« March 26, 2006 Bulletin | Main | April 2, 2006 Bulletin »
April 01, 2006
April Newsletter
Pastor’s Pen
Sometimes bad news really shocks. For example when the news broke from a small town in Tennessee this past month that Mary Winkler, a totally sweet and loving wife murdered her husband Matthew, a popular Church of Christ pastor. Nobody in town, nobody in the church could imagine this happening. Within a year after he came as pastor the church grew from 140 to 200 largely due to his dynamic personality. His wife was one of those model young pastor’s wives, pretty, totally supportive, terrific mom, as beloved as her husband. But she shot her husband dead in the bathroom and took off with the kids. The news spread like wildfire because when really shocking things happen, shell-shocked readers whose reflexes are worn out by over-exposure to tales of atrocity actually blink. The task of the news has become to find new ways to make us blink when our blinking-reflexes are about shot. We’re used to hearing of appalling atrocities. In fact, horror makes popular entertainment. Ordinary people will go to the movies to watch make-believe chain saw massacres, or the like. It’s now old-hat when the evening news tells of suicide bombings—that is, when an ordinary girl or fellow with a future full of promise straps on a vest filled with explosives and blows-up herself in order to kill as many other people as possible. We find our eyes narrowing with contempt when we hear of big-time executives looting the till. We know we’d never do that. We gawk as “reality shows” display ordinary people doing outrageous things. Jerry Springer and Howard Stern are very rich because an awful lot of ordinary people like to watch sleaze on TV. We’re used to highly paid celebrities, famous for being famous, selling their souls cheap. But when the un-seamy side of life, the totally decent produces a murder, apparently in cold blood, something inside says with great alarm, “Who can know what lurks inside of any of us anymore?” Is there a safe place? Are you safe from me? Am I safe from you? Are there good and decent people still—I mean, beyond me, of course—some without the possibility of becoming the actors in the next shock-story? But it’s ordinary people who do these horrendous things—people who knew they would never be the focus of a news story like this. Perhaps the foundation idea in the Gospel is that God believes in people. Paul wrote, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God didn’t send His Son to help out superior people but to embrace prodigal sons and daughters. “He came to seek and to save the lost.” Little do most of us realize that we are actually included in “the lost”. Every time we’re shocked by a really awful news story about a lovely pastor’s wife shooting her husband dead, it’s a reminder that “the lost” includes all the ideal, lovely folk you and I admire most. I look in the mirror and see someone lost. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” In the church we should huddle together to build each other up, forgiving one another like crazy because each of us is as erring as the next. In the church we cling to God’s mercy, encouraging one another to love and good works because there is a tendency in every one of us that can produce a grim news story. And for every tragic news story that makes the front page there are countless awful sorrows that seethe in private. C.S. Lewis signed off many of his letters, “Under the mercy.” Not, “Yours in Christ,” or any of the other cheery complimentary closes that serve up just a bit of self-advertising piety, but “Under the mercy.” Under God’s mercy is where we all are, and need to remember it. And there let us cling to His forgiveness and reflect it and do all we can to build one another up so that we do not fall when we face that unique temptation that can finally reveal that our feet are made of clay. The Wednesday before the Friday that Mary Winkler shot her husband, do you suppose any one thought this possible? How about the day before, Thursday? How about the hour before she pulled the trigger? It is simple realism that any of us is capable of the unimaginable. Here at Faith Church, and wherever you are who read these lines, let us be members one of another, connected by love and mutual care, so that we serve to heal those deep wounds that fester way down deep in many of us, to sweeten the deep bitternesses that nurture the impulses that turn an “ideal person” into a murderer, a thief, into a you-name-it. The capacity in each of us for doing conspicuous evil is tragically creative. Pastor Stuart D. RobertsonWorship Information
April 2nd – Sermon: “The Disciple of Jesus” OT: I Kings 19: 19 - 21 NT: John 1: 35 - 51 CommunionApril 9th – Sermon: “A View From the Eve of Palm Sunday”
