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2/23/2016 0 Comments February 23rd, 2016 A Party for All Ages It is hard to believe that our youngest son is now three years old! As the saying goes, the days are long, and the years are short. This is the first year that we threw a real party for him with a couple of friends coming over and games for them to play. In addition, he had some family and family friends there for the party. All told, he wound up having more adults over than kids, and he liked it that way. In fact, he kept asking if other adults like his preschool teachers were coming as well. He's at that age where age truly doesn't matter. Your friends are just those people that you love and that love you, regardless of age. The weather was so nice on Saturday afternoon when we held his party that we decided to move the games outside. As the birthday boy and his two young friends played games, his older brothers helped me keep things moving from one game to the next as a gaggle of adults watched on and chatted in amusement at the antics. When it was all said and done, the two older boys and the adults had had almost as much fun as the kids themselves. I had a friend once tell a piece of advice that had been passed on to her. "You should always have a good friend twenty years older than you and one twenty years younger too," she said. The point of this advice is that it is good to have friends of the generations that came before you and those that have come after you, and that if you don't you should make an effort to do so. Living in community means living not just with one's peers but also with one's elders and juniors. What a blessing it is when we truly live together as good friends regardless of age! I remember another party - a senior women's group were hosting a Christmas party, and they invited their husbands as well as me and my family. One of the games was a take on Hot Potato but with a stuffed snowman instead. When the music stopped, whoever got caught holding the snowman was out. As the group played round after round, the contest came down to the final two: our then three-year-old middle son and an elderly gentleman - in fact, the oldest man in the church at 90 years older than our son. It was so funny and absurd to see this kindly old man and a joyful toddler quickly tossing a toy back and forth at each other as fast as they possibly could that the person in charge let the music go for several minutes. True friendship in Christ Jesus knows no age limits - not even 90 years! May God bless our church to be a party for all ages! Blessings on the journey, Jim Getting By in the Wilderness Throughout this season of Lent - a time of spiritual reflection and growth, we will travel alongside the prophet Elijah as we witness how his journey through the wilderness formed him to be the prophet God was calling him to be. Last Sunday's Sermon Snippet: Getting By (1 Kings 17:8-16) Once the brook of the Kerith Ravine ran dry, Elijah had nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help, but God had another plan. Elijah was sent further from home than ever before to the foreign town of Zarephath where God said that a widow would take care of him. As he approached the town gates, Elijah saw a woman picking up sticks and asked her for a drink of water. As she went to fetch it, he asked also for some bread, but this woman had only enough flour and oil to make one last meal for her and her son before they prepared for starvation's slow and agonizing death. Elijah promised her that, if she brought him bread first and then made her own, her flour an oil would not run out until the rains returned. Amazingly, this woman trusted in this stranger's words and believed in the power of his God. Because of her faithfulness, both Elijah and her family were able to get by in the midst of the drought. When we find ourselves wandering the wilderness of our own lives - uncertain about the future, holding deep questions and doubts within, wondering where God is in all the mess of life - the great miracle is when we have strength to wake up and face another day faithfully. It is not so much our words as it is our decision to continue to live faithfully in dark days that reveals the depth of our faith. Merely keeping on keeping on when we have great doubt is perhaps the greatest act of faith many of us will create in our lives. When we continue to strive to live faithfully in the wilderness, God pours the grace we need to get by by bringing us together with others on the journey. While we tend to want to hide our struggles and questions of faith, God brings us together so that we do not have to journey alone. May God grant us the grace to see those who struggle alongside us in the wilderness that together we may just get by! Looking Ahead Elijah and the widow with whom he was staying in Zarephath were getting by on her last bit of flour and oil - that is, until her son fell gravely ill. Although God had looked after him all this time, it looked like Elijah's good fortune had finally run out. Elijah finally took things into his own hands and prayed to God to help the boy. Join us this Sunday to see what happens in the wilderness when we stop hiding and start "Becoming God's Servant"! Last Chance to Pre-order CookbooksThis week is your last chance to pre-order cookbooks in support of our window renovation! Please let Sue Good know how many of these three-ring bound books filled with almost 1000 classic Port Republic recipes you want in time for her to place the order this Thursday. The cost is $22 per book. For any orders in the future, the cost will increase to $25. Living in Community
This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, February 24 9:30 am - 2:00 pm - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, February 25 9:30 am - 12:00 noon - Office Hours Sunday, February 28 9:30 am - Worship Service "Wilderness: Becoming God's Servant" 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking AheadYouth Sunday - April 3
