Midweek: Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Midweek 4/6/22
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Music notes
- Session Shares Funds with Ukraine
- Calling Liturgists!
- Greeters Welcome!
- Easter Breakfast Invitation
- At the Window: The Compassion of Christ
the name of the Lord!” Mark 11:9b
“. . . that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:11
Rehearsal times: Choir will rehearse 7-8, Tonight, the 6th, & Sunday, the 10th, 9:30-9:50. Bells will rehearse Thursday, the 7th, from 6-7 & Sunday from 9:50-10.
Session has approved sending $10,000 from the Ellis Family Funds to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for Ukraine assistance. If you as an individual wish to support this need, go to the PDA (Presbyterian Church USA) website for instructions.
Would you like to volunteer to be a liturgist? There are vacancies for the months of May, June, August, and December. Liturgists do not need to be Elders. If you are interested, please let Gretel know. Office hours: M-F, 9-1, (765)482-5959 or gretel@lebanonfpc.org
Faith Circle meets again on April 13th, 1:30pm, church library. See you there!
If you would like a dedication to be included with your Easter Flowers for Easter Sunday, and you have not done so already, contact Gretel in the office: (765)482-5959. gretel@lebanonfpc.org
Greeters needed! Beginning on April 17th, Easter Sunday, we would like to have greeters again at the door to welcome folks in for fellowship and worship. However . . . the sign-up sheet is empty and Gretel has not heard from anyone! Please come in and sign up on the sheet posted on the bulletin board across from the office. Or call/email the office and Gretel can put your name on the list. Please plan on being at the church at 10:15 the morning you come to greet. Come share your beautiful, smiling faces! Two or more per morning would be lovely. Thank you!
First Presbyterian Church would like to invite you to enjoy breakfast together Easter morning! On the menu will be breakfast casserole, fruit salad and pastries, as well as coffee and juice. The meal will start at 9:30. Please sign up on the sheet outside the office or call/email Gretel in the office and she will sign you up. We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate together our Risen Lord.
Items can still be brought for the Caring Center. What has been shared already, was delivered, but We will collect until April14th.
Today at the window, what do we see? It is the face of Christ that looks back at me, softly and tenderly. He stands at the door and knocks because His heart is inclined towards us. Though our lives and hearts be a mess, He is not detoured. In fact, the greater the need on our part, the greater the longing in His heart. The more we need Him, the more He wants to draw close and comfort, counsel, provide. In our window Christ stands at the door, but this is not the only posture in which His compassion is displayed in the scriptures.
When the disciples were tossed about in the storm, terrified by the sudden wind and high waves that shook their boat and their spirits, Jesus listened to their fears. He rebuked the wind and the waves, stilled the storm, and out of compassion reminded his followers that such fear was not needed – He was there and He had power over the storm. (Mt.8:23-27) Jesus is here in our storm. Though we be tossed about and gripped with fear at the sudden onset of high waves and fierce winds, Jesus listens and calms the storm inside our hearts. He is mightier than the strongest gale.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus shares a picture of compassion in the father. The son returns home to seek his father’s forgiveness and plead for a job on his father’s estate. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20). In order to run, the father had to hike up his robe, showing his bare legs. This was a shameful act and considered unacceptable in Jewish culture. Furthermore, by running to greet his son when his son was still afar off, the father was moving counter-culture to a long established tradition in the Jewish community. When a Jewish boy lost his inheritance to Gentiles, as the prodigal son had done, a certain ceremony would be performed. This ceremony was meant to cut-off the son. It was shameful for such a son to return to the community at all and effort was made to draw attention to the unacceptable actions of the young man. A pot would be thrown onto the ground and broken, symbolizing the broken relationship and the state of being cut-off. However, in this story, the father does not want to cut off the relationship with his son. The father chooses to bear shame himself in order to save his son. The father runs to rescue and redeem his son, as Jesus willingly chose to bear the shame of the cross in order to rescue and redeem each one of us.
When Jesus hung on the cross, his mother stood at the foot of the cross with a group of women, choosing to face head-on the brutality of the crucifixion in order to be near her son as long as she could. Jesus looked down and saw her there. Though it would have caused excruciating effort to speak or breathe while hanging on the cross, Jesus spoke to his disciple John, also at the foot of the cross. Jesus placed his mother in John’s care. The effort to speak was itself an act of compassion, but the words he shared clearly revealed a heart moved towards compassion even in the midst of his darkest hour. This is our Lord. This is the face that looks back at us from the window: Christ all compassionate; Christ all loving; Christ, Just and Holy, and touched with love for the human race ensnared in sin’s tangled web. Praise be to the Father for the love of the Son. Praise be to the Son for the love on the cross. Praise be to the Holy Ghost who speaks this love to our hearts.
Interested in joining the prayer chain? Contact Phyllis Duff at (765)482-1485/ raduff2@att.net. The following prayer is inspired by the hymn “Softly and Tenderly” by Will Thompson.
Dear Heavenly Father, Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling . . . see on the portals He’s waiting and watching . . . ‘Come home, come home! You who are weary, come home.’ Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling. Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading? Thank You for calling us home! Amen.
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