September 10th, 2018

Preparing for the Hurricane

This week, the anticipated approach of the hurricane is weighing heavily on our hearts and minds. While we pray that the hurricane will lessen in intensity and not endanger the lives and homes of those in its path, we also need to take precautions to minimize the risk to ourselves and our properties. In the coming days, please prepare as you need to and stay safe. If you need help as the storm hits, please feel free to contact me so that we can see what we can do.

We also need your help to prepare the church for possible flooding. In years past, we have had the downstairs filled with water, and this storm poses a potential threat to do likewise. We have preparations to make at the park, in our storage barn, and in the downstairs area of the church building.

As we gather for our Wednesday at the Port meal tomorrow night, we invite you to stay and help us begin this work. We are cancelling the youth classes (they will still fellowship and eat together in their classrooms as usual) and choir practice so that everyone can pitch in with the work. We will still have nursery care and a class for our elementary age kids so that their families can help out as well. The meal begins at 6 pm, and we will begin work when we are done around 6:40 pm. If you are available to come early, we can get a head start on some of the work from 5 to 6 pm.

We appreciate your help and hope to see you tomorrow for food, fellowship, and working together! Because coming together to pitch in as we are able is what family does for one another! 

Stay dry, and be safe!

Blessings on the journey, Jim

Sunday's Sermon Snippet

Conflict: Called Out (2 Samuel 12)
When we left David last week, he was mourning the death of his rival King Saul even as he held his crown as his own, but he was not yet king of Israel. There was still an heir in the house of Saul who claimed the crown as his own. Civil war raged on between the factions of David and Saul, eventually ending with the defection of Saul's general to David's side. As the king of Israel, David was successful. He took the fight to the enemies that harassed his people, and peace and prosperity came to the land. David conquered Jerusalem, built his palace there, and made it his capital. He began plans for a temple to replace the tent tabernacle as the place to worship God, but the prophet Nathan told him God did not ask that of him. His son was to build a temple later, but David was rewarded with a great blessing on his house that rule on from that day. All was well in Israel, except they had an imperfect king even in David. It came one spring when the kings went out to war that David stayed behind in Jerusalem as he sent his army to fight the Ammonites. David took a liking to Bathsheba, the wife of one of his soldiers named Uriah who was in the war. Bathsheba became pregnant, and David sought a way to cover up his sin and betrayal. He brought Uriah back from the front and encouraged him to go home to his wife, but Uriah would not do so while his fellow warriors remained at the front. He was a noble man - more noble than David at this point- caring for his partners in war in a way David did not. David sent him back to the front and ordered the general to put Uriah on the front line and expose him to the enemy so that he would be killed. Uriah, along with other soldiers, died in a needless battle, and David had successfully covered up his sin. He brought Bathsheba into his home to be his wife. God had other plans, however, and sent Nathan the prophet again to David - this time to convict him. Nathan told a parable of a rich man that stole that which was precious to a poor man. David was enraged and condemned the rich man to death. "You are the man!" Nathan told him.

Nathan had called David out for his sin - his betrayal of Uriah, of his army, of his people, of God. Being called out is never easy, especially when we know how wrong we are. It is natural to grow defensive and deny any wrongdoing, to point the finger at the wrong others have done, to argue that what we have done is not that bad, or to justify our wrongs in the name of a greater good. Yet David does none of these things. He surprises us as he simply replies to Nathan's conviction and declaration of God's punishment for him and his family with a single sentence: "I have sinned against the Lord." David has been called out, and in response he simply confesses his wrongdoing. He accepts the conviction and condemnation.

As we live in conflict with others, both personal and societal, we are inevitably going to be wrong at some point. Perhaps we are just plain wrong in our position, or maybe we are right about the argument but we go about the fight in a wrong way that demonizes and dehumanizes our opponents. Eventually we are going to be wrong. In those moments, we need a Nathan to call us out, and we need to recognize that being called out, even by those it is hardest to listen to, can be a gift from God that frees us from trying to cover up how wrong we are.

Living faithfully in conflict means accepting when we are wrong. Being called out for our failures can be a gift from God. May God grant us the grace to hear those prophetic voices telling us when we are wrong and the courage to admit it!

Living in Community

Thanks to everyone who has participated in communion server training
and a special thanks to Donnie for helping to set up for it!

The Potato Drop scheduled for this Saturday has been cancelled.
Look for more details later.

This Week at Port Church

Wednesday, September 12
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours
6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port
Taco Salad and Applesauce
6:45 pm - Cantata Practice
Thursday, September 13
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours
Saturday, September 15
Potato Drop cancelled
Sunday, September 16
9:30 am - Worship: "Conflict: Family Feud"
11:00 am - Sunday School
Join us for our new Philippians Bible Study during Sunday School!
5:00 pm - Confirmation Class at Ciro's
Wednesday, September 19
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours
6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port
Baked Potato Bar
6:45 pm - Cantata Practice

Looking Ahead

225th Anniversary Celebration - September 29, 3 pm - until
Nativity Workday - October 6