VBS Training - May 22 Vacation Bible School - June 27-July 1
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2/17/2016 0 Comments February 17th, 2016 Grace Like Rain On Sunday, our wonderful praise band led us in some great singing, and one song in particular has stuck with me this week. Grace Like Rain - a contemporary version of the old favorite Amazing Grace - adds a chorus with the words: "Grace like rain falls down on me." It is this image in particular that has lingered in my mind and touched my heart. Like the rain that nourishes the earth and brings life, grace is the lifeblood of our lives. I say our lives because, again like rain, grace does not fall on one person and not the person beside them. Grace covers all under its span with God's love and care without regard for who is cleanest or thirstiest. Grace is there, whether we like it or not. Still there is more to this image for me this week, especially in the light of Lenten worship series focusing on Elijah's journey through the wilderness. At the beginning of his ministry, Elijah proclaimed a drought with no rain or even dew to last several years. The brook that gave him life eventually dried up. The thing about rain is that the rain does eventually come to an end and there are times when we are painfully aware of its absence. Is grace like rain in this way too? There are certainly times when the weather of faith seems awful dry and grace seems so far removed. Is God's grace absent? Are we carrying an umbrella of stubbornness or pride that cuts us off from the downpour of God's grace that surrounds us? Or does God's grace simply take another more subtle form? Perhaps God's grace sometimes washes over us in the overwhelming flood of a rainstorm and at other times comes as the small trickle of a brook when all is dry. Wherever and however we discover it, grace brings us life and strength for the journey of life! May you see grace in the refreshing rains of spring, the small trickles of a stream in the wilderness, and the new mercy of dew morning by morning! Blessings on the journey, Jim Wilderness - Led by the Spirit As we begin the journey of Lent - a time of spiritual reflection and growth, we will travel alongside the prophet Elijah through the wilderness that helped him grow from the beginning of his ministry to the moment he met God in a holy place. Last Sunday's Sermon Snippet: Led by the Spirit (1 Kings 17:1-7; Luke 4:1-13) After a long and exhausting journey, Elijah hid in a cave at the holy place where his people had encountered God so long ago. He hid from those who sought to end his life before of his ministry as a prophet of God. He was almost ready to give up - on himself, on his calling, on God - when the voice echoed the words in his mind: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" The simple answer was that he was following God's instructions, but there was more to the question than that. What had brought him here? His ministry had started when he left his hometown of Tishbe to challenge King Ahab who was leading the people astray to worship Baal. He declared that no rain or dew would fall for years except at his word. He then followed God's leading to the wilderness of the Kerith Ravine. God had ravens bring him bread and meat to eat , and Elijah drank from the brook until it ran dry from the drought. What was he to do? Where would he go? He was in the wilderness. We too journey through the wilderness in our lives - a spiritual wilderness where we face questions, doubts, loneliness, isolation, fruitlessness, hopelessness, and just plain feeling like our lives are dry. We are surprised when we find ourselves in the wilderness especially when we have been faithfully following God up to that point. Why would God lead us into the wilderness? But that is what God has done with Elijah and what happened to Jesus after his baptism. They are led by the Spirit into the wilderness. While Jesus may have faced tests and temptation from Satan, it is the Spirit that has led him there in the first place. Why does God lead Elijah, Jesus, and us into the wilderness where our faith is challenged and we feel so barren and dry? God leads us into the wilderness to prepare us for something new, something far greater than what we are doing now. We have to pass through the wilderness with all of its tests and temptation to be ready for what God has in store on the other side of the horizon. Looking Ahead Following God's direction, Elijah continued his journey retreating further from his homeland to the foreign town of Zarephath. There he met a widow who had only a little flour and oil with which to make one last meal for her son and herself before they would succumb to starvation. This was God's plan to take care of Elijah - to send him to the home of a family on the brink of starvation. How could they make it much longer on so little? Join us this Sunday as we talk about "Getting By" in the wilderness when we have so little to sustain us. Cookbook Orders Due This Sunday!Make sure to turn in your cookbook orders by this Sunday so that we can process them and have the books in hand on time. Cookbooks will be bound in a three-ring binder with almost 1000 recipes! The cost is only $22 for this first printing. For any future printings, the cost will increase to $25, so don't miss out on this special price! Living in Community
This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, February 17 9:30 am - 2:00 pm - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, February 18 9:30 am - 12:00 noon - Office Hours 10:00 am - Sunshine Seniors Sunday, February 21 Please turn in all Cookbook Sales! 9:30 am - Worship Service "Wilderness: Getting By" 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking AheadYouth Sunday - April 3
