A message from our Pastor

Transcription

1 First Presbyterian Church Devotion for September W e always have visions before a thing is made real. When we realize that although the vision is real, it is not real in us, then is the time that Satan comes in with his temptations, and we are apt to say it is no use to go on. Instead of the vision becoming real, there has come the valley of humiliation. Life is not as idle ore, But iron dug from central gloom, And batter d by the shocks of doom To shape and use. God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we will have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality. Continued on P. 2 THE LAMB S KIN September 2016 A message from our Pastor Summer may have ended; but, things are heating up at FPC! I am glad September is here. For me, August was a blur of trying to recover from the mission trip while returning to work in late July and then I took a few days off one week worked another week and finally managed to take almost a full week off last week though the week ended with a wedding in Austin. Apparently I don t vacation well. While some take to the mountains or down to the coast for leisure and relaxation I typically stay home and try to complete a variety of projects around the house that I never seem to have time to accomplish otherwise. That is why last week I ended up replacing some sections of siding on our 106-year-old house, and priming and painting all of it as well. My dear wife has given up trying to help me vacation better since I seem to be happiest checking off my list of things-to-do! In the meantime, our son, Spencer, decided to transfer to Angelo State University to complete his degree. We are thrilled to finally have him back home and not across the country in Virginia so if you continue to see him in worship you will know why! With September upon us the life of the church takes on a faster pace. We are now two weeks into our year-long series on the Gospel of John, which we have entitled, A Journey Through John. Next week we have the privilege of hosting teacher/singer Kelly Minter, which is made possible through the Ben and Gil Horton Speaker s Fund. As of today there are 275 women pre-registered for that Friday and Saturday event, and I am confident more will purchase their tickets between now and then. Those on the planning team have partnered with several other congregations across San Angelo in order to make this a city-wide event. If you are on Facebook you already know that at the moment new speakers are being installed in the Sanctuary. I am told the Sanctuary is currently a hardhat area while the speakers are being hung so if you are asked to wear a yellow hardhat when you arrive for worship on Continued on P. 2

2 P A G E 2 Continued from P. 1 Ever since we had the vision God has been at work, getting us into the shape of the ideal, and over and over again we escape from His hand and try to batter ourselves into our own shape. The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you. Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest Continued from P. 1 Sunday you will know why. Actually the goal is to have the speakers up and running by this Sunday. They will not have been fine-tuned by Sunday that will take place next week but they should be functional and we are hoping and praying for the best. Today the first Youth Lunch is being held in the Youth Center. As Amy Hill, our Director of Youth and Family Ministries, recently announced in worship we are now hosting between high school students each Wednesday. Opportunities for you to help with the food can be found elsewhere in this newsletter and I hope you will lend a hand! The two Bible studies for women WOW and In Depth resume this month as you will note on the calendar as does the Third-Thursday luncheon. In addition a six-week study on the three Letters of John which we are calling Love, Love, Love will commence on Wednesday, September 21 at 5:30 p.m. Our Wednesday night programming is called Pray, Eat, and Learn, and you will remember the format from last spring when we held a study on the opening chapters of the Book of Revelation. Dinner will be provided, as will childcare so I hope you will make plans to attend. Based on the feedback we have received, Joel and I thought a study on the Letters of John would be a nice complement to our sermon series this fall. At the end the month you will see there is a day trip to Abilene planned by the METS on Wednesday, September 28 meaning there are numerous opportunities for you to participate in the life of faith and in the life of the church as September arrives As always, I hope you will keep your church staff in your prayers as we seek to serve the Lord Jesus faithfully in all that we teach, preach, say, and do.

