Charles Town Presbyterian Church

Every morning there is an essential part of my routine I never leave out. If I skip it, I don’t function as well, I lack focus, and I’m “off” all day. It has been part of my morning routine since I was sixteen years old. Without it, I am grouchy, moody, and less productive.

I wish I was talking about prayer. I’m actually talking about coffee (I’m sure some of you reading this figured that out from the first sentence). Isn’t it funny, though, that we think of certain things as so important that cannot live without them.

There is an aspect of our relationship with Christ that is absolutely critical and easily forgotten or dropped. I am speaking, of course, of prayer. Martin Luther, the great reformer who changed the course of both Church history and human history, is reputed to have said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

Three hours! Have you ever spent three hours in prayer before beginning your day? I have not. Granted, Luther was a minister, and prayer is one of the major responsibilities of the minister, but most people I know struggle to string together fifteen to twenty minutes a day to do regular devotions. Perhaps that is why so many Christians and so many churches find themselves with tepid, half-hearted faith experience.

Next Sunday evening, we are doing something that has not been done in the fourteen years I have served as your pastor – we are holding a prayer meeting. Our purpose is simple – to humbly approach God in prayer. We will engage in confession, intercession, and seeking God’s direction for the church.

I don’t expect anything magical or immediate to happen. I am thinking of this more as a beginning of a stronger prayer life for our congregation. If I may be honest, we are very good at worrying about the church, but we lack in spiritual matters. If we want things to be different at Charles Town Presbyterian Church, we need to be different, and that begins with God
working through us in prayer.

Prayer is the thing most needed in our lives, and skipping it only makes us less focused, less hopeful, and less productive for the kingdom of God. Please plan on joining us next Sunday evening for mid-year prayer in the sanctuary at 7pm.

Blessings,

Pastor John

In his classic work Prayer, Puritan pastor John Bunyan writes, “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to his Word, for the good of the Church, with submission in faith to the will of God.”

Last week in the newsletter I announced a call to mid-year prayer, for Sunday, July 29, at 7pm, in the church sanctuary.

There are several reasons for this prayer meeting, and the first is obvious: we don’t pray enough. I’m not sure most Christians pray sufficiently, but corporately, as a congregation, we could stand to engage in more prayer. Prayer is not our “go to,” regardless of whether we are facing difficult challenges or regular ministry issues. For this to change, we must value prayer more than we do. The prayer meeting on the 29th is start.

Another reason we need to be intentional about prayer is the Save the Steeple campaign. We have only pledged about two thirds of what is needed to fund this project.

Right now, we are also facing a staff transition with the search for a new music director. Whenever a church faces staffing changes, prayer is critical. Add to all of this that we need to bring some long-term concerns before the Lord. Other than the steeple project, which will be finished by the end of the summer, we have very few long-term ministry goals. Before we decide what those long-term goals should be, our short-term focus must be prayer.

Whether you are a seasoned “prayer warrior” or you find prayer to be something of challenge, I encourage you to come. By humbling ourselves before the Lord, we open ourselves up to God’s leading. I close with these words from the Apostle Paul, from Philippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

Pastor John

(Edited for production – please contact the office for the full CTPress newsletter).

Dear Friends,

In about eight days, we will begin Vacation Bible School. This is one of my favorite ministries in the life of the church. We get to hang out, play, pray, and learn together. It is always creative and fun, and it creates some of the best memories a church can have!

One of the struggles in a community like ours is scheduling Vacation Bible School. Our community has numerous churches, and many of them like to do this kind of annual outreach to children. And though we try to never schedule on the same week, sometimes we inadvertently do so.

This year, St. Thomas Lutheran Church, our neighbors down the street, asked the question, “What if we worked with another church on VBS?” The long story short of this is that our churches are doing VBS together this year.

Working together means both churches are learning to be flexible and creative. We both must give a little to get the most from this new partnership.

Several times this spring and summer, I have walked into meeting rooms in the church where a couple of people are animatedly talking about something. I recognize one person, but not the other. What I walked in on each time were VBS leaders – people from each of the churches working together on their parts of the program. It is truly exciting to see a shared ministry
like this develop.

This is what Christian unity is all about. The pastors and leaders of both churches want to reach children with the good news about Jesus. Why not do it together? And who knows – perhaps this will lead to ministry partnerships in other areas! That an exciting possibility!

In the week ahead, please keep Molly Rogers Blue, and the teams from both churches in your prayers, as we enter this final week of preparation for Vacation Bible School.