VBS Training - May 22 Vacation Bible School - June 27-July 1 2/9/2016 0 Comments February 9th, 2016 What Is Ash Wednesday Anyway? This Wednesday, February 10th, is Ash Wednesday this year. Ash Wednesday is 40 days before Easter Sunday - not including Sundays - and marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent, of course, is known as that time when we are supposed to give something up. Many people decide to give up eating chocolate or desserts, to cut out caffeine, to stop watching TV, or to refrain from logging onto Facebook. All of these are little ways of giving up something that we normally enjoy without a second thought. So what's the point of this? Historically, the season of Lent was meant to be a period of preparation as potential new members awaited their opportunity to be baptized and join the family of the church at Easter. The forty days of Lent recalled Jesus' forty days in the wilderness before he began his ministry, the forty years the Israelites spent wandering the desert between their escape from Egypt and their entering the promised land, and the forty days of the flood in the time of Noah. During this final time before taking the baptismal vows, the new converts spent extra time praying, studying, and fasting. In time, those who were already members of the church began to join with those who were preparing in their dedication to these disciplines, and it became a season of repentance and renewal for the whole church. It is this practice of fasting that lies at the root of our tradition of giving something up for Lent. Giving something up is simply a discipline to help remind us of the vows we've taken to follow Jesus and obey God. (On a side note: The Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter are not included in the forty days of Lent. While Lent is somber time, each Sunday is considered a celebration and remembrance of the resurrection of Easter. Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French) is the last day before the beginning of Lent and became a festival to use up all of the rich foods (eggs, butter, sugars) that were given up during the Lenten fast and might otherwise spoil before Easter - thus the association of pancakes which use these ingredients as a typical Shrove Tuesday food.) Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent and is a day in which we worship in a unique way. During our worship, we respond to the call to repentance and the invitation to focus on spiritual disciplines by marking a cross with ashes on our foreheads. This cross reminds us of whose we are and who we have committed to follow. The use of ashes to make the cross echoes the "ashes to ashes" line that we hear at funerals and is a reminder of where we come from and where we go. These ashes are made from the palm branches that we used in our celebration of Palm Sunday (a week before Easter) the year before. This cycle from celebration to repentance and back to a new celebration in a few weeks symbolizes the way we live and grow in faith - commitment, failure, repentance, forgiveness, stronger recommitment... What will you give up this Lent? What good thing might you take on in its place? I hope to see you at our Ash Wednesday service this week, February 10th at 7 pm, as a part of our Wednesday at the Port. Adults and children alike are encouraged to participate. Blessings on the journey, Jim Wilderness: Led by the Spirit As we begin the forty days of Lent with Ash Wednesday, we are invited into a season of reflection on our lives and dedication to spiritual growth. We start this Sunday with the story of Jesus' forty-day journey into the wilderness where he faces tests and temptations in preparation for his ministry and the eventual Holy Week story of crucifixion, death, and resurrection that culminates in Easter. As we journey through Lent and prepare ourselves for the joy of Easter's good news, we will look at another journey through the wilderness recorded in Scripture. Elijah wandered into the wilderness to escape those who sought his life and wound up journeying through a spiritual wilderness - a place of tests, trials, and despair in preparation for something greater - as well. Join us this Sunday in worship as we reflect on the beginning of Elijah's journey as he is "Led by the Spirit" into the wilderness of life! Forgotten Folks of Faith: The Secretary This past Sunday we finished up our most recent worship series with one more of the Forgotten Folks of Faith! Last Sunday's Sermon Snippet: The Secretary (Romans 16:1-23) The last couple of decades has seen the rise of email, text messaging, and all sorts of social media as primary modes of communication over great distances and to vast audiences. But in the world of Paul - the apostle responsible for the explosive growth of the early church in Asia Minor and Greece - two thousand years ago, he had one tool for communicating with and managing the congregations he worked with once he moved on to a new town to start a new church - letters! Just as we learned in grade school, Paul's letters to his churches were written in a certain pattern: an extended greeting to say "Dear Church in...", then telling why he was writing, solving the issues he knew of in that church, giving a few more instructions, and then closing with greetings and blessings - essentially "Sincerely, Paul." But Paul did not write down the majority of the letters himself. He would dictate the letters to a secretary and then write the last few words himself as a sort of signature to confirm it was from him. