THE LAMB S KIN. P rayer: First Presbyterian Church. Devotion for August

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1 First Presbyterian Church Devotion for August Psalm 19:1-2 Genesis 1:27 P rayer: Lord Jesus, you are worthy to be praised. The heavens tell of your glory and the skies announce what your hands have made. Each new day tells more of the story and each night reveals more and more about your power. Lord, please wash over me with your Spirit. Please transform my heart and mind with your pursuing love so that you might love others through me. Amen. Reflection: God created people to love stories. It s just part of who we are as human beings. Think about it for a few minutes. What stories play in the background of your life? Families tell stories of their history. Friends tell stories of past memories. Movies, television and books draw us into the stories of heroes and villains. Stories help us discover our own identity, who we are and who we desire to be. Take some time to think about the stories in your life. Can you think of a story your family shares, a defining story for your family? What about our culture? Whether we realize it or not, the culture surrounds us with defining stories, Continued on P. 2 THE LAMB S KIN August 2017 A message from our Associate Pastor It s in the helping of others that spiritual bonds are formed and relationships built T he Atlanta Summer Mission Trip was a success! First and foremost, I want to personally thank everyone from this congregation who made this trip possible. The outpouring of financial and prayer support was generous and heartfelt. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit was involved in this trip from beginning to end. We give thanks and praise to our God and King for allowing us to serve the least of these at God s Farm! Thirty people from San Angelo and Sterling City departed from West Texas on Saturday morning of July 15. We arrived safely at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport early in the afternoon. Fortunately, all of our luggage arrived safely, if not timely. We were met at baggage claim by Morgan and my children who had driven out the week before to spend some time with family and friends, bringing our numbers up to thirty-five. After renting vans for our large group, we drove out to God s Farm, which is about 40 miles west of Atlanta. We were excited and relived when Jon Castillo arrived at God s Farm after his long drive from San Angelo. Two more people from Sterling City arrived the next day, bringing our total mission trip participants up to 38 people. As you know, moving that number of people across the country is a logistical challenge. We are so grateful that everything moved smoothly during our travel day. For the next five days, our team engaged in a multitude of activities and projects. Here are some of the things that we were able to accomplish: Installed poles and cables for 8 new ropes course elements Constructed a new garden shed to house equipment for the organic garden Dismantled, repaired, and replaced a damaged roof Installed approximately 100 sheets of drywall in the Grand Hall Fed approximately 150 inner city youth a delicious lunch each day Repaired and installed electrical outlets Performed necessary pool cleaning and filter changing Our churches provided the funds necessary to purchase additional camp supplies, project materials, and kitchen equipment. Our gift to God s Farm will continue to give for many years to come! In addition to what we were able to do physically, our group also bonded spiritually and emotionally with each other and with the campers. A mission trip provides shared goals, challenges, struggles, and successes. It is precisely this formula that encourages spiritual growth and renewed enthusiasm for faithful activity when we return home. Here are a few ways that we developed stronger bonds with each other: Participated in daily devotions and worship Shared prayer requests Confessed past hurts and pains Shared life stories Taught a self-defense class (Thanks, Jon!) Learned about cross cultural ministry Recognized how God is at work in people who are different than we are Recognized that we are not so different from others Engaged in camp activities with inner city youth Shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with some who had never heard his name Continued on P. 2

2 P A G E 2 Continued from P.1 some good and some bad. For example, social media tells us the stories of our friends, often the idealized stories of our friends. The news media tells us stories about political figures, culture, and everyday people. Pause to reflect on both the positive and negative ways the stories around us influence our heart and mind. Scripture gifts us with the ultimate story, God s story. The entire book of the Bible tells the story of God s love for us. God created us to live an abundant life of peace and wholeness. Yet, sin disrupted this peace and wholeness, inserting pain and brokenness into our lives. Scripture tells the story of God s pursuit of us; His desire to restore in us to an abundant life of peace and wholeness. Think of your story in relation to God s story. Reflect on ways you experience God s pursuit of you. Reflect on how God invites you to join Him in His story, particularly reflecting on this week s mission. Spend some time in prayer. Continued from P. 1 It is for these intangible gifts of relationships that I am most grateful. We all know that the physical things of this earth will ultimately pass away. But we also know that relationships, friendships, God s Word, and God s love for us will never pass away. You, the people of First Presbyterian Church of San Angelo, partnering with those from Sterling City First United Methodist, have invested in our lives and the lives of many others. Your investment has not only planted many seeds, it has already brought forth much fruit. Let us continue to pray that the seeds we planted will grow and that the fruit we currently enjoy will remain sweet. In all things, may God continue to receive all of the praise and the glory! Again, thank you so very much for making the Atlanta Summer Mission a success. Day 1 FPC Mission Team Devotion Morgan Moore