Palm Sunday
OT: I Kings 17: 1 - 11
NT: John 12: 1 - 11
April 13th – Sermon: “We Wish to See Jesus”
Maundy Thursday
Isaiah 53
John 12: 20 – 26
John 12: 27 – 33
John 12: 34- 41
John 12: 42 – 50
John 13: 1 - 15
April 16th – Sermon: “The Gospel According to St. Mary Magdalene”
Easter (Communion)
OT: Hosea 6: 1 - 3
NT: John 20: 1 – 2, 11- 18
April 23rd – Youth Sunday
April 30th – Sermon: “Faith After Easter”
OT: Micah 4: 1 - 5
NT: John 20: 19 - 31
The Bible and the Coal Basket
The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?" The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water." The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was "impossible to carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!" "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. "Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.” That is the work of God in our lives: to change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son. Take time to read a portion of God's word each day. Author unknownThank You Card
Dear friends of Faith, Thank you so much for your generosity. It is such a relief for me to know that I have enough funding for my trip and a comfort to know that you care and are praying for me and my trip. God bless you! Thanks again, Lots of love, Lana N Johnston“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all” --Acts 4: 33
Testimony
I’m sure there is a six-bit word for it, but for some forty years I ran in circles around the truth. Running away from the truth was ultimately impossible. Like a vortex, it kept drawing me back. Truth gives value to all that is worth having and guides my life toward its conclusion. Living outside the truth is not natural because it is within each and every one of us. God revealed this as His new covenant with the Israelites to Jeremiah (31:33), “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on the hearts.” Truth is God’s law and it is always with us, hence the saying, “Let go…Let God.” Truth doesn’t always lend itself to be understood, but faith fills in the cracks. Like the Sun emerging from behind a cloud, God’s word illuminates my world. As long as I fix my eyes on Jesus I will know which way to go, for He is the way, and the truth, and the light. Go with God.
Sunday Evening Bible Study
We will meet 4 more times before the summer break, March 26, April 9, April 23 and April 30 all at the Stewart’s home. We will then break for the summer. We will have a picnic sometime during the summer and plan to resume next fall as usual. We are still studying Mark and having a great time with this gospel. Please note, we will not have Bible Study on April 2 (due to conflicts) and April 16 which is Easter. If you have any questions, contact Jane Stewart.“We Got to Know Each Other”
“Getting to know you” was the theme of the Faith Women’s Luncheon held on Saturday, March 4. Eating together always is a good way to communicate, but we started off by singing the familiar (mostly) show tune from “The King and I.” After lunch many keepsakes, memories, and insights were shared with the group. Special quilts, a bible, and a wedding dress worn by three generations of the Kuhn family was modeled by Kris Stith. Wouldn’t you know she still fit in it beautifully? One of the tables was covered with gifts for newborns, to be used by the Life Care Services, which was our small Mission Project. For the Planning Committee, Grieke ToebesLetter from Rich Anderson
Stuart, I always love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. It is very difficult to talk about the war and what is going on, and I understand people being critical. I myself was not very excited about the decision to invade Iraq, and I am bothered by the lack of the WMD etc, etc. While in Iraq I had many conversations with officers and enlisted. The thinking generally, is that while some people question the reasons for going, it is understood that the situation that has developed due to the presence of Zarqawi and other terrorists is completely different. The men we are fighting (if you can call them that) are not fighting for freedom, but rather fighting to suppress their fellow countrymen, and they are the same malicious bunch that have been kidnapping and murdering people for the last 20 to 30 years. We are very thankful for the prayers. I'm pretty confident that God cannot be pleased by much of what people do, but we are on the side of preserving the lives of innocent people, and extending basic freedoms to the oppressed (having been there now I think that those that argue that we are now engaged in something immoral are flat wrong). The US has of course it's own self interest, but it doesn't seem that those in anyway are contrary to those of the Iraqi people who for the most part want many of the same things that most people