Thursday, August 23, 2012

8/23 E-News


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 Elementaryare 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 SchoolOn September 9 the kids' Sunday School is re-launching! Please plan to be there!

New Hope News

Road ConstructionThey'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 ServiceWe'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.’















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