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March 2008 |
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For most of us, this winter has been quite long. At one point, I shovelled our drive 5 times in 36 hours. I am tired of the dirty snow and anxiously await the budding trees and the sound of birds singing. During Lent and especially moving up to Easter, many clergy people offer to “bless” pets. This is much more common in Catholic circles than in Protestant churches. The Catholic Bishop of Chicago does this annually, at the dismay of many who have a more Biblical view of the faith. Believe it or not, it is possible for clergy to fall prey to egotistical nonsense. Some clergy bless homes, dogs, cats, motorcycles, boats and the list goes on and on. In India, many Protestant pastors spend a large portion of their time going to peoples’ homes offering “blessings” to the point of absurdity. There are examples, in both Old and New Testaments, where prophets and priests call out to God for His blessings. In this sense, one could say the prophet is blessing the people. A good example would be Numbers 6:22-27. The Lord commands Moses and Aaron to bless the people of Israel. Then He gives them the actual words to say. In looking to those verses, we find that it is the Lord who, in reality, does the blessing. “The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” Notice the emphasis upon the Lord? Personally, I bristle at the thought of any human being having the power of God to “bless”. Pastors who do this need reminded that God “blesses” obedience, not hocus pocus rituals done by people in long robes. Show me people who humbly care for their families, friends, and neighbours. Show me people who have a passion for truth at all costs, for morality, and justice for all people. Show me people who uphold the name of Jesus before others and I will show you people who are blessed abundantly by God, with or without the pronounced blessing of any clergy person. God bestows His blessings upon obedience to His word, not ritual! If the Protestant Reformation taught us anything, it taught us that. Many people bring their babies to a clergy person for the same reason they bring their cats and dogs. They think a human being has the power to bestow eternal blessing and salvation upon another human being. In some parts of the world where there is extreme poverty, priests will charge money for this bestowal of eternal reward. Parents will solicit money from friends and relatives to pay the priest, fearing their baby’s salvation is in jeopardy unless he/she is baptized. Lord help us! I fully understand why some people give up on “organized religion”. When the precious things of God are so misused and even sold for a price, it must grieve God’s heart. Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple for this very reason. With all that said, let me comment on the value of caring for God’s little creatures who are at the mercy of us humans. Love demands an object. You cannot love without having something or someone to love. The Bible tells us God is love and that love is from God. This is also evidence of the Trinity – the Father’s love for the Son and for the Holy Spirit. Love that leads to adoration and worship of people or things crosses a fine line into idolatry. We all know of people who worship mates and children. Ever heard of someone claiming to be a Christian and at the same time using their family as an excuse for not being regular in worship? Who is truly on the throne of the heart in this instance? Healthy love resists putting any person or thing in God’s place, reserving the throne of the heart for God and Him alone. Recently, Katie and Randy Margison lost their beloved pet dog. Katie shared with us of how that reminded her of the enormous love God has for each of us. I can never remember a time in my entire life that I didn’t have a pet. When on the farm as a child, I was surrounded by animals – cows, pigs, horses, dogs, and cats. I fell in love with animal life. That love has never left me. For most of my life, I have preferred a dog. But in recent years, Rhonda and I have had “Timmy”, a beautiful, long-haired house cat. I now see the value of cats and appreciate their unique place in God’s creation. To cuddle and love a living creature is one of God’s gifts to us as humans. Many retirement facilities now have birds, cats and dogs. They see the value of seeing, touching, or holding live animals. Loneliness is a huge problem with the elderly. The therapeutic value of pets for many older people is priceless. May you please God by your obedience to His Word this season leading to the empty tomb. Pastor Curry – Psalm 122:1
PULPIT FORECAST "To regularly avail oneself to the public exposition of the Holy Scriptures is one of the highest and holiest habits one can ever attain in this life." For the Believer, March is usually the time of the year to reflect upon one’s spiritual life in preparation for the Easter season. Easter for most Americans is the time of the year to embrace the season of nature coming to life. For the Christian, it is so much more. During Lent and Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is front and center. This is the heart of what we call “the Gospel”. The first two messages of March will focus on the unpopular word repentance. This is actually not a dirty word, but one would almost think it is. Rarely is it used in positive ways. I challenge you to make Holy Week 2008 a much different week than usual. Make plans now to ponder the meaning of our faith and to attend all of our Holy Week services – Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Day with breakfast and worship. Don’t settle for half a candy bar when you could have a whole one. If your place of employment is not conducive to such plans, discuss it with your supervisor. Many times employers will make exceptions to policies for religious reasons.
