1/30/2018 0 Comments January 30th, 2018Office/Fellowship Hall Entrances Update![]() Our project to repair the office stairs and improve the fellowship hall entrance has finally started! With the work to tear down the crumbling steps underway, the entrances to the fellowship hall and office are not currently available for use. In the coming weeks, please use the sanctuary ramp entrance for the upstairs and office areas and the middle set of stairs to the storage room for entrance to the downstairs and fellowship hall. The kitchen door will be reserved for those who have trouble navigating the middle steps. During this project, we will be leaving the doors locked while in the office since we cannot keep an eye on who is coming and going. Please call before coming to the church during office hours, and we will let you in. We appreciate your support and patience as we work through these next few weeks to repair and improve the entrances to our building so that everyone can fully and safely participate in our ministries! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet![]() To the Horizon: Facing the Storm (Matthew 14:22-33) Following Jesus is no easy task. We follow by caring about what he cares about, taking the next faithful step, and remaining faithful in even the small ways. And we sometimes fail! As we admit in our prayer of confession before communion, we do not always hear the cry of the needy, we do not do God's will, and we do not hold true to even the small thing of loving our neighbors. What does it mean for us to fail in following Jesus? First of all, it means we are in good company. Peter, the leader of the disciples and the rock upon which Jesus would build the church, was no stranger to failure. In this story, Peter along with the other disciples were in a boat being buffeted by the wind and waves when Jesus walks out upon the water to them. In the dawn light, they grew afraid that his figure approaching them was a ghost. When Jesus identified himself, Peter asked him to call him out to him and he would walk on water. As Jesus called him, Peter stepped out and walked upon the water until he remembered the wind and grew afraid. Sinking, he called out to Jesus who lifted him up and back to the boat. Like a child learning to ride a bike, Peter had succeeded for a moment until the panic of having no training wheels or steadying hand upon his back set in. Like a parent helping that child, Jesus questions why Peter panicked when he was doing so well. Peter had tried and had failed, but Jesus was there to catch him and give him another chance another day in another way. Peter would fail time after time in following Jesus, but he was always willing to jump back in and try again. To his credit, Peter was often the only one who would try even if it meant he might fail. A pastor once said, "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." How often are we willing to do the easy thing and claim we have done our part than risk failing at something difficult? How often do we sit at the back of the boat watching as others jump in and try to walk on water? We may succeed at these things but we will not have tried to do what truly matters to Jesus. We follow Jesus by risking failure at things that really matter. What are we willing to risk failing at for Jesus? Living in CommunityThank you, Ralph, for your leadership in worship each week and for leading our prayer this past Sunday! This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, January 31 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, February 1 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, February 4 9:30 am - Worship: "To the Horizon: Reaching the Horizon" 11:00 am - Sunday School 12:00 noon - VBS Planning Meeting Monday, February 5 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, February 6 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Looking Ahead225th Anniversary Planning Meeting - February 11, 12 pm
Ash Wednesday Service, February 14, 7 pm VBS tentatively scheduled for June 25-29
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1/22/2018 0 Comments January 22nd, 2018Update on Social Hall/Office Entrances RepairAs most of you know, we have been making plans for several months now to repair the stairs that lead to the office entrance while making the social hall entrance more accessible. We had originally hoped that this work would be completed in December, but delays meant we have had to postpone the work. A window of opportunity has opened up for us to begin the work next week with plans to complete it within about a month. By moving forward with the project now with contractors more available, the project should be completed in a shorter time frame than if we were to wait until later in the spring to start. We recognize that this time window comes just as we are beginning our winter session of Wednesday at the Port and that the work will make it more difficult for those volunteering and attending to get in and out of the social hall. We regret the inconvenience but know that this project will make it much easier in the long term for everyone wanting to attend any of our events in the social hall and safer for those entering the building through the office door. In the meantime, we will be opening the entrance at the bottom of the stairs in the middle of the building for Wednesdays beginning next week (January 31st). This leads through the supply closet into the social hall. For those who may have difficulty navigating those steps, we are reserving the parking spots in the back lot near the kitchen door and will have people available to assist on the three steps leading to that door. I, along with our Trustees, are thankful of your faithful support that has made this project possible and appreciate your patience and grace as we work through the challenges of completing this repair that will greatly improve access to our building. If you have any concerns, please feel free to talk with me, and together we will work through this time. Also, I want you to join me in thanking our Trustees (Lauren, Keith, Davida, Dave, Bob, Jennifer, Perry, and Randy) for all the work they do maintaining and improving our wonderful church building! