Human Resources Dept and Welcome Committee

On April 25, we discussed Philippians 2:19-30, which is about Timothy and Epaphroditus.

Group 1 decided to act as the Human Resources department, and write a list of leadership qualities that they saw in Timothy and Epaphroditus:

- obedience

- humility

- loyalty

- Christ-like nature

- selflessness

- loving nature

-willingness to serve

- courage

-knowledge of the faith.

Group 2 chose to invite Epaphroditus and to serve as the Welcome Committee.

When sending our invitation we would be sure to spell his name right, and learn how to pronounce it. We would welcome him to our church. We would ask him to please tell us about himself. How did you learn about Christ? We would ask him to preach. We also recognize that he is homesick, so we would let him stay in a home, give him pierogies, take him to a Steelers game. He could help us by sharing his vision for the future of the church with others.

Group 3 was also a Welcome Committee. Their welcome would look like this:

We would welcome Epaphroditus with a celebration. With food, of course. We would let him know that he is a valued and beloved member of our community. We thought he was dead and are delighted to see him alive. We sent E. to Paul and will be greatly interested in hearing much about being with Paul. E could help us by answering our questions about Paul’s teachings and telling us what other Christians in churches are doing and encountering. We could follow his example by serving as E. served Paul.

Don't Complain! Shine like Stars!

On April 18th, the lesson was on Philippians 2:12-18. “Do everything without complaining or arguing....Shine like stars in the universe.”

Two groups chose to rewrite the drama that we imagined took place at the Church at Philippi. The situation: after Christian worship services at the river bank, Lydia’s family members always finish the figs and baklava, leaving nothing for anyone else. Our groups kept in mind Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without murmuring and arguing” as they rewrote the scene.

Group 1’s rewrite went something like this:

Lydia: I apologize for my children’s behavior. (to her children) Kids! Come here. We need to have a little talk. (to the other adults) I apologize again.

Phoebe: I noticed that Joe stays up all night. Maybe we could give him some help. I also noticed that the figs and baklava go first. Why don’t we leave out the fish and seawood crunchies.

Lydia: Yes, I think we should do away with those, and get more figs and baklava. Everybody vote!

Group 2’s rewrite:

Joe: Lydia amazes me, with so many children to take care of, and so many needs. Man, I just know how hard it is to care for my family.

Rick: I’ve got two kids, and it’s hard; she must have 20 kids. I don’t know how she does it.

Joe: Hey, listen. I know we’ve got a lot of things going on, but why don’t we ask how we can help. You and your wife can take some kids, and I can take some, also.

Rick: Hey Lydia, we don’t have as much on our plate – can we give you a hand while your husband is away?

Lydia: Can you believe how nice Joe and Rick are – they have so much to do already, and here they are offering to help me out!

Phoebe: They are an inspiration to me. I realize that I need to help you out more.

Lydia: Maybe there’s some way I can also help others. There is a lot of food here. Maybe we can share it with some other families.

* * * * *

Two groups chose to make a list of how our church has worked to try to shine like a star in a dark place.

Group 3’s list:

- the day care center

- preschool

-youth ministry

- serving the meal at the men’s shelter

- Food Bank

- Bible studies

- evangelism and community outreach

- Vacation Bible School.

- Malawi partnership

- Habitat for Humanity

- Youth Ministry Counseling Center

- message board

- welcoming worship services

- contemporary worship service

- web site

- music ministry

- Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

Group 4 listed most of the above and also listed:

- sent people to help with reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina

- sent money to help with rebuilding Haiti after earthquake

- Homestead, Florida- our youth helped to repair

- youth work camps

Power Tools

Youth Group Work Camp!

Recap of their presentation on April 11

The work camp in 2009 was centered in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area, where a levee broke and the Iowa River flooded the town. The water reached up to the floor of the second story – about 11 feet. The town was at 33% of normal population. Most of the houses were gutted. The high school had been closed.

Our youth group stayed with a youth group from Michigan. Accommodations for the leaders were interesting: one slept on the altar; another slept in the closet.

