Spreading Branches “I am the Vine, you are the branches; he February 2015 www.lansdalepres.org who abides in Me bears much fruit...” John 15:5 The Newsletter of Lansdale Presbyterian Church 215-368-1119 e-mail: [email protected] Summer Missions Trip 2015: Cherokee North Carolina This summer our missions trip will take us into the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina to serve the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with MTW. We will have opportunity to serve in both Word and deed ministries that could include things like VBS, sports/day camps, community visitation and senior citizen centers as well as construction projects. We will know more about what exactly our ministry will be after our team is assembled and we can take inventory of our gifts. In addition to our Youth Group, we are in need of adult volunteers with a variety of gifts. Individuals with who can help with leading construction projects are especially needed as well as individuals to take the lead in VBS ministry. Please let Brian Hand know of your interest! Also, MTW describes this as a “family friendly” trip open to all ages. They have separate family housing to accommodate young children with their parents and have ministry opportunities that young children can participate in. Discounts are available for four spouses attending together and deep discounts for younger children. The dates for the trip are July 25th-August 1st (Saturday-Saturday). The cost for each person will be in the range of $550-$600 depending on transportation and day off activities. Please ask about rates for spouses or children if interested. A $65 deposit will be due by March 1st for all trip participants. Please pray over the next few weeks for the formation of our team and the initial planning process. Men’s Breakfast Men’s Retreat in March We are pleased and excited to invite all the men of LPC and their friends to attend our next breakfast at the Henning’s Market Food Court in Harleysville on Sat., Feb.7th, at 7:30 am. Come listen to Aji George talk about how St. Thomas brought Christianity to India (before it reached the Americas!), his journey to faith within the Mar Thoma Church and what led to his family’s decision to leave the church and begin attending LPC. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to "pepper" Aji with questions about everything you ever wanted to know about India! We will be holding our 6th annual Men’s retreat this year at Spruce Lake retreat center March 6-8. Danillo Santos will be our speaker this year on the topic of identity in Christ. This is a great opportunity to get to know other guys and share great food, hike up the mountain, and be encouraged. This year we are pleased to invite the young men to join us. All men in high school on up are invited to attend. Check out our You Tube video of last year’s snow tubing adventures www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQbLtIwf8QA 1 Bringing Missions Into Focus Most of us are familiar with Isaiah 53. It is a prophetic description of the redemptive sacrifice work of Jesus Christ. But many of us are not so familiar with Isaiah 52, which also deals with the redemptive work of Christ. Why not read it and see what I mean. The first twelve verses are a joyful proclamation anticipating the deliverance of God’s people, Israel. Take note of verse 10. “The LORD has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The figure of speech, “bared His holy arm” speaks of God’s powerful work of redemption that only He can do but the phrase stresses the fact that His powerful work was “bared” that is revealed to the nations even all the ends of the earth. At first glance Isaiah 52:10 may seem to be picturing God’s deliverance of Israel while all the nations look on from the “side lines” and trembled as when God delivered Israel out of Egypt. At that time the nations did not “see” in the sense of participating in and benefiting from the salvation that God accomplished for His people. A closer reading of Isaiah 52 indicates otherwise. Vs. 13-14 briefly allude to the sacrificial work of the Servant/Messiah. Now notice verse 15, “so shall He sprinkle many nations…” Vs. 15 boldly and unequivocally declares that many nations will be sprinkled, that is purified, made holy in God’s sight, redeemed by the blood of an atoning sacrifice resulting from the Messiah’s sacrificial work described in vs. 13 and 14. The redemptive work spoken of in this chapter has “all the nations,” and “all the ends of the earth,” and “many nations” in view. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, which is based on the redemptive work of Christ. If God’s work of redemption has “all the nations” in view, should our ministry of reconciliation focus on anything less? FOR THAT WHICH HAS NOT BEEN TOLD THEM THEY SEE, AND THAT WHICH THEY HAVE NOT HEARD THEY UNDERSTAND. - Dan McBride LPC Missions Conference: Save the Date!! “Starting In Jerusalem” Saturday & Sunday March 14 – 15, 2015 The 2015 Missions Conference presents a unique opportunity for us to better understand our Jewish friends. Our speaker is Rev. Fred Klett, the first ordained PCA evangelist specifically called to evangelize the Jewish people. Rev. Klett is Director of CHAIM CHristians Announcing Israel's Messiah." Named after the Hebrew word for "life," CHAIM promotes the gospel among the Jewish people through evangelism, equipping churches, and discipling Jewish believers. During the evening program, Rev. Klett will demonstrate a Passover Seder dinner, the very setting of Jesus' last supper with his disciples. 