THE WINDOW A publication of First Presbyterian Church Hendersonville, TN November 2017

Transcription

1 THE WINDOW A publication of First Presbyterian Church Hendersonville, TN November 2017 Dear Friends, Most of us know that exercise is good for the body. However, more and more research claims we can exercise our brains, along with our bodies such as, improving our cognitive recognition with word and memory games. No matter what we are exercising it will take some effort on our part. We cannot watch weightlifting on the computer or television and expect to develop our muscles. Just like exercising our bodies builds strength, so does exercising our faith. The more we use our faith the more our faith grows stronger. I have never thought about it before but we are invited into God s gymnasium. In Hebrews 12, the writer is trying to encourage the church to stay strong, stay faithful. The church is suffering and people are being persecuted. The Christians are tired and want to give up. The writer draws this magnificent image of a race. We are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses, crowds of cheering Christians on the sidelines. Can you imagine Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Isaiah, and King David cheering for you? He tells them to run with perseverance the race marked out for them (verses 1-2). Another wonderful part of this running image is Jesus leading. They are following Jesus who is the pioneer and author of their faith. The suffering and difficulties they are encountering in life are part of life s race. People are lined up and Jesus is running ahead so keep the faith. Don t give up. The writer explains that God uses suffering and persecution to discipline Christians. The Biblical word for discipline is more about education than punishment. The writer of Hebrews tells the church that discipline seems painful for a time but leads to peace and a mature relationship with God (verse 11). The word used for training in this passage means gymnasium. The word describes taking off one s street clothes and putting on clothes appropriate for exercising. It includes exposing one s weaknesses in order to strengthen them. Those of us who go to Planet Fitness, YMCA, or some other gym go there to strengthen our bodies and increase our stamina. Some trainers will identify a person s weaknesses and create a program to improvement. I agree with the writer of Hebrews. Suffering and difficulties are part of God s gymnasium. During difficult times, our weaknesses are vulnerable. When we turn to Jesus Christ, who is leading us, we exercise our faith. As we read scriptures of hope and encouragement, we are strengthening our spiritual muscles. When we pray for the Holy Spirit to help us, our faith-stamina improves. As we meet with other Christians in Connection Groups, Bible studies, and other gatherings, we are encouraged along with others. November and December are a very busy and stressful time. Some will feel the weight of depression during the holidays. Let s meet Christ in God s gymnasium every day for 15 minutes of spiritual strength training. Love and Prayers,

2 For the last several years our church has partnered with New Creation Church, our other Presbyterian church in Hendersonville to package meals for world hunger. Each year we package more meals than the previous year. Last year our number was over 21,000. The assembly process combines rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a micronutrient flavoring mix formulated by Kraft Heinz Company Foundation that includes 23 essential vitamins and minerals. Each meal costs 29 cents. The food has a shelf-life of two years. Rise Against Hunger provides over 70% of its meals to support transformational development programs such as school lunch programs, vocational training programs, early childhood development programs, orphanages, and medical clinics. Working with these programs helps enhance lives by giving beneficiaries the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty through education, skills development, and healthcare while also receiving much needed nutrition. This is a wonderful mission event for all ages. Our date is November 19th beginning at 5:00 p.m. Our Confirmation will be meeting at 4:00 p.m. to help set up. The event is in the cafeteria at Ellis Middle School. The expected length of time for packaging, and hopefully breaking our last year s number, is 2 hours. Here is some information from their website. Rise Against Hunger, formerly Stop Hunger Now, is an international hunger relief non-profit organization that coordinates the packaging and distribution of food and other life-changing aid to people in developing nations. Founded in 1998, Rise Against Hunger mobilizes more than 350,000 volunteers each year to package meals for people in need around the globe. Since 2005, Rise Against Hunger has distributed more than 315,000,000 meals to recipients in 74 countries with a mission to end hunger in our lifetime. The Missions Committee will be collecting food items for 12 families in need of food for Thanksgiving. These families have young children who attend Community Child Care Center in Hendersonville. This nonprofit center is a resource for working parents who fall below a certain income level and pay based on their income. Most of the families are unable to provide a special Thanksgiving dinner without assistance. We are asking for your help in providing the following mixes and canned goods to insure a Happy Thanksgiving for these needy families: Stuffing Mix Corn Bread Mix Canned or Jar Gravy Green Beans Canned Corn Canned Sweet Potatoes Cranberry Jelly Pumpkin Pie Mix Boxed Pie Crust Turkeys will be purchased and stored until all items are delivered to Community Child Care. If you would prefer, you can make a monetary donation. Checks should be made payable to FPC and marked Thanksgiving Baskets. Please leave your food donation in the designated area in the front narthex. The deadline for returning items for the Thanksgiving Baskets is Sunday, November 19th. Thank you in advance for your support and generosity. Please contact Karen Carrier at or carrierkl@bellsouth.net should you have any questions.