The work: installing drywall, removing old siding, putting on new siding, and inside work. Note that they did an excellent job putting up drywall around a circular window. Some overcame their fear of heights, working on scaffolding up above the second story. Yikes!

Audience asked questions –

Q. What makes you go to work camp summer after summer?

- the kids who go to work camp are my friends.

- my parents don’t let me use power tools at home

- the work makes me feel good about working

-cats

Q. What were you surprised at?

- the level of destruction caused by the flooding

Q. What interaction did you have with the homeowners?

- The homeowner worked alongside our crew all week.

- they gave us food all the time. Like brownies.

- Ralph was about 68-70 years old

Respect

Recap for March 28

Michael Glass, Executive Director of Northside Common Ministries

http://www.pghpresbytery.org/mission_agencies/miss_files/n.sideCommon.htm

Guiding Philosophy:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing to serve others?” - Martin Luther King, Jr. and

“What are you here for? What is your purpose?”

Many children don’t have privileges and in fact don’t even know if they will eat today. For most, it’s because of where they live.

Do we have an obligation to change this disparity? Yes.

In a speech shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize: President Obama said that titles say little about how one has lived. There is always more to achieve.

NCM’s Core values

1. Stewardship – do the right thing with the stuff you have

2. Service – treat every human being with respect

NCM runs three programs

- Permanent housing– for disabled homeless. A disabled man living on the street has a 90% chance of being a victim of violence within 48 hours

- food pantry - like a grocery store- each client gets x # pounds of food per week. Largest community food bank in our area. 600-700 families served.

- Pleasant Valley Shelter – for homeless men

Goal is to take care of basic needs. Shelter sleeps 25 men. Out of 365 days per year, NCM itself only has to provide the meal about 5 to 7 days. This saves lots of money and resources for other things. Our church serves a meal there on the first Monday of every month.

At the shelter, intake is at 8:30 AM so that if there isn’t space, the man knows in the morning. (Not all shelters have intake in the morning.) The man can stay for 60 consecutive days – this provides safety and stability. Don’t have to take their belongings with them.

Every homeless man has an individual reason for becoming homeless. We have a responsibility to help those individuals. How does a person go from being somebody’s baby, to being homeless and sleeping on the street?

Martin Luther King, Jr: Anybody can serve – you only need a heart full of grace... a soul generated by love.”

The Lady is a Theologian

Summary for March 21

The prologue

Some Christians like to think that the gospels are just tape-recordings of what Jesus said. But there is a process of inspiration. For instance, Jesus spoke in Aramaic, but the gospels are written in Greek. Were the people who wrote it down in Greek inspired by God? Yes!

Jesus wants the message to go through the guts of the listeners. The message is enriched by this method. The disciples are part of the continuing incarnation. Don’t wait for learned scholars to tell you how to interpret the scriptures. Dive in yourself!

Luke 7:37-8:11 The Lady Is a Theologian

There was a ritual of welcome, but the Pharisee skipped these. Jesus has every right to be offended at the welcome ritual being skipped. But Jesus ignores the snub, and reclines at the banquet.

The woman is probably a prostitute. How did she come to be at the banquet? At a Jewish banquet the doors were opened, because the Rabbis said: don’t shut the doors at your banquet lest you shut out an angel or Elijah unawares. So the banquets usually had beggars present. The woman is a witness to Jesus’ public humiliation.

We can assume that the woman has heard Jesus’ message “God loves sinners” before this banquet takes place. All of the acceptable ways to wash away sins were out of reach for the woman. And yet, Jesus said that God loves sinners like her.

The host and other guests at the banquet are not pleased at the woman’s recognition of Jesus.

Rabbinic rules said a woman was not allowed to uncover her hair in public. Her hair is considered private. A pious woman always keeps her head covered. The woman in Luke 8 is very upset at how the Pharisee has humiliated Jesus. By uncovering her hair the woman is making a declaration of loyalty to Jesus. Jesus accepts the woman’s gesture of gratitude.

The Shechinah (the divine presence of God) has moved from the darkened room in the back of the Temple to the person of Jesus.