Inside this issue: F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U RC H N A M P A, I DA H O

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1 F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U RC H N A M P A, I DA H O Nampa First United Presbyterian Church Purpose Statement To bring people together to love and magnify God through worship, to minister to the needs of all His children, to fellowship in God's family, to spread the Good News, and to develop people to Christ-like maturity for their mission in the world. Office Hours Monday - Friday 9:00am -1:00pm Office firstpresnampa@gmail.com Website: Phone: (208) Fax: (208) Pastor Aaron Berkowitz alb733@gmail.com Phone: Pastor s Office Hours Mondays & Thursdays 10:30am -1:00pm Inside this issue: J U L Y Pastor s Message 2 Book Suggestions 3 General Fund Activity 3 Session/Deacons Highlights 3 Birthdays & Anniversaries 4 Nursery News 4 Movie Night 4 Youth Activities 5 PW Picnic 5 Kids Page 6 Calendar of Events 7

2 Page 2 As we study the ten commandments, we approach what I think is the most difficult commandment of all: You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Exodus 20:3-5 The whole Bible is about this command. Christian faith is about obeying it. We often mistake idol worship for ancient depictions of people in temples bowing down to strange statues. Idol worship seems like ancient paganism, except it isn t. Idol worship is believing in a god of our own making. In ancient times, people sacrificed animals to funny looking statues. While it is true that doesn't happen much anymore, idolatry has taken new forms. Yes, I am talking about money, sports, sex; these become more important than God, and so they are idols. But there are more subtle idols, like entertainment. The cable network, Starz, is running a miniseries called, American Gods. I haven't watched it yet, so I can t recommend the show. But I have read the book, and it is a masterpiece. It is postmodern, mystical, but also a down to earth story about a man. The premise is simple, a man named Shadow becomes involved in a war between ancient gods and new ones. One of the new gods is a woman named Lucy. In one passage, she appears on the TV as Lucille Ball and says to Shadow, The TV's the altar. I'm what people are sacrificing to.' 'What do they sacrifice?' asked Shadow. 'Their time, mostly,' said Lucy. 'Sometimes each other. It is a chilling line isn't it? The novel assumes that we are far more religious than we imagine. Once a week, we do something religious. The rest of the week we are rational, worldly people. The best of us know we should be more religious; pray more, read our Bible, and we feel bad we are not more religious than we are. But the opposite may be true. American Gods suggests that we are fanatically religious, but don't know it. What if everything we do is worship? What if every thought was a prayer, every plan a confession of faith, every moment an offering? The next question would be, to whom? The honest answer reveals that I am not the rational, Sundayworshipping-monotheist I thought I was. I give myself to many gods, but I don't know it because what I'm doing doesn't look religious the way a pagan statue does. But imagine that a pagan from 500 BC travelled to your living room to see you transfixed upon a glowing box for hours at a time. Imagine our ancient pagan friend at a BSU football game, watching the crowd roar in passionate fervor at a touch down. Would this pagan have any other description for what he saw besides worship? Patient with his ignorance, we would correct him, Oh no, these people are not worshipers, just fans, viewers and customers. American Gods fractures our belief that we are a secular nation whose religion is logical, sensible monotheism. The reality is that we are all, myself included, fanatical worshippers of many gods. The family budget is a faith statement written in the language of dollars and cents. Our time is the substance of our sacrifices. Our s are our solemn vows. Our relationships are our covenants. We must accept how universally religious we are, and be reminded to constantly evaluate on the gods/god we honor. Blessings, Pastor Aaron

