Announcements
Family
Camp!—There
will be no worship service held in the sanctuary on September 2. Our
worship service will take place at Camp John Knox. Please let us
know if you would like to join us for the day.
Cursillo—If
you're interested in attending a lay-lead spiritual retreat in
Scottsboro, AL on Oct. 11-14, I'd highly recommend the Cursillo
experience. Here's
the application form. Here's
a link to a video describing the effect Cursillo has had on some
people.
East
Brainerd Elementary—are
you interested in helping out at East Brainerd? They need someone to
volunteer as a kindergarten assistant—doing tasks like cutting
things out, laminating, etc.
Sunday
School—On
September 9 the kids' Sunday School is re-launching! Please plan to
be there!
New
Hope News
Road
Construction—They've
started work on Shallowford Road this week. The planned date for
completion is November 10.
Sunday
School—We'll
explore Lamentations this Sunday @ 9:45.
Sunday
Evening Prayer Service—We're
having a service of prayer this week!
6:00
Pray
for:
Those
in the path of the hurricane.
The
workers on Shallowford Road, that they may be safe
Pray
for peace—in this city, in this troubled world, in our hearts, in
the church
Links
Book
Recommendation
Looking
for something to sink your teeth into? Shirley Guthrie's Christian
Doctrine
is a great introduction to Presbyterian theology. Well-written and
very accessible.
Random
Thoughts
Two
nights ago, I had the pleasure of being part of an extended
conversation on work and vocation and calling and career and all
those things that make up the way we spend our lives in this world.
We talked about what it means to do work that is not meaningful, as
well as the joy that comes with finding a calling that provides a
sense of purpose and mission in life. There were many people who
expressed a desire for God to speak in a loud voice and announce
exactly what our purpose on this planet is, and we also discussed the
reality of multiple careers and stressful job searches and how those
affect and define us.
It's
so difficult to know how best to invest our time and our energy. We
are called to be good stewards of the gift of life, of our gifts and
knowledge, and yet we struggle to know how best to do so. How do we
follow our dreams and work out how to live faithfully? How do we
balance our work and our play, our relationships and the demands of
the world, such as bills and the people who encourage us to pay them?
I
left the evening thinking about how our jobs enable us to pursue our
vocations. In some cases, maybe that means that our jobs are our
vocations—maybe we are passionate about the job we are in and we
are grateful that it provides for us a sense of calling and purpose.
We love to go to work and thank God for the chance to do this work,
be it as a stay-at-home mom or a lawyer.
In
other cases, perhaps work enables us to pursue a hobby that we feel
like is a vocation. Maybe you feel like your vocation in the world
is to be a voice for the oppressed, but you cannot find work that
pays well enough, so you work as something else to fund your life
while you invest your free time in what you feel is your true
vocation.
Maybe
others straddle a fence, feeling called to multiple areas of life,
allowing ourselves to get caught up in the moments of wonder and
grandeur of responsibilities as a spouse, a parent, an employee and a
hobbyist.
I
don't think we need to build fences and have definite limits on what
is vocation and what is not. I just think we need to find what we
love and what is faithful and pursue that. It doesn't mean we have
to pursue it in full-time employment, but Christ has given us all
gifts to use to serve others. Let's use those gifts to spread
Christ's love, and perhaps when we look back on this wild ride of
life we'll see how different seasons of life saw us called to
different things, and we'll give glory to God for the way he works,
often beyond what we can understand in the moment.
Text
for Sunday, August 26
John 11:17-27
John 11:17-27
Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
When
Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two
miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to
console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus
was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha
said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever
you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise
again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again
in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I
am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even
though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him,
‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of
God, the one coming into the world.’
New
Hope on iTunes
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