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

Mark your calendars: June 23rd Little Italy Dinner With Silent Auction Save the Steeple! Charles Town Presbyterian* would like to invite you to its first LITTLE ITALY date night with a wonderful silent auction on June 23 from 4-8 pm. Including a traditional Italian spaghetti dinner complete with antipasto salad, garlic bread, drinks and dessert.  Quality auction items provided from local businesses!  Come, relax and let us serve you. Advance tickets are available below. Bon Appetit! (*No need to be a member to have a fabulous dinner out – this event is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!)

Charles Town Presbyterian Church 4 – 8pm Couples – $25.00 Individual – $15.00 Silent Auction the first hour ──── Families always welcome Children 5 and under are free Fun and games for children by licensed child care Charles Town Presbyterian Church 220 E. Washington Charles Town, WV (304)725-5316

Select ticket quantity (will call: ready for you at door)

One (1) Individual Ticket $15.00 USDA Couples Ticket (Dinner for 2) $25.00 USDThree (3) Individual Tickets $45.00 USDTwo Couples Tickets (Dinner for 4) $50.00 USDFour (4) Individual Tickets $60.00 USD

Summer 2018 is the summer that two Charles Town churches come together to host one VBS event July 8 – 12^th!

 Please register your child by downloading and completing this VBS REGISTRATION FORM 2018

Charles Town Presbyterian Church is pairing up with St. Thomas Lutheran Church! VBS will be held at CTPC each night. If you are interested in helping with VBS this summer and teaching the kiddos of our community about the Love of God and Jesus, please contact Molly Blue at the church office (304.725.5316) or by email (mrogers@ctpres.org). Thank you! This is going to be the best VBS yet!

Our next VBS meeting is Monday, June 18^th, at 6 p.m. at CTPC. If you are a leader or teammate, please join us. Thank you!

I recently had the opportunity to teach on Psalm 69. In this prayer of David, he cries out to God in a very dramatic way. He opens the psalm saying, “I don’t see you, my throat is sore from calling to you, and I’m sinking. Help!”

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever gone through something so hard that you wondered where God was and why you couldn’t find him? A disease, a death, destruction and calamity – this world us full of reasons and events that can make us question our faith if we are not careful.

By the time David gets to the end of the psalm, something changes. “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion” (34-35). David starts the psalm confident that God cannot be found, and he ends the psalm confident that God will deliver. So, what changed?

The answer is in verses 29-30: But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. In the beginning of the psalm, David says, “What about me?” In verses 29-30 he says, “I’m in pain, but I have God.” David moves from focusing on his situation to focusing on God.

Whatever it is you are going through, whatever you are facing, know that it will be easy to wonder where God is. But also know that if you shift your focus to what God is doing instead of what God isn’t doing, what you are going through may be easier to endure.

Blessings,

Pastor John

So far, so good!

Last Sunday we publicly launched our Save the Steeple campaign. The response has been very exciting! We immediately received over $10,000 in new pledges, and over $4,000 in actual gifts. This brings our totals to approximately $61,000 in total pledges to date, and almost $30,000 in gifts received!

When you consider that pledges are not due until June 24 and the deadline for fulfilling pledges is over 18 months away, this is a phenomenal start. There is no reason to believe that we won’t meet our goal. That said, we must continue to work harder than ever. We must be diligent in prayer. As I preached last week on Nehemiah 2, when confronted with the opportunity to repair the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah’s first reaction was to pray. This is our first, best response, as well. Last week we started the prayer tent-card ministry, something that was a feature of our last campaign. Each month in the bulletin, a new tent card will be given to the congregation. This is meant to be used regularly for the duration of the project, and then hopefully, beyond.

We also need to consider our own financial commitment. The last large-scale building project for Charles Town Presbyterian Church was in 1960 – almost sixty years ago! The generations before us sacrificed in great ways to create a church building to be used to God’s glory and gospel ministry. Now is our time to sacrifice. To save the steeple, we will all need to give, and then give even more.

We will also need to spread the word about events like tomorrow’s Yokefellow’s Pancake Dinner (4:30-7:00pm – I hope to see you there) and the “Night in Little Italy” pasta dinner and silent auction on Saturday, June 23. We will need help securing silent auction items from local businesses, help with serving the dinner, and to help getting the word out. And of course, everyone is welcome to attend.

Most of all remember this: though the task ahead is great, God is greater. Keep the matter before God in prayer, and then, get busy!

Blessings,

Pastor John

Vacation Bible School Information: Summer 2018 is the summer that two Charles Town churches come together to host one VBS event! July 8 – 12, Charles Town Presbyterian Church is pairing up with St. Thomas Lutheran Church!

Please register your child by downloading and completing this VBS REGISTRATION FORM 2018

VBS will be held at CTPC each night. We have leaders for: Bible Discovery, Imagination Station (Crafts), and Kid Vid Cinema. The children need a volunteer to be our Shipwrecked Games instructor! If you are interested in helping to teach our children about the Love of Christ this summer, please contact Molly Blue at the church office (304.725.5316) or by email (mrogers@ctpres.org). Thank you!

This is going to be the best VBS yet! We are having a VBS Team Leader Meeting on Monday, May 14^th, @ 6 p.m. If you are a leader for VBS this year, PLEASE come to this meeting. We will be meeting all of our other leaders from the Lutheran church and we will start planning how to decorate each room. See you then!!