THE WORD OF THE LORD

ORANGE

SUMMER MISSION

STEWARDSHIP

AND MORE!

Church Chat Fall 2013

Old Things Pass Away; New Things Have ComeThere are several “new things”happening this fall at GBPC! First,the session has voted to change theworship services times so that thefinal benediction occurs at approxi-mately 12:00 pm!

8:15 am Contemporary9:30 am Traditional

11:00 am Contemporary

Second, we are beginning a newemphasis on World CommunionSunday. Each first Sunday of themonth we will engage in the wor-ship of God as a family. It is ourconviction that children and youthenjoy the worship experience andgain more exposure to worshipping

Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore,on Sunday, October 6, everyonethird grade and up will attend theentire service.

Third, we are adopting a fresh strat-egy to nurture the faith of our chil-dren and youth. It is called“Orange” which combines the lightof the church (yellow) with the loveof family (red) to produce youngdisciples for Jesus Christ. You canlearn about the distinctives of thisstrategy by speaking with Margaret,Via or Andrew. They are excitedabout the possibilities of going“Orange” and we believe you willbe too!

Finally, I wish to convey our newtheme for our stewardship cam-paign. Two significant words de-scribe our approach: ALL IN! Inorder to fulfill GBPC’s potential itwill require an increasing numberof people who possess a vision for“new things!” Our vision is tomake a million touches in thechurch, community, country, andthe world (Acts 1:8). God is atwork at GBPC, but we need morepeople to be ALL IN!

Are you, “ALL IN?”

God Bless,

Ralph

New Worship

Schedule

8:15 am9:30 am11:00 am

Begins September 8th

In this issue

2

Stewardship & Finance

The word "word" (dabar in the Old Testa-

ment Hebrew, and logos in the New Testa-

ment Greek) has a rich history in the Bible

and is layered with multiple meanings. God's

speech, his very words, caused the world to

come into being. The collection of writings

we now know as the Bible were deemed by

the early church fathers to be divinely in-

spired, and for us are received as the Word of

God.

When God established the covenant relation-

ship with the people of Israel, he gave them

10 "words" to guide them into an appropriate

relationship with Him and with each other.

Prophets spoke authoritatively on God's be-

half, often beginning or ending their pro-

nouncements with the phrase, "thus says the

Lord," indicating that they were speaking the

very words of God.

John identifies Jesus himself

as the Word of God who was

in the beginning with God,

but became flesh and lived

among us so that we might

know God and be restored in

relationship with Him. Often

we will say that the written

Word was given to us for the

purpose of testifying to the

Living Word, who is Jesus Christ—that the

sole purpose of the Bible is to point us to

Jesus.

When we pray for the Holy Spirit to illumi-

nate our hearts and minds before we read or

hear the Bible, we are asking for an act of

revelation and for God to speak directly to us

in our present situation. We have learned

through research that reading God's Word is

the number one catalyst for spiritual growth.

The 2013-2014 sermon series is designed to

capture some of this impact of learning some-

thing new about God’s Word, with the hope

that it will be a catalyst for your spiritual

growth. We are going to look

at key words from the Bible,

doing word studies from the

original languages to capture

all the shades of meaning of the

word that sometimes our Eng-

lish translations fail to do jus-

tice. We’ll learn a little bit of

Greek, and a little bit of He-

brew in the process. Each

month has an overarching word, and some

months have 1-2 additional words that sup-

plement the primary word. Tools will be

provided in worship and on-line to give addi-

tional insight into a particular word and its

use in Scripture.

Sermon Series for Worship & Discipleship

TheTheWORDWORDof theof theLLORDORD

2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4September

Euangelion—good newsOctober

Koinonia—communityNovember

Oikonomos—house stewardDecember

Messiah/Christos—Christ

*The financial figures

presented above do

not include the non-

budgeted special

offerings, like

Second Mile

3

ALL IN! 2013 Stewardship ChallengeHouse Sitting

Have you ever house sat for someone? How

do you treat the house and the furnishings?

