Church News (Page 15)
How Your Pledge Supports Missions
As we are pledging to contribute to church funds, I thought that the congregation would like to know which organizations are supported by the church through the activities of the Missions & Social Concerns Committee. Our committee is a relatively small part of the church budget, but we provide funds for several important community groups as well as some missionary programs. Our social concerns are focused primarily on our local community where contributions can have a significant and immediate effect. …
All Saints Day
On Sunday November 7th we will spend time in worship to memorialize those dear ones who have died since All Saints Day one year ago. Please contact the church office and let us know the names of all those you would like to lift in worship that day.
Book Talk
Book Talk has successfully re-launched! Thirteen enthusiastic readers gathered in Fellowship Hall on October 6 to hear veteran presenter Mary Jane Lincoln talk about the entertaining book Running With Sherman, by Christopher McDougall. Next meeting: November 3, with Cindy Rushing commenting on the book Any Human Heart, by William Boyd. Cindy will also be recommending favorite titles from her own new book group. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Book Group will now begin meeting at a new start time: 2:00pm, which is a…
Notes on “The Widow & the Judge”
This Sunday we near the end of our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. I’m not sure about you, but the idea of praying continuously wears me out. Honestly, I feel like I have been! I feel especially like I’ve been praying for the end of this pandemic since it started, and it doesn’t look like it’s ended to me. I’ve been praying for our…
Notes on “The Laborers in the Vineyard”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. The focused parable is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. It must have been frustrating for those workers who worked the whole day in the heat of the sun to receive the same pay as those who only worked for one hour. It just doesn’t seem fair. I imagine the other groups…
Notes on “The Pharisee & the Tax Collector”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. What a moving parable this is! What an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves and to comfort ourselves… well at least if we identify more with the tax collector (think IRS) rather than the Pharisee (think of the uber-religious person). Does that cause some discomfort? It does for me. I’m a religious…
Notes on “The Mustard Seed”
I remember when I was in middle school, I went to my school’s library and grabbed a few books from the shelves. Needless to say, they were all books about plants. I read about how plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to make sugar and oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. I was so intrigued by all the diagrams of how everything works and even the chemical reactions themselves. The process of how plants utilize photosynthesis to create…
Notes on “The Pearl of Great Price”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. There are different elements present in this parable. We have the merchant, the object of his search (fine pearls), his surprise discovery (the one precious pearl), and the merchant’s act of selling everything he owned to buy that one precious pearl. By synthesizing every element in the parable to formulate…
Notes on “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like Yeast”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. We seem to value things that are tall. Go with me on this. We like towers. We like mountains. We often place importance on a person’s height. We like the spires on churches. We use phrases about being “built up” in positive ways. We tell people to “stand tall” in…
Notes on “Hospitality: the Good Samaritan”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. Once again, we enter into a familiar story. The Good Samaritan is surely one we’ve heard ourselves, we’ve heard a number of pop culture references, and perhaps we’ve even seen children or grandchildren or nieces/nephews perform skits. We know this story! Perhaps we even see ourselves in this story. We…
Short Stories by Jesus
Beginning in September and running through the end of October, we will embark on a study of the parables of Jesus as told in the Gospels. Each week will bring a parable that we might study, and especially examine in context. We will be guided in this series by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. Dr. Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School…