THE WINDOW. A publication of First Presbyterian Church Hendersonville, TN. March Dear Friends,

Transcription

1 THE WINDOW A publication of First Presbyterian Church Hendersonville, TN March 2016 Dear Friends, I am sure you have heard of Jacob s Ladder. Did you know it was a ladder of grace? It all started with Jacob trying to run from his past. He tried to leave behind a life of deception and dysfunction. The story is told in Genesis (26-28). Jacob and Esau were twins who seemed to live most of their lives in conflict. At four years old Jonathan, my son, prayed for a sister. When he heard that Gracie was going to arrive, he was very excited. He wanted a sister very much. After she arrived, our family changed and each of us had some new responsibilities. He finally confessed he did not want a younger sister, but an older sister. It took him a while to understand trading her in for an older sister was not an option. Isaac s boys had a rough start! Jacob was dishonest, selfish, and deceptive. With the help of his mother, Rebekah, he conspired against his brother and lied to his father to receive the cherished family blessing. This blessing traditionally went to the older son, which was Esau (read about it in 27:30-40). Esau pledged to kill his brother. Once again mother steps in and Jacob escapes to another city. On this journey to his mother s hometown, Jacob finds his ladder. The ladder appears during a dream. The ladder connected earth and heaven. Angels are ascending and descending. The Lord stood beside Jacob and talked with him. God made promises to him. I will give you and your family this land, your family will multiply beyond numbers, and you will be a blessing to the world. Jacob wakes up knowing he is on holy ground. What an amazing story of God s grace and acceptance. I am amazed that God did not bring up Jacob s recent indiscretions deception, lying, cheating. In Jacob s darkest hour of failure God sees him for who he will become. God does not meet him with judgement and wrath but with acceptance and a new future. Jacob will become a leader of Israel, the father of God s people. Jacob s ladder is a symbol of God s loving acceptance and life-changing call. The ladder helps Jacob to temporarily escape his failures to see his life from God s perspective. The angels bring down to earth God s purpose for Jacob. Amazingly the one who stole his brother s blessing will become a blessing for a nation. During this Lent I hope you are looking for God s ladder for you. Even in our failures and deception Jesus Christ calls us sisters and brothers. He looks beyond our present circumstances to see who we are becoming through God s grace and love. Love and Prayers,

2 Responding to God s love and grace, our vision is to serve Christ through service to others. Our mission for the month of March is Habitat for Humanity Sumner County. If you go to HFH Sumner County s website and look at their Vision Statement, you will read this: About Habitat for Humanity of Sumner County Habitat for Humanity of Sumner County is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization operated on Christian principles that seeks to put God's love into action by building homes, communities and hope. Habitat for Humanity of Sumner County is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. Habitat for Humanity was founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety, and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of consceince and action for all. In a nut shell here is what Habitat for Humanity is and what it does: They are a huge International non-profit organization that builds affordable housing for those who are in need and qualify. The way it works is HFH does fund raising to build affordable houses. The try and get as much material as they can donated (like we donated 23 Windows last year). They also have almost all of the labor for the house volunteered to do. By doing so, HFH can build a 4 bedroom 2 bath house for approximately $60,000. That of course makes it very affordable for a family in need, but the other part they do, is HFH International acts as the mortgage company for the houses and gives the loans to the qualifying families at 0% interest rate! Families have to apply to get a house built for them, but also have to qualify in showing they are in need and can make payment. Then when selected, they have to put in a certain number of long hours on the house being built before theirs and then almost full time help when their house is being built. Last year we became heavily involved with HFH Sumner County when the kids did a fundraiser to raise enough money to purchase 23 Windows, then the church funded us to be in the Apostle Build and finally Darlene and Neal s daughter Lauren won a $1,000 prize from Barnes and Noble to go to a charity of her choosing and she chose HFHSC! All of this contributed to us being selected Church Partner of 2015 for Habitat of Humanity Sumner County!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! We again have been selected to participate in the Apostle Build and this year it is THEIR 50 TH HOUSE!!! Last year we ended the build by coming in and doing the final clean up. This year we get to build and we will actually be building the shed that goes next to the house for the family to use for storage. It will be only our church building it and at the end, we will all be able to grab a marker and write prayers and wishes for the family before siding is put up in 3 weeks. Here is the details: Date: March 12, 2016 Time: Leave the church parking lot at 7:15 a.m. (should be done by 3:00 p.m.) Need: 15 people (ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED!!!) Address: 1034 Chris Dr., Portland, TN For more information: Scott Ball (scottwball@gmail.com)