2 Coming Events at LPC 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 15 16 21 22 23 9:15a Christian Education (wkly) 10:30a Worship Service (wkly) 11:45a Church Luncheon 1:00p Congregational Meeting 6:30p Cantabile Choir (wkly) 6:30 pm Perkasie Small Grp (wkly) 7:00 pm Brd. of Christian Ed. Mtg. 6:00a Men’s Fraternity (wkly) 6:30p Choir Rehearsal (wkly) 7:30p Worship Music Rehearsal (wkly) 9:00a Ladies Bible Study (wkly) 6:30p Session Meeting 7:00p Ladies Bible Study (wkly) 10:30a Fri. Small Group (wkly) 7:30 a Men’s Breakfast 2:00 p Meadowood Tea 2:00p Meadowood Ministry 5:30p Youth Group (wkly) 5:30 p College & Career (CACHOC) (wkly) 5:45p Small Groups in homes (wkly) 7:30p Evangelism Comm. Mtg. 7:30p Youth Fellowship (wkly) 7:15a Mission Committee Mtg. 7:00a MOPS 5:30 pm Children’s Ministry 7:00p Deacons’ Meeting 7:00 pm A Time to Pray 9:00a MOPS Steering Comm. Mtg. 1:00p Food From the Heart Dinner 5:30p Children’s Chime Choir 7:00p Men’s Fraternity February Birthdays/Anniversaries Birthdays: 1 2 3 4 5 8 14 15 17 18 22 Anniversary: 26 Ari & Ellen Koudis If your birthday or anniversary is not included, or we have made a mistake, please contact the church office so that we can correct our records. Thank you. February Schedules Women’s One-Day Retreat Thanks to our many volunteers who help things to run smoothly every Sunday! Save the Date Greeters Eastern Pennsylvania Presbytery Women’s Ministries Local Spring Retreat: April 25th at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 405 Easton Rd., Willow Grove, PA 1 8 15 22 Cancellations In case of inclement weather and there is a question as to whether services or evening fellowship will be cancelled or schedules modified, please call the church at 215-3681119, ext. 66, and listen for updates. Announcements will also be made by email, and you may call your elders. Thank you. Cathy Keane Scott Wilson Ron Stotish Amber Etherton Krista Hathaway Grace S Marge Long Alex Halvorsen Emme Gray Lydia Keane Charis Whitney Jenn Gray Deb Negley Anita Schwartz Maombi Magangala Sarah Prall Rachel Weinstein Brian Witner Genevieve Hand Danillo Santos Paul & Dottie Koehrsen Fred & Carol Pletscher Tom & Chris Greene Scott & Shirley Wilson Ushers Bruce Weinstein, Bob Wunderlich, Philip Pennington, Bill Gray, Jr. Counters: 1 Craig Schwartz, Jamie Bard, Glenn Slotter, Paul Koehrsen 8 Paul & Dottie Koehrsen, J&S Hathaway 15 Paul & Dottie Koehrsen, J&S Hathaway 22 Paul Koehrsen, Dave & Wendy Fox 3 Year End Gifts Report New On-line Church Directory! We are happy to report that our church ended the 2014 fiscal year with a surplus. This was due to the generous response to the year-end request letter that was sent out in December. Not only did we surpass the requested $16,500 goal for our Sacrificial Offering, but additional giving made up for the deficit we were experiencing and more. Each year the church office distributes a member directory. In addition to that booklet the church also had an online directory through Member Connect. At the end of 2014, Member Connect was no longer available. We have begun using a new online directory called Instant Church Directory Online that we hope you will find helpful. You can access the directory from your computer or smartphones, which hopefully makes finding someone’s contact information quick and easy. This is also a photo directory! The final amount of the Sacrificial Offering was $16,780, $280 above our goal. As stated, this will be dedicated to various things planned in our 2015 budget. With the additional year end gifts besides the Sacrificial Offering we ended the 2014 year $17,250 above our expenses! Where we were expecting a significant deficit, God had other plans. The Lord provides! Some of this money has been allocated to cover unbudgeted costs involved with our strategic planning process. How the rest of these funds will be allocated is currently under discussion by the Session and the Finance Committee, and will be reported when this decision has been made. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 It is essential for the church office to have your correct email address as this will enable you to have access to the directory and enable you to create your account and log in. However, only the office will have administrative access to updating your and your family’s information. Food from the Heart If you want to access the online directory, they can do so just like they had for Member Connect. Hover over the "Home" tab on the church website, and you'll see "Member Directory" listed at the bottom. If you click on that, you will be able to login (or create a login) there using the email address that the church office has listed for you. Dinner Update Date: January 25, 2015 Speaker: Dr. Bruce Weinstein Topic: Matthew 8 - The Faith of the Centurion, with his personal testimony Number Attended: 46 Menu: Tossed Salad, Roll & butter, Bean and Spinach Soup, Lasagna, peas & carrots, and ice cream for dessert February 2015 For those who desire a paper booklet style directory, we would like to print- with pictures - from this file once all information is up to date. (You can also print your own!) Spreading Branches 4