3 9/1 Bronwyn Whisenant 9/3 Virginia Huffman, Marjie Shirey 9/4 Jeff Curry, Robert Meyer 9/6 Kristi Cswaykus 9/7 Hayley Perrine 9/8 Laura Behrens 9/9 Cynthia Keel 9/10 Bette Allison, Alex McCammon, Chris Sturm 9/11 Sherri Brown, Gigi Mackie 9/12 Sara Flores, Anne Lauer, Violet Langerhans 9/14 Sheila Patteson, Serenity Castillo 9/15 Thelma McMurtrey, Tamatha Robertson, Sidney Paige Nagel 9/17 Mason Brooks 9/18 Louellen Meyer 9/19 Bryan Brown 9/20 Neal Grigg, Donna Crisp 9/22 Kaylee Jo Scott 9/23 Daniel Guerra, Lisa Steger 9/24 Sherry Albert 9/25 Nancy Cargile, Grace Huffman 9/26 Chris Barnett, Don Buchholz 9/27 Stella Doyle, Morgan Newlin 9/28 Joe Kilman, Carolyn Dawson, Jessica Whisenant 9/30 Stephen Brown, Suzanne Dorris P A G E 3 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Join the METS for a fun day-trip to Abilene to visit the Grace Museum, lunch at the Hickory St. Café and then a visit to Frontier Texas! Call, to register. 1 10:30 WID 2 3 5:00 p.m. Youth lock-in, YC 4 11:00 a.m. Combined Service Communion 5 Labor Day Church Ofc. Closed 6 5:15 Youth Committee/ Youth Center. 7 6:45 MBS :00 CE Mtg, CR 10:30 WID 9 Kelly Minter 7:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 10 Kelly Minter 8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. 11 9:00 Praise Service 11:00 Traditional 12 12:00 Speakers Committee, CR 13 12:00 WOW, Parlor 14 6:45 MBS :00 STAFF 15 10:30 WID 11:45 METS 3rd Thursday Lunch :00 Praise Service 11:00 Traditional 19 5:15 Stewardship 20 12:00 WOW, Parlor 5:15 Session :45 MBS :30 WID :00 Praise Service 11:00 Traditional 26 Soup Kitchen 27 12:00 WOW, Parlor 28 6:45 MBS-210 8:15 METS to Abilene 10:00 STAFF 29 10:30 WID 30

4 P A G E 4 Third Thursday lunch resumes on 11:45 a.m. in the Commons. $7 for a delicious lunch! RSVP by noon on Wednesday, 9/14 Please make sure the church office has the address of your college age children! We want all our college kids to get their care packages from FPC! O ur Wednesday Night Programing Pray. Eat. Learn. will begin on September 21 with supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. The study over the three letters of John, entitled Love, Love, Love, will get underway around 5:45 p.m. and end at 6:45 p.m. This session will run through October 26. Make your dinner reservation by noon on Monday, September 19 by calling the church office, Childcare will be available. Our ministry to Lamar Elementary continues W e are continuing in our service to Lamar Elementary for the school year. There are different ways you can be involved you can be in prayer for the teachers, staff, and students, you might want to contact Annette Lasater and get involved with the teacher appreciation effort or you might want some hands-on time spent working with the children no matter your involvement, it is much appreciated. As of the writing of this article the following tutoring needs are known: Kindergarten: Ms. Terry, would like help with writing, letter knowledge and sight words; First grade: Ms. Byars, Lee and Weber would all like volunteers to practice sight words and read with individual students; Second grade: Ms. Andress and McCullough would like volunteers to come practice sight words and read with individual students; Ms. Staton would like a volunteer to come listen to individual students read sight words and Ms. Hise would like volunteers to work on sight words and file papers; Third grade: Ms. Cross needs helpers to work one-on-one with students in the subject area of math; Fifth grade: All fifth grade teachers need someone to come on Fridays to make copies for them. If any of these opportunities appeal to you, please go to the district s website, Click on the link titled Volunteers in Public Schools found under the Community tab at the top of the page. You will now be on the SAISD VIPS page. Click on Click here to login and apply. This must be done before you will be able to help on campus. After you ve completed your application, call the church office and express your desire to volunteer. Please note that Anette & Laurie Lasater s granddaughter, Sabella, drew our logo for this year, the adorable school bus shown above!

