by Toni Sample

“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

I had the delight to be the facilitator of the October, 2016 Women’s Retreat at Sharon Community Presbyterian Church.

On that cold but sunny Saturday morning, I watched the women enter the room and enjoy an informal gathering time of fellowship. I felt blessed to be a part of this group of women who obviously supported and cared for each other.

Throughout the day we searched our Bibles repeatedly, staying in His word and letting Him guide us through the materials. Our study was based on Paul’s words to the church of Corinth, (2 Corinthians 3:3) when he wrote: “Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”

Although our focus was on the words in Corinthians we moved throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Each verse, each discussion that ensued, showed that these women were not only ‘letters from Christ written on human hearts’, but they were delighted in their relationship, not just with each other, but with their LORD. Some of these women were in the middle of struggles and were being upheld with His mighty hand; others had come out the other side of recent struggles and were enjoying a time of rest.

The corporate church goes through struggles, much like we do individually. We may stumble but He will never let us fall. God has been yoked to SCPC for 200 years, making the load lighter for those who gather to worship and delight in Him. It is the delight and hope in our LORD that sees us through our times of struggle. As we celebrate His faithfulness, He celebrates ours.

Prayer

Dear God, we come to you through your Son, Jesus Christ, in awe of your power, your forgiveness, your love, and your healing grace. Thank you for never forsaking us. Thank you for helping us to walk on your path. Thank you for the hope we have in you. Amen

By Judy Lentz

PERSONAL BEST

Luke 13:32     I will reach my goal.

Our granddaughter is a budding gymnast.  She works hard every week to get stronger, to perfect the gymnastic moves she has been taught and to do the best she can.  She loves being a gymnast doing cartwheels everywhere she can.  She looks forward to her weekly practice and comes home beaming (no pun intended!).  Following her first competitive meet, her father was talking to her about the scores she had achieved and referred to them as her personal best.

 He encouraged her to seek improvement of her personal best rather than compete with the scores of others.  She looked at him quizzically asking “What is a personal best? He explained that rather than setting a high level goal and trying after our first attempt to achieve that high level goal, it would be more productive to see where we are at this moment which we call our personal best and then striving to do better than our personal best level each time until we reach the high level goal.

When Christ was talking to the Pharisees who had come to warn Him that Herod wanted to kill Jesus, He responded,  Go tell that fox, ˜I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. And Jesus did just that.  He continued to drive out demons and healing people until on the third day, He arose from the dead to assure eternal life for all of us that was His goal!  So how does this relate to a personal best for us?  As we work to serve our Lord, we need to continually seek improvement of our personal best as we set our eyes on the final goal  to enter the church triumphant where we are blessed with eternal life.  

 

Prayer

Dear Lord, we thank you for your unconditional love.  We are so grateful for the sacrifice Christ has made for us giving us the privilege of eternal life.  May we, in return, continually seek improvement of our personal best as we work to serve you until we reach our final goal of eternal life.  In the mighty name of Jesus.  Amen

POEMS FROM THE PAST...The following poem was found in Sharon's archives from a booklet published in the 1960's by members of the congregation.  This untitled poem was submitted by Mrs. S. W. Hixson.

When days are filled with worldly snares,

Ask God to help.  He truly cares.

He sent His Son to earth to show

How much He loves us here below.

Don't make a move without His guiding,

Ever in His love abiding.

Lean on Him if strength is wanting.

Love and faith He gives undaunting.

Though doctor, lawyer, student, wife,

Take Him with you through your life.

If you but ask, your spirit humbling,

He'll surely keep your feet from stumbling.

Take Him then to work or school

And you will live the Golden Rule.

As each thought and act you know He'll see

You'll live as the Christian He wants you to be.

Prayer:  

Remembering those who are a part of Sharon's history

by Mark Mizer

These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall be careful to do in the land which the Lord, the God of your Fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live upon the earth. (Deuteronomy 12:1  RSV)

There are four basic tenets of the Presbyterian Faith:

1) We are saved through grace alone. We can do nothing to earn this grace. It is a gift from God manifest in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and through his resurrection.

2) We are a priesthood of believers. All of us are capable and have a responsibility to proclaim the word of God to others.

3)The Bible is our authority or 'sola scriptura'. We believe the Bible alone is our foundation of belief. All the catechisms, confessions and creeds are  based on the Bible.

And, the fourth is probably the most difficult to grasp and understand. 'God alone is our Lord of conscience.'  To me, this is the essence of what it means to be Presbyterian, aside from our polity. This tenet can be viewed in different ways by different people with varying biases.

Historically, the Presbyterian church, as a denomination, and unlike other denominations takes no stand on some of the more controversial social issues of our times: abortion, homosexuality and capital punishment and the numerous issues that go with these. The Presbyterian Church, USA position is: as a denomination there is no position.  This does not mean there aren't very vocal and active advocates for both sides. Far from it.

Presbyterians have been advocates of all manner of social issues for many years. For example, Presbyterians were some of the more outspoken advocates of abolition before the Civil War. Our Confessions advocate certain beliefs from the Scots Confession to a Brief Statement of Faith. But, our confessions are not part of our Book of Order. They are separate, quite intentionally.

