Midweek Newsletter: Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023.

 

From:

The News Desk

 

To: First Presbyterian Church

August 2^nd, 2023

 

Your Weekly Edition of Narthex News is here!

Hello Church! Are you ready for August? Whether you are ready or not – it came! With it came the monthly newsletter which went out yesterday. Today’s newsletter will include the following:

·         REMINDERS

·         PASTOR JE’S MESSAGE

·         MUSIC NOTES

·         ANNUAL MEETING

·         CELEBRATIONS

·         PPM UPDATE

·         NO TRICYCLE EVENT

·         WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

·         PRAYER ROOM

Reminders:

Liturgists! Liturgist for August is Echo Nunley. Elder of the month for August is Mary Frances Meyer.

Communion Sunday is this Sunday.

Live & Learn! Live & Learn is starting up again this month. Come with a Bible and an interest to learn. Meet at 11:30 Saturday morning in the church library. If time changes or details need to be added, a church-wide email will be sent out before the end of the week.

Treats! Do you like treats?

Would you consider sharing a treat on Sundays, to contribute towards fellowship time after the service? Please let Gretel know in the office if you are interested: gretel@lebanonfpc.org. OR sign up on the bulletin board sign-up sheet. Bring a treat and give a smile!

Pastor Je’s message to the congregation, long-awaited and much-anticipated, after a month’s absence: “I am still alive (and back).” (Glad to hear it, Je! This is good news indeed!)

Music Notes: Make A Joyful Noise!

Can you sing, play an instrument, are you dramatic (in a good way)? We need you!  I'm looking for members who would like to sing, play an instrument, or provide monologues or dramatic readings in our August services. Please email me or let me know at church if you are one of these people, I know you are out there!

In love and service, Lisa Hutcheson Worship Coordinator (lisahutcheson@yahoo.com)

Annual Meeting: There is an annual meeting for the congregation on August 13^th. Please plan to attend. Your presence is anticipated and appreciated.

Celebrations:

A very merry Un-Birthday to you - To who? To you! A very merry Un-Birthday To You!

(There are no birthdays to mention for the congregation this week. At least none that the newsletter-maker is aware of. If she missed you – she is so sorry! If this her timeline is correct – then let’s celebrate everyone’s “un-birthdays” this week! If you aren’t familiar with this term, we kindly direct you to Disney’s classic film: “Alice in Wonderland”. Also, a plug for treats here, if you read the “Treat” reminder up above and considered bringing something – maybe bring a birthday cake so everyone can celebrate their Un-Birthday together!)

PPM Update: Happy August! We are working hard and getting excited for our new year to start at PPM. We are fully staffed for this year and all classes are full. We are truly blessed. 

I want to thank Debbie Crouse for her time and commitment trying to organize an event for the children and families here at PPM. Unfortunately, the timing for us wasn't that great. Debbie
and I will plan an event later this year for the church and PPM to participate in together. In the meantime, I would like to invite you to our back to school ice-cream social this Sunday at 4pm. Parents and children will be here for our annual back to school meeting. Please come and celebrate with us.

We are also excited to have a family night September 22. This will be our “Pizza with Parents”, and this year our classes will have fun science related activities for the kids and parents to participate in. More information will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Looking ahead to this school year, please pray for our staff, students and families. We are also in need of guest readers. Would you like to read once a week to a class? We would love to have you anytime. Blessings, Lori 

No Tricycle Event:  Though just mentioned, here is another reminder that the tricycle event that was scheduled for August has been canceled.

Weekly Devotional: “Amazing Grace, How Sweet”

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” ~ John Newton.

        

I sat down this morning at the piano in the church sanctuary because I had “Amazing Grace” on my mind. I needed to hear again the sweet sound of this blessed hymn and its undying message of hope and grace. How many times, since the first group of parishioners met at this address 183 years ago, has the message of amazing grace been sung, taught, and prayed over here at the corner of East and Main in Lebanon, Indiana? How many tears have been shed as the Spirit has touched and convicted hearts using the words of this song? How many listeners have gone home with the tune of this hymn on their lips and the words lodged in their hearts? For all the times this hymn has surely been played in this sanctuary, the very walls could probably echo it back to us. And yet there is something about this hymn that has the power still today to quicken the heart and draw one near the Lord’s throne like few other songs can. Whether heard for the first time or the five hundredth time, “Amazing Grace” seems endued with a power to bend the knee and bow the head, or perhaps to baptize the singer/listener with tears of gratitude, repentance, and worship.

     According to a note at the foot of this hymn in the hymnal Glory to God, the Presbyterian Hymnal, a fair amount of the popularity for “Amazing Grace” reputedly comes from its tune, which was paired with the lyrics in 1835. That means that when Reverend William F. Ferguson welcomed ten others to a service one evening in January of 1840 at the corner of East and Main in Lebanon, Indiana, the hymn “Amazing Grace” as we know it was still a relatively new song. Skip ahead 183 years to one morning in August of 2023, and in that same space, with naught but the sunshine streaming through the stained glass windows as witness, that hymn was played and sung again. Truth was pondered, promise was retained, joy was restored, hope was awakened, and praise abounds.

     What does this hymn mean to you? Do you find common ground with the writer when you sing the lyrics: “a wretch like me”? When you sing of the grace that appeared “the hour [you] first believed”, do you remember the day Jesus rescued you and became your Savior? Do you relive times the when the Lord’s strength and provision have sustained you as you sing of the “many dangers, toils, and snares” you’ve already endured? When you sing of the ten thousand years we will spend singing God’s praise, do you think of loved ones who are waiting for you in heaven? Do you ever get a chill as you consider the days you will spend in light bright as the shining sun with never a tear of pain, never a fear, only the reality of grace in the face of God’s Holy presence?

     It’s likely that you are familiar with the tune to this popular hymn. Will you sing with me now and consider how beautiful, how transformative, how remarkable, how amazing is God’s grace?

 

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

 

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.

‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

 

The Lord has promised good to me; his word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

 

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.”

           

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. 

          Dear Heavenly Father, We humbly bow before You in recognition of the grace You so                   bountifully share with us. The time it will take to praise Your name - eternity can only scratch the surface. Thank You. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Amen.