5 Thankful Hearts P A G E 5 First Presbyterian, The apples are delicious and we were so excited to have them for an afternoon snack! May just to make a pie! Nevertheless, thank you for your prayers and willingness to help us out, your kindness matters! Sharon Lane and the Faculty & Lamar! Dear Church Family, Thank you for all of your love and prayers I have received during my long illness. I appreciate everyone s concern and am so grateful to be part of such a loving church. Blessings to you, Susan Little Dear Church Family, Thank you for the wonderful lunch provided for our family and friends after Daddy s memorial service. It was much enjoyed and appreciated. Also, we would like to thank you for all of the flowers sent and to all of you who have expressed your love, prayers and condolences. We are grateful for your support. Sincerely, Susan Little, Dorothy Schuch & Family Dear FPC, Troy and I felt truly blessed by our church family this Lord s day. After church services the first person to arrive for a visit was our friend Lynne Transki followed by Glenda and Carl Kunath who delivered the sanctuary flowers to Troy. Next to arrive was Joel, followed by Bill who served us the Lord s Supper, an extra special blessing. We cannot tell you, our church family, how very special you are to us; we give thanks to God for each of you. Thank you so much for your prayers and kindness expressed in so many ways. Thank you Pat Lovelace for the beautiful flowers that you gave in memory of your special loved ones. Love of Christ, Carolyn & Troy Bradley WOW is a group of dynamic women who attend various churches in and around San Angelo. They are of no certain age as any and all women are welcomed! The group meets every Tuesday at noon (excluding summer) to study the Bible or other current Christian literature. A leadership team facilitates discussion. It is designed to be completed in an hour so that women working outside the home may attend during the lunch hour. The group will resume meeting on September 13, They will study Nancy Guthrie s The Wisdom of God. You may bring your lunch. Women s In-Depth Bible Study resume 9/1 T he Women's In-Depth Bible Study will resume on 9/1/16. Bring a friend and come to the Church's Conference Room at 10:30 a.m. We will be studying C S Lewis' Mere Christianity, section 4 "Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity." Hope to see you there!

6 To Dorothy Schuch, Susan & Paul Little & family on the loss of Oron Lee Schuch, who passed into eternal life on August 5, Food for the month of September Beans, rice, canned meat, canned vegetables, vermicelli, and macaroni & cheese Please place your donations in the basket in the Commons. best day of the week 9/4/16 One Combined 11:00 a.m. Alicia & Sterling Cole Ronny Hooker, Beth & Jay Uherik, Donna Crisp 9/11 9:00 a.m. Suzanne & Richard Dorris, Devin Albert, Gabriela Spraggins We rejoice with Morgan & Will Lane, parents, Renae & Chris Barnett and Julia & Jim Lane, grandparents, on the birth of twins, Claire Elizabeth & Emma Grace, born August 9, feast Wednesday lunches! Call Amy if you d like to help! /7 They re having a taco bar 9/14 Chicken Strips 9/21 Family favorite pasta 9/28 Fancy Sub Sandwiches Amy can give you the specific details of what she needs on any given Wednesday. She can even add you to her group text so you know from week what is needed! The Lamb s Kin is published monthly for the members and friends of First Presbyterian Church. Church office: Website: fpcsanangelo.org Send any news items or thank you letters by the 25th of each month to: programs.director@fpcsanangelo.org Or to: FPC* 32 N. Irving St., San Angelo, TX :00 a.m. Mary Louise Strain, Polly Brooks, Susan & Bub Williams, Sheila Patteson 9/18 9:00 a.m. Joy & Bill Morehead, Noma Perrine, Hayley Perrine 11:00 a.m. Carter Behrens, Steve Boster, Susan & Bub Williams, Tom Granaghan 9/25 9:00 a.m. Steve Stephens, Susan Woods, Linda Knightstep, Carolyn & Troy Bradley 11:00 a.m. Dwain Gober, Yvonne Kappelmann, Vic Choate, Bette & Don Allison