3 The Confirmation enjoys NaCoMe The Confirmation escaped Hendersonville for a night on September 29th. Courtney Masters and Stan Campbell braved the event with Ben McCrary, Ben Dye, Mason Thompson, Alex Masters, Isaiah Brew, and the pastor. We studied and discussed God s grace, God s calling, and even a 1000 years of church history tracing it on a map. My favorite quote from the weekend was, We don t have to win God s love, for God already loves us. We don t have to earn our salvation, for Christ has already earned it for us. We also had time for a fireplace chat, s mores, archery, and shooting slingshots. What a blast with these wonderful young men!

4 Building & Grounds Ministry Unit Moderators, Courtney Masters and Neal Duke Members presently serving on the Property (Building and Grounds) Committee are Courtney Masters/ moderator, Neal Duke, Barry Ingram, Robert Wells and Ched Yearout. This is to update the congregation on activities of the Building and Grounds committee, year to date for As you well know, our church building is quite old, requiring a great deal of time, attention and expense to keep it maintained. Following is a listing of work undertaken so far in Smoke Alarms. To comply with new safety regulations, we have switched our former land lines to a cellular connection. Martin Hall Entry Doors. New entry doors were installed earlier this year. Fence overgrowth. A group of volunteers from among our members gathered and cut and removed the brush and overgrowth from the fence row between church property and the former funeral home. Martin Hall base cabinets. 24 linear feet of base cabinets with laminate counter tops were installed in Martin hall to replace the older cabinet previously located there. The industrial coffee maker has been refurbished and cleaned. Church Eaves/cobweb problem. The considerable cobweb and wasp nest accumulation under the sanctuary eaves have been pressure washed twice in Cemetery. Sunshine Tree Service of Hendersonville was contracted to remove the large diseased maple tree located by the brick patio in the cemetery. We also had them remove all of the dead limbs from the remaining trees throughout the church property. The two large hackberry trees located on the property line between the church and funeral home had grown so large they were damaging the brick and wrought iron fence. Those trees have now been successfully removed and plans are being made to repair the fence. A Committee of volunteers has been assembled to study the landscaping in the cemetery and plans are to make improvements to the grounds in the coming months. Rest Rooms. All five rest rooms have now been repaired with some fixtures replaced. Air Conditioning System. The portion of the air conditioning system which was recently replaced continued to have operating problems for some time after installation but the problems have now all been successfully solved. New thermostats have also been installed to allow better control over heat and air, to save on electricity costs. Martin Hall storage. Congregational suggestions have been made to try to find a place to store the chairs in Martin Hall to get them more out of the way when not being used. A tentative plan is in work to reconfigure existing space to accomplish this goal. Shutters in front of church. During a period of strong wind earlier this year, one of the green shutters was blown down and rendered unrepairable. Arrangements for new shutters were made and have been successfully completed and installed. Painting. The hall ways upstairs have been painted this year and touch up painting in Martin Hall has been completed. Electrical Work. Electrical repairs, particularly to the church lighting is needed and will be completed by year end. Trash Removal. The costs for emptying the church trash dumpster has been renegotiated and reduced by about 25%, resulting in an expense saving for the church. Those of us on the Property Committee take pleasure in serving our church in this capacity. If you have suggestions or questions regarding the building or grounds, we invite you to make it known to me or either member of the committee listed above. We will appreciate your input.

5 Community Child Care Center Angel Tree Be watching for the Christmas Tree in Martin Hall to be up soon and festooned with twenty Christmas Angels from the Community Child Care Center here in Hendersonville. This year the Center is giving individuals the opportunity to adopt less fortunate children who would otherwise receive very little or nothing during the holiday season. The needs and wishes of each child will be listed on an angel. Please consider taking an angel and making a child s Christmas merry. Please place unwrapped items in a plastic bag tied at the top with the angel tree information and leave under the tree in Martin Hall. The deadline to return gifts is Sunday, December 17th! Adult Fellowship Invites You To Their Annual Christmas Gathering! Enjoy getting into the Christmas spirit with music, food, and fellowship at this traditional event! Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 6:00 p.m., at the home of Lee & Karen Carrier, 1277 Twelve Stones Crossing, Goodlettsville, TN Please bring your beverage of choice and a Heavy Hor d oeures or Dessert to share. See you there! Adult Fellowship is a group of adult members, friends, and visitors who gather together to Christian fellowship and dinner at a church member s home. Our mission is to serve others by integrating members, guests, and visitors into our church community through Christian Fellowship. If you would like to host a dinner, please contact Kelly Horton at or her at hortonkl2003@yahoo.com. Linda Ballenger and Janet Covington, thank you both so very much for the beautiful bridal shower! And to Karen Baylor, Kathy Campbell, Jackie Decker, and others thank you for all the amazing assistance in the setup and clean-up you gave to the event. Stan thank you as well. I saw you sneak in at the end to help put away the tables and chairs. To all the ladies of the church, thank you all so much for the beautiful sentiments, gifts, and most of all for your love and fellowship. It was a day that I will never forget for so many reasons. Most of all for the blessing of knowing many of you since I was 6 years old, and for all the new friendships made throughout the years. You all and my entire church family mean the world to me and I look forward to Jason getting to know all of you. With much appreciation and love, Lauren and Jason