want. I think that thoughtful people, even liberals must at sometime come to grips with the idea that at some point there is a moral difference. If we do not to make an effort to seriously consider the issue, and be decisive, then we will be paralyzed in the moral relativism. In a broken world such as this the choice may be the lesser of two evils (it's hard to call war a desired event). I was blessed to be in a role in which I wore the uniform of a warrior and played the role of a humanitarian, the best job in my view in the entire country. Our troops didn't always do things that I liked. Some troops treated the Iraqi's poorly, although these were the minority. Many of the troops, and even my interpreter were Christians of one sort or another. Sargon (my interpreter), as I mentioned before, was an Assyrian Christian (not sure if they have reunited with Rome, they were independent for a long time...and he said that there had been much corruption in the Assyrian Church unfortunately). I'd have to say that Sargon's was a great guy with a good heart, but his speech was a little coarse (but then so was Luther's apparently). Sargon and I would joke with around with each other that the Armored Cav's solution to everything was to shoot it, or blow it up, but it was our job to put the good face on the Army in Tal Afar and Sargon and I did that pretty effectively. The Army unfortunately is not full of angels (I'd say that the Navy has even fewer angels, and their speech is by far worse). I'm certain that God can use imperfect instruments to accomplish His will. I'd like to think that God arranged for things in my career to happen in such away that I ended up in the exact place that I went, where I could be a great help, and of course come home without my head in the clouds (which can't happen when very few people care or are interested in what you did, except Jen and Mom). By the way this gives me only the slightest hint of how the guys in Vietnam must have felt, although they went through far worse during both the deployment, and the return. I would be happy to do a small presentation at Faith. Even the liberals might want to hear it considering that I never fired my weapon in Iraq, we benefited the poorest and neediest of the people of Iraq, and even they would have to acknowledge that the enemies in Tal Afar are basically religious thugs/ or thugs pretending to be religious, and not freedom fighters. I'll put together a brief digital picture slide show to bring with me. I like to tell people about it because I had no idea what was really going on there until I went. It's not hard to understand, but it's just so filtered and politicized by the time it gets to the average person that the essence of it has been distorted. 3 ACR is the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, not stationed in Fort Carson, but may be moving to Fort Hood, TX soon. v/r Rich AndersonUpcoming Events
April 16 – Easter Brunch You are invited to our Easter Celebration Brunch. Enjoy the egg hunt for the children as well as fruit and pastries for all.April 30 – Alice Landolt's China Mission Heritage Trip & Pitch-In Lunch
Alice's Presentation: 11 a.m.
Pitch-In Lunch: noon
Alice Landolt, whose parents and grandparents were Presbyterian missionaries to China, will share about her Mission Heritage Trip to China this last fall. She and her husband Robert were invited by the Chinese government, along with descendants of other missionaries who had been involved in the founding of the Suqian People's Hospital, to its 100th Anniversary Celebration in Suqian, North Jiangsu Province, China. Alice's grandparents, Will and Nettie Junkin, were part of the Presbyterian Mission that founded the hospital in 1905. Alice will show slides of their very meaningful trip and special experiences as guests of the Suqian hospital, municipality, and the 1925 Christian Church, which was founded by her grandfather.
June 4 – Mitford Tea for Women
The plans are in the works for our 2nd Non-Annual Tea. All women are welcome. Bring your daughter and bring a friend. This is back by popular demand after the response from last spring’s fine tea menu (with cucumber sandwiches) and millinery fashion show.
Thank you from Life Care Services
LifeCare is very grateful for your continued support through your generous gifts of new baby onesies, sleepers, and especially the hand-stitched blankets and hand-knitted sweaters to our ministry. We are privileged to minister to the practical, emotional, and spiritual needs of women and families facing unplanned pregnancies. Your prayers and support make a life-affirming difference. Thank you from our hearts!Sincerely,
Dana M. Hobson
Director
DON’T FORGET!! Sunday, April 2nd daylight savings time begins. All your clocks need to be moved forward one hour.
