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Midweek 3-1-23
In This Issue:
- Music Notes
- Live and Learn
- Support Disaster Relief for Earthquakes
- Reminders &
Celebrations
- Lebanon Lent Soup Supper
Series!
- March 12 Missionary Lunch
- Safety Procedures
Reminders
- Lenten Devotional To
Share!
- Adult Sunday School &
Nursery
- Zionsville Banquet!
- PPM Update
- First Step: Wait.
“. . . that we may be mutually
encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:12
Music Notes: No choir practice this week: Jennie
Woods has covid. Please be praying for her.
Live and
Learn on Saturdays: Live
& Learn, Saturday March 4th, Luke Ch. 5 with Pastor Je. 11:30am lunch and
study.Support Disaster Relief for Earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Checks can be made
out to First Presbyterian Church. Please add in the memo line that your
donation is to support the disaster relief in Syria and Turkey. All funds given
will go towards the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). In addition, session
has voted to match all donations given from the congregation, up to $5000.
Reminders:
Liturgist for March will be Margi McConnaha. Special treat provided this Sunday
by Bess Wilkes, in connection with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The treat is
called “Hamentaschen”. The shape of the cookie depicts a three pointed hat and
references the character Hamen in the book of Esther, who is the villain in the
story. (Be on the lookout for more from Pastor Je on Purim this coming Sunday.)
“Congratulations to you! We celebrate with you! Know that we love you, and God loves you
too!” Happy birthday to Stephen Gates, 3/1;
Gary Hill, 3/1; Debbie Goodnight, 3/4; Dick Self, 3/6!
Lebanon
Lent Soup Supper Series! This season of Lent there is a wonderful opportunity
to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this local community. St.
Peter’s Episcopal church has initiated the call to bring back the Lebanon Lent
Soup Supper Series. During the month of March, every Wednesday evening there
will be a dinner and worship service at a local church. The start times will be
the same each week. The first service is today, March 1st, hosted by
St. Joseph Catholic Church. The soup supper will begin at 6pm. The worship service
will begin at 7pm. All are encouraged to attend and to invite friends, family,
and neighbors to join in the experience. Trinity Lutheran will host March 8th.
FPC will host the meal March 15th. (There will be more info going
out for this event as we get closer to the time. So be ready and thinking of a
soup you may wish to contribute.) St. Peter’s will host March 22nd. There
is no formal service planned for March 29th, so is open for your own
personal worship experience.
March
12 Missionary Lunch: The communal meal in March, on Sunday
March 12th, will have a missions’ theme. It will serve as the kick-off
to FPC’s spring missions’ campaign: “Dignity for Women”. There will be a special
guest speaker at the luncheon: Rev. Dick Stephens. Rev. Stephens has served
with The Malawi Project in Malawi for decades. He will come and share from a
place of compassion and experience on the life and conditions in Malawi. The
Malawi Project is a 501c charity headquartered out of Indianapolis.
This meal will be a pitch-in meal. Meat will be provided
from Backyard BBQ (Yum!). We are requesting people contribute sides and
desserts. Jane Myers and Debbie Crouse are organizing this event. You may share
questions or information with either of them or with Gretel in the church office.
There is a sign-up sheet for bringing side dishes and
desserts, as well as notifying us as to how many in your family will be coming.
These numbers help with adequate preparation for the event. Please sign up
or contact Gretel in the office via phone (765-482-5959) or email (gretel@lebanonfpc.org) and she can sign
you up. Come and learn more, share a meal with friends, and be encouraged to be
the hands and feet of Christ.
Safety Procedures Reminders: For the safety and well-being of the
children in the building during school hours, please remember and act in
accordance with the following: Sign-in on the clipboard on the
hallway-bulletin-board. This lets us know who was here and when.
When
entering or exiting the building, do not let anyone in. Do not hold the door for anyone unless
they are in your party. If someone desires entrance and you do not know them,
no matter what they ask or what they tell you, they must stay on the other side
of the door. Please let the door close and alert Gretel to their presence. Thank
you for your cooperation in these matters.Lenten
Devotional To Share! Have you received your copy of the Lenten
Devotional? If not, would you like one? Contact Gretel in the office.
Adult Sunday School: Sunday School is now in
session: Sundays in the church library from 9:00 to 10:15. Meeting Jesus at
the Table is an 8-week Lenten Bible study. Books are $11.05 each plus tax.
Imagine yourself going on a glorious and nourishing progressive dinner. At each
stop we gather at a different table with Jesus, learning how to love, serve,
and expand the hospitality of God's grace to others. Please come and join the
feast. Debbie Crouse will be leading the study.
Nursery: We
have space for a nursery for ages infant to 3 yrs. but need a couple of
volunteers to take care of the children during the 10:30 service. If you feel
you are being called to be a part of this ministry, please call Gretel and let
her know.
