october 2016 worship and sunday school kickoff at the farm · the doctrine of instant sat-isfaction...
TRANSCRIPT
October 2016 “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12
Remember to Bring in Your Hy-Vee Receipts Grocery, gasoline, and prescription receipts count. Our church receives a $1000 check from Hy-Vee for $150,000 in re-
ceipts. Please make sure the receipts are from the Brookings Hy-Vee Store only
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!
Goal: $150,000.00
Regular Sunday Schedule
September - May
9:00 am Sunday School
10:00am Fellowship Hour
10:30am Worship Service
Lord’s Supper—First Sunday of
each month
Summer Sunday Schedule
June - August
9:30am Worship Service
Nursery care is available
on first floor during
Sunday School and
Sunday Worship
Church Office Hours
Monday & Tuesday
9:00am - 12:00pm
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Wednesday & Thursday
9:00am-12:00pm
1:00pm-4:00pm
Friday 9:00am - 12:00pm
Pastor’s Office Hours
Tuesday - Thursday
9:00am - 2:00pm
Friday
9:00am -12:00pm
Worship and Sunday School Kickoff at the Farm
On the beautiful morning of Sunday, September 11, we
gathered for worship and a celebration of the beginning
of our Christian education year at the Fosters’ farm. We
reflected on the beauty of God’s creation and the won-
derful joy that we have as we dwell in the presence of
God: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Al-
mighty!” (Psalm 84:1). Even the birds chimed in on cue
during the children’s message.
After the worship service, the Christian Education committee
welcomed us to a new year in Sunday School with an interactive
lesson involving a model rocket… and despite a bit of trouble at
first, our Sunday School year was officially “launched” along with
the rocket. We also enjoyed a wonderful potluck meal together,
and some of us stuck around for a hayride.
Many thanks to the Fosters and all who helped make this a won-
derful day!
THE BLADE
Published Monthly (June/July & December/January
Combined)
First Presbyterian Church 405 7th Avenue
Brookings, SD 57006 (605) 692-2416
www.brookingspresbyterian.org
Pastor Kristie Berglund
Office Manager Melanie Shepherd
Newsletter Assembly Volunteers led by Marlys Kelsey
Social Media
www.facebook.com/fpcbrookings
Twitter twitter.com/FPCBrookings
If you would like our team of prayer volun-teers to be praying for
you or a loved one, con-tact Jan Jones at 692-
5325, [email protected], or any of the other prayer chain volunteers: Dolores Canaday, Arlyce Thorne, Lee Peterson, Karie Rottluff, Harold & Marge Poppen, Linda Barnett, Ann Spitzenberger, Susan Smith, Judy Smith,
Bonnie Foster, and Kristie Berglund.
Prayer Families Prayer is an important part of a Christian’s life in the community of faith. As members of that community you are encouraged to pray for the people listed each week during your time of daily prayer. The families and individuals are selected at random. October 2: Brian & Riley Poppen; Larry, Melanie & Abigail
Shepherd
October 9: Maria Mason; Nancy Thompson
October 16: Heidi & Aaron Miller; Rollo Nussbaum
October 23: Betty Gehring; Rozella Potthast
October 30: Karie, Amir, Yossry, Tasneem & Doha Rottluff
Do you need a ride to church Sunday
morning?
Marvis Jenner is providing
transportation to those that are in need of a
ride to church on Sunday mornings.
If you are in need call Marvis at:
692-9136.
Spiritual Practices for Growing Christians “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant sat-isfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.” - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline These words were written nearly 40 years ago and yet they still have such a clear ring of truth about them. This fall we will be taking these words to heart and attempting to go a bit deeper in our understanding and practice of our faith. I have begun a sermon series called “Spiritual Practices for Grow-
ing Christians” which is based on a selection of chapters from Richard Foster’s Cele-bration of Discipline. Throughout the series we will explore the disciplines of Scripture meditation, prayer, fasting, simplicity, submission, service, guidance, and celebra-tion. These are practices that have encouraged and strengthened believers in their faith for millennia. My hope is that each one of us may be drawn to one or more of these practices and take it on as a regular part of life. From a deeply rooted faith grows a church that is vibrant and strong—fully alive in the joy of the presence of the living God. May we experience this rich blessing. In grace and joy, Pastor Kristie
Presbyterian Circle
Presbyterian Circle will meet on Tuesday, October 18 at 9:30am (note the time
change!) in the Center Meeting Room. We will start our new study “Jesus the
One and Only” by Beth Moore. This is a video presentation. Beth believes her
calling is Bible literacy—guiding believers to love and live God’s Word.