This can be vexing to many people because they either want someone to tell them what to believe or they want to use a rigid doctrine to have something solid to hang onto for comfort and consistency.

But, the Presbyterian tradition is a little more demanding of our mindful attention to our faith, how we live our faith, how we accept others who do not agree with us and how we accept people into our church family who are 'different'.

In my opinion, if we as a denomination are to proclaim certain behaviors to be abhorent or sinful we may use that doctrine to exclude certain people from our church family and as a result back ourselves into an inescapable corner. To proclaim certain behaviors as sinful and not acceptable in our circle would be to say we as individulas in the church do NOT sin, or,  we say our sins are different and thus less offensive than others. But, isn't sin still sin regardless? We come to this church not to proclaim our holiness or to feel good about ourselves. We come first to worship and glorify our Almighty God, and  to truly give thanks to Him, asking Him to forgive our sins of commission and omission, and, to ask Him to suffer our needs, desires and dreams. Who are we to have the power of judgement over others?  Let's leave that to God.

To me this is the essence of John Calvin. We as individuals have the freedom to seek God's will for our lives. But, for us to seek God's will for others based on our individual experiences and prejudices appears to be a non-starter.  That we have prejudges and biases is inescapable and undeniable. Calvin understood this and asks all believers and even doubters to study the Bible and to educate ourselves and pray for God inspired enlightenment. I refer to this as an objective faith or at least a rational faith where we do not allow our biases to guide our behavior in how we treat and accept others into our communion.  So may it be.

Prayer

O God, our God, inspire us to continually seek your way and your path in leading others to be part of your communion, to be part of your family in Christ. Gird us, strengthen us, fortify us to do the things we need to do to, first,  to worship you, always, and to represent the people of Sharon Church  in a way that pleases you. We pray this in the name of your most Holy Son, our Christ,  Jesus. Amen.

By Judy Yeck

 Eph 4:2-4A Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. All of you are part of the same body. (Contemporary English Version)

This translation is a beautiful thought for living in God's peace with each other. How often we become angry with those who don't think as we do. Others don't always have the same understanding of scripture, some of us are liberals, others conservative. Some parents believe in spanking, others do not.

The differences are everywhere, but we are told to be 'humble and gentle' patiently putting up with each other and loving each other. I like this thought of putting up with each other. We don't always have to be right in our thoughts and ideas, it's okay to think out side of the box, but don't pout because you don't always get your way. We need only to keep our hearts together in our faith in Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Dear Lord, help us to understand others, not to change their minds and thoughts, not to insist that all think as we do. Thank You that we are all created in Your love, may we see the Christ in them, and be able to truly love each other in Your perfect love.   In Jesus' Name. Amen

By Nancy Moore

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6: 25-34 (RSV)

SPUTZIES...

A local grammatical quirk references small nondescript birds as “sputzies.” Nothing stands out about them; each are streaked brown and white; there is nothing about them to draw particular attention. From my childhood I have always referred to these small abundant sparrows as sputzies (possibly derived from German).

I recently installed a small bird feeder on my deck just outside the sliding glass door where I get a good view of the birds that routinely visit. While occasionally a pair of bright cardinals, a noisy blue jay, and two mourning doves stop by for a quick repast, the vast majority of birds are the small, fragile brown sparrows who actively fuss with each other for feeding spots. Youngster will follow behind a parent fluffing its feathers and chirping loudly for attention to be fed.

As I watch these vulnerable little birds through the glass, I recall the scripture that encourages and reassures me of our value in God's sight. When we feel alone or insignificant, lack self-confidence or need to overcome some obstacle, the words from the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” (Civilla Martin, 1904) remind me not to be discouraged and know that our heavenly Father watches over us as he does each little sparrow—so what am I worried about?

Verse 2: “Let not your heart be troubled, His tender word I hear, and resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears; though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see: HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW, AND I KNOW HE WATCHES ME.

Prayer

Lord, we thank you for each day. We turn to you for strength, guidance, and reassurance of your love and concern, and know that you care and value each of us as you do even the smallest of your creations. Amen

By Pastor Doug Marshall

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son..." John 3:16 (RSV)

One of my favorite hymns, which we don't often sing (only twice in the past 10 years) is "Of the Father's Love Begotten." The song is simple yet ethereal (the tune name is apt - Divinum Mysterium, the Divine Mystery). The words were written at the end of the 4th Century by a Spanish lawyer who had experienced God's love in Jesus. Near the end of his life he gave up his public career to live a life of poverty and prayer. These words describe how God, who is mysterious and beyond us, chooses to enter our world in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the one who gives us life (the source) and the goal (the end) of our life, the one toward whom our lives are headed. "He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see." Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what that means. All I know is that Jesus is the one who brings my life meaning and hope. My job is to seek Christ and to worship Him.

One of these days we will need to sing this again in worship!

Prayer

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O holy Ghost to Thee, Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving and unwearied praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, Evermore and evermore! Amen. (v3)