NEWS & NOTES First Presbyterian Church, Bryan Ohio March 2014 The Mission of First Presbyterian Church: Vital Worship Dynamic Growth Faithful Service Deadline for the April 2014 Newsletter is Wednesday, March 19 Dead- line for articles or information for News & Notes is to be turned into the office for the following month s publication by the nineteenth of each month. You are invited to email bryanpres@firstpresbryan.org or fax 419-636-8252 as well as submit in written form! Sunday Morning Worship Schedule 9:00 am Contemporary Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:00 am Traditional Service Lent begins on March 5th this year and we will be kicking it off with a potluck dinner at 6:00pm in Fellowship Hall and worship at 7:00pm in the sanctuary. Bring a dish to pass for the potluck. The Fellowship Committee will provide macaroni and cheese and hotdogs for the kids and also provide drinks and to guide clean up. The rest is up to us! This is a great time to connect with people who attend a different worship service than yourself on Sunday mornings. Worship will involve communion by intinction (coming forward) and you will also have the option of receiving the ashes of repentance. We will praise the Lord and seek His cleansing as we enter a season of the year that helps us look inward. and worship. for dinner See you in church!! Remember our church in your will
MAN TO MAN Helping Men Move Forward Spiritually Every Wednesday we will be offering a group for men! We will meet at 6pm for dinner (part of Carpenter s Workshop) and then meet to talk about men s issues, do a Bible study and hopefully pray and support one another. We will try to finish by 7:30 each evening. Men need to meet with men so we can grow in our faith and deal with things from a male perspective. Barry will initially lead this group with the hope that group members will eventually lead this group for themselves. Men! Plan on giving this group a try! You ll be glad you did! See Barry if you are thinking of attending! Our Free Meal Ministry is still going strong, but a couple of teams could use additional volunteers. If you are willing to join a team that serves a meal just once every eight weeks, please contact either Dee Spiess or Laura Andres. Also there will be a Free Meal Captains meeting on February 11 at 7pm. PULPIT EXCHANGE RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 18: Return to the DR We will be returning to the Dominican Republic in 2014 for our annual mission trip. It will be January 24-31. We will be partnering with a church from Ft. Wayne and we will offer both a medical team and a construction team. Solid Rock hopes to be building the new clinic by next January so we are hoping to have some people go on this trip to help with that construction. If you are interested, see Barry as soon as possible. A Thought to Ponder: Down from His splendor in glory He came. Into a world of woe. Took on Himself all my guilt and my shame, Why should He love me so? Author unknown. Submitted by Joy Ames
From Me to You March 2014 The season of Lent is upon us! This is the forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter. Lent traditionally is a time to prepare for and come to understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for each of us. One of the ways some people do this is to give up something for Lent. This way they can appreciate the Sacrifice of Christ. I think another way to get in touch with what God is up to in this season is to commit to give in new ways during Lent. Seek to be generous, to serve to volunteer, to be positive and not negative, to bless someone else each day during the forty days of Lent. If we seek ways to give back and to affirm others and build others up in Christ to be intentional in this endeavor not only are they enriched but so are we! In blessing others we get blessed! You might also strive to be in worship every single Sunday during Lent. If you are travelling over a Sunday, seek out a local church to attend so you can be faithful to this decision. Jesus died for us, certainly we can be in worship each week for Him! There are a lot of creature things one can do to stay focused on the meaning of this time. Seek our God s ideas on how you can learn to appreciate Christ s Sacrifice for you! Pray about it and then follow where He leads you! Lent is a great time of year in which to deepen ones walk with God. Remember...He loves you like crazy! Love Him like crazy back! See you in church! Blessings, Barry