Undoubtedly, you are very careful to perform

the tasks you've been asked to do (take care

of the pets, water the plants, pick up the

newspapers, put out the garbage), and to keep

the house neat and tidy, so that when the

owners return they will find everything has

been cared for and the house has been left in

tip top shape. In a sense, for that period of

time, you have been a "steward" of the prop-

erty of your friend.

Oikonomos

In the Bible, one of the servants was given

the authority over the property and over the

other servants. He was the "steward" or

"manager" (oikonomos). This was one of

Paul's favorite images to refer to those who

had been entrusted with God's work. Peter

extends this to all Christians, who should seek

to use their spiritual gifts as good stewards of

God's grace. This is where our word steward-

ship derives, providing a life principle that

recognizes that all that we have--our posses-

sions, our gifts and talents, indeed even our

families--have been entrusted to us by God.

We are called to treat them with care, and to

use them in a way that honors God and is in

keeping with His kingdom purposes.

All In!

One person in the Bible who clearly recog-

nized this stewardship principle was the wid-

ow that Jesus observed placing all that she

had in the temple treasury. Jesus commended

her to his disciples, and in doing so, gives us a

principle to follow. He is speaking not just of

our finances, but of an orientation toward our

lives that desires to place Christ first in all

that we do. Our motivation comes not from a

sense of obligation or of duty, but out of a

profound sense of gratitude and a response to

what Christ has first done for us. As in the

words of "When I Survey the Wondrous

Cross": "Love so amazing, so divine, De-

mands my soul, my life, my all!"

"but she, out of her poverty, put in all she

owned, all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:44

NOVEMBER 3, 10, 17Celebration Sunday

November 17

Our Kids & Youth Are Turning ORANGEChildren & Youth Ministry is turning OR-

ANGE! We are using a new ministry strategy

for infancy through 12th calling it CLUB

ORANGE:

Club 04: Infancy through 4th grades

Club 56: 5th & 6th grades

Club 78: 7th & 8th grades (formerly EDGE)

Club 912: 9th through 12th grades

(formerly ROCK)

Parents will notice a change in terminology.

Sunday School is now Club ORANGE.

Sunday School teachers are now called

Small Group Leaders.

ORANGE IS A STRATEGY for combining

critical influences in life to fuel faith in the

next generation.

Orange is a path, a strategy that combines the

strength of two—yellow and red—to create

the brilliance of another, Orange. By combin-

ing the critical influences of the light of the

church and the love of the family, the Orange

strategy synchronizes efforts and shows a

generation who God is, more effectively than

either could alone.

ORANGE IS A UNIQUE APPROACH TO

CURRICULUM. The orange curriculum is

always relevant, biblical, engaging and experi-

ential, and there are also additional distinctive :

PERPETUALLY INNOVATIVE

Orange curriculum is known for

innovation and creativity.

PARENT LINKED

Every Orange curriculum has

unique “parent cues” that connect

and engage them in the overall

strategy.

STRATEGICALLY SYNCHRONIZED

The Orange curriculum offers a

consistent, unifying strategic plan

from preschool through college.

RELATIONALLY DRIVEN

Orange emphasizes small groups,

making it easy to connect kids to

mentors and leaders who can person

ally invest in them.

ORANGE IS A COMMUNITY. WHEN

YOU’RE ORANGE, YOU’RE NOT

ALONE.

4

Youth PilgrimageThe Pilgrimage 2013 was a wonderful and

challenging trip. The New Youth Director,

Andrew Marshall had his first real challenge

after starting his new role two months prior.

He took 16 teenagers into the heart of DC for

five days and brought them all back alive.

The trip consisted of not only serving in vari-

ous food pantries and soup kitchens around

DC but also learning about all the ways pov-

erty impacts our nation. They spent time with

young men who had been incarcerated as

teenagers with a lot of their mistakes rooted in

a poor home life with no father. The students

learned about opportunities available for

homeless men to get their own apartment and

get back on their feet. They also learned how

the elderly are impacted by homelessness and

how they can be helped.

