Midweek: Wednesday, September 14th, 2022

Midweek 9/14/22

IN THIS ISSUE:

Coming soon to a Fellowship Hall near you!

• Reminders
• Pictorial Church Directory
• Music Notes
• Celebrations
• PPM Prayer & News Update
• Little Dresses For Africa
• Pastor Je’s Installation
• Thermometer or Thermostat?
• Coming Soon . . . Bible Study and more!

“. . . that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:12

Reminders: This coming Sunday’s Greeter is Sharon Clem. This Sunday’s after-service-treat will be provided by Margi McConnaha. The following Sunday, the 25th, both the Greeter and the Treat Giver for the morning will be Bess Wilkes. Thank you for sharing your talents and your gifts with the body of Christ for the glory of God and the edification of the body.

Pictorial Church Directory: FPC is preparing for the publication of a new pictorial church directory. To have your picture taken for this directory, simply come to worship on a Sunday: Pastor Je will be present with a camera to take photos before and after service.

Music Notes: Choir Resumes in September: Choir rehearsal: Thursday at 7pm in the sanctuary. Consider coming to join the fellowship and the rewarding experience of worshipping the Lord in song. Presbyterian Ringers: Rehearsals will be on hold until October.

“Congratulations to you! We celebrate with you! Know that we love you, and God loves you too!”

Happy birthday to: Donna Bevington, 9/28 & Margi Walters, 9/28. Happy anniversary to Rob & Nancy Williams, 9/19.

PPM Prayer and News Update: Scripture tell us that “That which was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4). Please pray that as the teachers and staff instruct and guide the little ones, that the Holy Spirit will be teaching them, that they will be encouraged, and that with endurance they can persevere through the important endeavor of teaching these children. Pray that the staff, the children, and the parents of these children may be encouraged and filled with hope.

News update: Grandparents Day on September 14 was a sweet success. It was a blessing and encouragement to all to be able to welcome grandparents to the Presbyterian Preschool Ministry for the day and share with them what the children are learning. PPM is also looking for special guest readers to come in once a week to a class room and read a book or two. You can email Lori Rowe (lorir@lebanonfpc.org) or stop in the office to let her know that you would like to volunteer. Thank you.

Little Dresses for Africa: There is a box in the church library in which you can put fabric or outfits for LDFA. There are also patterns available to use for sewing clothes for the children; they are attached to the poster-board sign leaning behind the box. These resources will remain available for you for the duration of this project. Donations are accepted and encouraged to assist in purchasing fabric, t-shirts, and other sewing supplies. Please make checks out to the church, with “LDFA donation” added to the memo line. Questions? Contact Debbie Crouse at (224)622-6383, or Gretel in the office. You can access the LDFA website at: littledressesforafrica.com

Pastor Je’s Installation: Pastor Je’s installation date will be October 9th. The service will take place at the church at 4pm. This is an important day in the life of our beloved pastor, Reverend Je M. Lee, as well as his family and the family of First Presbyterian Church. Please come to celebrate with us!

Thermostat or Thermometer? Ever considered the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat? A thermostat sets the temperature in a room. A thermometer simply measures what is there. Which one are you? Are you a thermostat for the Lord or a thermometer? My son was recently asked this question on mini missions trip. The coach of his soccer team took them to an event in Lansing, Michigan. It was hosted by CityLife Church and its purpose was to celebrate the wrap up of an event that church calls “Love the City Week”. The church spent a week literally getting right in there and loving on the people in a number of ways. The celebration was a good example. After the service there was a meal spread out for the community that was an incredible banquet in the variety of what was offered as well as the quantity. In the air was the vibrancy of a celebration of love for the people of that community. CityLife Church serves in a hard area: crime, conflict, high risk, dangerous situations. But the church sets the temperature, they set the tone. They love on the people to such a degree and with such authenticity that it is contagious. The short while that my son and his soccer team were there, though they were all strangers walking into the midst, they were welcomed with open arms and treated as family by the church as well as by the community. The missions pastor lives in a house right in the heart of one of the toughest areas of the city. The house is called “The Battlefield”. When they moved into the house, the exterior walls were full of bullet holes. The church intentionally left one of those bullet holes in the front facing wall. They painted a circle around it and wrote the words “Remember Why”. Remember why they live there and love on those people. Remember why they need to be thermostats and not thermometers. They are there to make a difference, not to measure what is already there. How has God called you as individuals and First Presyterian Church as a body to make a difference, to set the tone? Will you, will we, be thermometers or thermostats? We all live in a battlefield. Lord, help us to “Remember Why”.

Coming Soon: Bible Study and more! Pastor Je and Gretel are working on coordinating a Saturday experience, complete with offerings of exercise, lunch, and Bible study! You can come for one thing, come for two, or come for the whole affair. The Saturday Experience will begin mid-morning (exact time yet to be determined.) It will last approximately 2 hours. The plan at this point is for The Saturday Experience (working title, may change!) to begin early October.

Pastor Je and Gretel will be trading off every other week with a Bible study. Every other week, Gretel will be going through a Bible study on the Psalms, using a book from the “Bringing the Bible to Life” series, published by Zondervan. The book is entitled: “Psalms, The Cries of the Faithful”. Gretel has found a source from which this book can be ordered at savings of up to 35%, depending on how many copies are ordered. If you are going through this study, it will be helpful to have a copy of the book for your own personal study. You can contact Gretel at the office (via phone 765-482-5959 or email Gretel@lebanonfpc.org) or leave a note on her desk after Sunday services and let her know of your interest. She can order the books in bulk. If there are more than 10 books ordered, the cost per book will be $6.49. If less than 10 are ordered, it will be $6.99 per book.

The book of Psalms is a book of song, a book of prayers, and one of the most heartfelt, passionate, and poetic books in the Bible. The psalms are full of raw glimpses into the hearts and minds of its writers. It is not uncommon for someone to read from the Psalms and discover their own heart’s cry staring up at them from the page. In a prayer journal based on the Psalms (published by DaySpring) is this opening description: “The Psalms are unique in the Bible, because they have a way of capturing our emotions. They are full of the highest praises and lowest laments. They also have a way of calling on the true character of God to inspire us during every season of life.” Whether you come to The Saturday Experience Bible study for light fellowship, for serious study, or simply to listen to others thoughts on the book of Psalms, God has something for you.

The Bible is the Living Word of God, so called because of, among other reasons, the work of the Holy Spirit through the scriptures in the hearts and lives of its readers. When we read the scriptures with the Holy Spirit as our guide, God’s Word comes alive. It jumps off the page and into our lives with a transformative power that is unlike anything the world can offer. Paul has this to share with us from his epistle to the believers in Rome: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) Come join the Bible study and may the Lord take us to school to teach us: Hope.

Interested in joining the prayer chain? Contact Phyllis Duff at (765)482-1485 / raduff2@att.net.

Prayer inspired by Psalm 41:13.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Hope from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

Blessed be the Lord, God of Healing and forgiveness, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

Blessed be the Lord, God of Life both now and forevermore. May we live this with every breath, believe this with every fiber, and cling to this with every ounce of strength. Amen and Amen.