Midweek Newsletter: Wednesday, October 25, 2023

 

NARTHEX NEWS

WEEKLY EDITION

OCTOBER 25TH, 2023

 

FROM THE NEWS DESK

OF

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

LEBANON, INDIANA

128 E. Main St. ~ Lebanon, IN 46052~ (765)482-5959

https://www.lebanonfpc.org ~ office@lebanonfpc.org

 


In the midweek newsletter this week:

~ Celebration of Life for George Morton

~ Reminders & Celebrations

~ PPM Bundt Cake Fundraiser

~ PPM Update

~ General Election Early Voting Info

~ Fundraiser for Boy Scouts

~ Weekly Devotional & Prayer Room

 

Celebration of Life for George Morton:

Visitation is from noon to 2pm at Myers Mortuary in Lebanon, Indiana.

Service is at 2pm. Short service will follow at the cemetery.
The 2pm service will be livestreamed and available via their Facebook page.


Reminders:

Flooring work continues this week on the first floor of the church building. Office can be contacted via email. Pastor Je is on study leave this week.

 Live & Learn will not meet this Saturday, the 28th.

Liturgist for October is Arlene Quinn; Elder is Sig Myers.

Reformation Sunday is this Sunday. Scott Hutcheson will do the Reformation Monologue, replacing the sermon.

Caring Sunday: It’s Caring Sunday this weekend. So that means you can bring things in to share with The Caring Center and leave them in the box in the lobby. Their top ten needs are:

·         apple juice

·         applesauce

·         canned fruit

·         cereal

·         macaroni and cheese

·         peanut butter

·         canned tuna or chicken

·         vegetable oil

·         sugar

·         spaghetti sauce

 

They have needs beyond that list, which include the following:

  • flour
  • tomato juice
  • sugar
  • toilet paper
  • granola/cereal bars
  • crackers
  • mixed vegetables
  • instant potatoes 
  • women’s deodorant 
  • spinach
  • canned ravioli 
  • laundry detergent (regular and sensitive)
  • dish soap
  • shampoo
  • conditioner
  • baked beans
  • chili beans
  • pork & beans
  • chicken noodle soup
  • miscellaneous soup
  • cream soup
  • tampons (40ct)


Celebrations: “A Very Happy Birthday to you – to you! A very happy anniversary to you two, too!

Happy Birthday to: Phyllis Duff, 10/27, and Bruce McConnell, 10/27, and Mary Beth Pauley, 10/28!

 


PPM Bundt Cake Fundraiser:

Deadline for orders and payment is Nov. 6th. The funds they raise will go towards new dramatic play and science items in the classrooms. We encourage you to take part in this delicious endeavor! The mini bundt cakes are $6 a piece and are made by Zionsville’s Nothing But Bundt. They come in a wide range of flavors. (Flavors: Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Lemon, Red Velvet, White Chocolate Raspberry, Carrot, Confetti, Classic Vanilla, Strawberries and Cream, Snickerdoodle, Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie)

The orders will be in before Thanksgiving. These cakes freeze very well, so you can stock up and share or enjoy them at a future time. Make checks out to PPM. You can send your order to Gretel via email and bring/mail-in money separately or fill out the order sheet on the hallway bulletin board on a Sunday morning and leave the payment on Gretel’s office desk. Thank you for helping support PPM’s sweet ministry with this sweet fundraiser!

PPM Update: PPM will be on Fall break from Friday, Oct. 20th – Friday, Oct. 27th. We thank you for your diligence in praying for the children, teachers, and staff of this ministry. Lori sends a personal thank you for your orders for the fundraiser.

 General Election Early Voting Dates: Absentee Voting at the Boone County Courthouse has begun Available times are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-4 from Oct.11 to Nov.2. More dates, times and locations are posted on the bulletin board across from the church office .


Fundraiser for Boy Scouts: There is an opportunity to support the Boy Scouts and get a great deal on pizza at the same time! Boy Scouts Pack 359 Troop is selling discount cards to Pizza Hut for $10. This card gets you a discount up to 4 times for Dine-In or Carryout. It includes offers for $9 Large 1-topping pizzas, BOGO Pasta Dinner and Personal Pan Pizza, $.70 Boneless Wings, a $5 dessert, and a $1 Medium pizza with purchase of a large specialty pizza. You can purchase these cards by visiting Jon Hause Surveying and Engineering at 105 N Meridian St in Lebanon. For more information, you can email Jon at jon@hausesurveyingandengineering.com (Information courtesy of Missy Krulik from the Heart of Lebanon.)                                                                                   


Weekly Devotional: “He finished his work.”

Samuel Hildreth lived in the 1800s in Marietta, Ohio. He was a widely respected doctor, a lover of nature, an avid supporter of his local community, and one of the first to pen the early history of the West. When he died on July 24, 1863, the obituary run in the local paper had this to say:

Besides his laborious medical practice, he accomplished very much, as he himself expressed it, by saving the ‘odds and ends of time’ . . . He was exact in all his dealings – an honest man, a Christian. His was a complete life, he ‘finished his work’.”[1]

            Towards the end of his life, the apostle Paul had the following testimony to share. He had faced many obstacles in ministry, overcome much hardship, and persevered through countless odds to follow the calling God had given him. As he looked back on his life and work he could say:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

            In the final hours before His death, Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father. He prayed for Himself, for His disciples, and even for future believers. In honest confession with His Father, Jesus said, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17: 4,5) Not long after this, as He hung on the cross, His body bruised and broken, His blood spilt for us, His final words would be: “It is finished.” (John 19:30a) Scripture records that it was at this time that “bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30b)

            The fall of 2023 for the FPC family has been a season which has carried with it the theme of “finishing”. Several beloved members of the FPC family have gone on to their Heavenly home, having shared, in their own way, their testimony that “It is finished.” Whatever their accomplishments were in this life, and however far their reach of compassion and loving care for others will extend from this point forward, we looking on have been graced with the chance to see, hear, remember, and know testimonies that declare their work was finished. It is an honor to carry in our hearts the living witness of lives well spent, time well shared, and a Lord well known.

            In the same letter in which Paul shared his testimony of having finished his work, having run his race, the apostle was able to say, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all Gentiles might hear.” (2 Timothy 4:17)

            As the trees around us turn brilliant shades of orange, yellow, and red, showcasing the glory of autumn in the waning hours of the season, we delight to behold them. We smile, breathe in deep draughts of fresh air, and store within us the beauty of this season. And so it is with loved ones as well. We smile as we remember them, we breathe in deep draughts of the fresh air they shared with us, and we reflect on the brilliance and beauty of their lives. May we each have the testimony to share that “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” May it be said of each of us that we finished the fight, we ran our race. Above all, may it be said that our Heavenly Father was glorified in our lives. Amen.



Prayer Room:

Prayer is important to the body of First Presbyterian Church. 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 from the hymn “How Great Thou Art” by Stuart K. Hine, 1953)

            Heavenly Father,

“O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed . . .

When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze . . .  

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, “My God, how great thou art!”

Then sings  my soul, my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art! Then sings my soul,  my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art!”   

Amen.


[1] David McCullough, The Pioneers, p.258

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