What’s Happening 12/19/25

Congratulations to Jesse Emmons on his recent baptism! Forward Church family, let’s continue to pray for Jesse as he grows in faith and walks out the calling God has placed on his life.

Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We welcome to the Forward Church family new members, Ross & Taylor Heinz.
Romans 12:5 – “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

This Sunday, we will be taking up our Friends Forever Fund offering after the second song of the worship service.

Our FFF goal is $250,000, and these resources will advance the ministry of Forward in five significant ways. When we meet this goal, we will be able to fund the following:

1. Facility Expansion
We will expand our worship center to seat more people, create larger spaces for our Propel and Merge ministries, add more rooms in our forKids area, and enlarge our restrooms. This will allow us to better serve our church family and the many guests God brings our way.

2. Mission of Hope Meal Packing
We are once again partnering with Mission of Hope to pack meals for families in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where a severe hunger crisis is ongoing. On February 21st, we will gather together to pack 40,000 meals to be shipped and distributed to those in need. At 35 cents per meal, this project will cost $14,000.

3. Island Encounters — Fiji
We will purchase a large ministry tent for Island Encounters in Fiji. This tent will be used for youth outreach events and community ministry throughout the year.

4. SOAR Ministry Support
We will support SOAR, a ministry helping men and women find healing from sexual abuse, bringing the hope and freedom of Christ to those who are hurting.

5. Forward Church Mission Partners
We will continue supporting the local and global mission work being carried out by faithful members of Forward Church.

Your generosity has the power to impact lives for eternity.

Luke 16:9 (AMP) says:
“And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.”

Your giving truly helps us make Friends Forever.

If you cannot be at the service this weekend, you can still participate by giving online.

Visit:
forwardchurchfamily.com/giving
Select Friends Forever Fund in the dropdown menu to give your tax-deductible gift.

** To help reduce transaction fees for the church, please choose ACH bank transfer when setting up your payments. Credit card donations, as well as debit cards, include about a 3% processing fee. Choosing ACH (bank transfer) helps reduce those costs (30 cents per transaction) so more of your gift stays with Friends Forever.

Forward Church Family—Help Us Make Room This Christmas!

We’re grateful to see our worship services filled—praise the Lord! As we prepare for this Sunday’s Christmas service we want to ensure every guest can find a seat easily.

If you’re a long-time attendee or a member of Forward, we kindly ask that you sit toward the front of the sanctuary during the Christmas service. This simple step helps our visitors and newcomers feel welcomed and makes seating in the back more accessible for them.

We’re also asking for volunteers to park in the Walgreens lot or behind Bush-Keller to free up space on our main campus.

Thank you for your joyful willingness to make room for others and help every person feel at home this Christmas!

MERGE Christmas Party 2025!!
We had an amazing time and a terrific turnout at our 3rd Annual Merge Christmas Party! From delicious food to Christmas trivia and plenty of gifts, it was such a fun night. We’re incredibly grateful for this awesome group of young adults.

We’ll be taking a short break and will resume our Merge gathering on January 12, 2026, so be sure to mark your calendars. If you are a young adult (age 18-29), make plans to join us and bring a friend. We can’t wait to kick off the new year together!

🎶 forKids Christmas Handbell Choir— Ring in Christmas! 🎄

Get ready to make a joyful noise! Our forKids Christmas Handbell Choir will perform at the Christmas worship service on this Sunday, December 21st. Invite your family and friends, and join the fun as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Volunteer Opportunity: White Flag Shelter

Forward Church Family, we have an amazing opportunity to bless our community by volunteering with Southern Indiana’s White Flag Shelter—an emergency overnight shelter that opens its doors when temperatures drop below 35 degrees. This ministry is a partnership with one of Forward’s supported ministries, The Nomad Church Collective. The shelter operates from November 15 through April 15.

There are many ways to serve, including helping with dinner, laundry service, preparing bedding, and—most importantly—building relationships with guests.

If this sounds like a way you’d love to make a difference this winter, sign up soon!

👉 Learn more or volunteer at nomadchurch.org/volunteer

Share the Love of Christ – Serve at The Breakaway Recovery House

Join us once a month as we share a meal and the love of Christ with the ladies residing at The Breakaway Recovery House, our neighbors just across the alley from Forward Church. Our goal is to make these women feel welcomed, valued, and invited to worship with us if they don’t have a church home.

Volunteers from Forward Church will prepare a meal and/or spend time in fellowship with the residents. Women of Forward, if you’d like to help or learn more, please contact Tonia Hatfield at Hatfield912@gmail.com.

The Propel Youth Ministry will be taking a short break for the holidays. Propel will gather back together at the church on Wednesday, January 7th.

Open to all and meets Sunday mornings from 9-10am in the classroom behind the Worship Center. Join us as we start the book of James.

Contact Dave Hollander at dgchollander@yahoo.com with any questions.

The Tuesday Men’s Bible study is on holiday break. Study will resume on Tuesday, January 6th. All men are welcome.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, reach out to Vince Garmon at vinceg0710@gmail.com.

All men are welcome to join! Every Tuesday morning from 7-8am at Panera Bread on State Street. For any questions, reach out to Brent Kulwicki at brentkulwicki@gmail.com

If you are interested in becoming a member of Forward, contact Pastor Neil at neil@forwardchurchfamily.com!

The Chest of Joash provides an opportunity to give above and beyond the normal tithe. The money from it goes directly to work needed done on our building.

In 2 Chronicles 24 we find Joash repairing the temple and a chest was set outside of it for people to bring a tithe that was used to pay the workers restoring the temple. Verse 10 says, “And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.”

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have joyfully donated just as the Israelite officials and people did!

You can give to the Chest of Joash by clicking the button below and selecting “Chest of Joash” in the drop down menu.

We want you to know that you are not giving TO Forward Church, you are giving THROUGH Forward Church! Our commitment is to stewarding every dollar that God entrusts to us for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Join us online from anywhere every Sunday at 10:30am! You can stream our services here on our website! Just click “Watch Live” at the top of any page!

1 Peter 4:10, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”

We’re encouraging and challenging everyone to take the step to get connected in serving on a team with us at Forward! We have many opportunities to serve:

• forKids (Nursery, Toddlers/Twos, The Clubhouse/Pre-K, God City/K-1st, The Dig/2nd-5th)
• Propel Middle (meets Sunday mornings) and Propel High (meets Wednesday evenings)
• Greeters and Ushers
• Parking Team
• Tech Team

For any area you may be interested in or want more information on, click the “Serve With Us!” button below and we’ll get you started!