Memory Verses for 2025

 Memory Verses for 2025

Jan – Psalm 25:10

Feb – Psalm 25:11

Mar – Psalm 25:12

Apr – Psalm 25:13

May – Psalm 25:14

Jun – Psalm 25:15

Jul – Psalm 25:16

Aug – Psalm 25:17

Sep – Psalm 25:18

Oct – Psalm 25:19

Nov – Psalm 25:20

Dec – Psalm 25:21-22

Projects in Search of a Champion

 Projects in Search of a Champion.  The following projects await someone with some ambition, organizational skills, a desire to find viable solutions, and the desire to finish a project.

·         The Attic (Sort and Organize)

·         VBS Materials (Sort, organize, and determine what to keep/give away)

·         Admin office and copy room (General Organization)

·         Acquiring a Supply Vendor

·         Finding a worthy recipient for saved educational materials

·         Finding an outside water solution

Lord, Show Us what to do to help recent Victims of the Storm

 

Dear Father in heaven,

We praise your name and give you thanks. Even in times such as these, we are thankful.

We lift on high the name that is above all names. We ask Jesus, who is the Christ and who sits at the right hand of the Father, to intercede for us. We trust in his power to send mercy and relief to those afflicted by the storms of this past week.

Lord, call upon the body of Christ to respond to the needs of their neighbors. We, who are protected from this storm have known other storms and have given you thanks for seeing us through them.

Thank you for our testimonies. We pray that those now afflicted have testimonies of your great love.

Lord, whether those testimonies come in the form of witnessing a mighty act of your hand or by the compelling of your Spirit that lives in our hearts and in the hearts of other believers to be your hands, let your love be known in this trial.

God Almighty, we sit in comfort and thank you for that, but our hearts are being shaped like yours and we want to help those who need help most right now.

Lord Jesus, we long to be known as belonging to you by our love in action.

Open our eyes that we may see what to do.

Amen.

F4 Schedule for Fall 24 - Spring 25

 Our Wednesday evening gatherings are a combination of worship and classes. We resume in September.

 

F4 Dates

2024-2025 School Year

FALL 2024

11 SEP	WORSHIP	9-11 SVC – 10 MIN IN CR
18 SEP	CLASSES
25 SEP	CLASSES
2 OCT	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CLASSROOM
9 OCT	BREAK	FTP
16 OCT	CLASSES
23 OCT	CLASSES
30 OCT	CLASSES
6 NOV	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CLASSROOM
13 NOV	WORSHIP	FALL FINALE

 

 

SPRING 2025

15 JAN	CLASSES
22 JAN	CLASSES
29 JAN	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CLASSROOM
5 FEB	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CLASSROOM
12 FEB	CLASSES
19 FEB	CLASSES
26 FEB	CLASSES
5 MAR	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CR (ASH WEDS)
12 MAR	CLASSES
19 MAR	SPRING BREAK
26 MAR	CLASSES
2 APR	CLASSES
9 APR	CLASSES
16 APR	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CR (RESURRECTION)
23 APR	CLASSES
30 APR	WORSHIP	10 MIN IN CR (FINALE)

Balance

The life of the church is important to believers. We share the gospel, encourage and comfort each other, and do the things that God planned for us to do before we were born. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed. Sometimes we think that we should do more. I ask that you consider what we are called to do and what we are doing and see if we have some balance (not equality but balance).

We want to reach people and see them in worship, education, and fellowship activities, but we also know that through the ages, God has worked with a remnant. Sometimes we are to grow. Sometimes we are to strengthen what remains. We want to get it right.  We want the right balance. The session is likely the only place where balance is discussed much among leaders.

Let’s do a simple exercise called RAD (Recognize – Analyze – Divide) and see what we already know. You may want to grow the lists in each area. Let’s start with what we recognize.

Worship

Sunday Morning Worship X2

Wednesday Evening Worship (usually 1 time per month)

Summer Singing (1 time per month)

Thanksgiving worship and meal

Christmas worship and meal

Community Services (2 times per year)

CPC Birthday Worship & Fellowship Meal

 

Fellowship

5^th Sunday Meals (currently suspended for 2024)

Summer Singing (1 time per month)

Thanksgiving worship and meal

Christmas worship and meal

One Pot Meal + Activities X2 (sometimes X3)

CPC Birthday Worship & Fellowship Meal

 

Education

Sunday School

Wednesday Evenings (7 Months)

Occasional Bible Studies

Outreach/Evangelism

Walk A Block for Jesus (or other event/activity to reach those beyond our walls)

Hour of Power

Broadcast of services (can be a double-edged sword)

Online Posts – Life of the Church

Wristbands/Gospels/Other giveaway items for any occasion

Food Ministry

Take home supplies to give to Trick or Treaters

 

Reserved for Families (Typically nothing scheduled for the body other than Sunday morning worship)

Resurrection Sunday

Mothers’ Day

Father’s Day

Christmas Day

Days/Times Unique to  a specific family/families

 

Other Activities

Meetings

Committee/Commission Work

 

Worldly Competitors – Not saying these are good, bad, or ugly, but they are competitors for our time and energy.

Youth Sports (Traditional boundaries of Sunday and Wednesday are nearly eviscerated).

Travel (We are a very mobile society)

Livelihood (You don’t work. You don’t eat or make the car payment)

  

Other Areas of Consideration

Salvation belongs to the Lord, but these belong to us:

Worship

Evangelism

Discipleship

Education

Fellowship

 

CPC uniqueness

Known for our grace

Connectional (among judicatories, generations, and institutions)

Connectional (among members. Campers, Presbytery meetings, Youth Retreats, and General Assembly help with connections)

 

Balance in the Body of Christ

 

We are commissioned to take the good news to the world. The subordinate missions are to make disciples, baptize, and teach the words of our Master. We are the body of Christ. We are letters and ambassadors from Christ. We are a family of faith.

