July 22, 2024 – Faith Community Church of the Nazarene strongly values being involved in the local community, something that heavily inspired their major community event on Saturday, July 20th.
This was a “Community Fireworks Party,” a post-fourth of July celebration to continue the patriotic spirit within our community.
The church offered a wide array of activities for the evening, offering families a chance to fellowship and for kids to have a night of fun. It included free food, water slides, a dunk tank, gift card giveaway, and of course, plenty of fireworks.
This event was no small feat – there was a large group of hands involved with putting it together, such as those who prepared or bought food, set up tables, ensured everyone’s safety, handled registrations, and other responsibilities.
Among these individuals helping to make the party happen were Cindy Deisher and Sarah Bishop, two nurses who work for the church. While Deisher was pulled away by a little boy who had scraped his knee, Bishop explained why the church feels it’s necessary to plan these events.
She talked about the church in the book of Acts from the Bible, which encouraged believers to fellowship together and to know one another on a more personal level. Bishop stated, “We just really take on that model of building community and connection, because spreading love is through showing, sharing, and serving.”
That idea of showing, sharing, and serving is definitely shared by Lead Pastor David Williams, who has been Pastor of the church since November of 2022.
Spring of 2023, he and others involved in the church began planning monthly events within the community, such as the Community Fireworks Party, to bring people together and invite locals into their church’s mission.
Though the Community Fireworks Party has been hosted for years now at Faith Community Church of the Nazarene, it became a part of the monthly community events instituted by Williams when he began introducing them last year.
Williams explained how influential these events are in serving the community and reflecting the love of God for His people. He stated, “The reason that we do this, the reason that we love our community, is because God first loved us.”
He went on further to say, “God has invited us into His community, and following the commandment – the greatest commandment – to love God with all of who we are, and to love others as ourselves. We’re trying to do that in really practical ways.”
That devotion to love others as one loves oneself has certainly been displayed through the actions of the church members to help with the event as they engaged with kids and fulfilled other tasks to make sure the party was a hit.
As the sun went down, further opportunities for sharing the Gospel were given to a few attendees. 2 men shared their testimonies to the audience in attendance, sharing how they moved from troubled pasts to embracing the love of Christ and experiencing major life transformations.
After everyone had eaten and gotten a chance to dunk Pastor Williams in the dunk tank, the show began. Kids swarmed the front lawn when helpers began giving out sparklers for them to play with for a few minutes, and once they had blown out, the fireworks display started. An array of dazzling lights shone throughout the night sky as audience members watched in delight.
Faith Community Church of the Nazarene looks forward to their next event for the community, which is currently being planned by members of the church and will hopefully be announced in the weeks to come.
In the meantime, they invite members of the community to attend their regular services, offered in English and Spanish, as well as discipleship classes hosted throughout the week, and a monthly food distribution. Those interested can view their website or contact the office at www.faithnaz.org.