Overall, this trip is a great opportunity for a

student to get out of their comfortable situation

and be presented with the hurting of this coun-

try. Jesus told us in Matthew 25, “Truly I tell

you, whatever you did for one of the least of

these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for

me.” Helping the poor is the responsibility of

every follower of Christ and these students

learned how they can help.

Living Waters NicaraguaIn July, two members from our Living Waters

Team went to Nicaragua for 5 days to check

on two systems that were installed during

previous trips as well as to help with needed

maintenance and to bring replacement parts

for the systems. The team was also visiting

two new sites which will receive installations

in the near future. The team met with com-

munity leaders to get all the details worked

out for where the systems will be installed,

organizing community members to help

with the building and installation of the

system, and finding community leaders to

manage and run the water system.

A full team of LWW members will return

in October to install a system in the com-

munity of La Reina and in February, a team

will return again to install a system in the

community of La Garita, both located in

the Matagalpa region. We are very pleased at

all that was accomplished on this recent trip

and look forward to bringing clean water to

two new communities in the next few

months. If you are interested in participating

in the Living Waters Project, contact Phil

Muncie at accuappraisal@aol.com for more

information.

Vida Joven Nicaragua

Thirty seven people traveled to Nicaragua for

the Vida Joven Mission Trip. Twenty seven

went for the traditional 7 day trip to the camp

(amento) and 10 stayed longer to do outreach

work in Rivas. Rivas marks a new area Vida

Joven (Young Life) is expanding to. The trip

was amazing yet again. Time to help, time to

pray, time to make new friends and deepen

friendships. We were served plenty of beans

and rice and other local foods. We shared our

meals and worked alongside the Nicas (as

they call the locals), the field workers and

camp leaders. We tried out our Spanish.

Thankfully many Nicas knew

enough English so we got to

know each other.

The daily Bible study and

prayer was powerful. The

testimonies a few shared dur-

ing the evening activities

inspired and deepened our

faith. There was work for everyone. Some

shoveled a ditch, cut down a huge tree,

formed wire to use for rebar, landscaped,

rekeyed all the building doors, built kitchen

serving area, built a new camp security

entry building, and many hauled stones and

concrete for the new beneficio coffee bean

processing.

The camp is nestled in the mountains sur-

rounded by coffee bean plants. One bush’s

bounty equals one day of

camp for a child. There was

much work to do to improve

the camp so they could contin-

ue to host the children who

came by the hundreds to hear

the gospel….some for the

very first time. The work,

fellowship, prayer, and testi-

monies forged forever friendships. The Nicas

simple joy and

pure love was

contagious. The

experience was

life changing.

5

PDA Hurricane SandyNine people from GBPC & two from St. An-

drews church in Suffolk recently went to New

Jersey to work at Jethro Memorial Church in

New Jersey, a church that had significant dam-

age to the 1st floor (under water) to a point of

being unusable in that condition. This church

was damaged from the “Sandy” storm last

winter. The group included students and

adults, female and male, ages 14 to 70, most

of whom did not know each other at all or

very little. Coming together to “step out” of

their comfort zone and answering a call-

ing….God’s voice saying “GO” and they did.

Many asked themselves what can I offer, what

can I contribute, what skills do I have, do I

have any skills? We traveled by the church

bus, slept on the floor and showered outside in

make shift shower stalls. We ate together,

worked together, prayed together and came

away with new friends and found parts of an

“inner self” they did not know we had.

Jethro Memorial church is one of the oldest

African American churches in the state of New

Jersey. This team of people did a remarkable

job in a week. The pastor told me that if we

had not come this church would have likely

closed because it did not have the means or

labor to do the repairs. We saved a

church, we saved a piece of history, and

we did what God wants us to do…come

together.

