First Baptist Church, Somerville, NJ

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Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Somerville website! Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. It's our hope that you will take this opportunity to get acquainted with our church family and various ministries to the church and the wider community. Please feel free to browse the various links and if you are in the Somerville area, please come and join us in morning worship as we extend God's love and peace to you in Christian fellowship.

Pastor Loreno R. Flemmings

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World Day of Prayer • March 8, 2014

Streams in the Desert

The 2014 World Day of Prayer service will begin at the first sunrise on March 7, 2014, in the Pacific region and, following the Earth’s orbit, will spread all around the world.

This year, the women of the WDP Committee of Egypt invite us into a time of worship with the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” With these words as backdrop, we are invited to learn about Egypt’s history and rich cultural diversity. A young Egyptian woman shares her experiences in Tahrir Square—where she has found hope

in dry places.

An exploration of the Samaritan woman’s conversation with Jesus at the well echoes the cooperation between young people of different faiths during the Arab Spring, and prompts us to ask where we might have an unexpected, inspiring conversation. This moment offers us an immense opportunity for deep dialogue and reflection about the borders that we, like Jesus and the Samaritan woman, have to cross to get to streams of living water.

The woman by the well has a theological conversation with Jesus that ends with action. Our motto—“informed prayer leads to prayerful action”—follows that example. Jesus and the woman were able to transcend their religious and cultural differences and build a common ground that then empowered the woman to bring change to her community. The WDP USA community is invited to follow through in areas of concern lifted up by this year’s service, including the availability of clean water, support for girls’ education worldwide, intergenerational and interfaith dialogue, and the Arab Spring. Through the original song “She Who Trusts in Me,” participants in WDP are invited to imagine themselves as springs of God’s living water.