Midweek Newsletter: June 14th, 2023

From:

The News Desk

 

To: First Presbyterian Church

June 14^th, 2023

 

Your Weekly Edition of Narthex News is here!

 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

·         SERVICE FOR DR. PHIL GIBBS: THURSDAY THE 15^TH

·         REMINDERS

·         “. . . A NEEDLE PULLING THREAD”

·         FAITH CIRCLE & TIME FOR TEA

·         CELEBRATIONS

·         WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

·         PRAYER ROOM

 

Dear Church,

The most important item I want to be sure you are all aware of is the services for Dr. Phil Gibbs:

The services are this Thursday, June 15^th. At Myers Mortuary.

Visitation is at noon.

Funeral service is at 2pm.

Please keep Cyndy and all their family in your prayers. Thank you.

 

Reminders:

Liturgists! Excellent job, folks! The sign-up sheet for liturgists is about full! We have someone signed up for every month – except November. Thank you! The treat-bringer sign-up sheet is rather blank . . . so maybe you have all decided you’d rather not do treats after the service on Sundays? If you are interested in continuing to share a little something together each week, to promote time to enjoy the sweetness of each other’s presence, please share your ideas with Gretel in the office or sign-up on the sheet in the hallway.

Live & Learn! Live & Learn this Saturday, June 17^th, 11:30am. Bible Study is in the book of Luke. Come with your Bible and a readiness to learn. Lunch plans are yet to be determined.

“. . . A Needle Pulling Thread!”  

Pop Quiz: What song is this line from (And you musicians out there, no fair giving the answers away!):

“So, a needle pulling thread . . .”

I don’t want to cause undue stress for you, so here’s the answer: That line comes from the famous song “Do-Re-Mi” from the movie The Sound of Music. The sound of music can be a sweet, soothing sound. The sound of a needle pulling thread, on the other hand, is a lovely albeit rather quiet sound.

It may be quiet, but for a local entrepreneur, this “sound” is accompanied by great joy.  ONE OF HIS would love to sew for you! This is a local business with services available to you. ONE OF HIS performs alterations on children’s and adult clothing; sews gowns for baptisms, proms, and weddings; enjoys heirloom sewing, as well as sewing of household items, dolls and their clothes, and quilted items. To contact the seamstress, please call Bess Wilkes at 765-481-6943, or email at bpy1964@gmail.com.

Faith Circle:

Faith Circle will meet today, June 14^th, at 1:30pm in the church library.  Please bring your Bible and your copy of the study book Twelve Women of the Bible. You are welcome and appreciated ! We look forward to seeing you there.  Questions? Contact Phyllis Duff or Gretel.

Time for Tea in June:

Time for Tea will be the third Tuesday in June, the 20^th, at 11am in the church library. Have you been reading a book you’d like to share with the group? Would you like to bring treats to share? Please contact Gretel in the office.

Celebrations:

Happy birthday to Bob Duff, 6/14; Henry Hutcheson, 6/16; Les Goodnight, 6/17; Olivia Weddington, 6/18; and Kayla Giger, 6/20!

Happy anniversary to Les and Debbie Goodnight, 6/19!

May the  gift of God’s grace strengthen you,

The gift of God’s presence comfort you,

And the gift of God’s love refresh you.

Weekly Devotional:

“This hope we  have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast . . .” Hebrews 6:19.

“We are in this world as a ship at sea,” says Matthew Henry (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 1706), “tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. Gospel hope is our anchor in the storms of this world. It is sure and steadfast, or it could not keep us so.”

By definition, an anchor is a reliable or principle support, a mainstay. It is designed to hold an object firmly in place. An anchor sitting in a display in a museum, while educational, cannot moor a vessel to the seafloor. It can tell a story about a storm but it cannot stabilize anyone or anything in the midst of a storm. An anchor must be attached to a ship to be of use. What is your anchor and what is it attached to? An anchor’s job is to secure, to stabilize. An anchor sinks down and stays. No matter the violence of the wind or waves on the surface, the anchor beneath it all holds fast. What havoc are the winds of the world causing in your life today? What waves are you battling in your life right now?

Without the stability of the Lord, we are as a ship tossed about with no way to avoid the tumult of the storm. We are at its mercy. I’d rather be at the mercy of God than the mercy of the storm. Hope in the Lord, in who He is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do, gives weight to our vessel. This hope is anchored in truth and thereby itself becomes an anchor. The English word “steadfast” comes from two Old English words meaning fixed and fast. When we find our hope in the Lord, we are fixed on Him and held fast by Him. The English word “sure” comes from a Latin word meaning “secure”. When our stabilizing force is found in the Lord, we are secure in Him. In a world where nothing is secure, or at least not for long, this is indeed great hope.

“An anchor of the soul . . .” Do you feel as if you have an anchor for your soul? Do you feel as if there is something greater than you that gives you weight, that holds you down, that sustains and stabilizes you? There is one more picture I’d like to leave you with: if you are a ship, tossed about in life’s storms, the wind and the waves seemingly having all authority over your life and the direction your boat is going – there is yet hope, dear one. There is another in the boat with you. Jesus, the Master of the Storm, rides with you.

 

Prayer Room:

Here at FPC, prayer is important to us. Are you interested in joining the prayer chain? Would you like to learn more about the role of prayer in our lives? Please contact Phyllis Duff, Prayer Coordinator, at (765)482-1485/ raduff2@att.net

The following prayer is taken from the hymn “My Anchor Holds”, by W.C.Martin (1864-1914)

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

“Tho’ the angry surges roll on my tempest driven-soul, I am peaceful, for I know, wildly, though the winds may blow, I’ve an anchor safe and sure, That can evermore endure.

“And it holds, my anchor holds: blow your wildest, then, O gale, on my bark so small and frail; by His grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds.

“Troubles almost ‘whelm the soul; griefs like billows o’er me roll; tempters seek to lure astray; storms obscure the light of day: but in Christ I can be bold, I’ve an anchor that shall hold.”

 

Hold us steady, Lord we pray,

When storms obscure the light of day;

When wind and wave do roll,

Be the anchor for our soul.

Hope in You we seek and find.

When to You our souls we bind.  Amen.