CD Talk

"Jesus, Firm Foun-dation: Hymns ofWorship" is a gor-geous 12-song col-lection of hymn-songs re-imaginedand re-crafted with

today's sensibilities in mind.

Candlelight ConcertSeptember 22, 4 pm

Duncan & Daniellehave written andarranged a body ofmusic that speaks topeople of all ages.People often say thatthey never know whatDuncan & Daniellewill do next, whetherit will be hot fla-

menco from the 18th century or wailing elec-tric blues-rock of the 21st! As a result, theirfans range from one end of the social spec-trum to the other. One thing that is constant,though, is that after a performance, everyoneleaves feeling good, knowing that they justshared something very special and unique!

Introducing First SundayFamily Worship! We believe inall ages that make up the body of Christworshiping God TOGETHER—this is alsothe best way for children and youth to learnHOW to worship God. In order to facilitatethis, beginning Oct. 6th, World Commun-ion Sunday, we won’t have Sunday Schoolfor children or youth on the first Sunday ofeach month (children’s church provided for2nd grade and under) so families can wor-ship together!

On October 6th, before or after familiesworship together, we’ll invite EVERYONEto join us in the Fellowship Hall for aChurch Family Experience (FX)! We’llenjoy experiencing koinonia/community(word of the month). It should be a blast, sodon’t miss it!!

Fall Hymn FestivalOctober 27, 4 pm

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” sponsoredby the Center for Sacred Music at Vir-ginia Wesleyan College

Blessing of the AnimalsOctober 20, 4 pm

Bring your leashed petto this very specialoutdoor service! Loveofferings accepted forthe Virginia AnimalAssistance League.

6

Adult MinistriesYour Spiritual Road MapWant to GROW in your faith but don’tknow the next steps to take? Pick up aSpiritual Road Map and find tools GBPCoffers for you to do just that!

9:30 SundayEquipping ClassWe invite you to participate inthis learning - growing - sharing

adult study group. This year brings lots ofexcitement with a wide array of studiesand many new facilitating team members.The foundational questions for the yearwill be: What does it mean to be a Christian? Who is Jesus? What is the Gospel? How do you evangelize?The first study will be "ExperiencingChrist Together- Beginning in Christ" byRick Warren (6 weeks), and will beginSept. 8th.

11:00 SundayEquipping ClassConversion to Christ doesn’t au-tomatically guarantee impeccable

manners and suitable morals. This wasdemonstrated by the believers at the Co-rinthian church, who struggled with fac-tions, immorality, and wrong motives inworship. Paul’s first letter to the Corin-thians addresses all these issues in an af-fectionate but firm response remindingthem to devote their hearts to Christ alone.Class begins Sept. 8th and is facilitated byJohn Munday.

Wed Night Live:Financial PeaceUniversity

We all need a plan for our money. Finan-cial Peace University (FPU) is that plan!It teaches God's ways of handling money.This plan will show you how to get rid ofdebt, manage your money, spend and savewisely, and much more! FPU classesbegin Sept. 11th at 6:30. Cost is $50 formaterials. Facilitated by Traye Pickrelland others.

Wed Night Live:MarriedPeopleMarriedPeople believes ifyou teach couples less, they

will learn more. All throughout the Mar-riedPeople strategy couples will focus onjust four habits, which we call The Core4 Habits of a Great Marriage:o Love God Firsto Have Serious Funo Respect and Loveo Practice Your PromiseThe MarriedPeople strategy instills theCore 4 Habits of a Great Marriagethrough—• Larger Group Experiences• Small Groups• Individual Couples’ Date NightsBeginning Sept. 11th, facilitated by Mike& Kristie Stahl.

Wed Night Live:What PresbyteriansBelieveThis is a class that promises

something for everyone—those new tothe church seeking to know what Presby-terians believe, as well as long-time mem-bers who enjoy Bible study and dialoguewith other Christians. Topics will includethe Trinity, uniqueness of Jesus, sacra-ments, the problem of evil, grace, predes-tination, end times, and much more.Class begins Sept. 11th. Facilitated byRalph Herbert & Anita Killebrew.

