Announcements
Toy
Drop & Clothing Drive--
Thanksgiving
Day, a time of celebrating our blessings, seems in danger of being
replaced as a national holiday by Black Friday, a day that elevates
consumerism. Rather than retreat in fear, the Outreach Committee has
chosen to see this as an opportunity. They're going to have a toy
drop/clothing drive from 8 pm on Thanksgiving Day until noon the
following Friday. We're encouraging people to pick up an extra toy
and drop it by the church to benefit the Forgotten Child Fund. What
we need: volunteers willing to staff the church, people willing to
take fliers around the community, and all the publicity we can get!
Community
Kitchen Spot
There
are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community
needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please
bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the
bookshelf.
#10
Cans of Sweet Potato / Yams
#10
Cans of Italian Style Green Beans
No-Bake
Pumpkin / Apple Pies
No-Heat
Dinner Rolls
Plastic
Forks, Knives, Spoons
Dinner
Napkins
Heavy
Duty Sectional Dinner Plates
Dessert
Plates
3
Oz. Souffle Cups
New
Hope News
Wednesday
Bible Study--
Next
week will be our final Bible study of 2013. Join us as @ 6:30 as we
study 1 Samuel 20. Bring your supper and share in fellowship at 6.
Thanksgiving
Supper –
For over 10 years, JoAn & Philip Wright have been faithfully
leading a Thanksgiving meal here at the church (@ 2:00) for any and
all who would like to join us. If you'd like to come, please speak
with JoAn beforehand.
Pray
For:
The
Ivey family
The
people of the Philippines, and those in distant places filled with
anxiety about loved ones
Teachers.
Teachers who feel overwhelmed. Teachers whose joy is contagious.
Teachers whose hearts break for their children. Teachers who are
overworked and underpaid. Teachers who wake up early and do
everything they can to prepare kids for the future and help them face
today. Teachers who see vulnerable kids and often go above and
beyond what is expected of them. Teachers who sometimes feel
helpless. Teachers who are excited and empowered and changing lives.
May God give them grace, strength and peace to continue to do their
jobs well.
Links
To
follow up on last Wednesday's visit from David Martin:
Keith's
Random Thoughts
I've
spent a lot of time trying to process what I witnessed in Haiti, the
good, the bad and the tragic.
At some point, maybe I'll run out of things to say about Haiti. At
some point, maybe I'll get so caught up in the chaos and busy-ness of
life in Chattanooga that Haiti will recede into the background. The
turbulence there will take a backseat to whatever is right in front
of my face.
I think there is always
the danger that we forget.
By that, I don't mean
that there is danger that we'll forget about Haiti, that we'll forget
about poverty in Chattanooga and hungry kids in our neighborhood.
There will be times that we forget, that we're not actively in prayer
or support of that ongoing work. The important thing there is that
we allow our lives to establish rhythms where we continue to circle
back and spend our time and energy in regular service to others.
When I speak of the
danger of forgetting, I mean there is danger that we'll forget that
our every waking moment is an opportunity to participate in God's
ongoing mission. That's the danger—that we stop seeing the bigger
picture and start getting caught up in our own little story,
believing that is all there is.
Think about what you're
doing right now. What you've done today. What you'll do tomorrow.
Now think about this: God cares about it, and whatever it is that
you are doing is an opportunity to glorify God.
Maybe you just finished
folding laundry. You can pray while you're folding laundry. Maybe
you're about to cook dinner. You can pray while you do this, and you
can also use God's creation to create something that tastes
wonderful, and if you're feeding others along with yourself, that's a
moment of service. If you're at work, when you work well and work
ethically, you're using the gifts God has given you for his greater
glory. You're earning money which can be used well to love others as
well as yourself. You can build relationships through your work that
may lead others to recognize God's sovereignty over all of life. Are
you out shopping? Look at the people around you. Pay attention to
them. Is there someone who looks like they need someone to listen?
Can you be in prayer for the people around you?
Being Presbyterian means
we don't have to shrink back from the world. We can engage in it and
trust that God is at work there. We can participate fully in the
outside world and know that God is redeeming it, using faithful
servants like you and I to spread that message of redemption.
Life moves in rhythms.
There are times to help and serve the people of Haiti. There are
time and ways to help the people of Chattanooga. Whatever we do, we
join in God's mission to participate in going out to spread the Good
News of salvation. We don't always have to be in Haiti to do so.
There are times we need to go out with intention, to be in foreign
places, but there are ways and times to join in with God's mission in
your work and your school and your house. May we not forget God's
mission—he calls us with the intent that our lives are used to make
disciples in all the world. When we shrink God's call to focusing
only on our personal salvation, we've missed the larger point. God
sends the church out with purpose. May we participate constantly in
this mission, looking for ways to reach out in all we do. May we
recognize his claim on ALL of life and on ALL of the world.
Text
for this Sunday
Mark
2:13-17
(ESV)
13
He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to
him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi
the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him,
“Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and
sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were
many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when
they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to
his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and
sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who
are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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