Faith Presbyterian Church

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July 01, 2006

July Newsletter

Pastor's Pen

Most of us long for peace; strife is painful.

As Protestants I think many folk have thought of unity as negotiable, so long as we agree.

Perceptions of the meaning of purity have been the stumbling block for peace and unity among us.

By promising to further the purity of the church we concede that we’re not there yet. Though I bless you at the close of each worship service, “May God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do His will,” we’re still a work in progress. Not a one of us is perfect, that is, pure.

Purity has many aspects. At its core it has to do with singleness of mind in our motivations. As Jesus willed to do the will of the Father who sent Him, our goal is to do this will too. But mixed in with this ideal are a host of other motivations that move us. In the longing for personal well-being, financial security, safety, happiness, etc., many of us aren’t sure we can trust God to take care of all this. So we follow the prevailing standards of operation, sometimes asking God’s blessing on what “works” more than seeking His will.

Purity points towards faithfulness in letting the Bible guide our beliefs about God, salvation, and the Christian life. Purity points toward how we do our business, how we relate to one another, and how we relate to other people in the world. A 19th century Christian thinker wrote a book called, “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing.” We find this hard. It is only natural to want to “keep my cake and eat it too.”

In recent years the hot-button “purity” issues have had to do with sexual relationships, with the tolerances following the trends of our day. Since homosexuality has been so much in the news I think that some folk think of purity in sexual relationship as having to do essentially with rejecting same-sex sexual relationships. Meanwhile many marriages are hardly rip-roaring success stories of conjugal joy. Meanwhile divorce ends the litany of ill-spent affection between many Christian couples.

What God created as one of the most tantalizing and joyous parts of our humanity has produced more anxiety and sorrow than joy because it has not been our delight in a “pure” way. I am convinced that purity brings great happiness; that there is so much sadness suggests a lack of “willing one thing.”
At this point I’m not sure how Faith Church is going to resolve its disappointment with the General Assembly’s acceptance of the Report of the PUP Task Force. You will be hearing much more of this in days to come. I will be writing up my impressions of the General Assembly and sending this to you as I sent my first letter concerning the PUP report.

We will have a congregational meeting to discuss this. This matter affects us all.

Meanwhile please pray that we will be submissive to the will of God and that as we move along we may have the sense of God’s leading.

Pastor Stuart D. Robertson

Clerk's Corner

The Sunday worship service on the patio is scheduled for July 2, 2006.

Approval was given for installation of a new sound amplification system.

Pastor Robertson was granted a personal leave of absence for the period July 13-27, 2006.

A special Session meeting is scheduled to be held July 11, 2006 to discuss the implications of the recent General Assembly actions.

J.M. Honig, Clerk of Session

Worship Information

July 9th
Sermon: “The Cost of Good Health”
OT: II Kings 5: 1 - 14
NT: John 5: 1 - 9
Communion

July 16th
Sermon: “When God Seems Silent”
Ralph Smith preaching
OT: I Samuel 3: 1 - 10
NT: Mark 6: 14 - 29

July 23rd
Sermon: “Determining the Church’s D.N.A.”
Ralph Smith preaching
OT: Psalm 23
NT: Mark 6: 30 – 34, 53 - 56

July 30th
Sermon: “What About the Sabbath?”
OT: Isaiah 56: 1 - 8
NT: John 5: 10 - 18

Thank You - Thank You

Dubikovsky Toddler Shower

Symphony on the Prairie

Worship and Picnic on the Patio

Returning........Organ Appreciation Class

Pastor’s Pen written by Matt Stith

“…and he walked his days under African skies…”
Lately, I find myself humming more and more snatches of songs I know that have something, anything to do with Africa. This is, of course, because it is now only a few weeks from the date on which I, along with 19 other representatives of the Presbytery of the Northern Plains, will depart for our adventure in Kenya. As the date draws nearer, the excitement builds and the songs in my head get louder. I hope that, in some small way, I can convince you to sing along.
How can you do that? There are a few possibilities:

1) Send something along. This one is pretty much just for those who are in town. Blair Moorhead and I are allowed a total of 200 pounds of checked baggage on the flights from Fargo to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Nairobi. Like all of the participants in our group, we are pledged to use at least half of that allowance for supplies that we can get more easily than our Kenyan partners can. Blair and I have asked for donations of school supplies, and there is a collection started in the narthex of the church. If you can get your donation (pens, pencils, chalk, markers, crayons, paper, scissors…pretty much anything!) in by June 11, we will pack it up and take it along. And if we get more than 100 pounds, I’ll pack less of my own stuff to get the donations in—let’s see how little I can really get by with! We would also love to take along drawings, letters, pictures, (new) ball caps, t-shirts, etc. as gifts to the people of our sister congregation in Kenya and
other friends that we meet there. Such things can be left in the church office or given to me.

2) Follow along. If you send me an email (at mattstith@cpcwf.org) asking me to do so, I will add you to the list to receive whatever email updates we are able to send from Kenya. These will likely be brief and irregular, possibly just, as Blair put it, notification of our “alive/not alive status,” but we’d love to know that you are as interested as we are in what’s happening over there.

3) Pray for us. This is the big one. There is nothing you could do that would be more valuable than to make time to pray for us. Whether it’s every day, one time, or somewhere in between, I know that your prayers will support us and lift up our time and ministry in Kenya to God, and there is nothing more important than that. Simple, general prayers for our safety in travel, our good health, and, most importantly, the success of our efforts to build a vital partnership in Christ with our brothers and sisters of the Chogoria presbyteries would be just fine.

But if you’d like to pray in more detail, here are some specifics that might help:

The members of our group are: Sharon Secor and Matt Stith (co-leaders), Heather Albertson, Cody Garrison, Blake Haas, Kim Jarabek, Jessica Jones, Jake Joraanstad, Hannah Kingsley, Libby Landers, Nancy Legerski, Jackie Mangnall, Marshall Monda, Blair Moorhead, Carey Morrison, Alex Olson, Sami Pangrac, Jill Peterson, Taylor Shultz, and Dan Wheeler.

Our rough itinerary is as follows:
June 21: Travel from Fargo
June 22: Arrive in Nairobi, bus to Chogoria
June 23-24: Visit and work on service project in Chogoria
June 25: Worship with sister congregations throughout Chogoria presbyteries
June 26-30: Visit and work in Chogoria
July 1: Tour Sweetwater’s Game Park
July 2: Worship in Chogoria, bus to Nairobi
July 3: Visit different ministries in Nairobi
July 4-6: Tour Maasai Mara Game Park
July 7: Return home

Thank you for all of your support and prayers, already received and yet to come. We will do our best to represent you, our church, and our Lord Jesus to the very best of our ability, as we walk for just a few days under African skies.

Pre-Kindergarten – Kindergarten Sunday School Class

I am really impressed!

On the 14th and 21st of May I attended the Pre-kindergarten - K class taught by Amber Latour and Lou Ann Johnston. They start every class out by reciting, from memory, the Lord‚s prayer and the 23rd Psalm.

At that age, I would barely have known my name.

And you should hear Amber do her impression of a serpent. It certainly got my attention.
This Church is so blessed with great teachers and wonderful students.
I hope you all have a wonderful summer and return to your classes next Fall by inviting a friend to attend with you. --John Miller

Birthdays

Community Worship Services

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

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.

Faith Presbyterian Church
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 July 1, 2006 09:14 AM

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