Charles Town Presbyterian Church

Stuff Happens

In case you haven’t heard, the music festival planned for Sunday afternoon has been cancelled. Our music director, Jason Largent, is recovering from a medical emergency. I trust that you will join me in continued prayers for him.

Obviously, none of us planned for this sudden change of events. Plenty of work went into the music festival, and it is a bit of disappointment. More important, however, is Jason’s health. We can have another music festival at a later date; there is only one Jason, and we want him to be healthy as continues in the Lord’s work.

Life is full of the unexpected moments, and they can be both good and bad a promotion at work, a gift for no reason, winning the lottery (okay, maybe not THAT one)…a car accident, an accounting snafu in your checkbook, an unexpected medical concern – all of these things are unexpected, some welcome, some not so much.

Believe it or not, all of them are known to God and do not surprise God one bit! In Proverbs 16:9 we read,

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

What this means is that we might think we have a plan, but whatever happens, even the unexpected parts, is going to be used by God to accomplish his purpose in our lives. Sometimes that’s an easy process, sometimes it is hard and grueling. Often, it is somewhere between the two.

What we dare not do is think that any part of our lives is beyond the control or will of God. Yes, even emergencies that result in reordering activities can be the will of God. At the very least, we learn that God is God of all things. And sometimes we learn much about who God is and who we are. So…

• Please keep Jason in prayer.
• Look for God to work in your life and in the lives of others.
• Trust that God has this, whatever “this” is.

Blessings,

Pastor John

When I was a kid, friends taught me how to figure out which way the wind is blowing. You lick your finger, stick it in the air, and move it around until you find the coldest spot – that’s the direction the wind is coming from. As adults we use the phrase, “which way the wind blows” metaphorically to indicate if we or someone else knows what’s going on. Today, if you lick your finger and stick it out here, you’ll feel a strong wind blowing, and it is angry. An angry wind is blowing through the world; I’m sure you’ve noticed.

There is a clear racial divide that seems to be continually growing, with violence begetting more violence in a terrible downward spiral. We are currently in the midst of the most contentious presidential contest in recent history, and we seem to have lost the ability to disagree agreeably. Our drug problems continue to worsen. Our economy is sputtering along with few people truly satisfied with how it’s going.

The end result of all of this is that people are angry, anxious, worried, and depressed, and those feelings of angst are finding their way into our homes, our churches and many of our relationships.

As Christians, we have an opportunity to respond to all of this in a dramatic way. In Philippians, the apostle Paul offers this advice: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (4:6).

I know, the go to answer of “Just pray!” But are we praying enough? At all? I wonder. So often we try and fix things with our own resources, for getting that we have been invited to the throne room of God, and he wants to hear what’s on our hearts. Do you want to see our homes, our churches and our communities change? Then begin with prayer. Lay these concerns before God. Ask him for peace in the midst of all this, because peace allows us to respond appropriately. Anger, anxiety and worry do not help us to think rationally or clearly, and there is plenty of those things in the world already.

May God use His Church at this time to bring peace and change to a world desperate for both.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Dear Friends,

This Sunday I am beginning a sermon series on the book of 1 John. This letter by one of Jesus’ closest disciples was written in response to some very dangerous teaching that was getting attached to the gospel. It was so pervasive and appealing that it took generations for the Church to effectively counter it. It is called Gnosticism. Ironically, Gnosticism is a problem for us even today.

Whenever you hear someone question when something can be objectively true (especially spiritual matters or religious doctrine) or that someone claims something is “true for me,” you are encountering Gnosticism.

I haven’t given the series a title, but if I did, I would be inclined to call it “The Gospel of Jesus Christ: True or False?” I hope you will plan on coming to hear this series, which will take us to advent.

I am also excited about Sunday, October 2. We have a busy day that day. During the Sunday school hour, George Tabb will be giving a report on the adult mission trip that happened in late August. Students from grade 6 and all adults are welcome and encouraged to come to that report.

We will also be hosting the Eastern Panhandle Mission Community fall music festival. The EPMC is the community of Presbyterian churches from Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties. This annual festival features individual choirs of singers and ringers. The program will be followed by a reception in the fellowship hall.

As you can see, some exciting things are happening at Charles Town Presbyterian Church. Please plan on joining us as we continue doing God’s work.