Zionsville
Banquet! The
Zionsville Spring Great Banquets begin this weekend. The Women's Banquet: March
2-5; Men's Banquet: March 16-19. If you are still interested, you can check out
the guest application at this link: www.zpc.org/great-banquet/. Or contact Zionsville
Presbyterian Church for more info as they are hosting this event.
PPM Update: What a great start to
March, the weather has been nice, and we are enjoying some
extra time outside. The teachers and children are counting the days
till Spring and soon we will be planting veggies and flowers in the courtyard. PPM
has started enrollment for the 2023-24 school year, and we already have a
few classes that are full. We continue to be blessed with great
families here at PPM. This month I ask for you to pray for our Extra
helpers: Miss Suzy and Miss Heather. Miss Suzy is our part time aide
and helps wherever she can. Miss Suzy loves to give hugs to all the kids and
sometimes you might find her rocking the little friends. Miss Heather
helps in the kitchen and stays busy fixing snacks, lunches, and anything
else that needs to be done back there. A fun fact about Miss Heather is she is
my niece! PPM is so thankful for both of them. We will have parent- teacher
conferences in a few weeks, please pray for all of our teachers and parents as
sometimes there are concerns that are difficult to hear. We are excited to
start music again next week to prepare for PPM Sunday, April 16th. Blessings,
Miss Lori
First Step: Wait.
"Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on
her royal apparel . . ." Esther 5:1
On the third day Esther went to the king, but
there are three days we are not told about. What happened between the time
Esther spoke to Mordecai and the time she readied herself to go to the king?
She fasted and prayed. She waited. Perhaps we are not told of these three days because
there is nothing to tell, nothing going on - at least nothing we can see with
human eyes. However, perhaps the silence of these three days is one of the most
important elements of this part of the story.
Psalm 27 tells us to wait on the Lord.
(Ps.27:14). To wait patiently, eagerly, expectantly. We tarry as we wait,
looking for that which we wait for. That sounds to me like faith: searching the
horizon for that which we do not yet have because we believe so firmly that we
will see it. Like waiting in the dark to watch the sun rise. Lord, may we
wait on You with that kind of faith, not doubting, not second guessing, not
wavering.
Scripture asks us not just to wait on the Lord
but to also to be courageous, to behave valiantly, to withstand, to prevail, to
be firm, to be resolute. Does it take strength and courage to wait? Absolutely!
Sometimes the waiting period can feel more challenging than the action period.
May we put forth a strength that stems from the Lord Almighty, the Great I Am,
the One who made heaven and earth; for He is the source of our help. God is
more than able to supply that which we wait for.
No wonder there is a period of silence in the
book of Esther between the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5: Esther
was waiting on the Lord. She knew that only God could supply what she needed.
She understood that before she could act, she had to wait. What would have
happened if she had not waited on the Lord? Or rather, perhaps the better
question is what would not have happened? What would happen if we waited on the
Lord? What would happen – or not happen – if we don’t?
The season of Lent is observed by many as an
opportunity for reflection. Perhaps we can see the season of Lent as akin to
those silent three days in the book of Esther, a time for us to wait on the
Lord in faith. Esther was asked a question: “Have you come to the kingdom for
such a time as this?” She answered her relative Mordecai with a commitment to
action and a request for support. (See Esther 4:16) The first step in her
action-plan, however, was to wait. Who else do we know who waited? Noah waited in
the ark. Joseph waited in prison. The apostle Paul waited in Damascus to receive
his sight back. Are you waiting on the Lord? What are you waiting for? Have you
felt challenged to action? Does the first step in your action plan need to be
to wait? At the end of your waiting, be it three days, forty days, or years, may
you be dressed and ready for what the Lord has in store for you. Be assured, at
the end of their waiting period: Esther entered into the presence of the king; the
flood waters abated and Noah exited the ark; Joseph was moved out of prison; Paul
received his sight. What is in store for you at the end of your waiting period?
It may be just around the corner.
Interested in joining the
prayer chain? Contact Phyllis Duff at
(765)482-1485/
raduff2@att.net.
Dear Heavenly Father, Whether we climb the highest mountain, raise our hands in the
air and lift our voices to the heavens; whether we fall to our knees beneath
the sheltering arms of some great tree and in its shade bow our head before
Thee; or whether we lie prostrate before You in the quiet of our own home and
from the recesses of our heart pour our soul out before You: dear God may we
wait on You. May we have courage from You. We will faint unless we believe that
we will see Your goodness while we yet live. (Ps.27:13). We are asked to be
courageous, strong, brave, bold. And then we are told that You are the One who
will make us strong, bold, brave, steadfast, secure. You will fortify us in our
inner being, our will, our heart, our understanding, so we can prevail. You
will establish within us a resolution, a determination, a strength of character
that will enable us to go forward.
Thank You, Heavenly
Father, for providing this way of strength for us, this way of faith-living.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the resources we have in You. Again, I pray
that we would wait on You, that we would be courageous, and that You would
strengthen us. Amen.
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