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet![]() To the Horizon: Navigating the Way (Matthew 16:13-19) As his disciples, Jesus asks us to turn our lives over to him, to let our lives be changed and transformed, and to sacrifice our own desires for the sake of others. When Jesus comes calling us to follow him further in the journey of faith, it can be overwhelming to think about where he leads us. How could we possibly make it there? It brings to mind the old Celtic prayer: O God, be good to me, for the sea is so large, and my boat is so small. Whom we follow makes all the difference in our ability to navigate the way. Simon Peter had been following Jesus for a while when Jesus posed the question: "Who do people say I am?" The disciples responded with the names of famous prophets. Jesus turned the question on them, "Who do you say I am?" Simon alone answered, "You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God." Simon offered more than just a correct theological answer - he gave a personal one. Jesus was the fulfillment of his hope, his parents' hopes, the hope of so many generations. Jesus praises his answer but does not end there. Jesus had asked who the disciples thought he was, but he now told Simon who Simon was: "You are Peter (petros in Greek), and on this rock (petra in Greek) I will build my church." Jesus then lays out the overwhelming task of authority that would be given to Peter as the leader of his church. One of the things to note here is the difference in the words for Peter and rock - petros was a smaller rock, while petra was solid bedrock. Some interpret this to belittle Simon Peter, but Jesus goes on to build up Peter so this does not seem to be his meaning. Jesus says to Simon, you are a little rock, and on this bedrock I will build my church. I believe that Jesus is telling Peter that while he is still a small rock now he is on the journey to becoming great in the work of Jesus. It would be overwhelming to hear that you would receive the fullness of Jesus' authority in his absence, but Jesus acknowledges this for Peter - you are small, but you will be great, all because of the small act of faith of naming Jesus as Messiah. After all, small things matter to Jesus. He is the one who notices the widow giving two small coins. He is the one who anoints a leader based on a few small words. He is the one that told a story about those who are faithful in small things being faithful in a lot (the opposite of how our trust works in this world). We follow Jesus in a big way by doing small, faithful things. There is no shame in the small acts of faith. Who do people say that we are? People may look at the church today and see it as irrelevant, unimportant, focused only on small things, and delusional if we take on big things in small ways. Who we say that Jesus is and who he says we are - little rocks built upon generation of bedrock all following the one who has called us - makes all the difference in the world! Who do we say that Jesus is? Who does he say we are? How does this affect how we follow him? Game Night This SundayThis Sunday evening is game night at Port Church! Join us at 7 pm for a simple, fun game for all ages - the dice game Hearts (not to be confused with the card game). It is easy enough to learn for preschoolers and fun for everyone. We hope to see you there! The Legacy JourneyWhen we talk about money in church, we most often talk about how we earn money and what we do with what we earn: spend, save, or give. If we are able to save for the future, what then? How do we handle not just the money we earn but indeed the wealth we accumulate in a faithful way? How do we turn these blessings into a legacy of blessings for others? Beginning in February, Pastor Jim will lead Dave Ramsey's "The Legacy Journey" class on Sunday evenings. The seven-week class covers a variety of topics including investing, contentment, purposeful living, building a legacy, estate planning, and radical generosity. The cost is $50 per family for materials. Please let Pastor Jim know if you are interested in the class by this Sunday if you are interested. Time with the BishopBishop Lewis is coming to meet with the churches of the Harrisonburg, Winchester, Staunton, and Charlottesville Districts this Saturday morning from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm at Verona UMC. The morning will open with teaching by the Bishop at 9 followed by small group discussions at 9:30 and preaching by the Bishop at 11:30. The time with the Bishop will conclude with lunch at 12:30 for the first 300 folks. The topic of conversation will focus on how we can be united in mission and ministry in the midst of the diverse church today. No registration required. Living in CommunityPlease keep Bob and his family in your prayers upon the loss of his sister Marla. Thanks to everyone who came out for our Paint Night! A special thanks to Lee for organizing it! We will plan another night for the spring so look for more details to come! This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, January 24 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, January 25 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Saturday, January 27 8:30 am - Chat and Chew with the Bishop at Verona UMC Sunday, January 28 9:30 am - Worship: "To the Horizon: Facing the Storms" 11:00 am - Sunday School 7:00 pm - Game Night Monday, January 29 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, January 30 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Looking AheadVacation Bible School Meeting - February 4, 12 pm
