Charles Town Presbyterian Church

What is the Meaning of Life?

This is a question all of us ask as we go through life. No matter who we are, from the time we reach the age where we start to
question the weightier matters of life, we start asking what life is all about it.

For the Christian, that question is answered when we hear Christ’s call to eternal life. We learn that we are created by God,
for God, and saved by God for God’s purposes. Question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, puts it this way, “What is the chief end of man? The glorify God and enjoy God forever.”

There is one book that approaches the meaning of life with incredible honesty and intentionality. The Book of Ecclesiastes is
a journey of one wise man, Solomon, who sought to once for all, answer the great question.

This fall, on the Wednesday night Bible study I lead is studying Ecclesiastes. We meet in the parlor, room 114 and we begin at
7:15. All are welcome! If you’ve ever wondered about the meaning of life, if you’re looking for a brutally honest book in the Bible that tackles the hard stuff, then I want to encourage you to join us on Wednesdays.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor.
This also is vanity and a striving after wind.  -Ecclesiastes 4:4

Pledge Cards
This Sunday, September 10, we will collect pledge cards for 2018 as part of our morning worship. By now you should have received the letter from the stewardship committee explaining the stewardship emphasis for planning next year’s ministry/mission work. As you enter worship, your bulletin will contain an envelope and a pledge card. Hopefully, you’ll remember to bring the one you received in the letter earlier this summer.

When the time comes to collect our morning offering, take your pledge card, slip it into the white envelope, and place it in the offering plate as it is passed to you. And that’s it! We are not going to ask people to come up front since some people are not comfortable doing so. And if you are not prepared or not present Sunday, simply mail your pledge card in to the attention of our
secretary, Rebecca, or drop it off at the church office.

Sunday Schedule
We are returning to our two-service schedule this Sunday, with worship at 8:30 and 11:00, and the Christian Education hour from 9:45-10:45. I am also pleased to report that some folks have stepped up to lead the 2-4 year old class, and that class will begin in short order. Wednesday Bible Study I am beginning a Bible Study this Wednesday that will meet through the second Wednesday in November. We will be studying Ecclesiastes, a great Old Testament book that is all about the search for meaning and truth. The Bible Study will meet in the parlor at 7pm on Wednesdays.

Looking Ahead
In 2015, the session acted to have one service on the Sundays we have an activity after worship. This will allow us to have a more cohesive, unified approach to these activities. Two of those Sundays are coming up. The Fall Festival is Sunday, October 8, and the Holiday Dinner w ill be after worship on Sunday, December 3. On both Sundays we will have only one worship service at 11am.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Dear Friends,

This week I’d like to give you information on several fronts:

• Helping Houston
  The devastation in Texas following Hurricane Harvey is unbelievable. Each day seems to bring more devastation than the day before. As of this writing, we are still developing a specific response from the church. Please continue to pray for this situation. For now, the most practical way to help is with financial donations. You can monitor the response of the denomination, as well as make a donation by clicking here: https://pda.pcusa.org/situation/tropical-storm-harvey/
• Sunday Morning
  The unofficial end of summer is here which means we will return to our two-service schedule for Sundays starting September 10th. We will worship at 8:30 & 11, with Sunday School at 9:45am.
• Stewardship
  Earlier in the summer, every household received a letter from the stewardship and vision committee with testimonies from the congregation regarding personal stewardship and what that experience has been like. That letter included the date of Sunday, September 10, the day we will collect pledge cards during both services. Hopefully, you’ve had the chance to review your stewardship commitment to CTPC. Please be in prayer in the week ahead about how you can support the work of God in and through our congregation, and plan on bringing your card to worship next Sunday.
• Bible Study
  Beginning Wednesday, September 13, I will be leading a weekly Bible Study that will meet in the parlor beginning at 7:00pm. We will be studying Ecclesiastes, which speaks to our time in a very profound way, for the author of the book documents the search for meaning and authenticity. The study will meet in the church parlor.
• Ministry Fair
  What a great event! Last Sunday, every committee and ministry showed their stuff by holding an event to inform the congregation about the needs and mission of their particular ministry. It was a wonderful time of education, fellowship and fun!
  

