The March 10 Newsletter is online now.

The March 3 Newsletter is online now.

The February 24 Newsletter is online now.

As we enter our first full week of Lent, we continue to explore our vision statement.  This week we will focus on what it means to worship.  Our scripture comes from Paul’s letter to the Colossians:

¹²As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17

Growing up, I was always encouraged to wear my “Sunday Best” to go to church.  Most of us seldom worry about dressing up for worship any more.  However, this passage suggests that perhaps our “Sunday Best” has nothing to do with what kind of clothes we wear to church but rather the attitudes we wear.

·         How should we prepare for worship?

·         What attitudes should we “put on” for worship?

·         What is the purpose of worship?

·         Think about the worship services that most touched you.

o   What attitudes did you bring with you into that service? 

o   What moved you? 

o   Did anything in your life change because of your experience?

·         What do you need to “put on” to make yourself more open to the work of God in worship?

·         We call the order of our worship, the liturgy. Liturgy means “The work of the people.”  What kind of “work” does the congregation do in worship? 

Hope to see all of you Sunday as we work together to worship the living Lord!

The February 17 Newletter is online now.

6:30 P.M.  Wednesday Feb. 17

Come and join us as we begin preparing our hearts and lives to celebrate Easter as we come together to reflect on our need for salvation.  The Water’s Edge Praise team will lead our music.  This service will be a wonderful mix of old and new as we receive the traditional mark of ashes to remind us of our need for repentance and our common humanity through the use of the Blues!  Be sure and join us as we prepare our hearts for the season to come!

“Words and music did for me what solid, even rigorous, religious argument could never do — they introduced me to God, not belief in God, more an experiential sense of GOD. Over art, literature, girls, my mates, the way in to my spirit was a combination of words and music. As a result, the Book of Psalms always felt open to me and led me to the poetry of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the book of John…My religion could not be fiction, but it had to transcend facts. It could be mystical, but not mythical. ” Bono

The music is contemporary and the practice is ancient. Come join us!

The 9 a.m. service and Sunday school have been cancelled this morning due to the snow.  The 11:15 service will still be held.

6:30 P.M.  Wednesday Feb. 17

Come and join us as we begin preparing our hearts and lives to celebrate Easter as we come together to reflect on our need for salvation.  The Water’s Edge Praise team will lead our music.  This service will be a wonderful mix of old and new as we receive the traditional mark of ashes to remind us of our need for repentance and our common humanity through the use of the Blues!  Be sure and join us as we prepare our hearts for the season to come!

“Words and music did for me what solid, even rigorous, religious argument could never do — they introduced me to God, not belief in God, more an experiential sense of GOD. Over art, literature, girls, my mates, the way in to my spirit was a combination of words and music. As a result, the Book of Psalms always felt open to me and led me to the poetry of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the book of John…My religion could not be fiction, but it had to transcend facts. It could be mystical, but not mythical. ” Bono

The February 10 Newsletter is online now.

This week, we will continue our exploration of our Vision Statement as we discuss what it means to empower one another for ministry.  Our Scripture comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans:

For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:11-12 (NRSV)

·         Can you think a time when someone strengthened you?

o   Can you identify a particular spiritual gift that was used to strengthen you?

o   What would have happened if that person had not exercised their gift?

·         When have you been called to use one of your spiritual gifts to strengthen someone?

o   What did gift did you use?

o   Did you see the results of sharing your gift?

o   How did that person respond?

·         What would a church full of people sharing their gifts to encourage and strengthen one another look like?

o   How might it look different than our congregation today?

o   How might it look similar?

Look forward to seeing you on Sunday!