At our September meeting we discussed the mission of our circle. We want a
Bible study that is relevant to our lives. We recognize and accept that there are many ways to serve
the church and our congregation that are still working for us and we don’t want to make too many
changes. Mission is a big part of who we are and we need to identify local and foreign mission pro-
jects. We will strive to keep each other informed of local and Presbytery news and projects.
We discussed Praise Meeting. It is time to put that program together and we welcome any and all
ideas, suggestions, and offers of help. This is a long tradition for our women and our church, with
mission giving as the goal.
All women of First Presbyterian Church are welcome as members of Circle and we want you to join
the fellowship and study with us. Please contact Linda Barnett or Dolores Canaday, this year’s co-
moderators, if you have any questions.
Dolores Canaday
Co-Moderator
Deacons’ Note
Brookings Share the Warmth is here at First Presbyterian.
Share the Warmth is a Salvation Army event to collect
items and money to help needy children and adults with
winter clothing needs. Our church is a collection point this year. We have a collection
Box labeled Share the Warmth in the coffee room.
We are collecting gently used coats / jackets / sweatshirts / snow pants/ socks / shoes /
boots/ etc. and money. You can make your check out to the church or Salvation Army.
Either way you will be helping out those in need in our community.
We will be collecting items throughout September and the first week of October. So
look for our not too ornate Share the Warmth collection box for your donations. If
you are interested in helping with passing out items that information is on the bulle-
tin board.
Thank you.
Robby Flint
Presbytery Resolution on Predatory Lending Measures
At the July 8-9, 2016 meeting of the Presbytery of South Dakota, a resolution was passed that encourages
all congregations to educate their members about the vote on predatory lending that will come before the
people of South Dakota in November. Currently South Dakota places no limit on interest rates for payday
loans; we feel people should be aware that the average interest on payday loans in South Dakota is 574%.
The presbytery’s concern is that the poor are being exploited by some of these companies and thus limits
need to be set.
There will be two somewhat confusing items related to this issue on the ballot: Amendment U and Initiat-
ed Measure 21. Amendment U appears to set an 18% limit on interest rates, but it does not limit actual
written agreements, and thus may end up protecting predatory lenders and their current practices. Initiat-
ed Measure 21 puts a real 36% limit on payday loans, car title loans, and installment loans.
If you are interested in learning more about this issue or the upcoming vote, we have an information sheet
available in the church office.
Monthly Financials
2015 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug
Income 20,941.78 12,235.00 17,256.68 12,042.38 15,887.61 9,354.98 11,503.32 9,229.42
Expense 14,675.94 14,037.95 14,658.16 17,687.71 12,009.09 15,561.41 10,698.78 12,763.94
Difference 6,265.84 -1,802.95 2,598.52 -5,645.33 3,878.52 -6,206.43 804.54 -3,534.52
Synod School Ministry Attracts 630 Participants
By Duane Sweep, Associate for Communications for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies
(Article from the Presbyterian Church Mission Yearbook)
The sounds could be coming from any busy school office responding to myriad re-
quests: Someone needs first aid for a scraped elbow. Someone else is turning in a
missing nametag. Someone else wants to change classes. But this school is different.
It’s Synod School, the annual midsummer ministry of the Synod of Lakes and Prai-
ries. It’s a nearly weeklong event—Sunday afternoon through Friday noon—that
always runs the last week in July at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.