Blessings,

Pastor John

This coming Sunday we are joining together two important events in the life of the church. During the Sunday School hour, the children will be celebrating Rally Day. Now if that seems a little early, it’s because…well…it is! School is usually in session by the third week of August, but historically, Rally Day has been held on the second Sunday in September. That’s three weeks after the school year starts for the students, and so it always felt a little weird. This year we are attempting to be part of the kick off to the school year, and perhaps it will help the kids realize how important Sunday School is for their faith development.

We are also having a ministry fair after worship. This is critically important, too. It may even be life-changing. Allow me to share a story… I came to faith in Christ when I was sixteen. For three years, I studied, grew and worshiped. As I started college, I began looking for a college-age Bible study. I found one at a Presbyterian Church and started attending with friends. About six months later, the youth director enlisted the help of the college fellowship. That began my journey into ministry – first as a youth group volunteer, then as a youth director, then seminary followed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But here’s the point: Outside of the direct providence of God, I’m in ministry because someone asked me to help with the ministry of the church. All the committees and ministry areas can use more help. No area of ministry is overstaffed. The ministry fair is an opportunity to enjoy a time of fellowship and to learn more about the different ministry areas of the congregation. Perhaps God is calling you to serve in a new area. Pay attention to what excites and ask God to give you direction during the ministry fair.

God may not call you into full time ministry, but God does expect his people to serve him by giving of themselves by engaging in ministry. The ministry fair this Sunday is your chance to open yourself up to God’s leading and partner with God’s people in the work to which God has called all of us.

See you there!

-Pastor John

Dear Friends,

The last couple of weeks have been nothing short of surreal. If you had told me even six months ago, that white supremacists and other hate groups would be the focus of our news cycle, I would never have believed you. We were supposed to be past all this. Racial tensions and misunderstandings were supposed to be solved by the activism of the 1960’s. We put laws into place to cement our understanding of the wrongness of our past ways.

So what happened?

The simple answer is this: Humanity happened.

I can’t remember where I read it, but years ago I came across a quote that basically said that if you take away what we fight about in the morning, by lunch we’ll be fighting about something else. The Bible puts it this way, “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).

Every single day, we who call on the name of Jesus for salvation, must also daily carry our cross and submit ourselves to God. It is the greatest of challenges. People have been violent, murderous, mean, ugly, and all manners of sinful, in a great many ways and places. This past week I read an article from NPR that reported that since 9/11, more people have died at the hands of white supremacists than at the hands of terrorists. And yet, we know very little about that, do we?

God’s answer for humanity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus, God the Son, gave his life for us as an atonement for sin (and yes, even the sin of racism), and God raised him up to life on the third day. The grace of God that is now available to all who believe by faith.

But that grace does not mean that we are suddenly changed and perfect. We will make mistakes. We will need to repent. We will struggle. So, each day, and sometimes even each moment – we must actively seek God’s help to live in a way that allows us to love God and love our neighbor. As scary as these days are, the world needs to see us live out our faith more than ever, that we would point people to the One capable of reconciliation.

Sincerely,

Pastor John

On August 27, Charles Town Presbyterian Church will celebrate Rally Day. We are scheduling this a little earlier this year to coincide with the start of school. Our Director of Children’s Youth and Family Ministries will have more information about that as we get closer.

As part of Rally Day, we are also having a Ministry Fair. The purpose of the Ministry Fair is for every committee, group, and ministry connected with the church to “show off” what they are doing as part of their call to ministry at CTPC.

The vision for the ministry fair is to create a place where people in the church can casually learn what other people in the church are doing. And if they are interested, they can learn more and find out how to be a part of the ministry(ies) that interest them. Each committee, ministry and group has been encouraged to be as fun and creative as possible! The hope is that each group will be able to engage more people in their work, as well as give people an idea of all that the church is doing – and we are doing a lot!

Hopefully, this is not the first you are hearing about this event. If it is, by all means, contact the ministry(ies) you are part of and find out what they are doing for the ministry fair. Everyone should be doing something. Any activity that shows up on our church
calendar should have a table at the ministry fair! If they haven’t planned anything, get them together. Plan something exciting
that will entice people to be part of what you are doing. The more the merrier! The more people participating, the more people we will reach for Christ’s kingdom!

The ministry fair will also have the added bonus of serving as a fellowship event. There will be food present. So even if you are content to, “stay where you are” with regard to ministry, come to the fellowship hall that morning after worship, check out what the church is doing, and engage in some great fellowship!

Blessings,

Pastor John