June 08th, 2016

Rest and Renewal

As a graduate student in engineering, I had a job working as a research assistant for a professor at the school. He was a man who had been a leader in the field for over forty years and gained more than a little wisdom through his years. Much of his success, I am sure, was due to his dedication to working hard, but he was also a man who knew that he needed to take time away in order to come back to his work re-energized and with new ideas. Whenever we students working for him were about to take some time off, we always met with him to go over where our projects stood. He would inevitably end the meeting by saying, "I hope that you will find rest and renewal in your time away." When we would return from our time away and have another meeting with him, he would always ask if we had found rest and renewal. He knew the importance of what we in the church call sabbath time - the rest and renewal of the body and the spirit.

Over the next week, our family will be taking some vacation to spend time with relatives and visiting places we've never been to before. Following that, we will quickly change modes and head to Annual Conference, which is always a great time of worship and feeling the Spirit move in new ways. We will certainly miss being with all of you, but I look forward to sabbath and new inspiration. I ask that you would pray for our family to find rest and renewal in our time away, and I will pray for your rest and renewal wherever your summer plans may lead you, so that together we may serve the Lord with a renewed energy and inspiration!

Blessings on the journey, Jim

Taking Up the Mantle

Sunday's Sermon Snippet (2 Kings 2:1-11)
In life we face all kinds of moments of truth - those moments when all the work, hopes, and dreams that we have invested into something will either pay off or come crashing down. In those moments, the truth that we often find is about who we are and where we are headed in life. Those moments can be terrifying, and no one could blame us if we put them off for a bit or avoided them altogether. Elisha faced just such a moment of truth as Elijah, his mentor and friend, has been swept away by God, and Elisha is left behind with his mantle hoping that he is Elijah's heir as God's prophet. He takes the mantle back to the river Jordan and strikes the water with it to see what will happen. It is his moment of truth as he finds out who he truly is. Are we that brave as we face our moments of truth? It has been said that as Christians our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things that do not really matter. That is, we can fear taking the risk to see if we are up to some difficult task that God needs done or we can rest secure and comfortably in our little successes that in the end do not amount to much.  That is a decision we must make every day, because every day holds a moment of truth as to who we will be. Will we take up the mantle of those who have gone before us to try to carry the work of God forward another step? Will we face the new day with courage knowing that we may fail or we may succeed but that it will all be for something that matters to God?

Living in Community

Thanks to Sue, Joyce, Davida, Pat, Connie, Debbie, Chris, Norman, and our youth
for all you did to make our potluck lunch possible this past Sunday!

Thanks to Dave, Adam, John, Gary, and Connie for the preparations you made to set up 
for Praise in the Park even if the weather did not cooperate!

Congratulations to Jordan, Jared, Linzze, Tomi, and Kara on your graduations!
May God bless you on the journey ahead!

Thanks to Jean for the beautiful prayer shawls you made for all of our graduates!

Please keep our RENEW Youth Mission Team in your prayers
as they leave for a week of mission and worship beginning June 12.

Please keep Ralph and Pastor Jim in your prayers as they prepare to leave
for Annual Conference beginning June 17.

This Week at Port Church

​Wednesday, June 8
10:00 am - 12:00 pm - Office Hours
Limited office hours in Dianna's absence May 25 - June 9.
Please feel free to call or email Pastor Jim if you need anything outside these hours. 

​Thursday, June 9
6:30 pm - Trustees Meeting

Sunday, June 12
9:30 am - Worship 
11:00 am - Sunday School
RENEW Team leaves

Tuesday, June 14
7 pm - Council Meeting

Wednesday, June 15
9:30 am - 2:00 pm - Office Hours

​Thursday, June 16
9:30 am - 12:00 noon - Office Hours
10 am - Sunshine Seniors

Sunday, June 19
9:30 am - Worship led by RENEW Team 
11:00 am - Sunday School

Looking Ahead

VBS Kickoff Party - June 25
Vacation Bible School - June 27-July 1
100th Anniversary Celebration of Sanctuary - July 24