Blessings,

Pastor John

On Your Marks, Get Set…

With the summer unofficially over following Labor Day, we are on our way into a schedule with more activities and opportunities. I’d like to highlight just a few happening this weekend and next week:

• Youth Sunday/Rally Day
  • This Sunday, September 11, we are celebrating what God is doing through the educational and youth ministries of the church. The youth group will be leading worship and sharing stories about the mission trip they were part of this summer.
• We return to our regular Sunday schedule of:
  • Worship at 8:30am and 11:00am
  • Sunday School at 9:45.
• September 11
  • This Sunday marks the fifteenth anniversary of terrorist attacks that claimed thousands of lives. We will acknowledge this anniversary at both worship services. I encourage you to consider participating in some of the community activities marking this significant remembrance.
• Playground Dedication
  • On Sunday we are dedicating our newly-installed playground equipment following worship. A potluck lunch will follow the dedication in the Fellowship Hall. Hot dogs will be provided. The congregation is asked to bring a side item or a dessert item.
• Bible Study
  • After some discussion with others, I have decided to change the time of the weekly Bible Study from the noon hour to the evening. The Wednesday evening Bible Study will meet in the church parlor at 7:15pm. We will study Galatians, and we will meet through mid-November. If you have no other commitments that evening, I encourage to come and learn more deeply about this short but significant book of the Bible.

As always, if you have any questions about any of the activities in the life of the church (or want to receive the complete CTPress newsletter), please contact the church office and we will be happy to answer any questions.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Philippians 4:8
Finally… whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Brace yourselves. Pumpkin spice everything is coming.

In fact, it’s already here! Pumpkin spice, the popular flavor that defines the fall season, can be found at your local grocery store in coffees, baked goods, and many other variations. And if you’re willing to wait a little longer, most coffee shops will have some kind of exotic coffee drink featuring pumpkin spice. For a limited time only, of course.

As a user of social media, the advent of pumpkin spice season has been popping up on various feeds, and I started thinking about why. Pumpkin Spice is popular and many people like it. I’m one of the rare ones that don’t care for the flavor, but I harbor no ill-will for those that partake.

People get excited for the things they like, and not only with foods. As Christians who are part of a church family, we get excited about the things we like. With the world changing so rapidly, with so much negativity in the world, it is an easy thing to carry that negativity into our faith journey and into our church. As the father of one of my best friends likes to say, “Life is 90% attitude.” If our attitude is not good, it’s very likely our experience will disappoint.

As we begin this new month and start thinking about the fall I’d like to suggest an exercise for all of us. First grab a piece of paper and something to write with. If you use a journal, find a blank page. Second, make three headings:

• Ways God has Blessed Me,
• Ways God has Blessed Others,
• Ways God has Blessed My Church.

Third, spend some time making a list under each heading. The reason I encourage us to do this is because all too often these good things get overshadowed by the negative. It is okay to be excited about good things! We must make a conscious choice to be positive. When we are negative, people don’t want to be around us or the things we are part of.

Let’s make a conscious choice to be positive and excited as we begin this season. Even if that means putting “pumpkin spice” all over your list!

Blessings,

Pastor John

As we make our way into another school year next week, I thought I’d let you know about some of the exciting events coming up. First, our late summer mission trip w ill be happening August 26-September 3. Five people from our congregation our spending the last week of the month helping victims of the flooding in the central part of our state. Please keep George and Jeannette Tabb, Jim Bovard, Stephen Bossung and Jason Mullens in your prayers.

The Stewardship and Vision team has been working on the budget for 2017, and they will be collecting pledge cards on Sunday, August 28. Please be in prayer about your financial support of the mission of this congregation. I spent much of the early summer preaching about offering, and if you need some passages to review, I encourage you to read over:

• Genesis 4 : 1-16; 8 : 20-9:9; 22 : 1-19
• Joshua 7
• 1 Samuel 1 : 1-18
• Malachi 3 : 6-15
• Romans 12 : 1-2

On Sunday, August 28, we will also have a hymn sing as part of our morning worship. In the weeks ahead, please think about what you want to sing that morning. Sunday, September 11, is Rally Day and Youth Sunday (**ALSO CTPC resumes the school season services schedule). In addition to kicking off the school year for Christian Education, the youth will be leading the worship service at both services. As part of the sermon that morning, we will get a report on how the mission trip went in June. On Sunday, September 18, we will hear a report from the late summer mission trip to Webster County. May God continue to bless us as we busily serve him!

Blessings,

Pastor John