MARCH MESSAGES 2nd “The Measure of Greatness” is the title of the message taken from Psalms 51:1-13. We will also share in Holy Communion.
9th “A Small Key to a Very Big Door” is the message title using Mark 6:7-13.16th “Blessed is the King” is Pastor Curry’s Palm Sunday message. Palm branches will be given to all worshipers. The Scripture text for the service is Luke 19:35-38. 23th Our resurrection celebration will begin at 10:30 a.m., immediately following the Easter Breakfast, which begins at 9:00 A.M. The Scripture text will be from Paul’s writing to the Corinthian church (I Corinthians 15:35-44) and will be entitled, “Comprehending the Incomprehensible”. 30th “Moving Forward by His Grace” will be Pastor Curry’s last message at Community Church. He will use I Corinthians 15:1-11 as the text.
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COUNCIL REPORTS from the most recent meeting are always available at the back of the church in the wooden rack at the top of the steps. Don’t hesitate to pick one up if you have interest. Council Meetings are always open to our members. We meet the first Tuesday evening to conduct church business and the third Tuesday evening to pray. Please contact Council President Mike Johnson if you wish to attend or speak at any meeting.
USE OF CHURCH BUILDING AND CHIMES CALENDAR?? The calendar in the Chimes each month only contains the events of our church life. It does not list all the groups using the church facility on different dates. If you wish inquire about using the facility, please call our Facility Coordinator, Jim Pillars.
HOLY WEEK SERVICES
MARCH 16 - PALM SUNDAY – Regular Service Times MAUNDY THURSDAY COMMUNION - 7:00 P.M. This meal is in remembrance of Jesus’ last meal with his followers. We will gather in the chancel area in groups of twelve sharing the Lord’s Supper around a table. Children are welcome but no childcare will be offered.GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE – 7:00 P.M. In seeking to walk again in the footsteps of Jesus, we gather to share in singing hymns and reading the crucifixion story. Children are welcome but no childcare will be offered. RESURRECTION SUNDAYBreakfast – 9:00 A.M. A complete sit down breakfast will be shared. Drinks, sausage and eggs provided. Bring your favorite breakfast dish to pass – bagels, fruit, etc. Everyone make special effort to come! Worship – 10:30 A.M. A special service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. No Sunday School that morning.
COFFEE HOUR3/2 Megan Bosley & Rhonda Curry 3/9 Jeanne Knoblock & Nicole Reyes 3/16 Sue & Hank McDonald EASTER 3/30 Sandy Blake & Linda Ellinger
USHER SCHEDULE 3/2 Bob & Carol Dawson 3/9 Annie & Jim Lyons 3/16 Patty Summers & Rosalie Stickling 3/23 Karen Eggert & Dan Schlabach 3/30 Mae Backovitch & Harriet Heppner
BIRTHDAYS If you know of anyone who is not on our list, contact Randy Margison. 1: Cindy Johnson 4:Alex Dietz 6: Mike Johnson 6: Mary Evans 6: Sabrina Martin 13: Duane Lahti 14: Kathy Martin 15: Chris Kramer, Jr. 21: Mickey Blake 26: Jerry Evans
LYDIA CIRCLE RUMMAGE SALE NEWS
Well once again Rummage Sale time is here. The Spring Sale schedule is as follows: Set-up Sunday and luncheon for the workers is April 6th. Sale Dates are April 10th, and 11th from 9am to 6pm, and Saturday the 12th from 9am to noon. You will notice a “new look’ at this Spring Sale. While we will continue to have the better quality items in Lydia’s Boutique and in our new narthex, all items in Fellowship Hall will be part of a Bag-Sale. This means you can fill a brown paper bag with any sale items found in Fellowship Hall for $8.00 on Thursday; $4.00 on Friday; and $2.00 on Saturday. Larger items that won’t fit into a bag will be appropriately priced. Please NOTE: We have eliminated the Wednesday “Early-Bird Sale”. Since we only have 3 days to prepare for a Spring Sale, we have gone to the Bag-Sale idea in order to reduce the work load on our volunteers. With this in mind, we decided to eliminate the need for sales people on Wednesday the 9th by eliminating the Early-Bird Sale. Because Sunday School is still in session and storage space is limited, please hold on to your donations until Set-up Sunday. We will have a sign-up sheet available soon for people willing to help set up and work the sale and also for those willing to provide food for the workers’ lunch on Set-up Sunday. Since the entire sale in Fellowship Hall is a bag sale we will need more bags than usual so please save your paper grocery bags for us so we don’t have to purchase them from a store. Thanks again for your help and support for our Rummage Sales each year. In His service, Linda Martin, President, Lydia Circle
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