Midweek Newsletter: Wednesday, August 30th, 2023.
From:
To: First
Presbyterian Church
Your Weekly Edition of Narthex News is here!
Last week I included the hymn “I’ll
Fly Away”. Did you find yourself humming it throughout the week, like I did?
This week there is another gem of a hymn tucked into “the prayer room”. My
guess is I won’t be the only one humming it this week!
·
REMINDERS
·
CELEBRATIONS
·
NURSERY DURING WORSHIP SERVICE IS AVAILABLE
·
FALL GREAT BANQUET
·
LOVE INC’S FUNDRAISING BANQUET
·
REACHING INTO HISTORY
·
PPM UPDATE
·
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL
·
PRAYER ROOM
Reminders:
It’s a new month! Liturgist for September is Margi McConnaha. Elder of the month for
September is Amy Morrison.
Communion Sunday is this
coming Sunday.
Live & Learn! Come with a Bible and an interest to learn. Meet at 11:30 Saturday morning in the church library. Lunch is part and parcel with this deal – a fun time together – consider coming and joining in the fellowship. This week the focus will be Luke 14 (which I’ve nicknamed “the lost chapter” – come and find out why it might be called that!
The Nursery During the Sunday Worship Service is Available: Do you bring a young child with you on Sundays? Do you know of a family who would come to worship on Sundays if they knew there was a nursery for their child/children? The nursery at FPC is now available. Please keep this in mind as you interact with friends and neighbors, and as you and your family prepare for worship on Sundays. Would you like to help in the nursery? Your assistance would be a gift. Please contact the Gretel in the office with news of your interest and willingness to help. Thank you.
Fall Great Banquet: The Zionsville Fall Great Banquets are just around the corner! The Women's Banquet is
September 21 - 24, and the Men's Banquet is September 28 - October 1. The
Banquets are held at Zionsville Presbyterian Church. Come enjoy
food, fellowship, and the love and grace of Jesus Christ for 72 hours.
Complete the Guest Application at zionsvillegb.org. There is room at His table, and you are invited!
Love INC.’s Fundraising Banquet: This banquet will be held at Zionsville Fellowship Church. This banquet is the annual fundraiser for Love INC. The date for this event is September 7th. Plans are in the works to make it a fun event for all: a coffee bar, silent auction, and dinner, among other activities. Doors open at 5:30 pm, dinner begins at 6pm. Please register at: wwww.loveincbc.org/banquet or print a form off the website, fill out and mail in. Again, the Love INC banquet is at Zionsville Fellowship Church, 9090 W. Oak St, Zionsville. Bonus feature: Provide an item for the Silent Auction and receive a discount on a table reservation!
Reaching into History: A friend
of George Piper, David Rodgers, is working on a book that will be about Boone
County World War I Veterans. In his research, he has discovered there were veterans
which were members of this Presbyterian church. This church office will be looking
into what we might have on this topic. If you know anything and wish to share
it with this gentleman, he would be most appreciative. The following excerpt is
from Mr. Rodgers:
“I’m working
on/toward a book telling the story of five Boone County boys who served as
Marines in WWI. Two of them, Lyle Stephenson (LHS ’13) and Searle Comley (LHS
’17) were members of the Presbyterian Church, along with 11 others who served.
I’m looking for any information the church might have about them, including
memorabilia or pictures. In particular, I know that at the service on November
18, 1917, the “Industrial Society” of the church presented a service flag with
13 stars on it to hang in the church. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe that
flag still exists?”
If you have anything you can share, you may pass that
on to Gretel in the office, or to George Piper II. Thank you!
It's
crazy to think that September is right around the corner! I
personally have enjoyed the cooler mornings, and the return of
pumpkin spice everything!!
Last
Friday, we had our first chapel. Our story was about Zacchaeus. This was a
great bible story for the first of the year, because we are
learning to be kind and to be good friends. As I retold this story to the
group of children, the simple lesson of Jesus loving Zacchaeus, even though he
wasn't always kind to others, I reminded them that they are always loved too.
During the prayer time it was very simple: “Jesus help me be kind, help me be a
good friend, help me love others.” Later that night I received a phone call
from a staff member. She wanted me to know that a child in her class was
repeating the prayer along with me. What an impact that story had for that
child. It was a simple reminder of our purpose here at PPM and the lessons we
teach these children everyday will follow them through life.
On
a different note, this past Sunday PPM staff and families enjoyed a day at
Victory Field for an Indians ballgame. 14 staff members and
families joined in the fun. What a fun day we had, eating and
spending time together.