This year 630 people—ranging in age from five weeks to the 80s–took part, most
living on campus, some staying in local hotels. This year’s attendance surpassed the
previous record of 620, set in 2011.Deb DeMeester, the synod’s director of leadership development, also serves as
lead staff support for Synod School. In that role, she juggles myriad duties for the school. “You sit here, and there’s
everything,” she said.
Synod School offered 70 classes this year, ranging from “Embracing Conflict” to “God at the Box Office.” The lineup
included all-morning classes, all-afternoon classes, and one-hour classes Monday through Thursday. Mini-classes,
sometimes on subjects attendees developed during the day, took place in the evenings. Class times were compressed
on Friday to allow for lunchtime departure.
Worship took place Sunday evening and in the morning and evening Monday through Thursday. Burns Stanfield, pas-
tor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Boston, along with his wife, Lorraine, and numerous friends, led evening worship.
Leading morning worship were Stephanie Anthony and Jody Branson from First Presbyterian Church in Hudson, Wis-
consin, where Anthony is pastor and Branson is organist, accompanist, and director of music and liturgical arts.
Jeff Dickinson provides tech support for Synod School, running projection from the back of Schaller Chapel for packed
worship services. He fills the same role for convocations, which this year featured John Bell, a preacher, teacher, and
lecturer who is an ember of Wild Goose Resource Group, an autonomous project of the Iona Community in Scotland.
Bell met with Synod School attendees for evening discussions. Dickinson’s wife, Sarah Dickinson, has attended Synod
School 13 of the past 14 years, often helping with worship, classes, and other facets of the ministry. In the midst of
this year’s busy Synod School, she said she thought things were “going wonderfully.”
In recent years, Synod School has begun incorporating an artist in residence into its program. This year the artist was
Cathy Newcomb of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, leader of the PC(USA) new worshiping community Through the Lens.
She shared the spiritual and visual aspects of photography as a form of worship, along with teaching the class “Visio-
Divina: Bringing Cameras and Christ Together.”
Although Synod School has wrapped up its 2016 program, it’s just a matter of time before the flurry of activity begins
anew. After all, the countdown has begun to next summer’s event.
MEN’S BROTHERHOOD Andrew L’Amour
Scripture Reading: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35 Quote: Never loan your heart to hatred; it pays you back with self-destruction. Majority of people living are not aware that anger is an acid that destroys its own container. ―Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365
Men’s Brotherhood Notes: There was no Men's Brotherhood in September. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 20. Prayer Concerns: Pray for seeds of love to be sown in our heart. Action: Seek opportunities to demonstrate our love for one another through kind acts of service and dedi-cation. Love: Those of us who have children have likely said to them at one time or another ”How many times do I have t tell you...” Or maybe someone we supervised or worked with who just doesn't comprehend what we are trying to explain to them, we need to repeat, in our view, clear instructions. They might still not get it. What ever the distractions may be or their ability to comprehend, it can certainly be frustrating. I have mellowed in my old age a bit and try to just patiently reiterate any point and try not to be too critical of others because I too am victimized by a level of comprehension that is not always alert to my surround-ings plus I have a lot of distractions called “life” that gets in my way to absorb clear instructions. Jesus said we are to love one another. It is recorded in the bible that He said this. Ever wonder how many times He had to say it before the disciples got the message? I don't know but I imagine if they are the rest of us it was probably more than once. I can't hear Jesus saying “How many times do I have to tell you...” I can hear Him just patiently saying it and explaining how and why to do it over and over so they got the point that this was an important message He was giving. (See John 21 where Jesus was telling Peter to “feed my sheep.”) There are only 24 hours in a day and it seems we can fill that time with an incredible number of distractions. Whether it is work or play it seems we always find time to do the things we really want to do. Recently Mother Teresa was made a saint in the Catholic church. She devoted her entire life to loving others. She was able to combine her life work with helping others directly who were suffering. We pass strangers every day and we have no idea of the struggles they face in their lives: family member's recent illness or death, loss of a job, financial or other personal struggles; we can all imagine things which we may never know about them. But we can smile, say hello, help them by opening a door, offering to carry something for them – lighten their load. Listen to them. There is a big one. Be there to listen to them if they need someone to share any concern they have. I wonder how much anxiety, frustration, grief and violence would be eliminated in our world if we just too time to listen to each other. I started wanting to talk about loving one another and I ended up with listening. Well there you have it, listening is a way of loving. It may be the first way. Praise God!