Blessings,

Pastor John

This Sunday, we are going to dedicate the pledges for the Save the Steeple campaign. In May, we officially launched a capital campaign that has been in the works since January. We started this project because our steeple is in dire need of repairs. Hopefully, by now you have seen our brochure which contains several telling pictures that show the extent of the needed repairs – rotting wood, deteriorating shingles, and a clear need for fresh paint. In addition to repairing the steeple, we will be repainting the gable and columns of the front porch area. This project is estimated to cost approximately $160,000. The
“official” fundraising period is July 1, 2018- December 31, 2019.

Last week, the scaffolding started going up, and should be finished by the middle of next week. You may be wondering why we are starting the project without having all the money raised. This is for several reasons. First, this is work that can only happen in the spring and summer months. That means Summer 2018 or Summer 2019. Second, the longer we wait, the more likely
there will be greater deterioration. That means a more expensive project. The sooner we start, the more cost-effective the project will be. Third, most professional fundraisers will tell you that it is easier to generate interest and raise funds when the work has started. People like to see progress.

This is no small project. It will require sacrifice. An extra $50 or $100 here or there is not going to save the steeple. For this project to succeed, all of us must be willing to trust the Lord and give generously to this project, over and above what we usually give to the Lord’s work. We are also doing some fundraisers over the next eighteen months, but we will be fortunate if those raise even fifteen percent of the total need. We need every family that is part of our church to participate in this work. To date, we have raised over $42,000, with over $73,000 pledged. That is a fantastic start, and it bodes well for the whole
campaign.

If you have not yet pledged, please do the following: First, pray. Ask God what you should give to this project over the next eighteen months. Every gift is significant, and every gift helps, remember that! Second, come to worship Sunday (10:15am) with your pledge card (if you haven’t yet turned it in). During the worship service we will commit our pledges to God and ask God to
help us to be faithful. If you cannot attend Sunday and need to turn in your pledge, please mail it to the church office.

I am looking forward to the unfolding of this campaign. It is exciting, and it is an opportunity for us to trust the Lord as he leads us.

Blessings,

Pastor John

This past week, the President of the United States and the ruler of North Korea met in what is hailed as an historic summit. Time will tell if indeed that is the case, or if it was productive at all. It’s important for world leaders to meet like this, for dialogue is what leads to peace, and hopefully that will be the result of this past week’s meeting. Whenever these kinds of things happen, I watch as people analyze, study, critique, praise, condemn and worry about what comes next.

However, I’m not convinced it matters all that much (gasp!).

This past week, the Wednesday Bible Study looked at John 14 and 15. In John 14:27, Jesus says these words to his disciples,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The world we live in is a tumultuous place, and it is very easy to be very worried about what is happening in the world. It’s great when world leaders work out peace agreements, but no human agreement between nations can hold a candle to the peace Christ gives us.

In Christ, our sins are forgiven, and that which separated us from God is now gone. We are in a relationship with the God of the universe. And as we eagerly await the promise of eternal life, our hopes (should) center on things above. We have peace with God! Temporary peace between nations of this world can’t even come close to that peace! When you are tempted to worry about this nation or that leader, remember all that Christ has done for you, and focus on the promises of eternal life we
have in Him. I am reminded of Psalm 46:1-3:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. -Selah

Blessings,

Pastor John

In the United States, the fourth Monday of every May is Memorial Day, a national holiday created so that the people of our nation would pause and give thanks for all those who gave their lives in service to our country in the armed forces. The purpose of the holiday is to remember those who gave everything for the freedoms each one of us enjoy. We remember these sacrifices through parades, picnics, and solemn ceremonies throughout our communities and our country.

On this Memorial weekend, I am reminded that central to our faith is the concept of memorial. As members of the Reformed Tradition, Presbyterians regularly celebrate two sacraments – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In baptism, water signifies that we are cleansed from sin. In the Lord’s Supper, the broken bread and the shared cup symbolize the sacrifice of Christ to give
us resurrection life.

These sacraments are important parts of our worship. They signify our membership in the church universal, and our participation in the community of faith that is Charles Town Presbyterian Church. They are meaningful, powerful reminders of what Christ has done for us. To that end. these two sacraments are also memorials. Every time we celebrate the sacraments, we
remember that Christ gave his life to make us free of sin. In fact, Jesus tells (and we say as part of the litany) to “do this in remembrance of me.”

What makes this coming Sunday of Memorial Day weekend so special this year is that both sacraments are being celebrated as part of our worship services. At the 8:30 service, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper as part of regular service, and at the 11:00 service, one of our older youth will be baptized! Sunday is also Trinity Sunday, and so it is wonderful timing to remember all that God has done for us!

I hope you are able to include worship and celebration of the sacraments as part of this special weekend where we remember the sacrifice of those who died for our country, and the sacrifice of the One who died to grant us eternal life.

Blessings,

Pastor John