3 Tony s Sunday Evening Concert Our own Dr. Anthony Williams, Tony, will lift us up in an organ concert / recital in our sanctuary on Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. Get your family, friends and neighbors out to support Tony and our Church in this special music event. We have been blessed to have Tony in our midst since January 2006 as organist, choir & music director, and brother in Christ. Psalm 95:2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. In addition to his ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Tony is currently an Associate Professor of Music and University Organist at Fisk University in Nashville. Tony began his teaching career at Fisk in the late 1980s where he served as Director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. From 1990 to 2005 he was a member of the music faculty at Dillard University in New Orleans. He returned to Fisk in the fall of 2005 as Visiting Artist in Residence following the evacuation from New Orleans, due to Hurricane Katrina. A native of Nashville, Tony earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the American Conservatory of Music. Tony has received numerous awards and honors and has been included in Who s Who in America, Who's Who in Music, Who s Who in American Education and American Keyboard Artists. Tony has performed in churches, colleges, and universities throughout the United States including such notable places as the Washington National Cathedral, the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, the Riverside Church in New York, and Bruton Parish in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has also performed in Central America and Europe, making his European debut in the summer of We look forward to you joining this celebration on Sunday evening, March 13th. John Westendorf ATTENTION WOMEN: Come join our women s choir. We will be singing on Sunday, March 13th to celebrate the Gifts of Women. Many voices make beautiful music, so lend your voice for this joyful, fun experience. Practices will be on Wednesday, March 9th at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 13th at 9:00 a.m. In Memory of: Freda Kuhnert From: Helen Hunter In Memory of : Bill Gugenheim From: Helen Hunter In Memory of: Duane Farnham From: Doug & Janna Willis In Memory of: Dana Faulkner From: Wayne & Wava Huddleston Doug & Janna Willis Ed & Janet Covington Jennifer Haag Kay Keck Bill & Ruth Segers Richard & Judy Wallis Al & Linda Ballenger Bill & Sandy Keene Jerry & Linda McCulloch

4 Presbyterian Day School Children Performing The Annual PDS Fundraiser was once again a success! The amount raised from this event was $1, Many people come together to make this event special. It takes people donating chili, crackers, cheese, sour cream, desserts, drinks, hot dogs, applesauce, macaroni and cheese, and chips as well as their time. Then there are those that are willing to share their talents on stage to provide great entertainment. The performances by members of our church family and the PDS children were show stopping. We could not auction desserts without excellent auctioneers, so thank you to Michael and Richard. It always helps to have some good helpers nearby to pass out the cakes like Alex and Will Masters (PDS alumni). The children of the day school and this church are the reason this work is so important. There are so many people that helped with the set-up, clean up and kitchen duties. This kind of support makes the entire evening run as smooth as possible. Thanks to Drew Covington, the sound system is up and in perfect order year after year. We are so grateful for our church members, day school families, teachers and staff. It was great to see so many families from PDS and our church family enjoying the evening. Thank you once again for your support! Dessert Auction Time! Ally Estepp and dad, Mike Elizabeth Walker

5 Our Kids Singing Unstoppable from V.B.S at the Chili Supper, Talent Show & Dessert Auction **************************************************************************************** Annual All Church Easter Potluck Brunch & Egg Hunt Let us renew our ties as brothers and sisters in Christ and join in celebration the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through worship and fellowship. When: Easter Sunday, March 27 th directly after the worship service Where: Martin Hall The Church will provide the main entrée, Spiral Honey Ham, Southern Biscuits, and drinks Please bring an item to share see tear off in the weekly bulletin Kids remember to bring your Easter Egg Baskets for the egg hunt! INVITE YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS FOR WORSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP!