·       We as believers are charged to put the words of Jesus into practice.

·       We are challenged to take his yoke and learn from him.

·       We witness to the lost.

·       We testify among believers. Sometimes, our testimony and witness use the same words.

·       We are to be good examples for others, salt and light in the world.

·       We carry our own loads and help those who need help with theirs.

·       We fellowship with one another.

·       We grow in God’s grace as individuals and as the body of Christ.

Our comfort zone is labeled Growing.

We as the session in our role as the spiritual leaders of this body must be aware of our balance in doing so many things, with so many others not listed.

Too much evangelism (if there is such a thing) at the expense of education and discipleship gives people the illusion that they have reached the finish line when our race of faith has only begun. Real and abundant life is just beginning.

Too much teaching and training at the expense of fellowship detracts from the assurance that we know as believers. We must always encourage one another, pray with and for each other, and just enjoy being family.

That doesn’t mean that we divide up what we do evenly. It means that we who have been called to this special form of ordained service observe, discuss, and take action when needed if we think we are a little out of kilter.

We are the keepers of the balance keys.  That said: Unto everything, there is a season…

There will be times for surges. Evangelism should be ongoing, but often it gravitates to events (Day at the Park, VBS, Backpack Ministry).

Fellowship should be continuous, but what once came naturally, is now challenged more than ever by the demands of the world. What do we do?

Discipleship and Christian education take us to and through difficult topics and issues if we are up to really hearing what God is saying to us.  Making disciples will cause friction with the world. If you haven’t read your Bibler lately, that’s a good thing.

As we do our best in our positions which God has called us to and to which we have answered the call, realize this. You are not here by accident. God knew exactly what he was doing when he put you here. Surrender to God’s leading. Put the gifts and talents that God gave you to work now. Produce good fruit.

What will that fruit look like?

·       Reaching more people with the good news.

·       Choosing wisdom over sentiment and jumping on the world’s bandwagon.

·       Helping those who truly need help.

·       Speaking the truth in love (not judgmental condemnation) not only to help those to whom we speak, but as a sign of our maturity in Christ.

·       Discipling a new believer by walking with them as we follow Christ together.

·       Enjoying doing what God leads us to do and enjoying each other in the process.

·       Living less as an organization and more as a family.

·       Trusting God over our own understanding more and more.

·       Being known as a follower of Jesus by our love.

Surely there are others that come to mind. Sometimes, the proof is in the pudding, aka, we know we are balanced when we are producing fruit by reaching the lost and enjoying the fellowship of the body while we do it.

Sometimes, we see where we should be producing fruit but we are not. Do we try another way? Do we continue with what we are doing but fertilize a little more and give something more attention?

Please think, pray, and meditate upon these statements, some of which may be provocative.

Remember, that group thinking is improved many times over if preceded by individual thinking, and such thinking can help avoid the trap of groupthink. Remember that acceptance time takes time. That is, when you hear someone else’s idea and it’s just different, your first tendency is to reject it. If we give our minds some acceptance time, we might see value where we only saw difference before.

So do your individual thinking, Put this balance thing into your prayer life. Give the Spirit that lives within you a chance to speak to you. Let’s discuss balance at our July meeting.

 

Are You Ready?

  

 I’m talking to the faithful. Are you ready?

I’m not talking about the return of Jesus, though we should live each day as if he were coming in the middle of the night or the morning.

I am talking about being ready to disciple new believers or old ones who come home.  Why would they be coming?

God promised to pour out his Spirit in the last days. Ever since Jesus rose from the dead and the Spirit was manifest in the apostles, the last days have been underway. The end of the age is near. How near? I can’t say, but we are closer than we were and we should be ready to disciple new believers into obeying God, fulfilling every command in love, not  simply compliance, fellowship among believers, and even evangelism.

How do I get ready?

Pray. Make plenty of time for listening.

Read his holy word. We are blessed that God has placed us in a time where we know so much of the story.

Study his word. Memorize scriptures that you might need when you can’t get to your Bible. Dig in. Know and experience the full biblical witness. Do not become anchored in only a few verses to the exclusion of others.

Put his words into practice. Do what we are told to do.

Do all of this in a spirit of love.

Repeat.

There is a basic decision model used in warfare. It is the OODA Loop. Its an acronym that stands for:

Observation.

Orientation.

Decision.

Action.

Once you have finished the process, you start again.  What happened (observation)?

How do I relate to and navigate this new situation (orientation).

I will do this.  Whatever this is should be some form of putting his words into practice (decision).

Then we do it (action).

Then back to Orientation and another trip through the loop.

There is a parallel in our discipleship. We take note of our situation. We seek God through his word. We put his words into practice and then do it all again.  We grow in God’s grace.

Yes, there is more to be done in the fullness of our salvation—our discipleship—but these will prepare you to receive and help others who have professed Jesus is Lord.

We are still a work in progress, but we can help others as God completes his masterpiece in each of us. In God’s time, we are already perfected, but in our lives, we still are being shaped and reshaped to perfection by the Potter.

Remember, when people come, we are not their seniors or supervisors.  They do not follow us, though we should set a good example.

We walk with them as we follow Jesus and bring glory to God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

As siblings in our Savior and Redeemer, we should help those who come to know the ways of the Lord.

We must not become Pharisees who enjoyed their positions and expected people to do what they said because they typically did know more than most of the people.  But they did not know the love that was to accompany God’s directives.

Love must guide us.

Are you ready? Probably not completely, but if we do our part God will take care of more than you can imagine.

We must continue to grow in his grace and be ready to receive those who respond to his Spirit in the days ahead.

Amen.