February 24, 2016 Volume 21, No. 4 8:15 am Church opens 8:30 - Sunday Discipleship Classes 10:00 am check with your class or group for its schedule 10:00 am Service of Worship 11:00 am Coffee Connection in the Conversation Corner opposite the Parlor 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 Sunday: Worship at 10 am in the Sanctuary 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 Easter Lily orders are due to the church by March 7th. Deadline for articles for the next Newsletter is March 7th 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 Contributions to the ENDOWMENT FUND were made by ENROLLMENT FOR SUMMER 2016 & 2016-2017 SCHOOL YEAR!! PRE-ENROLLMENT began Monday, February 1 st for our current students. OPEN ENROLLMENT begins Tuesday, March 1 st for any students that are not currently enrolled with us. Nina Hart in celebration of her Birthday Kenneth Scott in celebration of his Birthday Richard (Dick) Sonnenfeld in memory of Bill Trepka Please contact the Child Development Center at 918-333-1713 to reserve your spot. They will fill up quickly! THANK YOU The Endowment Committee wishes to thank all church members that have participated in the Endowment Fund Birthday Program so far this year. The Birthday Program is a great way to build the Endowment fund. Just donate your age in dollars in your birthday month to help this fund grow. Happy Birthday! Thursday Women s Small Group Thursday Women s Small Group will be Studying Fight Back With Joy By Margaret Feinberg until March 10. Chapter Group meets Thursdays, at 1:00 pm at the church library. If you have questions contact: Margaret Boesiger (918-333-6335) or Linda Johnson (918-333-7456) Wednesday nights meal & program 5:45 pm Just one more Night available to arrange dinner: March 9th FEBRUARY 24 - Christian Living Class members MARCH 2 - Deb Wrich Home Made Soup Tasting MARCH 9 - NEED VOLUNTEER MARCH 16 - Beth Hesling & Calvin Miles Beginning February 24 and through March 16 Wednesday evening meals and programs will begin. The program each night will focus on Christian Hope from a Biblical perspective. Using a video presentation from New Testament scholar and Bishop, N.T. Wright. Each week we ll look at a particular aspect of Christian hope such as heaven or the resurrection. If you can help with the meal portion of the night on March 9th, phone Julie in the church office at 918 333-1708 to indicate which night you can help. SEDER THURSDAY MARCH 24th - 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. You can make your reservation by using your Sunday response card or emailing or phoning Julie (julie@gspcok.org or 918-333-1708)
THANKS: PEGGY WHITE FOR DOING FEBRUARY 28TH & DEE WIENS FOR MARCH 6TH Maundy Thursday Seder Meal & Service THURSDAY, MARCH 24 6:00 pm in the Conversation Corner The Coffee Connection is what happens after Worship each Sunday At 11:00 am after Worship, coffee along with the items normally served for Continental Breakfast are offered in the Conversation Corner adjacent to the Sanctuary. Coffee Connection, provides an opportunity for conversation for both regular attenders and guests. We are so grateful for those who have worked hard to make the first two weeks so successful. Thank you!! Some have asked, Can we make the space bigger? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is Yes and it costs money and here s why. The outside south wall of the Conversation Corner facing the Sanctuary would first need to be removed. That wall is load bearing and requires a steel beam spanning the new opening to hold the load. The second consideration involves heating and cooling the space. Since only the rooms in that part of the building are heated or cooled removing the walls and the heating and cooling unit with it, invites us to consider whether we want the space to be heated and cooled in the future. Once these two items are addressed the remaining considerations are cosmetic including the west wall which we have been told is not load bearing. Thank You: LINDA JOHNSON for volunteering to be the Coordinator Beth Hesling, Calvin Miles, Kim & Charlie Shipman and JB Minor for assisting. MEETING TODAY IS RIGHT AFTER SERVICE. Needing to get started Organizing, Planning, and Providing information to church members and guests. Update 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. 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. We are well on our way to underwriting the out of pocket cost to Good Shepherd with $1,500 already received toward that expense. With the scope of the project expanded our out of pocket will also grow. Our Insurance company has yet to define the total however we are expecting it to be around $2,500. The amount due is modest considering the quality and scope of work. You can contribute to the Shingle Fund and help Good Shepherd complete this project debt free. Talk to Melissa in the Church office 918-333-1708 or Melissa @ gspcok.org 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. 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.
