 | Newsletter If pastoral care is needed at any time, please contact Rev. Tanner at: Home: 570-586-8162 or Cell: 570-430-2793 Sue: 570-954-5846 Please always leave a complete message if no answer we may be on the other line or away from the desk and will return your call ASAP. Church directories are always available. If you would like one please see Sue or call the church office.
PRESBYTERY UPDATES!! The Call for the November 2024 Assembly of Lackawanna and Lehigh Presbyteries Saturday, November 9, 2024 Chestnut Retreat Center 7554 Mt. Eaton Rd. Saylorsburg, PA 18353 The date of potential merger for our two presbyteries is still several months away, but there are tasks that need to be completed right now! The date of potential merger for our two presbyteries is still several months away, but there are tasks that need to be completed right now! On November 9, we’ll:
The Merger Team continues to work on the various aspects of the merger with a vote to approve the plan at the May 2025 meeting. The effective date will be January 1, 2026. A major step in the process is selecting a new name for the merged Presbytery. The team is asking for suggestions from congregations and individuals in each Presbytery. Names are to be submitted by the end of September for approval in November. The Committee on Ministry approved a 3% cost of living increase for the minimum terms of call .
On Sunday, November 10th we will collect and dedicate a special offering that will be given directly to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance program helping those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
November 27th Stewardship Sunday Please don’t just associate the word stewardship with pledge cards, budget discussions and a challenge to give more generously. Real stewardship deals with managing everything God has given to us — our brain, body, talent, time and spiritual life. In the past we have always worked on a “Budget” and now as time passes it is harder to do and we now will present what we have spent and what we think we will need to spend in the next year. We are thankful and thank each of you for every dollar received and ask that you continue to give as you can – as we go on in faith and hope to continue to provide a safe place to worship and share in fellowship each week. Celebrate Thanksgiving with gratitude for what we have and in what we can give -- we are blessed!
Ba rbara Keller wants to thank everyone for donations to CROPWALK. $1,830.00 has been received to be given Church World Service, with a portion to our local food pantry.
The Fellowship Hall will be used as a neighborhood voting location on Tuesday, Nov. 5th from 7 AM to 8 PM.
SATURDAY, Nov. 30th AT 10:00 AM VOLUNTEERS MEET TO HELP DECORATE THE CHURCH FOR THE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS.
God’s Gift Of Music
Albert Schweitzer, a pastor, musicologist, physician and more, said, “Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter — to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water.”
Redeeming ‘wasted’ time In Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado writes that the average American spends a total of six months waiting at stoplights, eight months opening junk mail, 18 months looking for items we’ve lost and five years standing in line. All the while, many of us grumble: “What a waste of time! I could be doing something much more important! Where are my keys?” But Lucado suggests that we give these moments to God. Rather than whispering to ourselves, we can speak to God in prayer. “Simple phrases such as ‘Thank you, Father,’
‘Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,’ ‘You are my resting place, Jesus’ can turn a commute into a pilgrimage,” he writes. “You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.” When we do this, “the common becomes uncommon,” Lucado adds. What’s more, “wasted” time becomes valuable; boring waits become meditative; the lost — your time, if not also your keys — is redeemed.
GODWINKS During times of trouble, we should be on the lookout for Godwinks. That’s one way for God to communicate with us. In fact, one of the best things about Godwinks is that they are like a handrail along your way, giving you hope when answers are not forthcoming . . . assuring you that everything is going to be okay.
A POSITIVE PRAYER “Please help me with NOTS that are in my mind, my heart and my life. Remove the have nots, the can nots and the do nots… erase the will nots, may nots, might nots that may find a home in my heart. And most of all, Dear God, I ask that you remove from my mind, my heart and my life, all of the AM nots that I have allowed to hold me back… especially the thought that I am not good enough.” Author Unknown
Would you not agree that NOT is not a word we should choose to employ… unless utterly necessary? May every positive prayer be answered this week, Godwink, after Godwink, after Godwink!
Both the regular and large print editions of Our Daily Bread are now available – if you you would like one, contact the office and we will be sure you receive it.
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