From the Pastor

May 2014

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

All during the Easter season this is our call. This is our message to the world. Well, let’s be really true. This is our message to the world every day of our lives.

We have just come through the most important week of the year for Christians, where we heard the great story of our salvation.  With that story fresh in our ears, what shall we do to encourage other people, and each other, to lay aside the trappings and temptations of society so that the message of the risen Lord Jesus may be shared in word and deed?

This is our question as we  move into this time of the year. I could use this space and go on about our continued need to pray and study and be present at worship. And I could highlight how the ministries of the congregation need to be attended to by more people as we move into our future.

But that runs the risk of making the message about ourselves. If we learned anything from Holy Week, it is that the message is about what God is doing. We respond by giving thanks for what God is doing, and we show our thankfulness through the ministries God has called us to offer the world.

So let’s get started in making our offerings of word and deed, giving thanks in our worship, and giving thanks through our service. By these actions, our cry of “Alleluia Christ is risen,” will be more true.

CLIFTON D. ESHBACH

Pastor

 

Adult Christian Education Class

A Series of Studies and Sermons for Lent.

We will study the Biblical texts of the season, as well as discuss the themes and things we can do to make this holy, penitential season more meaningful for us as we are led down the road to resurrection glory.

“The Questions of Jesus. How Do We Respond?”

A Series of Studies and Sermons for Lent. Each Sunday morning we will study a question Jesus asks us. At the mid-week Wednesday worship, Pastor Eshbach will offer a preaching perspective on each question.

 

March 9: “Why were you searching for me?”

A study of Luke 2:49

 

March 16: “Who do you say that I am?”

A study of Matthew 16:15

 

March 23: “Why is my language not clear to you?”

A study of John 8:43

 

March 30: “What do you want me to do for you?”

A study of Mark 10:36

 

April 6: “Does this offend you?”

A study of John 6:61

 

 

Thursday Night Bible Study

The Thursday night dinner and Bible Study at the Apple Tree Restaurant begins the New Year on January 9th.

The Thursday night dinner and Bible Study at the Apple Tree Restaurant begins the New Year on January 9th. The title of the January class is “The First 500 Years”. From the start of the church as recorded in the Book of Acts, through years of persecution and acceptance, we will study the start and growth of Christianity and how we are the descendants of the evangelical witness of many years ago. Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. The study is at 7:00 p.m. and the Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 8:00 p.m.