Small GroupsGreat choices for the fall!Contact Kristiem@gbpres.org

Mondays: 9:30 am Women’s Empty Nesters:

Gideon by Priscilla Shirer

Tuesdays: 9:30 am Women’s Group: Having a

Mary Heart in a Martha World byJoanna Weaver

6:30 pm Generations Knit (& Cro-cheted) Together: Three generationsof women will teach knitting or cro-cheting and fellowship in Christ!

7 pm Men’s Tuesday Group:2 Timothy

Wednesdays: 9:30 am Women’s Cracked Pots

Group: Daniel: Lives of Integrity,Words of Prophecy by Beth Moore.

Thursdays: 9:30 am Women’s Group Thursday

Girls: Gideon: Your Weakness. God’sStrength by Priscilla Shirer

Fridays: 6:30 am MEN’S Bible Study with

Ralph: The coffee is on! Meaningfuldiscussions with plenty of time tomake it to work.

11 am Group Just for Seniors: TheGospel of Mark

Saturdays: 8 am A.M. Men’s Bible Study: I

Chronicles. Meet for breakfast andstudy!

Presbyterian Women Study2013-14: An AbidingHope: The Presence of Godin Exodus and Deuterono-my by Janice Catron

7

Support GroupsCaregivers The struggles of caregivingare addressed, whether you are caring foran aging parent or a sick child, a spouse orother loved one. Meets 2nd Wednesday ofeach month, 7:30 pm beginning in Sep-tember.

Divorce Care This group is designed forthose who want to come together withothers seeking that healing for their lives.Meets Thursdays, 7 pm beginning in Oct.

Divorce Care 4 Kids A group for kidsaged 5 & up. DC4K is a special group tohelp your children heal from the paincaused by a separation or divorce. MeetsTuesdays, 6 pm beginning in Oct.

Grief Support All adults are invited whohave experienced a loss. The supportgroup provides help as they continue ontheir individual grief journey. The objec-tive is to turn mourning into joy. MeetsThursdays, 7 pm beginning in September.

Single & Parenting for Women Meetand find practical help and hope, watchvideo sessions & enjoy discussions. MeetsTuesdays, 6:15 pm beginning in October.

252 Basics - K-4th grade Children beginin classrooms according to age/grade thengather in Large Group room 290 forworship & bible lesson. Kids return toclassrooms for discussion and Parentssign kids in and out of their rooms.

KICK will continue being offered onWednesdays for kids, Kindergarten – 4thgrade, 6:30-7:45 pm beginning Sept. 11.

Club 56, Club 78 & Club 912 Youth willmeet in the East End Lounge which repre-sents our mission Engage, Equip, Loveduring the 9:30 & 11 am services.

Sunday Nights: Club912 7 pm begin-ning September 8.

Wednesday Nights: Club 56 & Club 78,6:30 pm beginning September 11.

Youth CalendarSeptember 21st- 7-9pm- Back to SchoolBash- Clubs 56, 78, & 912- Fellowship

September 27th-28th- 4-5pm Friday and6am Saturday- Union Mission- Club 78 &912– Mission

October 19th- Ice Skating Trip- Clubs56, 78, & 912- Fellowship

October 25th-26th- Union Mission- Club78 & 912– Mission

October 31st- Trunk or Treat- Clubs 56,78, & 912- Outreach

November 8th-10th- Super High RetreatCamp Willow Run- Clubs 78 & 912

GETTING CONNECTED!Sept. 15, 22, 29, 9:30 or 11 amFor those new to GBPC or interestedin connecting in a new way!

Week One—Who Are We?Learn about ministries of GBPC

Week Two—Who Are You?Learn about your strengths with LivingYour Strengths

Week Three—How Do We Connect?Talk with leaders in ministries of inter-est & get connected!

