Good Shepherd Update: Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Dear Good Shepherd, 

Good morning. I hope you are all doing well. We are all very glad to be back with you but I am very much missing the warm south Texas weather and wondering why on earth people would actually choose to build a city where it is this cold in May. There is a lot of work to be done to catch up with things that I did not do while on vacation so this will be an update on the rather short side which will make it that much easier to read the entire thing…so please do.

Ascension: Today, Thursday, is the Feast of the Ascension. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven 40 days after he rose from the dead. Jesus, a Man who is also God, sits at the right hand of the Father and everyone believer, everyone who is “in Christ” now stands spiritually with him in the very throne room of God. In Christ we are with the Father and through Christ, the Father sends the benefits and blessings of heaven to his Church. The Ascension is the final act in the process of redemption. God became human in order to bring humans to God.

Ascension is a moveable feast, meaning we can celebrate it on Sunday rather than Thursday…which is what we are going to do. So this Sunday we’ll remember Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the great blessings he secured for his people through it.

New Members/Interested Members Class: We had a great turnout last Saturday for the new member/interested member class. We discussed some of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith in the context of Good Shepherd’s statement of faith. This Saturday we’ll talk more about Anglicanism in general and Good Shepherd’s place within Anglicanism in particular. Looking forward to seeing you all there again. The class is not just for new members but for anyone interested in Good Shepherd. The class starts at 2pm on Saturday in the parish hall and generally lasts 1 hour.

Systematic Theology: Systematic Theology will meet this Saturday at 3:30pm in the parish hall. We’ll discuss the Fall which will take two Saturdays and then move to a discussion of Regeneration. That will round out this semester. We’ll be breaking for the summer.

Good Shepherd Summer Festival: Live music, free ice cream, free medical examinations, a car show, pony rides, clowns, and much more at this year’s Summer Festival at Good Shepherd. The festival is a great opportunity to meet and form relationships with our neighbors and the community in general. More information will be coming soon but for now, be sure to mark your calendars. The Festival will be held on Saturday, June 5th

A Note about the Food Pantry: Just a note to remind everyone that the food in the parishioner food pantry is for parishioners in need. Please do not take food from the parishioner pantry to use for other purposes. Thank you.

Parish Picnic: The Annual Good Shepherd picnic will take place on Sunday, June 20th, 2010 from 11am to 2pm at Nathaniel Cole Park (see directions here). Everyone is welcome. The picnic will begin with an outdoor worship service before lunch. There will be an 8am service at the church as usual.

Prayer Shawl Ministry: Knitters and crocheters will be meeting again on Saturday, May 15.  Please join us from 11:15am to 12:15pm in the church library (from Julie Liddle).

Children’s Chapel Puppet Show: This Sunday, May 16th, Bill Woollett will be back with his puppet friends. All children and chapel helpers are invited to join Bill and his buddies for this special treat. What a fun way to learn more about Jesus! (From Carmen)

Thursday Night Bible Study: There will be Thursday night bible study tonight after the Shepherd’s Bowl at 6:30pm. I think we are still in John 6 but I am not sure since I’ve been gone for a week and the study continued in my absence. All are invited.

Women’s Bible Study will meet this Saturday at 10am in the parish hall. This study is led by Carmen Swoffer Penna and they are currently discussing the book of Isaiah. It’s a great book and all women and guests are invited to join in.

Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study: The Men’s Bible Study meets at 6:30am every Friday morning for breakfast and discussion. We are presently working our way through 2nd Samuel. Chris Jones is scheduled to cook but is out of town so Joe Barham has volunteered to step in.

Worship Team schedule: Team Philippians is scheduled for this week. John King is the captain.

Resources: Together for the Gospel is an annual conference that brings together some of the greatest thinkers and preachers for a discussion of the nature of the gospel and the threats and challenges posed to the proclamation of the gospel in our day. I listened to all of the lectures during vacation and found each one excellent. I cannot recommend them enough. You may watch them all here.

Sermon: We forgot to record last week’s sermon. I will work on the text and post it up and perhaps re-record it for the website before long. But for now there is no link.

Article: Here is a link to my latest article for the Stand Firm website: Soft Talk: Conditioning People to Reject Orthodoxy. In it I discuss the ramifications of not clearly identifying false teaching and false teachers.

The sign: As most of you can see, the sign is still not completed. We are not able to fully install it until we obtain a protective covering. The sign from our previous building has already been installed on the Saratoga side of our building.

Daily Podcasts I am planning at some point next week to start the daily podcasts again. I’ll send out an email. Meanwhile you can listen to the previous podcasts here. 

Bishop’s Visit: Bishop Murdoch was originally scheduled to visit Good Shepherd on June 13th. He has had to change that because the provincial synod of the Anglican Church in North America is being held in our diocese on that same weekend. He will reschedule for the Fall. That means that we will wait for further information before starting Confirmation classes.

Adult Christian Education: As a lead up to confirmation classes and to help our new members understand Anglicanism, we will be starting a new series this Sunday on the 39 Articles of Religion. The 39 Articles is the Anglican confession of faith. They are very broad and basic and cover a good deal of Christian doctrine so they are a good platform for reviewing and discussing some basic Christian beliefs for anyone who needs a refresher. I hope to see you there.

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