PRISON MINISTRY NEWSLETTER September, 2016
" It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. Psalm 119: 71, 105, 130
God's Word is good for any and every occasion. II Tim. 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may
be complete, equipped for every good work." One of my biggest desires for a new Christian is that they have
a hunger for God's Word! I know when the truth of the Bible is applied to one's life, their life will change by
the power of the Holy Spirit. I remind the men that the best way to know Jesus is by reading Scripture.
One of the men I visited with when he was in prison before, is back in prison. This time he is very discour-
aged. He told me he is tired of it all; all the garbage talk by the younger inmates in prison, and tired of him-
self. Since he failed again, he told me, "I just feel like a piece of garbage. I have failed God, my family, and
myself many times." I told him God does not make any garbage. I continued to encourage him that there is
hope in Jesus and that the Lord would work with him. I informed him that when he is serious about changing
his life, the Lord will be there for him and go with him. I reminded him, that God loves him even in his mess.
Pray for these men and for me, that the Lord will give me wisdom and understanding in working with them. I
know many of them have hurts in their heart from the past which they have never dealt with, and only the
Lord can heal the pain if they are willing to surrender their life to Christ.
I often visit inmates who are in the hospital. The first time I visited this inmate in the hospital he was on a
breathing machine, and he was not aware I was present. I said a prayer over him and left. Nine days later I
visited him again. This time he was out of ICU. He did not remember when I visited him the first time. He
told me that he was informed that his heart had stopped twice. He was very interested in knowing more
about Jesus. After visiting with him I realized he did not know much about the gospel. After explaining it to
him, he informed me he wanted Christ in his life because he did not know how many more chances the Lord
would give him. He had a new countenance about him after we had prayed together. He asked if I could
come back and share more Biblical truth with him, which I have done and will continue to do as long as possi-
ble. God's Word is awesome and as He promised, "My Word will not return void."
Another young man who had been in the county jail several times, now ended up in prison. He told me when
he got arrested this time, it was like the Lord was telling him, "It is time to get right with God!" As I explained
the gospel to him, he was ready to turn from a life of sin and give his life to Christ. God is patient and willing
that none should perish.
Your faithfulness in giving and praying is changing lives! Blessings to each of you as we serve Him together.
In Christ,
Harlan Moss
Your gifts are appreciated and tax deductible. The checks can be made out to and sent to: South Dakota Prison Chap-
lain’s Association (SDPCA), P.O. Box 90509, Sioux Falls, SD 57109-0509. Please designate my name in the memo section
of your check. My phone: 605-940-4220 email address: [email protected]
Susan's Saga
As we continue with the painstaking process of
revising Scripture in the Mixtec language, we were
recently going over the second epistle of Paul to Tim-
othy.
Among the passages we were revising were these verses:
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make
us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches
us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good
work." II Timothy 3: 16-17
This very passage was chosen to be printed and displayed on a huge poster above
the head table at the celebration of a Bible dedication I went to this month in another
indigenous language in Mexico.
These verses serve as an apt reminder as to why we are engaged in the ministry of
Bible translation. The Scriptures aren't just a nice book to be used for occasional
reference; they are the standard by which we are to live. They aren't an optional
collection of obscure writings, but are relevant as to how to conduct ourselves in
today's world. They weren't written just for a struggling, obscure group of people,
but are applicable to everyone. They provide timeless guidelines as to how to
navigate the confusing and conflicting currents in this troubling, tumultuous world.
That's why when I was still in my 20's, I decided to dedicate my career to translating
God's Word for one people group which does not yet have access to the Message of
God in their own heart language. It's important that they, too, be able to understand
Scripture which "is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness". II Timothy 3:16
Thank you for your part in this endeavor over the years.
Susan Hugghins
2016
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First Presbyterian Church
405 7th Avenue
Brookings, SD 57006-2018