225th Anniversary Planning Meeting - February 11, 12 pm Ash Wednesday Service, February 14, 7 pm VBS tentatively scheduled for June 25-29 1/16/2018 0 Comments January 16th, 2018Changing Lives through Table MannersIn one week, on January 24th, we will kick off our winter session of Wednesday at the Port! We have great meals planned and hope you will join us. We have been hard at work on our lesson plans for the Little Fishermen - our class for the elementary age kids. In addition to our Bible lessons each week, we are going to focus on basic life skills to help our kids to be successful now and in the future. We have lessons planned on setting the table, participating in worship, shaking hands, and sewing buttons on among other things. One of the things we would like to reinforce with our kids throughout the session is table manners. With so many families no longer taking the time for a sit-down meal and kids missing out on the practice of good manners, we have a great opportunity on Wednesdays to equip these kids with a skill that will serve them well later in life. It may seem a trivial thing, but table manners can make a difference in life. It affects how we will be seen by others, especially others who have the power to offer scholarships, to hire, and to promote. We can help our kids develop the skill of good table manners the way all kids do - simply by sitting with them, modeling good manners ourselves, and offering correction and encouragement on their behavior - that is, by being a table parent. It's not all about keeping elbows off the table and chewing with your mouth closed, either. It's also about conversation and connection with the kids: "How was your day at school? How are things going? Tell me something good that happened today?" God has given us a great opportunity to connect with our kids at this meal, and we would negligent not to make the most of it. I hope you will consider joining me as a table parent for one or more weeks during this session of Wednesday at the Port. Let me know by email or phone if you are interested! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet![]() To the Horizon: Leaving the Harbor (Luke 5:1-11) Following Jesus will lead us on an adventure like no other. What does this adventure look like then? We are going to explore the journey of his disciples who followed him, especially Simon Peter, to get at least a rough map of where we go when we follow Jesus. Simon Peter's adventure with Jesus began on an ordinary day like any other. Simon had been out fishing all night, and the only thing remarkable that happened was that nothing happened. He had come home empty handed. Probably frustrated, disappointed, and exhausted, he set about cleaning his nets so they would be ready for his next trip out on the lake to fish. Jesus came along, got on his boat, and asked him to set out into the water a little way so he could address the crowd that had gathered to hear his teaching. Simon could have protested but did not. After Jesus taught for a while, he told Simon to head out further and let the nets down. Simon protests a little explaining his lack of the luck the night before but obeys. He is rewarded with the greatest catch of his life - one worthy of a big fish story if ever there were one. Awestruck and fearful, Simon turns to Jesus, who invites him to follow him and fish for people. Simon and his partners James and John left everything and followed Jesus. Imagine that - they walked away from their fishing careers on the singlemost successful day of their lives! Simon's journey of following Jesus would wind up having him become the leader of his disciples, establishing him as the foundation of the church, and leading him from the backwaters of Galilee to Rome - the center of the known world. All of that began there on his boat. There is a familiar, ancient Chinese proverb: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." This is true for Simon. His remarkable journey did not happen all at once - it began with the first step to take Jesus out on his boat. It began with his taking the next faithful step in his journey - with his making a radical decision to obey Jesus and follow along for a little way. This is where the battle of faith is won or lost - not in whether we will follow Jesus for the long journey but in our simple decision whether to take the next faithful step. We follow Jesus by taking the next faithful step out into the world. We have to decide every morning whether we will follow Jesus on the next step, whether we will go on the mission trip Jesus has planned for that one day. What is the next faithful step in our journey with Jesus? What is holding us back from taking that step? Living in CommunityThank you, Davida, Meg, and Liz, for helping to serve communion in worship! Thank you to everyone who helped set up and take down our Advent and Christmas decorations this year! This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, January 17 Office Hours cancelled Working with At-Risk Children Workshop to be rescheduled Thursday, January 18 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 7:00 pm - Trustees Meeting Friday, January 19 6:00 pm - Paint Night Sunday, January 21 9:30 am - Worship: "To the Horizon: Navigating the Way" 11:00 am - Sunday School Monday, January 22 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, January 23 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Looking AheadWednesday at the Port resumes January 24th
Game Night - January 28th, 7 pm Vacation Bible School Meeting - February 4, 12 pm 225th Anniversary Planning Meeting - February 11, 12 pm VBS tentatively scheduled for June 25-29 1/9/2018 0 Comments January 09th, 2018Happy New Year!Happy 2018! As we begin the new year, I have been thinking back over the last year, and it has been a great year here at Port Church. 2017 was so full that it is hard to remember everything that has happened, but there are many highlights. We completed the fundraising for and restoration of our oldest stained glass window over the summer, and it is beautiful beyond what we knew before. We hosted a fantastic Vacation Bible School for 200 children, kicking it off with an amazing party and worship service featuring potter Barbara Chalfant. We offered Financial Peace classes in the spring and fall for a total of 12 families. We gathered for fun and fellowship on two paint nights and two game nights. We confirmed six youth and welcomed a new member who rededicated her life to Christ. We sent six flood buckets off to help with hurricane relief and distributed 36 kits to the homeless in our community. We met our financial goals to grow our support of world missions and of the work of conference and denomination. It has been a good year to be a part of Port Church! 