6 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday November :00 am Men s Bible Study 6:00 pm Disciple 9:30 am Sew Many Blessings 7:30 pm NA in MH :00 am Confirmation 10:00 am Crochet 11:00 am Staff 7:00 am Men s 6:00 pm Disci- 7:30 pm NA Group Bible Study ple in MH 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship- Communion 11:00 am Handbell Rehearsal 11:00 am Congregational 11:30 am Elder Training Daylight Savings Time Ends 9:00 am Confirmation 9:00 am Information 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship 11:00 am Handbell Rehearsal 11:00 am Cong. Care 11:00 am Education 10:00 am Women s Book Group 6:00 pm Local Missions 7:00 pm Community Singers Practice 6:15 pm Worship 7:00 pm Budget & Finance :00 am Room in the Inn 10:00 am Crochet 7:00 am Men s 6:00 pm Disci- 7:30 pm NA Group Bible Study ple in MH 6:30 pm Book Club 6:30 pm Life Issues Support Group 7:00 pm Community Singers Practice 5:00 pm Women s Bible Study Window Deadline :00 am Confirmation 10:00 am Crochet 10:30 am Sun- 7:00 am Men s Group shine Ministry Bible Study 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship 11:00 am Handbell Rehearsal 4:00 pm Rise Against Hunger-Ellis Middle School 7:00 pm Community Singers Practice 5:30 pm Membership 7:00 pm Session :00 am Confirmation 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship 11:00 am Handbell Rehearsal 10:00 am Crochet Group 7:00 pm Community Singers Practice 7:00 am Men s Bible Study Thanksgiving Day-Office Closed 6:00 pm Disciple Thanksgiving Holiday-Office Closed 7:30 pm NA in MH ***NA s in Martin Hall on Mondays & Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

7 SERMON SCHEDULE November 5 Leaders for God, Joshua 3:7-17 (Communion; choir) November 12 Living resurrected lives, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Praise Band) November 19 Managing and investing God s resources, Matthew 25:14-30 (Bell ) November 26 A life of praise, Psalm 100 (Thanksgiving Weekend; choir) SESSION ACTION Prayed for the congregation Approved minutes from last meeting Approved Ministry Unit and pastor reports Discussed and approved Michael s sabbatical after six years of service Sabbatical will replace the two weeks of study leave Two weeks of paid vacation not connected to the sabbatical Sabbatical will be May, June, and July 2018 The session called a Congregational for Nov 5 after worship to hear a report from the Elder Nominating Committee. There will also be information on Michael s sabbatical shared and an opportunity for people to ask questions. SESSION REFLECTIONS Billy Dye My experience on the session involved much more than just service to the congregation. All who serve certainly give their foremost effort in managing the affairs of the church, but the spiritual side of serving on session is what will remain with me most. Over the past three years on session I have grown to know other members of the congregation in a much more personal way than I expected. Session meetings are not ordinary business meetings. Filled with prayer, devotions, a book study, and even a closing hymn, session meetings connected us with one another and with God. We achieved much more than just paying the bills; we formed a meaningful communion that guided our decisions and united our faith. We will soon welcome new members to our session, and I wish for them the same enriching experience that I have enjoyed. September 2017 Revenue $ 202, Expenses $ 234, Shortfall $ -32, The church office will be closed on Thursday, November 23rd and Friday, November 24th in observance of Thanksgiving! Reminder: Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November 5th. Remember to move the clock back one hour!

8 CHURCH STAFF Michael Davis, Pastor Dr. Anthony Williams, Organist/ Director Linda Agee, Church Administrator Chuck Adamson, Building Maintenance Amy Bleich, Nursery Attendant Carolyn McCoy, 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 - Shirley Tidwell Avery Batey 4 - Barbara Joines 5 - Mary Lu Batey 6 - Mary Anna Womeldorf Billy Dye 8 - Pam Davis 11 - Joseph Dye 13 - Dick Kerman 16 - J.T. Thompson Steven Jackson 17 - Neal Duke April Huddleston 19 - Jennifer Walker 21 - Janet Covington 23 - Peggy Lloyd 25 - Les Cleveland 26 - Liz Dewitt