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Prayer and Advocacy for Peace in Sudan

Posted by First Presbyterian Church Office on February 13, 2014

Rev. Debbie Braaksma, Africa Area Coordinator, Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA)  reported from the February 2014 All Africa Council of south-sudan-woman-cooks-in-a-refugee-camp_medium250Churches  meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia of dialogue with leaders of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan (PCOSS).

One of the stories she recounted of courageous witness of the PCOSS was as they sheltered 6,000 people of all ethnicities ( Nuer, Dinka, Shilluk, Anuak and Murle) in their church compounds. Moderator Peter Gai positioned himself at the gate of the PCOSS compound strongly refusing entry to the soldiers who wanted to come in looking for certain people saying “there are no enemies here”. The situation he described in Malakal and many other parts of South Sudan is very bleak, they told about the horrific conditions of the tens of thousands who are in refugee camps.

As a ceasefire was declared on January 23, between Sudan and South Sudan.  Our sisters and brothers in South Sudan need our prayers as they seek to move into a future of justice and peace.  Your prayers are requested for those who mourn the loss of loved ones, for those injured in the conflict, for political and religious leaders, and for all who work for peace and justice.

In addition to prayer, Presbyterians are encouraged to:

December 8, 8:00 Worship, 10:30 Children’s Musical “Stranger in the Manger”

Posted by First Presbyterian Church Office on November 25, 2013

8:00 AM Service
Gabriel and Zechariah
Theme: The angel brings a transforming and renewing message that will bring new life and new experience of the presence of God out of past traditions.
Sermon: “Receiving God’s Message with Gladness”
Scriptures: Luke 1:5-25 The Angel and Zechariah
Isaiah 6:1-13 Isaiah’s vision of the Holy of Holies.
Questions: What must we do in order to be prepared to receive God’s message with gladness? How do we draw strength from our tradition without being rooted in the past? In what ways does God free us to new life, no longer binding us to what has happened before? What is our message of renewal, new life, and promises of God’s presence? How do old traditions serve us today as places for new experiences of Christ’s presence?

10:30 Children’s Musical “Stranger in the Manger”
Experience the Christmas Story as presented by our Children.

November Children’s Corner

Posted by jenniferz on October 31, 2013

November 3rd join us for the second Share and Connect Sunday in the Fellowship Hall.  On the first Sunday of each month we come together kids and adults to have fun, do activities and help people in our community and in the world.  On November 3rd we will use our hands and our hearts to make blankets to share God’s love to people who are going through a difficult time.  As these blankets are make we will lift up prayers that the recipient of this gift will enjoy the warmth and comfort of the blanket and ask God’s encouragement, strength and peace in their lives.

 

On November 10th we start learning about the story of Daniel.  You can find out more about the story in Daniel 6:1-28.  Daniel and King Darius were friends.  Some men were jealous of Daniel.  The men tricked King Darius into a law that said everyone must pray to the king.  Who did Daniel pray to?  What happened to Daniel?  Daniel wasn’t hurt.  God took care of Daniel just like God takes care of us.  How does God take care of you?

 

****Remember to bring in pop tabs.  Each class is collecting pop tabs to help support the Ronald McDonald House.

June 30, 2013 “This Wasn’t In the Brochure!”

Posted by First Presbyterian Church Office on June 23, 2013

Sacrificial Parenting

Sermon: “This Wasn’t in the Brochure”
Theme: We parent as servants to God, entrusted with a responsibility to share Christ, to instruct, and to impart wisdom.
Examples from church: parents and children
Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-25 Teach our children the laws and the reason why we have the statutes.
Ephesians 5:21; 6:1-4 Submit yourself to one another in love, parents, teach and discipline with love.
Questions: What is our role as parents when children are difficult? How does a parent find strength and support to be consistent and compassionate? How come there are so many children in our culture who are not well disciplined? Is it neglectful for a parent not to discipline children well? How do we support parents who encounter particularly difficult parenting situations?
Symbol: Baby Wipes
Accompaniment: Praise Band and Songs.

Conversation Starters:

Are we only responsible to our own children? What is God’s expectation for us in terms of nurturing the faith of other people’s children? What can we do to impart wisdom to other people’s children?

Recent research (http://www.search-institute.org/research/family-well-being) shows that a very significant number of families do not have regular routines or well defined boundaries (such as bed times, curfews, monitoring of school work, etc.). What is the church’s Good News” to these families? What is our role as individual Christians among young people for whom this is a way of life?

In Deuteronomy adults are instructed to tell the story of God’s salvation to the children as a regular part of daily activities.
• What is our story of God’s mighty works? What is the story we should be telling our children?
• What are the activities today that would be “while you are at home and while you are away? What the times we should be telling our children about how God has acted in our lives?
• Why do we find ourselves reluctant to tell these stories?

Does “sacrificial parenting” mean we allow the children to run the house? In what ways do we need to teach discipline to children? How do we go about doing that in a way that shows “mutual submission?”

With each baptism of a child we take a vow to help that individual grow to know and follow Christ? How should we assist and instruct parents whose children are part of the church? What do we need to do in order to be sure that every child grows up to be a faithful disciple? Does this just mean setting up programming or is there something we should be doing in terms of relationships?

Have you ever been aware of a parent who was harsh or abusive of their child? How should we respond? What is our usual response? Are helping by being judgmental? What alternatives do we have?

What should we expect of parents who are members of the church? What should our responsibility be to parents? How should we seek to assist parents in raising healthy children who grow in the love of discipline of Christ?

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