March 9, 2016 Volume 21, No. 5 Good Shepherd s 2016 Season of Lent Schedule Wednesdays in Lent: Dinner and Program at 5:45 in Fellowship Hall Sundays in Lent: Worship at 10 am in the Sanctuary Maundy Thursday: Seder Dinner at 6 pm in Fellowship Hall RSVP to Julie in the office Easter Day: Worship at 10 am in the Sanctuary CATCHING UP WITH WHAT S GOING ON AT CDC Our preschoolers have been busy learning about Community Helpers these last two weeks! First, the fire fighters visited us and taught us about fire safety. They also brought the big ladder truck and all the kids got to look around and even sit inside! Next, a soldier came and talked to us about how the Army National Guard helps our community in times of need. Finally, we had 2 police officers visit and talk to us about stranger danger and calling 911 in case of an emergency. They also brought along a police car and we got to see the lights and sirens and even sit inside! Thank you to all that visited us! Anita WHAT S INSIDE Birthdays... page 2 News... page 2 Sunday Breakfast... page 3 By Still Waters-Janis Lussmyer... page 4 Pastor s Pen... page 5 Deadline for articles for the next Newsletter is March 24th If you have a small group meeting you would like included on the calendar please contact Julie 918-333-1708.
Mary Lou Chamblee 03/02 Jack Fish 03/13 Jeannette Peabody 03/22 Mike Wahlgren 03/24 Victoria Steinhart 03/31 MEETING REMINDER MARCH 14 1:00 pm in Fellowship Hall Ole, Presenter Dennis Logan Hosts: B. Hoffman & C & M Cooledge THANKS: SUE WELCH FOR DOING MARCH 13TH & ANDERSON FAMILY PLUS ROBERT FOR MARCH 20TH Conversation Corner March 16th Last Wonderful Wednesday at 5:45 pm Topic is: The Hope of Salvation Thank you to Beth Hesling & Calvin Miles Experience CURSILLO An invitation is extended to members of the Presbyterian Church to attend the Eastern Oklahoma Presbyterian Cursillo, April 21 24, 2016. Attending Cursillo allows you to experience Christian Fellowship in a beautiful spring setting at Dwight Mission. There are brochures in the Education Building hallway that explain this three day renewal of your faith journey, and provide a form to fill out to attend. Many of our GS members have been touched in such a positive way by this experience, and they are willing to tell you about it. If these people are not already talking to you about this invitation, contact Arlen Wiens 918-333-5712 with any questions. COME; be blessed by a weekend of praise, fellowship, singing, learning and love. SING OUT WORKSHOP Sing Out is a workshop to be held at GSPC on March 21st for the young women involved in Madison Middle School choir. Often, the focus is the adolescent male voice change without much thought to the changes adolescent females undergo during middle school. This workshop will empower our young women to know how to use their voices in a healthy, powerful, and productive way. They will be led by phenomenal conductors and accompanists, all of whom are strong, musical women. This day is full on fun and beautiful music. Their finale concert will be at the Bartlesville High School Fine Arts Center at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $2. If you have any questions, please contact Alex Rivera at RiveraJA@bps-ok.org. Alex Rivera, Vocal Music Director, Madison Middle School
SUNDAY MORNING CHILDREN S MINISTRY Since last summer we have had difficulty providing care for children. Extensive searching for paid staff members yielded no results and it appeared that this important aspect of our overall ministry was just something we would have to let go. Recently, that has changed. Deb Wrich has gathered together a group to provide care for children on Sunday mornings. Those involved will serve on a rotating basis so that no one will have to serve every week. If you notice one of these folks standing outside the Children s wing thank them for their willingness to make a priority of this important aspect of our ministry. Those who have indicated a willingness to participate are: Deb Wrich, Beth Hesling, Rori and Mike Roark, Rita Steinhart, Joan Oelenberger, Sylvia McFarland and Peggy White. Kairos Prison Ministry is needing 3000 dozen cookies for it s 3 Day weekend April 28 May 1, 2016. Contact Julie in the office at 918-333-1708 for the specific recipes that are to be used. Please contact: David Soules or Jim Chamblee for additional Information. Maundy Thursday Seder Meal & Service THURSDAY, MARCH 24 6:00 pm RSVP BY MARCH 21: COST IS A MINIMUM DONATION OF $5 MENU Consists of: Garden Salad, Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken, Mixed Steamed Veggies and Mashed Potatoes w/gravy Do you want to attend Seder, but don t want to drive? Or if you d like to volunteer to give someone a ride. You can make your reservation or arrange transportation by using your Sunday response card or emailing or phoning Julie (julie@gspcok.org or 918-333-1708). Our celebration of the Passover Seder allows us to remember God s decisive act to free Israel from slavery in Egypt and Jesus dramatic teaching about how God will act through him to liberate all those who receive grace by faith in him. The Seder is both meal and liturgy. So, in the course of the