3 Page 3 General Fund Financial Activity* Revenue to date $83, Expenses to date $95, Difference -$12, *figures only reflect income & expenses through Balance as of May 31, 2017: $29, Balance as of June 28, 2017: balance is unavailable at the time of printing. July 21, 2017 Session Highlights June 20, 2017 At its regular meeting on June 20, 2017, Session: welcomed the offer of the NNU Crusader Choir and Orchestra to perform a concert at our church on Sunday, September 10. allowed a nutritionist from Eat Smart Idaho to use our kitchen facility to teach classes on healthy eating and smart shopping for former attendees of the weekly community dinners. formed an ad hoc committee to guide fundraising efforts in support engaging a youth/family minister. set the next regular Session meeting for July 18, 2017, at the church. Respectfully submitted, Linda Zornik, Clerk of Session Deacons report June 5, 2017 The meeting was brief since VBS was using the Deacon s room and attendance was small due to illness. June birthday greetings and July Communion setup were taken care of. The next meeting will be July 10th. Respectfully submitted, Wendy Bierman, Secretary Book Suggestions from Pastor Aaron Rob Bell is a famous personality. He used to be a Pastor, and he went to the same Seminary I did. He got in trouble with the evangelical Christian community when he published a book called Love Wins. In that book, he questioned the doctrine of Hell and eternal punishment. In my opinion, he was attacked because he dared to question the linchpin of a sales pitch that has proven very effective for some evangelical churches. It is not a sales pitch we use here. But I am not writing about that book. Rob Bell more recently published a book with the longest subtitle I have seen. I have heard Rob Bell being interviewed about the book, and am planning to read it over the summer. I hope to use it as the basis for a Bible study in the future. I hope those of you who are interested will get a copy, read it, and tell me what you think.

4 Page 4 7/01 Jean Stansbury 7/02 Alice Kiernan 7/02 Kip Winter 7/03 Jaci Johnson 7/04 Joe Kuntz 7/07 Christa Hindman 7/08 Francie Hill 7/08 Amy Reed 7/08 Nida Ryan 7/09 Cindy Dion 7/09 Nancy Frederiksen 7/09 Sally Moore 7/12 Debbie Swanson 7/13 Lorraine Diehl 7/13 Dick Kneidl 7/19 Senita Watkins 7/20 Ralph Williams 7/22 Marvin Huter 7/24 Sandi Kurtz 7/25 Gary Decoteau 7/25 Ashley Venable 7/30 Phil Peterson Known July Birthdays 7/3 Kedrick Stellway 7/4 Justyne Helms 7/8 Colton Johnson 7/13 Kieran Johnson 7/20 Caitlyn Hamilton 7/21 Quinten Brown 7/23 Jake Hamilton 7/23 Connor Johnson 7/27 Alison Lolley 7/30 Keffrey Stellway 7/08/72 Ken & Nancy DeLong 7/12/97 Patrick & Rana Bolyard 7/20/91 Mark & Cindy Larimer 7/21/56 Jerry & Jean Day 7/23/94 Rod & Jonica Johnson 7/24/10 Loren & Nancy Spencer 7/28/12 Willard & Debra Winch Hays-Kneidl You re Invited! You are invited to Dick Kneidl s 95th birthday party!! Saturday, July 8 th from 1:00 4:00 PM at the Goldcrest clubhouse, everyone is welcome to Movie Night Movie night will be Saturday, July 22nd at 5:30pm in the Fireside room. The movie is Gifted. Watch the movie ahead of time and then bring a potluck dish to share, your own table service and beverage and join in the discussion and fellowship. attend. No gifts please. Goldcrest address is 1604 W Orchard. Drive in two blocks and the clubhouse is on the left. Nursery Thank you to our nursery volunteers who helped in June! Lori Ober Tiffany Neely Yvonne Miller Mary Stafford Here is the nursery schedule for July. 7/2: Sharyn Barrett 7/9: Paul Anderson 7/16: Yvonne Baker 7/23: Shirley Horrace 7/30: Jo Anne Kennick