6 March 6 (Communion) - What does it mean to be a new creation? 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 March 13 Gifts of Women Sunday March 20 (Palm Sunday) - Jesus ride into the city, Luke 19:28-40 March 24 (Maundy Thursday, Communion) - Scripture and music March 27 (Easter) - Looking in the wrong place, Luke 24:1-12 Heard presentation from Officer Greg Fruedenthal on church safety Approved minutes Approved Ministry Unit reports Approved the covenant between Michael and the Session Approved Annual Statistical Report Approved $ spent out of Memorial Fund for a portable pulpit Approved procedures for votes to be included in our By-laws Voted to not take action at this time on hiring security on Sunday mornings but will continue conversation It is hard to believe that Lent is already here and Easter is just around the corner. It seems that we just celebrated Christmas. As before, the choir has been busy preparing music for Lent and Easter. A couple of years ago, the choir began a tradition of singing several anthems for the Maundy Thursday service that tell the story of Jesus as he prepared to go to the cross. In previous years, many people have told me that they thought this service was both moving and powerful. I hope that will be the same this year. The Maundy Thursday service will be Thursday, March 24. Then, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with the hymns and choir anthems accompanied by brass instruments and organ. I think that it will be a joyous day. Please do come out and support the choir in their endeavors. On another note (no pun intended), I was once asked why I don t play an organ recital for the church since I have been traveling to play recitals in other parts of the country. So, I will be doing just that. It is scheduled for Sunday, March 13th at 4:00 p.m. Everyone is invited. Be sure to tell your friends, too. One of the unique things about the organ is that it is the oldest keyboard instrument. We do know that the ancient Greeks were playing the organ as far back as 250 B.C. We also know that the earliest manuscript of music written for the organ dates back to the 1300s. And, people are still writing music for the instrument today. Although my program won t go back to the 1300s, it will consist of some classics for the organ plus some more recently written pieces. I hope that you will be able to attend. Tony Williams Don t forget: Daylight Savings Time Begins March 13th! Thursday, March 3rd First Presbyterian Church - Martin Hall 1:00 6:00 p.m. We have many openings on the new Flower Calendar for 2016, so please sign up for your special days now! The Flower Calendar is located in the front narthex.

7 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday March :00 am Staff 6:30 am Men s Adult Choir 1:00 pm Blood Drive 9:30 am Sew Many Blessings 7:30 pm NA in MH LEAD Event :00 am Sunday School 10:00 am 10:00 am 6:30 am Men s 5:30 pm 7:30 pm NA 10:00 am Worship- Women s Book Women s Bible Women s in MH Communion Group Study 11:00 am Handbell Choir Rehearsal 11:00 am Bldg./Grounds 6:15 pm Local Missions Community Singers Practice 6:15 pm Worship Committee Budget & Finance Adult Choir :00 am Downtown 10:30 am 6:30 am Men s 7:30 pm NA Ministry in MH 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship-Gifts of Women Sunday 11:00 am Handbell Choir Rehearsal 11:00 am Cong. Care 11:00 am Education Connection Groups End 6:30 pm Book Club Community Singers Practice Sunshine Ministry Adult Choir Window Deadline Concert-Tony Williams :00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship-Palm Sunday 11:00 am Handbell Choir Rehearsal Community Singers Practice Session 6:30 am Men s Adult Choir Maundy Thursday Service 7:30 pm NA in MH 10:00 am Choir Rehearsal :45 am Early Service- Easter 9:45 Easter Brunch/Egg Hunt 11:00 am Late Service- Easter One Great Hour-Sharing Community Singers Practice 6:30 am Men s *NA s* Mondays & Wednesdays at

8 CHURCH STAFF Michael Davis, Pastor Dr. Anthony Williams, Organist/Choir Director Linda Agee, Church Administrator Chuck Adamson, Building Maintenance Amy Bleich, Nursery Attendant Gloria, Braswell, P.D.S. Director First Presbyterian Church 172 W. Main St. Hendersonville, TN (615) ; Fax (615) Website: linda@hendersonvillefpc.org Sunday School 9:00 a.m. Worship Service 10:00 a.m. 1 - Mairi Maclean 2 - Catherine Harris Marian Pasinger 6 - J.G. Martin 8 - John Martin 9 - Diana Edmonson 13 - Marjorie Martin Shirley Martin 16 - Sophia Say 19 - Chuck Pasinger 23 - Emily Wilkie 26 - Hudson Walker 27 - Lauren Edmonson Barbara Brooks 28 - Michael Davis 29 - Chuck Adamson 30 - Jennifer Haag Will Masters 31 - Gen Williams