New Member ClassSun, Oct. 6, 5:00-8:00 pmThurs, Oct. 10, 5:30-8:00 pmDinner & childcare providedClasses include time with pastors,overview of Presbyterian church, ex-pectations for membership, sharing offaith stories, opportunities to meet staffand key leaders.

Don’t miss the Wednesday night“What Do Presbyterians Believe”beginning Sept. 11th to learn moreabout our beliefs!

Senior adults meet thefourth Friday forlunch, fun and fellow-ship. Luncheons arefree and include aspecial presentation

on various topics. They also do specialouting at various times during themonth.

September 3: Norfolk BotanicalGardens Departure time, 9:30 fromGBPC parking lot. Tram and BoatRides; limit of 23 on boat. No charge;donations only; box lunch by Tessa.

September 27: “My Personal Mira-cle” Presented by GBPC member,Jerree Anderson

October 1: Rocky Hock Playhouse

A day trip to Edenton, NC for “TheChurch Triumphant” music by Bill &Gloria Gaither; Limit of 25 on bus; nocharge; donations accepted. Meet atGBPC large parking lot by 9 am

October 25: Early Man,Archeology & ScripturePresented by Dr. John C. Munday, RegentUniversity.

November 22: Show and TellThanksgiving Celebration

December 20: Christmas Party

Club Orange is the new

name of our Sunday school @

9:30 & 11:00 am

Club 04: infancy—4th grade

Infants– age 2 Bible songs, nurture, careand age appropriate activities.

First Look - Ages 3-4 Bible lessons, wor-ship songs and age appropriate activities.

Children & Youth Choirs & WHAMRehearsals begin Wed., September 11Register online, gbpres.org

Angel Choir (Prek-k) 5:45 pm, Rm 350

Cherub Choir (Grades 1-2) 5:45 pm,Rm 380

Carol Choir (Grades 3-4) 6 pm, ChancelChoir Room

WHAM! (Grades 5-12) 5:45 pm

8

Rev. Dr. Ralph Herbert

Rev. Anita Killebrew

Rev. Jack Minick

333 Cedar Road

Chesapeake VA 23322

757-547-4706

Trunk or Treat, October 31

The whole church is invited to join the Youth Ministry who is organizing aHalloween outreach event to the community. The church parking lot will turninto a safe and fun place for the surrounding community to get some candy,be loved, and get to know our church. We need you to help fill the parkinglot with decorated cars. Kids will walk up and down the lot getting candyfrom the trunks of peoples cars. The adults and teenagers will also be dressedup to match their decorated car. For example: Andrew will decorate his carlike a fishing pond with a small kiddy pool filled with candy and wear hisfisherman costume. Please be creative and over the top! There will be a prizefor the most creative trunk!

How can you get involved?

Back to SchoolJoin us for ODU PresbyterianStudent Union Dinners on thefirst Monday of the month. 7:00p.m. on September 9, October 7,

November 4, and December 2 are the falldates. Enjoy a delicious meal prepared by Tessa,fellowship, and Bible study with students.

Contact Brenda Simsangel33k1@verizon.net

OperationChristmas ChildLook for shoe boxes in Octoberwith instructions on how to fill

with Christmas cheer for a child in a needy partof the world. Choose to buy for a boy or girl andinclude $7 for shipping.

Food For AllSeptember 8-15. Help stock theSoutheastern Food Bank of VA.Please donate non perishablefood items this week.

-Sign up to reserve a parking space

-Help serve hot drinks

-Donate supplies needed

-Help give flyers

-Show up and get to know our community

www.gbpres.org

Thanksgiving FoodBag November. Help provideThanksgiving dinner for familiesin need.

Adopt A TEAcherAdopt A TEAcher will beginSeptember 8. Provide prayersupport for Great Bridge Prima-ry teachers. See Brenda Sims atthe Welcome Desk to adopt

your favorite teacher, receive instructions, and aspecial gift to present to your adoptee.