2018 is shaping up to be another great year! Plans are underway to celebrate our 225th anniversary with a fun day of events. We expect the work on the back stairs to be started in March once the cold has passed enough to make it possible to complete the work in a timely fashion (we had hoped to complete this in 2017, but delays have caused to push back the completion until the early spring). We expect to continue the work of protecting and beautifying our stained glass windows by installing new covers this year. Plans are beginning for our Vacation Bible School "Shipwrecked" tentatively scheduled for June 25-29 - look for more info to come on our first planning meeting to be a part of the fun. May 2018 be a year of blessings for our congregation and for each of you! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet![]() To the Horizon: Destination Broken Heart (Mark 10:13-16) With the new year comes the tradition of making resolutions, but many of us have grown jaded about them knowing that we will not stick with them. Yet the idea of new year's resolutions has a point. As we reflect on the past year, the year to come, and where we are in life, we realize that there is a gap between who we are and who we want to be. There is a gap between where we are in our lives and where we wish we were. We want to become better versions of ourselves and improve our situations - this is a good thing! This is true of our lives as a whole and also our faith lives. We are called to go on to perfection (that is, to grow into a perfect love of God and neighbor) but most of us are not there yet. We want to follow Jesus more fully, but we have a hard time getting out the door sometimes. Over the coming weeks, we are going to explore our journey "To the Horizon: Following Jesus on the Adventure of a Lifetime." So first off: when we follow Jesus, where are we headed? If we take the jump to close the gap between who we are and who we want to be as followers of Christ, what is the first destination on our horizon? Consider the story of Jesus' welcoming the little children into his midst. Why were people bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus? We can expect that they wanted the best for their children, for them to be blessed in a harsh world, for them to have hope for their lives. If a blessing from this man of God could make a difference, they were willing to try it. Yet the disciples protest this and try to send them away. Why? Perhaps because there were more important things - at least to them - to do. But Jesus welcomes the children and those who bring them. Why? I believe it is because Jesus saw these children and the desire of those bringing them to give them the best they could, and his heart broke for them. His heart broke for them, and a broken heart can lead to compassion, and compassion leads to action. When we follow Jesus, we are headed for a broken heart. When we join in God's work, our hearts will break for what breaks God's own heart. This is the first step each time we start a new stage in our adventure of following Jesus: a broken heart. This is not cheerful, warm, or fuzzy, but it is necessary because it is this brokenness within that compels to journey onward to a better future. Pray over these questions this week: What is breaking God's heart today? What is breaking the hearts of those in our community? Will we go where our hearts will break too? Building a LegacyWhen we talk about money in church, we most often talk about how we earn money and what we do with what we earn: spend, save, or give. If we are able to save for the future, what then? How do we handle not just the money we earn but indeed the wealth we accumulate in a faithful way? How do we turn these blessings into a legacy of blessings for others? Beginning in February, Pastor Jim will lead Dave Ramsey's "The Legacy Journey" class. The seven-week class covers a variety of topics including investing, contentment, purposeful living, building a legacy, estate planning, and radical generosity. The cost is $50 per family for materials. Please let Pastor Jim know if you are interested in the class as soon as possible, so that we can find a meeting time that best fits everyone's schedule! Working with At-Risk ChildrenJoin us on January 17th for a simple meal followed by a workshop on working more effectively with at-risk children! The goal of the workshop is to offer more tools for those serving in our Wednesday at the Port, children's church, and other educational ministries with children and youth but is open to anyone interested in learning more. Please let Pastor Jim know by January 14th if you plan to attend and whether you need childcare during the workshop. Living in CommunityPlease remember Bruce in your prayers on the loss of his father Emory at Christmas. Thank you to everyone who donated gifts cards as encouragement for the teachers at South River! We collected 26 gift cards to deliver to the school this week! Thank you to all of the leaders and servants of our church over the past year! Through your dedication, we had a great year here at Port Church. Blessings to our new and continuing ministry teams in this new year! This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, January 10 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Thursday, January 11 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 7:00 pm - Staff-Parish Relations Committee Sunday, January 14 9:30 am - Worship with Communion: "To the Horizon: Leaving the Harbor" 11:00 am - Sunday School Monday, January 15 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, January 16 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Looking AheadWorking with At-risk Children Workshop - January 17th, 6 pm
Paint Night - January 19th, 6 pm Wednesday at the Port resumes January 24th Game Night - January 28th, 7 pm Vacation Bible School tentatively scheduled for June 25-29 |
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8525 Water Street
PO Box 116
Port Republic, VA 24471
540-249-4111