evening, symbolic food items remind us of the course of events that freed Israel from bondage. Participants should be prepared for a meal accompanied by the story of Passover that takes time, usually about two and one half hours. The detailed nature of the food used to retell the story of the Passover requires each participant to reserve a seat. LATEST ON SHINGLE REPLACEMENT In the process of working through the process of replacing shingles on all of Good Shepherd s roofs we became aware that neither the Garage or the Gazebo were called out on the Insurance company s schedule of replacement. After conversation about the omission, the insurance company quickly agreed to the addition of these structures to the claim, meaning that the shingles on the Garage and the Gazebo will be replaced along with all of the other structures. The remaining roofs, Discipleship Building, Preschool wing, Garage, Gazebo are scheduled to be replaced during Spring Break with work beginning on March 11. The insurance company notified Good Shepherd that due to our preference to use higher grade shingles they would not reimburse 100% of that expense. Since that notification we have also added additional roofs to the project but we have yet to receive a final statement of our cost. So far Good Shepherd members have stepped forward and we have received $2,800 toward those projected expenses. Thank you to those who have contributed so far. You can contribute to the Shingle Fund and help Good Shepherd complete this project debt free. Talk to Melissa in the Church office 918-33-1708 or Melissa @ gspcok.org If we receive any contributions beyond the final cost of the shingled roof replacement, we will put that toward the repair of the flat roofs over the kitchen and Parlor. Bible Study Fellowship has invited GSPC to its Introduction Class at 6:30 pm on April 5, April 26, or May 3 in the church library. This is to pre-register for the Study of John which will begin in September 2016. Newsletter Going Digital We are targeting Spring of 2016 to begin the distribution of the Shepherd s Voice digitally. We know that for some the physical newsletter arriving in your mailbox will always be your preference. We know others who are quite comfortable in the digital world and would welcome the newsletter to their email inbox. Which are you? Would you prefer mailbox or inbox? You can indicate your preference to Julie by phone, 918-333-1708, email (julie@gspcok.org) or on your Sunday morning response card.
Smoke and Syndrome This afternoon the wind is blowing hard and the skies are smudged brown. All signs point to a big grass fire somewhere. Even with doors closed and windows shut, my house smells like wood smoke. I do not like smoke. It irritates my eyes, makes me cough, and is generally annoying. I would like to escape from the smoke smell, but I cannot. Being indoors is better than being outdoors, but not by much. This afternoon my muscles and joints hurt, and I have that hollow-bone-pain feeling. Those symptoms point to the fibromyalgia that inhabits my body. Even with my regular medications plus an afternoon nap, I feel old and creaky today. (Maybe cranky, too!) I do not like fibromyalgia syndrome. It slows me down, makes me hurt, and is generally annoying. I would like to escape it, but instead I get to cope with it. Both the smoke and the syndrome remind me that though many things are outside my control, I always have the choice of how to respond. So far on this page, complaint has taken the upper hand. But that is not the way I wish to live. I d rather learn a lasting lesson instead. One that comes to mind concerns sin. What if sin bothered me just as much as today s smoke and discomfort do? I would be repenting and praying more. I would be begging for God s truth and mercy to break through. I would be looking for people with whom to share the good news of Jesus Christ and seeking ways to bring blessing to everyone I encounter. There would be no way to pretend that the sin did not exist or that the sin did not affect me. But there would be many opportunities to respond in life-changing ways to the painful facts and consequences of sin. That is the lesson I long to receive and the lifestyle I long to live. How about you? Exciting things are happening in GSPC Choir. Every Wednesday we worship together through music and Sunday we share that worship with the congregation. As Easter approaches we have journeyed through the Lenten season with songs such as We Remember, Come to Me All Who Labor, and Were You There. This Sunday we talk about the Lords Prayer, our choir will presenting a beautiful piece titled Alone He Prays. We will process this upcoming Palm Sunday and feel the excitement the Israelites felt as they saw their savior ride into Jerusalem. We will also feel the strong determination of our savior as he rides to face is fate. There are a multitude of feelings that are expressed through a variety of music. Easter we will look into Mother Mary's complex emotions and how she looks upon an empty tomb and finds peace. Please join us on our journey of emotions and devotion to our complex and wonderful savior. Callie Rivera Director of Music
