It’s been awhile….

I know, I know, I have been lax in keeping up with this.  I will be on renewal leave for the month of July.  Thanks to all the lay speakers who will be preaching this month.  I know they will be a blessing!

 

Easter Weekend

We have a busy weekend planned.  Hope to see you.  It begins Thursday night at 7 PM with our Holy Thursday Communion Service.  Where we will celebrate communion on the night that Jesus instituted it.  The Senior Choir will sing.     A question to think about:  How do we benefit from communing together with the body of Christ?

Good Friday, we will have an Ecumenical Service from Noon to 1 PM at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Wenonah.  It will be a service of scripture, prayer and silence.  Good Friday Night, we will have a Family Fun Easter gathering at 6:30 PM in MConnell Hall.  At the same time, the youth will be starting the B1 Famine to fight Hunger. 

Saturday morning, we will have an Easter Egg Hunt and light lunch sponsored by Eve Circle for children up to 6th grade. 

Easter Sunday morning, the Sunrise Service will be held at 6:30 AM outside of the church.  Wayne Histand will be speaking.  Our regular services will be at 9:15 and 11:10 AM.  The chime choir will be playing at the 9:15 AM service.  Do prepare for Easter:  What does the fact that Jesus faced death and defeated it mean for us today?

April 3, 2011

We are continuing along the path with Jesus toward Jerusalem and meeting the persons who he encountered along the way.  This Sunday, he heals a man born blind.  The Pharisees cannot wrap their minds around the fact that Jesus was able to heal him.  They were blind to the possibility of God at work.  Do we do the same today? 

As we prepare for Sunday morning, we should begin to ask these questions:

1.  Why are some people healed while others continue to suffer?  What is our understanding of what it means to be healed?  What is the nature of God’s healing?

2. Why do we sometimes close our eyes to the possibility of God doing a new thing?

3.  Is it possible to see miracles in today’s world?

March 27, 2011

This Sunday we are reading the story from John 4 where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well.  This story challenges us to think about the boundaries that are set up for us and that we set up ourselves in relating to others.  Jesus ignores the boundaries.  Some questions to use as we prepare for the message this week. 

If God knows everything about us, why should we take time to pray? 

How can I overcome the desire to make snap judgments about people who I meet?

Sunday March 20, 2011

This week we will be reading about Nicodemus in John 3:1-18.  We will be talking about being born again or born from above.  We need to get away from what those words have come to mean in our culture and understand what it was that Jesus was really talking about.  In order to be ready for Sunday, here is a question to think about.

• What does someone look like who’s been “born again”?

• Why was Jesus so tough on those who were living the “religious” life?

March 13, 2011

We have entered Lent.  It is the season in which we prepare spiritually  for Easter.  We will be looking at how we can be the church without fear.  We begin this week by looking at temptation–something all of us face.  We will be reading Matthew 4:1-11.  Some questions to use to help get ready for Sunday:

From where does temptation come?

How can I lean on God to help overcome temptation?

Sunday Feb. 27, 2011

This Sunday we are celebrating Pastor Gene’s ministry at Mnatua. Please join us for lunch at Noon. During the service, we will be continuing the series on the Sermonon the Mount. We will be looking at why Jesus tells us not to worry in Matthew 6. It is more than just a “Don’t worry be happy” statement. It has to do with how willing we are to trust God for the everyday things so that we can focus our attention on the Kingdom of God first. If God is faithful today, God will be faithful for tomorrow.

Eve Circle did a “spring” cleaning this morning. The church looks great!! Come check it out and thanks to all who helped.

A question: How do we sustain our faith for the long run? What is helpful to you in doing so?

Sunday, February 20, 2011

We are continuing on with the sermon series based on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.  This week, we are reading verses 38-48.  Jesus really hits it hard in this chpater.  He tells us that we have to be better than the “super-religious” in terms of our righteousness.  Then he challenges us to think about how even the motivations for things what we do can be sinful.  Then he tells us that our actions proceed from the state of our spiritual lives.  This week he goes even a bit further to tell us that we have to love and forgive those who wrong us.  What he really is trying to do is to get us to re-think justice.  We look at justice as an eye for an eye and that people deserve to pay for what they do.  Jesus calls us instead to forgiveness and restoration.  Why would he do that?

Some things to think about: 

What happens to our relationship with people when we retaliate?

What happens to ourselves when we strike back at people who wrong us?

How is the way that Jesus calls us to turn the other cheek similar to how we have been treated by God when we have sinned?

February 13, 2011

This Sunday we are continuing the discussion on righteousness. We will look at Matthew 5:21-37 in which Jesus begins to outline what it means to be more righteous than the Pharisees. Not an easy thing.

What is the difference between external and internal righteousness?

How do our hearts get pure so that they are right?

What does lining in a relationship with God have to do with righteousness?

February 6,2011

We will celebrate communion this Sunday and begin a series of sermons on righteousness. The scripture we will be looking at over the next several weeks is the Sermon on the Mount beginning in Matthew 5. The focus this week will be salt and light.

Some questins for us to think about:

1. In what ways are we salt and light?
2. What does salt and light have to do with righteousness?
3. How does Jesus’ work fulfill the law and the prophets and connect us to that same work?

See you on Sunday?