Thank You: We would like to thank the following people for help around the church lately: Don Shrider and Tom Sprow for taking down the large decorative trees in the Sanctuary Don Shrider for teaching the new men s Bible study when Barry could not be present. Yvette Zedaker for taking minutes for the Annual Meeting this year. Jim Wilder and Bruce Brown for preaching for Barry when he was out of the pulpit for the funeral and study leave. Ric Beals and Dorothy Ritchey-Moore for being on-call while Barry has been out of town. MISSION NEWS: The collection of household items for the Sanctuary was a great success. These items will be greatly appreciated. Mission Committee Words of Thanks! Thank you so much for all your caring and love during Judy s mom s illness and subsequent death. The flowers from the church were beautiful! The Sprows and the Harringtons came up for the funeral and that brought us great comfort. We appreciate all the cards and all the caring sent our way! You are great people! Barry and Judy COMBINED SERVICES COMING UP! Occasionally we hold worship services that combine both the contemporary and traditional worship styles. Below is the list of upcoming combined worship experiences: Please try to attend these special services so you can connect with whose who attend a different worship service than you attend. February 2 10:30am Annual Meeting June 1 9am Graduation Sunday August 31 10:30 or 11 am Labor Day Below is a list of what Barry will be preaching on this up coming month: March 2: The sermon title is: As the Stars of Heaven. It looks at the story of Abraham and Isaac. It is a story about priorities and obedience and who comes first our lives. March 5: Ash Wednesday We will explore What Is But What Can Be! As we walk with Jesus through Lent we will begin by looking at the positive What Can Be! March 9: Barry begins a sermon series based on the book Grace by Max Lucado. It will be positive and upbeat! This week we explore what Grace is! March 16: We explore Grace Equals Freedom this Sunday. We see how God frees us from the junk and sin of our lives. March 23: We look at being adopted by God Chosen by Him to be His Child! March 30: We look at the importance of confession as it relates to Grace as we Come Clean with God.
1 Connor Robinson 2 John Hamilton 2 Lori Ely 2 Mike Robinson 4 Robert Meuleman 8 Pat Goshorn 12 Marjorie Buell 12 Larry Clappe 13 Elizabeth Benedict 13 Hannah Goodrich 14 Mike Culler 14 Gillian Davies 15 Evelyn Witzerman 18 Brian Andres 5 Chris and Diana Moore Eschhofen 16 Russ and Bev Davies Sr. FOR MARCH BIRTHDAYS ANINVERSARIES 18 Judy Shilling 19 Jana Horton 20 Tim Hollabaugh 21 Harry Dalby 22 Judy Karnes 23 Martin Killgallon 27 Patrick O Dwyer 31 Ralph and Deanne Beerbower 30 Danielle Culbertson 30 Joe Tokunaga Our thoughts and prayers have been with Judy and Barry Sweet upon the death of Judy s mother, Jean Scott., on February 13 in Harbor Beach, Michigan. Barry officiated the funeral on Saturday, February, 15 in Harbor Beach Please put these events on your calendar so you can plan to attend! March 5 ---------------- Ash Wednesday March 13-16 ---------- Men s Great Banquet March 20-23 ---------- Women s Great Banquet April 20 ----------------- Easter Breakfast & Easter Worship May 1 ------------------- National Day of Prayer June 1 ------------------ Graduation Sunday, 9am service June 8 ------------------ Pentecost with Communion June 22-23-24 -------- VBS June 29 ----------------- Community Service at the Ice Rink NEWS & NOTES is published monthly by the First Presbyterian Church, 506 Oxford Drive, Bryan, OH 43506. Tele.# 419-636-4208. Fax # 419-636-8252. E-mail: bryanpres@firstpresbryan.org, Web site: www.firstpresbryan.org Staff: Rev. Barry Sweet, Pastor (barry506@firstpresbryan.org); Judy Sweet, Children and Youth Ministries Director (cedirector@firstpresbryan.org); June Webster, Director of Music and Arts; Hyla Sharrock, Organist; Joanne Israel, Office Administrator; Mary Ann Peters, Financial Secretary (finsec@firstpresbryan.org); Larry Clappe, Custodian.