FROM THE PASTOR S PEN Have you experienced Jesus in a Service of Worship? One of the most common laments among Christians is, I just don t feel close to God and usually a follow on question is very much like it, What can I do to reliably feel closer to God. Often that comment follows an account of a challenging, or even sad period in their lives. We want to feel close to the Lord we serve. We know that it is a sense of intimate connection with Jesus that motives us and eventually causes us to ever so slightly become more like Jesus day by day. So, how do we get closer and what do we do to get there? There are the reliable methods that are often described in nearly every discussion centered on this topic. First, opening the scriptures on a regular basis puts us into a context where we are more likely to experience the Holy Spirit pointing us toward God. Prayer is a second method usually suggested. The application of prayer to the passage of scripture we have just read (see method one) further enriches a context within which God we are more likely to experience the presence of God. Giving is a third. When we give back to God a portion of the blessings given us we become more like God who is himself a giver. Serving is fourth. When we work with and on behalf of God we create a dependency upon God that he is likely to use in our spiritual growth. Often within the conversation the use of the Lord s Supper is forgotten. Jesus himself invites us to seriously consider his presence when in Luke 22:19-20 he says, This is my body broken for you and this cup is a new covenant written in my blood. I don t think that any of us would disagree with the idea that touching the body of Jesus is getting pretty close to him. Yet I think all of us would ask how is a cubed piece of bread, or a cup of juice the body and blood of a man who lived 2000 years ago. Over the centuries the Church has sought to answer the question of how is Jesus present at the time of the Lord s Supper. In the Catholic Church their answer has been that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus once they have entered your mouth. Transubstantiation is the name used for this miraculous changing of the elements. Martin Luther at the time of the Protestant Reformation believed that the miraculous changing of the elements was unnecessary. Instead Lutherans came to see that the elements are only bread and wine but that supernaturally the body of Jesus and blood of Jesus are added to them. The Reformed Tradition, of which Presbyterians are part, holds neither of these positions. Presbyterians believe that Jesus was the perfect union of divine and human natures. During his earthly ministry Jesus divine nature was limited by his human nature. When, in the course of his ministry, we see divine power being used by Jesus it is the power of God the Father flowing through him. Once Jesus ascended to heaven his human body returned to the heavenly realms and his divine nature, still united with his human nature, was no longer constrained by human limits. Jesus says, John 13:33 (NIV) 33 My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. Jesus told the disciples he would go away from them in one sense and yet be with them in another. Jesus ascended into the heavenly realms but that does not mean he is not present with us. His divine nature, while still united with his human nature, is now unfettered and meets us at the Table. So, at the Communion Table we encounter the divine nature of Jesus Christ and even though it is his divine presence it is still united with his human nature dwelling with God. This is what Jesus refers to when he says in the New Testament, I am going away yet I will be with you. The next time you feel as if you are not close to Jesus come to the celebration of the Lord s Supper. Jesus, who lived the life we should live and died the death we deserve, is present. It is at the table that his real, spiritual presence may be experienced by those who have received him by faith. At the table Jesus is really present.
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church 801 SE Washington Blvd Bartlesville, OK 74006 (USPS 222-300) Periodical Postage paid at Bartlesville OK 74005 Return Service Requested Contact us: Church Office: 918-333-1708 Church Fax: 918-333-1729 Website: www.gspcok.org Email: mail@gscpok.org Sunday 8:30 9:45 am Adult and Children s Sunday School 10:00 am Worship Sanctuary 11:00 11:30 am Coffee Connection Monday Tuesday 9:30-10:30 am CDC Movement Education Classes 10:00-2:00 pm Agape Food Service 6:30-8:00pm Bible Study Fellowship Wednesday 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Practice Thursday 1:00 pm Ladies Small Group Friday 9:15 am 2:45 pm Child Development Center Fri. Fri. Mar. 11th - Mar. 18th CDC Closed Mon -Fri. Mar. 14th 18th Spring Break Sun. Mar. 13th Daylight Savings Mon. Mar. 14th Noah Retirees Sun. Mar. 20th Julie Off Sun. Mar. 20th PALM Sunday Mon. Mar. 21st Session Meeting Thurs. Mar. 24th Newsletter Deadline Thurs. Mar. 24th 6 pm Seder Meal Fri. Mar. 25th Office Closed/Good Friday Fri. Mar. 25th Office Closed Sun. Mar. 27th 10 am Service EASTER day Mon. Mar. 28th Office Closed Wed. Mar. 30th Newsletter Mailed