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul even comments on how large his own handwriting is, perhaps indicating a reason why he would use a trusted secretary to write down these important words. In the letter to the Romans, we learn the name of the secretary who wrote down this particular letter - Tertius! We learn nothing else about him except that he as the scribe for the letter also says hello to the church in Rome. If not for this small postscript in the middle of a long letter, we would never have even known he existed! And yet folks like Tertius - the dedicated, trusted workers - are the ones who have done so much for God's work in the world. They may never get the recognition, fame, or honor of those who stand up in front of huge crowds to proclaim the word, but the jobs they do are no less important and God honors their service no less. While most of us will one day be forgotten by history, we are not forgotten by God if we are simply faithful to what God is calling us to do. God does not care about our fame but our faithfulness. May we all be remembered by God for our faithfulness as we join the honored crowd of Forgotten Folks of Faith! Growing Spiritually in Lent The season of Lent is a 40-day period of time to spend intentionally growing in faith. While many folks will give up something like chocolate, there are any number of ways to commit to spiritual growth. Check out 10 Tips for a More Meaningful Lent for more ideas of things you can do this Lent! Living in Community
This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, February 10 9:30 am - 2:00 pm - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port 7:00 pm - Ash Wednesday Service Thursday, February 11 9:30 am - 12:00 noon - Office Hours Sunday, February 14 9:30 am - Worship Service "Wilderness: Led by the Spirit" 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking Ahead
2/2/2016 0 Comments February 02nd, 2016 Hope Springs Eternal After the recent snow we have had, we could all be forgiven if we were rooting for the old groundhogs to predict an early spring. While we likely have a storm or two to face yet, it is a comfort at least to have the hope of warmer days filled with vibrant flowers and budding trees. Winter's dark and cold may linger a while but it will not last. Spring's eventual, inevitable return reminds us that seasons of darkness and hardship do not hold permanent sway in our lives. Just as spring cannot be held back, better days are on the horizon even when we walk through valleys of the deepest dark. As we hope that the groundhogs got this one right and that an early spring awaits us, may we give thanks for the hope we have of God's light in the midst of dark days! Blessings on the journey, Jim Forgotten Folks of Faith This week we finish up our series on Forgotten Folks of Faith! Last Sunday's Sermon Snippet: The Broke (John 6:1-13) The story of how Jesus fed the five thousand from just two fish and five loaves of bread is one of the most familiar of his miracles and one of the few stories that is recorded in all four of the gospels. While they all tell the same story with most of the same details albeit from different perspectives, John tells of a small detail that Matthew, Mark, and Luke had either forgotten or neglected as unimportant. When Jesus asks the disciples what they can do to feed the crowd, they first balk at the expense it would incur to buy enough food and then note how little food they have with them - the two fish and five loaves. John takes the time to tell us that this small bit of food comes not from the disciples themselves but from a boy in the crowd. Why is he the only one who is offering food to feed crowd? Is he the only one who has anything with him, or is he the only one foolish enough to think that his small offering of food could amount to anything? Even the disciples mock the gift that he offers as being too small in the face of such a crowd of people. Yet Jesus uses that small offering as the seed of a great miracle - everyone eats their fill and there are twelve baskets of leftovers. The world tells us in so many ways that we cannot do enough and we do not have enough - that we simply are not enough - to make a bit of difference in the world. But what we have, God can use to do extraordinary things. May we be foolish enough to believe that the little bit we have to offer can become something great in Jesus' hands! Looking Ahead Sometimes it seems that so much of what we do goes unnoticed and unappreciated that we might wonder whether it's even worth doing. What does it even matter if we take care of the small things? Join us this Sunday as we remember "The Secretary"! Bible Blast: 99 Days of ScriptureHave you finished your Bible Blast 31 journey through the Bible and wonder what to read next? Are you looking for Scriptures to help you with the challenges you face in life? Bible Blast: 99 Days of Scripture provides a list of 99 short passages (anywhere from a few verses to a single chapter) to offer comfort, hope, and direction in life.Read one passage a day, and you will have read 99 passages of Scripture before summer – including at least one from every book of the Bible! Check out the reading list here. Super Bowl SundayBroncos or Panthers - help your team win the PRUMC Super Bowl! Bring in any of the items listed below for worthy causes in our community! Boxes marked with each team's logo are in the vestibule through this Sunday. Place your items in your team's box and stay tuned to find out who will win! The Panthers have started off with an early lead this past Sunday, but there is still time for the Broncos this week! South River Elementary Clothes Closet Underpants for SPED Kids – medium men and ladies Underpants for Girls & Boys – size 10-12 & 14 Sweat Pants & Leggings (Dark Colors) – all sizes are needed, but the kids are K-5 AVA Care Diapers – size 3 and 4 – (although all sizes are appreciated Newborn – Size 5) Food Pantry This time of year we see a lot more people, so they will take can fruit, can vegetables, cereal, soup, spaghetti & sauce, crackers, etc. Living in Community
This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, February 3 9:30 am - 2:00 pm - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, February 4 9:30 am - 12:00 noon - Office Hours Sunday, February 7 Bring in items to help your team win the PRUMC Super Bowl! 9:30 am - Worship Service with Communion "Forgotten Folks of Faith: The Secretary" 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking Ahead
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