5 Youth Activities Update June was an exiting time for the youth in the church. The youth group had a lock-in at the church on June 2 nd. There were seven youth who were determined to stay up all night. We started off with a pizza dinner and then enjoyed a fun bible study led by Marianne Paul. We played many games that included: a paper airplane contest, miniature golf, sardines, and vampire. We also enjoyed a little campfire in the parking lot to make s mores. Once a movie was started around 5:00 AM, the snoring began. We all went home at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning to go to sleep. June 5-8 was our annual Vacation Bible School, held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM each night. The weeks leading up to the event were spend sweating over the work and the details to prepare for this four-day affair. The fruits of that labor yielded about 13 children, of whom only 2-3 were from our church. The kids learned about Paul and his message to the Romans and the other surrounding churches, and how he himself had been saved by God from a person that persecuted Christians to a devout follower of Christ. The children all had a great time hearing the stories, singing songs, and playing games, learning about God's love for us. Many people from the church volunteered to help lead different areas of VBS, and all of the planning and preparation by Tiffany and Sarah ended up a smashing success. Many thanks for everyone for helping us to reach out to the community with a great message. Later in June, on the 17th, four members of the Youth Group accompanied Brett and Karen Lolley for a mission trip to Seattle, WA. The primary intent was to give the kids a taste of a different culture and deal with people that they might not get a chance to do here in Nampa. From celebrating a high school graduation with a Burundian family, to helping to move furniture to a new Burundian refugee family's apartment, to weeding and cleaning around the Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church, and to helping Operation Nightwatch with many tasks such as shredding paper, cleaning, and painting, the youth had an impact on so many different people and places. In addition to the hard work, they had some fun trips to the Museum of Pop Culture and to the Pacific Science Center, as well as some rousing games of vampire in the church after dark. After a long week, the youth returned home to real beds and to a life they know, and hopefully a little wiser about a different way of life that they witnessed in Seattle. This trip couldn't have happened without the support of the church, and the youth would like to relay their appreciation for everyone that helped get them to Seattle again this year. It was a pretty neat trip, all in all! Christian Ed Committee Page 5 PW Summer Picnic Overlooking Lake Lowell Please join Presbyterian Women for our annual picnic on Tuesday, July 18 th at noon at Mallard Park in Caldwell. This beautiful new park is on a hill overlooking Lake Lowell. We will each bring a salad or dessert to share. Fried chicken will be provided. Bring your own plate, utensils and beverage. The park is located at the intersection of Orchard Ave at 10 th Ave. in Caldwell (actually, you will think it s in the country). From Nampa, drive westward on Orchard, then right on 10 th Ave. Near the top of the hill turn right into the parking lot. Park near the restrooms and Mallard sign and use the walkway to the nearest pavilion. There are electrical outlets if your food needs heating. As with all PW events, all women who attend our church are invited and encouraged to come to the picnic.

6 Answer: A (See Judges 6:11.) Page 6 Bible Quiz What is Gideon doing when the angel of the Lord appears to him with God s call to lead Israel s fight against the Midianites? A. Threshing wheat B. Harvesting grapes C. Keeping sheep D. Making a sacrifice to the Lord

7 4 Independence Day 21 The Link Deadline Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 10:00a Worship-Communion 3rd/4th grade camp 9 10:00a Worship 7th/8th grade camp 16 10:00a Worship 9th/10th grade camp 23 10:00a Worship 11th/12th grade camp 30 10:00a Worship :00a Worship Committee 7:00p Deacons 17 Community Shelter Meal Holiday - Office Closed :00p PW Picnic at Mallard Park, Caldwell 7:00p Session meeting 5 9:00a Red Cross Blood Drive 6:00p Eat Smart Idaho class 6:00p Eat Smart Idaho class :00p Eat Smart Idaho class 6:00p Eat Smart Idaho class 6 7:45 p Softball, field # :00a Brunch Bunch 7:45 p Softball, field # :00p Dick Kneidl s 95th birthday party :30p Couples Bible Study 22 5:30p Movie Night Gifted 28 Office Closed 29 8:00a Quiet Time

8 400 Lake Lowell Avenue Nampa, ID If this publication is no longer needed, please notify the church office. F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H June June June June