Sunday, October 19, 2014 (full size gallery)
An eventful week with Wed Bible Study, ECW, ECW Fall Meeting and "Cooking for the Team" on Friday. Cookie represented the ECW at the ECW Fall Meeting in Richmond on Thursday.
Thanks to Roger, Eunice, Cookie, Johnny, Betty, Clarence, Charles and Catherine for their help in feeding a bunch of hungry guys in "Cooking for the Team". They partnered with Second Mount Zion, Dawn, including Beverly Baylor, Elnora Smithers, Dorothy Tolliver and Stanley Quash. St. Peter’s fixed the chicken and macronia and Second Mount Zion the String beans, fruit and rolls.
After a rainy start, more typical fall weather toward week’s end and there was beautiful light on Thursday and Friday amidst some turning leaves.
Sunday was a return to fall weather with gorgeous sunshine but stronger winds. We had a good turnout at 42. We had 5 in Godly Play – the Davis and the Longs. We will begin the Bible miniseries at 10am next Sunday for those interested.
Most of the Long family was in church including Laura from California. She was in Richmond earlier this week filming season 2 of a drama "Turn" on the AMC network about the spy network during the Reovlution. She played a friend of Peggy Shippen and is part of season 2 that will air in a year. She added some food to our Village Harvest collection.
The readings this week can be grouped around the following theme – "Grow in trust and generosity as followers of Christ and discover new ways of living our stewardship. God rules over all creation." The sermon emphasized finding new ways of living our stewardship or building a christian life.
The sermon used the first chapter in Thessalonians as a vehicle for understanding “the big three” tools necessary for building and living a Christian life. It’s not building just any Christian life but one that would be challenging in furthering the Kingdom of God. Along the way she quoted a poem Sir Francis Drake as he left for the new world and prayed "that God would disturb us when our dreams come true because we haven’t dreamed enough, that God would disturb us when we arrive safely because we’ve traveled too close to the shore. " The poem was included on the cover of the printed bulletin
"Turning the world upside down is exactly what happens when we put faith, hope and love to work in our lives." Ironically Oct 19, the date of today’s service is the anniversary of the surrender at Yorktown in 1781 when the British played the tune "The World Turned Upside Down."
"So let’s give ourselves back to God by being people of faith who can let go and embrace the unknown, people of hope who can hang on even in the worst situations and still imagine and long for the coming of the kingdom of God, and people of love, being filled with and then pouring God’s life giving love into this world.
"Because as people filled with these God given gifts of faith hope and love, we too can turn the world upside down and help God to set it right."