3 8/1 Terry Rigdon, Irene Estrada 8/2 Linda Kilman 8/3 Cindy McCammon, Krisanna Byars 8/4 Hudson Neal, Hayden Boster 8/6 Evalie Grigg, Bryce Parsons, Crew Smith 8/7 Alexa Byars 8/8 Vic Choate 8/9 Cameron Hunt, Hannah Goodman 8/10 Mary Van Kirk, Brandt Bates, Inara Castillo 8/11 Carolyn Bradley, Carolyn Turner 8/12 Crystin Darby, Amanda Walling, Colette Tschumi, Jayton Lee, Creel Goodman 8/13 Jansen Curry P A G E 3 8/14 Samuel Giesecke 8/16 Gus Eckhardt 8/17 Dwain Gober, Kathleen Pfluger 8/18 Patricia Muluh 8/19 Gene Sherrod, Trey Hohmann, Carl Kunath 8/20 Royal R.T. Mackie 8/21 Emory Albert 8/22 Carter Behrens 8/23 Jay Uherik 8/24 James Lane 8/25 Jason Wall, Pat Moore 8/28 Skipper Duncan 8/29 Spencer Proctor, Susan Williams, Teri McQueen 8/30 Ryan Pucci Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Kids Eat Free 2 6:45 MBS :45 a.m. Adult CE, CR 4 Kids Eat Free 5 6 9:15 Sunday Sch 7 No Angel Acdmy 8 5:15 Youth CE Committee meeting 9 6:45 MBS-210 No Angel Acdmy :15 Sunday Sch 14 9:00 Angel Acdmy 5:15 Stewardship 15 5:15 Session 16 6:45 MBS rd Thursday lunch will resume in Sept :15 Sunday Sch :45 MBS :15 Sunday Sch 28, Soup Kitchen :45 MBS

4 P A G E 4 Thankful Hearts The Women s In Depth bible study group will begin their new study Thursday, September 7 at 10:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m., in the conference room. Currently, suggestions are being taken for the next Bible study. Call the church or Glenda Kunath, All women of the church are invited and encouraged to attend this friendly and faithful group. WOW W omen of the Word will resume on Tuesday, September 5, at noon in the Parlor. Please call if you need childcare by noon on 8/31, We will begin the year with a study of Priscilla Shirer s revised bible study entitled, Discerning the Voice of God Dear Church Family, Thank you for all you have done for me during my time of recovery. The flowers were lovely, the meal was delicious, the visits, cards and phone calls were much appreciated. All of you have been so supportive during this time. I will be up and about and stronger than ever soon. Bless you all, Beth Uherik To My Dear & Delightful Friends at FPC, Thank you for selecting me to receive the flowers this past week. They were beautiful and treasured for your thinking of me. I must confess to you that I shared them with a member, Janelle Barron, whom you probably haven t see in years. She just happens to be our neighbor here at the ranch. She rarely gets out and since traveling with flowers is a little iffy, I chose to take them to her. Thanks to each and every one of you for your friendship and your ministry. Coming to First Pres has been one of Bill s and my best decisions. Love to each and every one of you, Carolyn Quillen Dear FPC, After the storm came a wonderful surprise the lovely flowers from the church were delivered by Carolyn Quillen. We had a nice visit and I appreciated her visit and the flowers. Thank you so much for remembering me. Sincerely, Janelle Barron Dear Car Angels, Thank you so much for washing our windshield during Sunday school on July 9. When we got in our car after church, we noticed immediately how clean our windshield was. What a pleasant surprise! And what a lot of hard work on your part it took to share Jesus love and forgiveness to make us sparkle like new. Blessings and thank you, Kay & Dale Bates Dear FPC, Thank you so much for the thinking about and bringing the burritos. Chief Carter SAPD Church family, Thank you for the sweet graduation gifts. Your love, support & prayers through the years have meant the world to me! Much love, Caylee Gibson

5 P A G E 5 Homemade Mid-Year Financial Report Six months through June 30, 2017 INCOME ACTUAL BUDGET TOTAL CONTRIBUTION INCOME 504, ,500 TOTAL OTHER INCOME 72,095 66,500 TOTAL INCOME 576, ,000 Stay after church on August 6 and enjoy some delicious homemade ice cream! Remember, life is short eat dessert first! Burgers & More on the Lake Shore! Sunday, August 20 5:30 the Lake Lodge Hamburgers, Hotdogs and all the appropriate condiments will be provided by the church, you bring a salad, side dish or dessert! EXPENSES ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF 358, ,067 ADMIN SUPPLIES 20,653 19,750 UTILITIES 31,542 34,750 PROPERTY 56,415 48,050 ADULT CHRISTIAN ED 1,517 2,338 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 7,098 6,000 YOUTH MINISTRY 11,389 17,500 DIACONATE COMMITTEES 1,328 2,950 MUSIC & WORSHIP 19,317 20,191 EVANGELISM 5,596 4,775 MISSION/SERVICE/OUTREACH 54,111 47,000 OTHER CHURCH PROGRAMS 7,966 11,075 TOTAL EXPENSE 575, , OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) ,445 Please direct any questions or comments to any member of the Stewardship Committee. Thank you! Steve Stephens, Chairman Committee: Don Allison, Robert Coffey, Colleen Hair, David Hirschfeld, Bill Quillen, Doran Reynolds, Lester Smith, Dave Stinnett

6 Donna & Richard Crisp & family on the loss of Donna s sister, Kay Kennemer, who passed into eternal life on July 25, rd Thursday lunch will return on September 11:45 a.m. in the Commons. Please send us the mailing address of your college student(s) ASAP we don t want anyone to miss out on receiving a goody box from FPC! Gabriela: church.office@fpcsanangelo.org Chemo Care Package Ministry Items needed for August LifeSavers candy, gum, or Biotene products! If you have a family member, neighbor or friend who is under going chemo therapy, please take them one of our Chemo Care packages! Call the church office, FMI., Food for the month of August Powdered milk, canned meats, green beans, boxed cereal and peanut butter Please place your donations in the basket in the Commons. 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 Service is at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday August 6 Mary Louise Strain, Ronny Hooker, Dennis Grafa, Doran Reynolds August 13 David Hirschfeld, Donna Crisp, Mike McCammon, Sheila Patteson August 20 Cybee & Bob Hamblen, Polly Brooks, Vic Choate, Carolyn & Troy Bradley August 27 Jay & Beth Uherik, Carter Behrens, Bette & Don Allison Call the church office if you d like to volunteer to be an usher,