself included) has had to struggle with the feeling that prayer has failed and God has let them down. To some degree, I think, that somewhere in our deepest psyche, even adults struggle to separate faith from magic. We ask and don’t receive, then get pretty bent out of shape thinking that God ignored us, or worse, said no. Other times, I think we feel a bit entitled to getting everything on our wish list, after all we prayed in Jesus’s name and we are faithful to the church , so surely, we have an “in” with God that should count for some more goodies.
Other times though (and I have had this experience) the disappointment of unanswered prayer comes from the intensity of the need. We know that we weren’t praying for something trivial, that our lives and loves are urgently tied up in the requests we make before God, and despite our prayers, nothing changed.
That’s why it is important to learn that prayer is faith, not magic, and the faith is not about pressing the right buttons in heaven. Our faith is deeply connected to our daily conversations with God and our acquired trust in God’s wisdom and love which opened the throne of grace to our voices. I cannot explain why certain things don’t happen or why certain urgent prayers seem unanswered, but years of struggling in the presence of God have taught me this: prayer is essential to faith; prayer awakens trust, and when we cannot comprehend the actions of God, we know that God is good and God’s intent toward us is love. One can tell when faith is waning because one ceases to pray. There are answers we cannot perceive and mercies we do not understand because God is good… all the time.
The great theologian Karl Barth used to say that God’s answer to us is always yes, and we simply don’t understand the “yes” of God. I take that as my credo now and I believe it is true. Deeply imbedded in my disappointments and perceptions of unanswered prayer, God has a “yes” for me, for us. And in God’s time, we will know that is true.
Leanne
DO YOU HAVE A NEED?
ARE YOU WILLING TO HELP?
We encourage you to continue to love your neighbor well at this time. Hebrews 13:16 challenges us to“dowhat is good and to share, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”Thank you for being the Church.
Are you in need of assistance that you can not get help? Email firstpresbyterian@fpcbismarck or call 701-223-6091 and let us know how we can help.
WAYS TO GIVE:
For those who are unable to worship with us in church, here are a few ways that you can continue to give:
1. Online bill pay with your banking institution.
2. Click on the "Give Now" button above to donate today.
3. Mail checks to First Presbyterian Church, 214 E Thayer Ave, Bismarck, ND 58501.
Copyright 2013. First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck. All rights reserved.