Sing to the Lord a new song...

This past Sunday was Presbyterian Heritage Sunday.  The following is a reprint from our bulletin...

For most Protestants, singing praises to God has taken the form of psalms or hymns.  Early Presbyterian governing bodies in America left the decision of what to sing up to individual congregations.  As a result, Presbyterian churches across the young United Sttes used a variet of psalters and hymnals in their worship. 

Early Presbyterian governing bodies overtrned all efforts to form a sanctioned hymnal commitee, but in 1918 the PCUSA General Assembly finally granted approval.  After much work and several revisions, Psalms and Hymns  Adapted to the Public Worship became the first official American Presbterian hyumnal in 1831.  Other Presbyterian denominations continued to sing only psalms.

As musical tastes and worship practices changed, new hymnals and collections of sacred songs were compiled and used, providing Presbyterians with a rich heritage of ways to "sing to the Lord a new song."  (Psalms 96:1)

The order of service for October 31 was based on John Calvin's liturgy of 1545, (although Rodney assured us that his sermon would not be as long as John Calvin's which was about 2 hours long!)

We had BAGPIPES on Sunday!  It was wonderful.

The sermon was from Habakkuk: 1:1-4 and 2:1-4 and Luke 19:1-10. 

The words from Habakkuk could have come from any of us...
    "O Lord, how long shall I cry and You will not hear?
But God answers the tough questions.  He invites us to probe and ask about things that trouble us.  The book of Habakkuk ends with a wonderful prayer, full of hope, trust and reliance--
                          "...yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
                            I will joy in the God of my salvation.

                         "The LORD GOD is my strength;
                         He will make my feet like deer's feet,
                         And He will make me walk on my high hills."

...........................Part of something bigger

On the table in the elevator entrance to the sanctuary, is a literature table.  I picked up a new booklet this past Sunday that I hadn't seen before.  Maybe I hadn't taken time to look at that table, but this particular booklet caught my eye.  It was a copy of PRESBYTERIANSTODAY. 
A bright red banner across the top read, "SPECIAL ISSUE: An introduction to all things Presbyterian". 

There's a lot of "good stuff" in this magazine.  But as I was reading one article, I thought, "Wow.  Maybe we've had a part in this mission."  There is an article entitled "Where in the world are Presbyterians?"  It is about a mission in Africa.  They are part of the fair-trade project. 

Do you suppose that maybe, just maybe, we have purchased items in our store in Joplin, Missouri, that have helped farmers and families in Cameroon, Africa?  Dried fruit from an Cameroon grower..sounds "sweet" to me..!

..................................Thoughts from the past

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN..

HEALTHY things GROW.

GROWING things CHANGE,

CHANGE CHALLENGES us,

CHALLENGE forces us to TRUST God,

TRUST leads to OBEDIENCE,

OBEDIENCE makes us HEALTHY...

HEALTHY THINGS GROW!

In going through some past "note-taking", I ran across words from Rev Jim Logan from a past Wee Kirk session.  Maybe you will find this as thought provoking as I have.

September Events..!

September 5th...Labor Day Sunday
    ... Communion
    ... New Members welcomed into our church
    ... Infant Baptism
    ... Ordinatin of Deacon -- Delbert Swift
    ... Light Lunch Furnished to welcome new members and officer

What a busy day at Bethany!  All of these activities are wonderful happenings in the life of a church, but Infant Baptism...fantastic.  This signifies that the parents are wanting this baby, who is dependent on everyone else to see to his needs...the parents are wanting this child to be raised in the nurture and admonition of Christ. 

It also comes with responsibilities to the members of the Church.  In the baptismal litergy we, as a congregation, promise to pray for this child, to provide Christian education for this child, to live as good role models for this child--among other things.  We also need to pray for this entire family as unit that we can provide spiritual support to the entire family at all times. 

A former pastor once said "A child crying in the worship service doesn't bother me.  That is the sound of the Church growing." 

Come an join in an important day in the life of this family and the life of our church.

Bethany and Project Linus

A few months ago Gary Stanley came up to me and said he had some fabric for Project Linus that had been his mother's fabric.  I thanked him and he said, "You will find this is good stuff.  She didn't buy anything but good fabric."  Wow, was he right.  I am accustomed to receiving fabric that has been in boxes for many years, tucked away in a basement.  Not so with this fabric.  It is lovely fabric and Project Linus if very grateful for the donation.

Purple must have been a favorite color of hers! 

We are so pleased that Gary shared her material and we will be able to share her material with children throughout Joplin and SW Missouri.

Thank you, Gary!!

Project Linus of Joplin/SW Missouri has had it's "home" at Bethany since we started in June of 2003.  We had four members--Rayma Johnson, June Duvall (our resident quilt maker and promoter of all things Linus) and two ladies from Neosho and myself.  We have given over 10,000 blankets, quilts and afghans to area children.  Thank you for allowing Project Linus to call Bethany "home".  Joyce Gentzler and the Joplin/SWMissouri Chapter of Project Linus!!

THE BLOG IS BACK....!!

Why is it that the things that we want to do for God---even with a great start---get lost in our busy worlds?  When I started this blog, (which is like talking to myself)  I decided that nothing would deter me from sitting at the computer and just communicate with others. 


Let's see:  Wee Kirk in Massachusetts happened in May.  That took my time and energy; took us both to a part of our country we hadn't seen before;  a great time for us both, and, it was important. 


...Doctor's appointments...Boy, way too many of them in the last 3 months.  Those take time and they are important. 


...Grandchildren graduating from high school...Those times just come once and they are new memories and are so very important.  


...Project Linus is so important to me...There are so many children that are hurting.


...There are things that I want to do and need to do and...the list is so long.


But...  I regret not sitting down and telling all of you who may look at this ( which translates to talking with God) what is on my heart. 


I have several small devotional books that I use.  Today I picked up one of the many,  opened it and read wherever it opened to. Today is was "Day 204", titled "The Replenishment of Prayer".  This particular day was written by  Charles Swindoll and it really felt like it was directed right at me. 


The script for this day was Mark 1:35.."Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."   He ended his devotion with: "Feeling crushed by the crowed thse days?  Pushed into a corner from which there is no escape?  Anxiety reaching a fever pitch?  Stop.  Pray.  Try turning it over to One who can handle your load."

******************

We had an older friend that once said during a discussion of "turning things over to God" that he did that.  He wrote things down and then turned them over to God...but, he kept a carbon copy so he could check to see if God had taken care of all of it!!  :-)...Joyce