Weekly Devotional: Fear or Faith?
When we left off last week, it was last December 17,
1903, and Orville Wright had been airborne for twelve seconds, having covered a
distance of 120 feet in their “Flyer”. When sharing his thoughts on the flight later
on he would say, “It was only a flight of twelves seconds, and it was an
uncertain, wavy, creeping sort of a flight at best, but it was a real flight at
last.”
Considering
the state of aviation today and the legendary name of the Wright brothers, you
know that eventually they would achieve more than twelve seconds of flight.
They did not have long to wait! Twenty-five minutes after that first flight, Wilbur
would take a turn and cover 175 feet. Then Orville went up again and flew 200 feet.
For the fourth test of the day, occurring near noon, Wilbur would fly half a
mile, a distance of 852 feet, a time of fifty-nine seconds. In his book The
Wright Brothers, David McCullough writes the following:
It had taken four years. They had endured violent
storms, accidents, one disappointment after another, public indifference or
ridicule, and clouds of demonic mosquitos. To get to and from their remote sand
dune testing ground they had made five round-trips from Dayton . . . a total of
seven thousand miles by train, all to fly little more than half a mile. No
matter. They had done it.
Just over
four years later they would be signing deals with the War Department of the United
States, as well as a French company, having proven successfully that flight was
not only possible and achievable but they had succeeded in building a fantastic
flying machine.
But let’s
back-track for just a moment. What would have happened if fear had stopped
their forward progress? At any point in the learning curve, Wilbur and Orville Wright
could have quit. As pointed out in the paragraph above, the brothers had numerous
challenges to overcome. Being the men that they were, their ambition, work
ethic, determination, drive, patience, persistence, faith, confidence, and hope
not only prevented them from giving up but predisposed them to seem almost incapable
of quitting. One of the first questions asked after the very first flight
(those famous twelve seconds), was: “Were you scared?” Orville responded: “Scared?
There wasn’t time.”
I don’t know about you but I’m pretty
sure I can muster up fear in twelve seconds or less! Yes, those were a full
twelve seconds, and that may have largely contributed to his response. Sometimes
life is like that, things happen so fast, one thing after another – boom, boom,
boom – and it isn’t until later that we feel the fear. But for me, that
perspective – “Scared? There wasn’t time.” – represents a choice. He had a choice
to be afraid or not to be afraid. In Shakespeare’s
Hamlet are the immortalized words: “To be or not to be, that is the
question.” Perhaps we can alter that slightly and ask: “To fear or not to fear,
that is the question.” What is the answer to the question? In the words of a
favorite hymn, “Faith is the victory, we know, that overcomes the world.”
Will you join me in taking to heart, and striving step by step to act on, God’s words to Joshua as he stood on the precipice of a new adventure? “I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage . . .” Joshua 1:5b,6a.
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 based on the hymn “Faith is the Victory” by John Henry Yates (1837-1900).
Dear Heavenly
Father, We are encouraged by the courage of others! Their faith inspires us to
believe, to strive to rise above our fears and to press on through the fray. There
are far too many reasons to fear in this life for us to be able to walk in faith
without You. There are far too many obstacles which lie in wait, upon which we
can stumble, or which lead us to wander off the path; we dare not go forward without
You. May we carry Your banner. May we wear Your strength as our armor. May we,
hand in hand with our Savior and our fellow Christian Soldiers, arise and stand
ready to face the day. Because we do so in our own strength? No. Our faith is a
gift. To exercise it is a choice. May we choose You and, in so doing, choose faith
over fear. When fear seems to prevail, O God, be close by and lift us on Your
mighty wings above the storm, I pray.
“Encamped along
the hills of light, ye Christian soldiers rise,
And press the battle
ere the night shall veil the glowing skies;
Against the foe
in vales below let all our strength be hurled;
Faith is the
victory, we know, that overcomes the world.
Faith is the
victory! Faith is the victory! O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
His banner over
us is love, our sword the Word of God;
We tread the road
the saints before with shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they
like a whirlwind’s breath, swept on o’er every field;
The faith by
which they conquered death is still our shining shield.
On every hand the foe we find drawn up in dread array;
Let tents of
ease be left behind, And onward to the fray.
Salvation’s
helmet on each head, with truth all girt about,
The
earth shall tremble ‘neath our tread, and echo with our shout.
Faith is the
victory! Faith is the victory! O Glorious victory, that overcomes the world.” Amen!
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