Are You Saved? 2016 Easter Lily Order Form Name: In Memory of: In Honor of: AND / OR AND / OR Other: Number of lilies ordering: Cost is $11.00 each Total Amount $ Please include payment with this completed order form. Limited number available; Accepting orders until MARCH 7th. You may pick up your lily after the Easter Sunday service. Do you cringe at that question? Or, perhaps, do you smile at the meaning-packed memory of asking Jesus into your heart? I do both. But, let s start with the second question. I have at least three memories of that moment. The first was when, as a 12-year-old, I read Uncle Tom s Cabin for the first time. The second, a few years later, was at a David Wilkerson rally. The third was as a 36-year-old newly divorced mother of two. Each time I invited Jesus, He came. Each time I was totally sincere. But it was only at the third time that I really understood I had nothing to offer him but a broken heart. So, why would I cringe at that question when I am a born-again believer? I m not entirely sure. Perhaps it is the times I have seen defensive walls rise suddenly. Maybe it is the awareness that some persons, when asked that question, feel like the asker is more concerned with evangelistic successes to report than with the real human being standing there. It seems to me that the are you saved? question is one best asked in the context of relationship. It should be a question of loving invitation, prompted by the Holy Spirit. There are many different words and ways to ask it, but they all point to the central truth that God sacrificed his only son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin and give us glorious eternal life. When we say yes to Jesus and yield our lives to him, well, that is where the glory begins. Has your glory begun? Maybe that is the question to ask and answer. Volunteer Opportunity: Lily Coordinator Each Easter Good Shepherd has a tradition of delivering tulips or lilies to our homebound members, or those who have suffered illness or loss during the year. These plants are always well received and those who participate will be blessed. If organization is one of your gifts, please contact Melissa in the church office.
FROM THE PASTOR S PEN I doubt that many of us relish a conversation about sin. A popular book by Dr. Karl Menninger in the 1970 s asked, Whatever became of Sin? Christians know about sin, we understand that grace covers our sin, but talking about sin is not considered good behavior. One illustration of this occurred in 1979 when the phrase miserable offenders, referring to the spiritual condition of human beings, was removed entirely from the Episcopal Church s Book of Common Prayer because it was thought to be off-putting. Regardless of the denomination, we have sought to make the Church and our language more positive and less off putting by talking about sin less. In fact some within the church today not having grown up with the phrase, would be baffled, even repelled, by such language if they walked in off the street. I recall in 1992 after having reintroduced a prayer of confession into the Sunday liturgy being asked, Why do we have to have that? The language and concept of sin are exclusively biblical. Now, of course, we hear the word used in various nonbiblical contexts (even by Presidential candidates) by people who know nothing of the Bible. However, outside its biblical context it simply comes to mean wrongdoing of some sort, defined by whoever happens to be using it almost always with reference to someone other than themselves. However, to be in sin, biblically speaking, means something much more consequential than wrongdoing; it means being catastrophically separated from the eternal love of God. It means to be on the other side of a barrier separated from God s heavenly banquet. It means to be helplessly trapped inside one s own worst self, and miserably aware of the chasm between the way we are and the way God intends us to be. Being in sin means that the reign of greed, cruelty, and violence throughout the world continues in us and through us. We are all familiar with the caricature of the evangelistic revival depicting a preacher whipping up a sense of sinfulness in the audience so that it will come to Jesus for mercy and forgiveness. In contrast I want to suggest the opposite. If we come to an understanding of salvation, the sense of sin will come as a result. I the face of our sinfulness the cross looms large resulting in profound and sincere repentance. There cannot be an adequate understanding of the meaning of the crucifixion without a deep personal response to the problem of sin. The human response to the prevenient (meaning going - before) grace of God is the acknowledgment of our sinful condition and trust in God s unfailing grace. That is why on Ash Wednesday, we read Psalm 51 and its list of sin and the Psalmists plea: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. (Ps. 51:2-3) God is moving upon our hearts before we even realize what is happening. The movement of God s mercy comes first, in the disclosure of the presence of God, which then awakens the sense of sin by exposing the gulf between us and the holiness of God. When this recognition dawns on us, we are already standing within God s grace ( this grace in which we stand Rom. 5:2). In view of God s nature, we come to know that it is impossible that this state of affairs would be allowed to continue forever. Once we come to know God in Jesus Christ, we can no longer imagine the Father s joyful banquet continuing into all eternity with the elder brother still standing outside. (Luke 15:25-32). Were it not for the mercy of God surrounding us, we would have no perspective upon sin, because we would be entirely immersed in it. And so we affirm that wherever sin is unmasked and confessed, God s redemptive power is already present and acting. So, we need to talk about God s extravagant love for us and our sinfulness. Within the conversation, we come to appreciate a gracious God who could not stand for us to be separated from him, his lavish love displayed on a cross at Calvary and our daily need for grace.
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 8:45 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-Sat Feb. 26-27 Session Retreat Sat. Feb. 27 Piano Recital Boesiger Wed. Mar. 2 CDC Chapel Fri. Mar. 4 CDC Parent Night Out Sun. Mar 6 Communion Mon. Mar 7 6:30 pm Fellowship Hall Lacy Reed Zumba Class Wed. Mar. 9th Newsletter Mailed Fri. Fri. Mar. 11th - Mar. 18th CDC Closed Fri. Mar. 14th 18th Spring Break Sun. Mar. 13th Daylight Savings Sun. Mar. 20th Julie Off Sun. Mar. 20th PALM Sunday Mon. Mar. 21 Noah Retirees Fri. Mar. 25th Good Friday Fri. Mar. 25th Office Closed Sun. Mar. 27th 10 am Service EASTER Sunday Mon. Mar. 28th Office Closed