THE LIVERMORES UPDATE
The ministry of Kristen and Scott Livermore is one of the missions that Faith Church supports. They work with Campus Crusade for Christ in Orlando, Florida. Scott grew up in Indiana and joined the staff of Student Ventures shortly after graduating from Purdue. Kristen taught elementary school after graduating from Wheaton College and then earned her Masters’ Degree at Vanderbuilt. Scott has worked extensively with high school students where he discipled students through direct relationships. He began his work in Phoenix at Thunderbird High School in 1981 and was then transferred to Chattanooga in the fall of 1988. Scott and Kristen were married in the fall of 1990. Kristen then began her ministry by discipling high school girls. They now have four children – Jessica, Melissa, Daniel, and Jonathan. The children are doing well and are functioning at a high level in school; they are active in school, athletics, music and church. There is the usual chaos in the household as might be expected with four children in the family. After 16 years of working directly with students, Scott and Kristen moved to Orlando where he took on a new role – establishing ways of reaching students. Scott helped found the Challenge Alliance and selected a new name for his department – The Coaching Center. Here a new endeavor was launched – “The Coaching Minute” - a daily one minute radio feature providing training and encouragement for persons willing to share Christ with teenagers. It is felt that training students and youth workers to go to the schools and share their faith is the most effective method to reach unchurched teenagers who at this time in their lives need hope and direction in our culture where all manner of negative influences are out to destroy their faith. This program coaches ministry leaders over the phone. The ministry is now moving forward with some exciting new plans. Prayers are being answered for more coaches. A new spirit has come about because of cooperation with the Campus Ministry of Campus Crusade. This has created access to college students for the Student Venture staff. Also the staff in Florida is in the process of transferring some of the most important materials from written form to the interactive training modules. Scott states that God continues to meet their needs according to His riches in glory and that the Faith Presbyterian community is a tangible expression of His riches. Submitted by Fran ThompsonTAXES
A tax assessor came one day to a poor Christian to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay. The following conversation took place:"What property do you possess?" asked the assessor.
"I am a very wealthy man," replied the Christian.
"List your possessions, please," the assessor instructed.
The Christian said:
"First, I have everlasting life, John 3:16
Second, I have a mansion in heaven, John 14:2
Third, I have peace that passes all understanding, Philippians 4:7
Fourth, I have joy unspeakable, 1 Peter 1:8
Fifth, I have divine love which never fails, 1 Corinthians 13:8
Sixth, I have a faithful wife, Proverbs 31:10
Seventh, I have healthy, happy obedient children, Exodus 20:12
Eighth, I have true, loyal friends, Proverbs 18:24
Ninth, I have songs in the night, Psalms 42:8
Tenth, I have a crown of life, James 1:12"
The tax assessor closed his book, and said, "Truly you are a very rich man, but your property is not subject to taxation.” I pray that all of us will have this kind of tax free "wealth."
Birthdays
April 1 Ian Wark
April 5 David Stith
April 7 Katie Dale
April 7 Tristan Lynn
April 9 David Sparks
April 12 David Landgrebe
April 13 Robert Dale
April 13 Donna Lofgren
April 18 Travis Dale
April 23 Brandon Bosler
April 29 Liz Evers
April 30 Camille Townsend Hanson
April 30 Oliver Janovitz
Anniversaries
April 3 Ward & Camille Hanson
April 17 James & Marti McIntyre
April 23 Thomas & Peggy Housley
Community Worship Services
• Sun., Apr. 2 St. Mary’s Healthcare 2:30pm
• Sun., Apr. 9 Tippecanoe Villa 1:30pm
• Sun., Apr. 9 Friendship House 3:00pm
• Sun., Apr. 16 No Davis Manor
• Sun., Apr. 23 Rosewalk Commons 2:30pm
The Deacons invite you to become a part of this ministry
Schedule Information
You can contact Pastor Robertson by calling the office, 743-3683, on Wednesday mornings 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pastor Robertson's day off is Monday. Outside of office hours please feel free to call Pastor Robertson at home at 497-2162.Worship With Us
We invite you to join in the worship of God each Sunday morning at 9:30am and each Wednesday morning at 7:00am. We also invite you to participate in the prayers, fellowship, work and activities of this church. For more information about this opportunity to be involved at Faith Presbyterian Church, please call or talk to any member of Session, Pastor Robertson or call the church office at 743-3683.Phone:
765-743-3683
E-Mail: office@faithpresbyterian.org
Pastor: Stuart D. Robertson
Parish Associate: Ralph Smith
Admin. Asst.: Stephanie Cardwell
Posted by faithpres at April 1, 2006 08:05 AM