REMIND
Cookout in honor of the Hollands: It looks as though we’re going to have a large crowd joining us at Kosciusko Country Club lake at 4 pm to say a corporate ‘farewell’ to Joe Holland and his family. Because we’ve had so much rain and the possibility of more on Saturday, we’ll have our fun at the clubhouse and parking lot. We will have a scavenger hunt, bingo, etc. The hamburger cookout begins at 6:00 pm. There will be s’mores for dessert. Please sign up on the “Church Events” bulletin board if you will be able to attend.
Mission Sunday: Wes Baker of Peru Mission will be here on Sunday, May 17. Wes will give a report on the work in Peru at 9:45 am in the sanctuary. He will preach in the morning worship service as well.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT CONNECTION…coming May 20: We’re adding some new things to Wednesday nights to develop our TEACHING ministry (remember W-T-N-R?). Wednesday Night Connection is designed to connect us with one another in fellowship and reaching and to dig deeply into God’s Word through Bible-centered studies for children, youth, and adults.
Summer 2009 (NOTE: Due to the length of each DVD episode of ‘The Truth Project,’ we’re altering the schedule a bit from the original plan)
6:00 Children’s ministry; adult electives will gather in their respective meeting room (but still, don’t be late):
ELECTIVES
• Framework of Faith: a study of fundamental Christian teaching that aims to be rigorous and refreshing, systematic and stimulating (led by Phillip Palmertree). A number of people have been asking for a survey of systematic theology, and here it is. Join us for a study of the skeletal system of Christian living. Meeting in the Mary Thornton Room.
• The Truth Project: a DVD-based study from Focus on the Family challenging you to look at all of life from a biblical perspective. This is for youth, their parents, and everyone! This is an excellent curriculum that will last through the summer months. Meeting in the sanctuary.
REVISIT
Dr. Bob Penny, Vice-President of Development for Reformed Theological Seminary gave us such an encouraging report this past Wednesday. He reminded us that RTS is, in a very real sense, the fruit of the prayer meetings of FPC Kosciusko. Of course, God uses our prayers to provide and sustain and bless RTS. But he was referring to the movement in the early 1960′s that gave birth to RTS. Rev. Erskine Jackson, and elders such as Will Hammond and Hugh Potts, Sr., were instrumental in the formation of the seminary. Many of you may be unaware that the property on which FPC now sits was made available for the seminary at one point! Never doubt or downplay the power of Christ that is unleashed when his saints come together to pray. I was humbled to consider that my theological education (not to mention Joe’s and Grant’s) came about because of the prayers, efforts and giving of many in FPC Kosciusko many years ago. God never changes. He’s shown no indication that he intends to depart from that way of working his will in the world. Don’t lose heart: keep praying, keep digging, keep giving!
RETURN
Because of the flow of the delivery of Sunday morning’s sermon on Isaac’s travails in Genesis 26, I skipped an area of application. One of the helpful things about this format is that I can return to clarify, to press application further, or, in this case, to do a little extra teaching. Think back to the way that Isaac’s lie about Rebekah being his sister (rather than his wife) was exposed. Abimelech, king of Gerar, confronted Isaac and rebuked him, just as Abimelech (this king’s father or grandfather?) had done to Abraham when he sinned in exactly the same way. Despite Isaac’s unbelief, God was nonetheless faithful. God blessed him and made him very wealthy. Isaac was blessed solely because of God’s grace to him as he was a conniving and undeserving man. Much like his father, Isaac is far from perfect but God remains true to his covenant promises.
It is a humbling thing indeed to be “called out” by a non-Christian. Christians are not always right. Non-Christians are not always wrong. Many of you were here last Saturday when we hosted the graduation for the Attala Christian Home Educators. I was thinking about one of the great disservices we often do to our children when we send them off to college. We warn them about professors who viciously and bitterly oppose and undermine Christian faith. We speak about them as though these profs were monsters wearing tweed jackets with elbow patches. We send them off to college, and more often than not they never meet the monsters. In fact, they meet some people who are more interesting and educated than most of us are, more compassionate and sensitive to injustice than most of us are, more generous and happy than most of us are…and yet who also oppose and undermine Christian belief. Our credibility suffers because we’ve created unflattering straw men instead of helping them gain discerment about the subtleties and deceitfulness of our real enemy.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: The Rev. Wes Baker will preach in the morning service. Wes is an excellent preacher, and I wanted to return the favor extended to me back in January 2007 when Wes and the saints at the Larco Presbyterian Church in Trujillo, Peru invited me to preach to them. Wes will preach from Joshua 1:1-9 on the anticipation of Jesus’ “Great Commission” in the commission given to Joshua as he led Israel into the Promised Land. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing Psalm 46 (God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength), My Trust in the Lord, and A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Also, we will hear an Adopt-a-Missionary report, and there will be a recognition of our high school graduates: Victoria Paton, Jonathan Miles, Stokes Templeton, and Hogan Briscoe.
Evening Worship: Revelation 10-11 covers the pause between the sixth and seventh trumpets (just like the pause bewteen the sixth and seventh seals in Revelation 7). The pause shows us a vision of an angel with a little scroll and a vision of two witnesses. There a great unveiled in this passage about Christian preaching and witness.
