HAPPENINGS First Presbyterian Church, 1601 Main Street, Murray, KY 42071 CHURCH STAFF From the Pastor: Pastor: Rev. Dr. Renee Meyer 270-227-7714 Administrative Assistant: Dawn Boyd Accompanist: Christy D’Ambrosio Choir Director: Chris Mitchell Clerk of Session: Carol Allen Treasurer: Tim Belcher Nursery: Liz Wall Youth Director: Brittany Hesson Custodian: Monte Fisher OFFICE HOURS: Monday—Friday 9:00—12:00 1:00—3:00 Pastors Office Hours Monday 9 a.m.-Noon Personal Study Noon-3:00 p.m. visitation, office time Tuesday 9 a.m.-Noon Personal Study Noon-3:00 pm visitation, office time Wednesday office 9 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Thursday office 9 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Friday Day Off If you were able to be in worship on the First Sunday of Lent, then you also got to experience an “Ash Wednesday” service of sorts. Although not liturgically correct, I heard lots of comments about how meaningful the ritual was to many folks. For this I am glad. Usually on Ash Wednesday I talk about the season of Lent—its historical development, what it means for us today, its misrepresentation as the season to “give up something” and so on. Since Mother Nature did not allow us to have our Ash Wednesday on schedule, I am thankful that we were able to incorporate the imposition of Ashes into the Sunday service. So what is Lent all about? It is the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. In this 40-day calculation, you do not include Sundays because Sundays are always considered feast days, as they are seen as “mini-Easters.” The forty days of Lent commemorate Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry. During that time Jesus fasted and devoted himself—body, soul and mind— to communing with God. We might imagine his days and nights consisting of prayer, recitation of Scripture, meditation, and contemplation. He is our model for the spiritual life and so it is appropriate for us to undertake some of the same spiritual disciplines. There is a reason we call them “disciplines”—they do not necessarily come naturally or easily. We sometimes have to really work at them. Including them in our schedules on a daily basis may also be challenging. Do not scrap the whole endeavor if you miss a day, or perhaps have to forego your day of fasting, etc. Just recommit the next day. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. The practices of course are not ends in themselves, but rather are the means by which we are transformed more into the likeness of Christ. According to Wikipedia on Lent: “It was the belief of the early church that Jesus lay for forty hours in the tomb. This belief led to the practice of fasting for forty hours preceding the Easter celebration. One of the most important ceremonies at Easter was the baptism of the initiates on Easter Eve. The fast was initially undertaken by the catechumens to prepare them for the reception of this sacrament. Later, the period of fasting from Good Friday until Easter Day was extended to six days, to correspond with the six weeks of training, necessary to give the final instruction to those converts who were to be baptized.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent) I really hope that you will plan to attend the Holy Week Services. Although it is not set in stone, Pastor Ruth Ragovin has asked if we would like to do a joint service on Tuesday of that week—a short 30-minute service that is based on the story of Mary of Bethany and her anointing of Jesus shortly before he entered Jerusalem. This service will take place at First Christian Church. We will have Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services at our church. On Good Friday we will be the host church and Westminster and Mayfield Presbyterian churches will also be joining us. I really encourage you to include these services in your Lenten discipline this year. I have been told that extra services like these are not very well attended by this congregation—I hope we can turn that trend around. I pray that you have a blessed and spiritually enriched Lenten journey! Shalom, Pastor Renee Page 2 HAPPENINGS Join us each Thursday @ noon for The Lunch Bunch March 5, 2014 March 12, 2014 March 19, 2014 March 26, 2014 Jasmine Applebee’s Backyard Burger Fazoli’s New Presbyterian Women’s Circle New PW Circle will meet March 5th @ 6 p.m. at Debbie Burgess’s house 1710 Audubon Drive. This circle is for anyone one who would like to join especially those who work during the day. Every Wednesday morning @ 7 a.m. March 4th-Hih Burger March 11th- Martha’s March 18th- Mary’s March 25th- Rudy’s Presbyterian Women PW Brown Bag Lunch: PW will be meeting March 2nd at 11:30 at FPC Clerk's Corner Stated Session Meeting 02/09/2015 Session approved a Good Friday service at FPC with Mayfield First and Westminster congregations invited; dinner will be served prior to the service. Lenten and Easter banners have been ordered for the sanctuary. Session reviewed the 2014 mission contributions totaling $20,387 including the Outreach committee budget, individual donations, Alternative Christmas Gift Market, and Presbyterian Women contributions. Our Website is up and going!! Check it out at http://fpcmurray.com New PW Circle will meet March 5th @ 6 p.m. at Debbie Burgess’s house. This circle is for anyone one who would like to join especially those who work during the day. Dorothy McKenzie Circle will meet on March 9th @ 1 p.m. @ Joan Adam’s home. Dorothy Moore Circle will meet on March 10th in the Session room at FPC @ 10:30 a.m Head & Heart Meets March 19th @ 7:00. Check the Church website under “Christian Education” tab then “Classes” tab for the current upcoming study/ discussion. Page 3 “KEEPING UP WITH YOUTH” Youth group meets at the MOTA house Sunday afternoons from 4-5:30 p.m. Youth Sponsorships Looking for a way to support the young people at FPC? How about sponsoring students for the Montreat Youth Conference or Alabama Mission Trip this summer? There are 3 students going to Montreat and 4 students going on the mission trip. These trips are great for students to grow in their faith journey and give back to others. The cost per student for Montreat is $525 and $400 for New Jersey. Any size sponsorship is greatly appreciated ($5, $20, $100,etc). Let's share the gifts that God has given us so that our young people may do the same. For more information about youth sponsorships, please see Brittany. HAPPENINGS Will begin the last week of February. There will be two classes. Tuesday, February 24th-March 31st @ 6 p.m. Thursday, February 26th- April 2nd @ 10:30 If you would like a Lenten study book, the cost is $16.85 the signup sheet is on the podium in the Narthex. If you wamt tp order it yourself you may get it for a cheaper price: “24 Hours That Changed the World” Holy Week March 29-April 4, 2015 Palm/Passion Sunday, March 29, 2015 Worship Service @ 10:45 Maundy Thursday, March 2, 2015 Service @ 7:00 Good Friday, March 3, 2015 Meal 6:00 Service at FPC @ 7:00 Easter Sunday, March 5, 2015 Worship Service @ 10:45 Page 4 HAPPENINGS UKIRK Murray State a Ministry Open to All Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday, March 8th Pastor’s Discretionay Fund We have helped in the following ways over the past two months: Electric Bill Rent Groceries for Family Electric Bill Total $42.97 $59.00 $91.75 $100.00 $293.72 Join other college students for fellowship on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. See Brittany for more info!! GROUP EVENT MARCH 2015 The Group event for March will be dinner at Los Portales and attending The Diary of Anne Frank at Playhouse in the Park on Friday, March 27, 2015. A sign- up sheet will be available in the Narthex soon. If we have ten or more people sign up in addition to the season ticket holders, a discount will be available. We will eat at 5:15 PM with a 7:00 PM show. Contact Kathie Fleming with questions. (270/759-1145) HAPPENINGS Page 5 Prayer Concerns “Blessed be God, because God has not rejected my prayer or removed God’s steadfast love from me.”--Psalm 66:20 Church Members Mary Lynn Christensen Kathie Fleming Jean Lindsey Sid Martin Charlie Miller Bonnie McNeely Rosemary & Dan Moore Barbara Simon Mildred Valentine Managing Alzheimer’s Back problems Spring Creek for rehab in room 209 Recovering from surgery recovering from surgery to repair broken hip She has Primary Progressive MS and is learning to cope with double vision Health issues Allergic reaction to medications on the road to recovery At Spring Creek with dementia Family of Church Members Smith Broadbent Anne Adams’ brother-Parkinson’s Heidi Hedstrom Gary & Justines Ostlund’s granddaughter, cancerous tumor on pancreas Caden Hines Great Grandson of Betty Shepperson, tests show changes in lymphatic system that may lead to Hodgkins/lymphnoma Bonnie Owen Barbara Conley’s cousin, cancer Pat Pittman Son of Cheryl and Ralph, on-going recovery from addiction, loss of home Joyce Tippie Gary Ostlund’s sister, cancer Rebecca Webb Niece of Ralph & Cheryl Pittman, breast cancer & erythema multiforme Friends of the Church Virginia Black Edna Davis Friend of Betty Shepperson, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Friend of Pastor Renee, breast cancer, recovering from broken hip surgery Indulge for Lent? Rather than sacrificing something for Lent — especially something easy and spiritually insignificant, such as chocolate — Patty Kirk, in Guideposts magazine, suggests finding new ways to indulge in God’s presence. Surely one can do this by having extra devotions or attending Lenten worship services. But Kirk offers these ideas: • Spend time outdoors, sensing God’s magnificence. • Spend time with others, extending generosity and compassion. Remember Jesus’ promise that when you care for others, you care for him (Matthew 25:31-46). • Pray for the “little things,” coming before God in childlike trust and feeling peace. • Watch attentively for God’s answers to prayer, and receive them as reminders of his presence. • Turn anxiety into prayer. As you frame concerns as prayers and entrust them to God, you “sacrifice” the tendency to wallow in worry. Forgive yourself Page 6 If the Lord Jesus Christ has washed you in his own blood and forgiven you all your sins, how dare you refuse to forgive yourself? —Francis MacNutt Special Dates Second Sunday in Lent March 1, 2015 World Day of Prayer March 6, 2015 Third Sunday in Lent March 8, 2015 Daylight-Saving Time Begins, March 8, 2015 Girl Scout Sunday March 8, 2015 Fourth Sunday in Lent March 15, 2015 Easter is quickly approaching! Our tradition here at FPC is to offer all an opportunity to purchase an Easter lily "in honor of" or "in memory of" a loved one. The lilies will brighten our sanctuary on Palm Sunday and Easter morning and then you may take yours home. Look for sign-up sheets in the narthex. The cost is $7. HAPPENINGS FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1601 Main Street Murray, KY 42071 HAPPENINGS First Day of Spring March 20, 2015 Gay McKinney Lee Gore Jean Lindsey Maryann Mitchell Terry Foreman Wesley Howe Donna Leigh Carla Johnson Dave Howe Mary Ellen DeBoer Jerry Stanley 3rd 5th 10th 12th 12th 12th 19th 20th 28th 28th 31st Fifth Sunday in Lent March 22, 2015 Palm/Passion Sunday March 29, 2015 Holy Week March 29-April 4, 2015 March 19th Tim & Tonie Belcher
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