Choir Schedule

The choir will be performing during worship on November 4 & 18 and December 9.  The Christmas Cantata will be performed during worship on Sunday, December 23rd.  The choir will also perform during the Candlelight Christmas Eve service on December 24th at 7 PM.

Choir practice schedule:

Tuesday, October 23rd at 6:30 PM
Monday, October 29th at 6:30 PM
Tuesday, November 13th at 6:30 PM
Sunday, November 18th following worship
Monday November 26th at 6:30 PM
Saturday, December 22nd at 9:00 AM

Contact Mark Barie for more information.

Book Club News

The next book chosen by the book club is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

From Amazon.com:

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles--and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

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Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel.

The next meeting of the book club will be Saturday, November 17th at 9:30 AM at Coffee Culture in Batavia.  We would really like for some new people to join us!  If you have any suggestions for books to read please bring them along.  Hope to see you there!

We Need Your Help: Contact Information

We are always trying to improve communication among church members.  We would like to be sure that we have everyone’s contact information up to date and that we know what the best way is to reach you (email, text, phone call, etc.).  If you could contact the church office and let us know your preferred method of being contacted it would be appreciated.  You can leave a voicemail at 344-2931 or send an email to ebpresbyterian@gmail.com.  Thanks for your help!

 

Holiday Happenings: Saturday, November 10th

 

 

On Saturday, November 10th the Christian Education Committee will once again be holding our annual Holiday Happenings Craft & Vendor Show.  This is always a fun event and a great way to start your holiday shopping!  As always there will be many great vendors, a bake sale, a Chinese auction and lunch available for purchase.   

If anyone is interested in having a table at Holiday Happenings, or knows of someone who is interested, please contact the church office.  Pricing is $30 for the first table and $20 for each additional table.   

We are looking for donations from church members for items for our bake sale and for the kitchen.  A sign-up sheet will be available on the table in the Fellowship Hall soon.  Also, if anyone would like to donate an item for our Chinese auction it would be greatly appreciated.     

We hope that everyone will decide to come out and support this fun event! 

 

Christian Education: Upcoming Events

The Christian Education Committee is excited to tell you about several upcoming events:

On Sunday October 14th following the worship service there will be a presentation about Mission in the World given by Reverend Mike after he returns from a PC(USA) Mission Conference in Dallas.  Before the presentation we will enjoy a potluck lunch and fellowship with our church family.  Just bring a dish to pass—paper products and drinks will be provided by the Christian Education Committee.

All Saints’ Day will be commemorated on Sunday November 4th following the worship service.  From Companion to the Book of Common Worship:  All Saints’ Day is a time to rejoice in all who through the ages have faithfully served the Lord. The day reminds us that we are part of one continuing, living communion of saints. It is a time to claim our kinship with the “glorious company of apostles … the noble fellowship of prophets … the white-robed army of martyrs”.  It is a time to express our gratitude for all who in ages of darkness kept the faith, for those who have taken the gospel to the ends of the earth, for prophetic voices who have called the church to be faithful in life and service, for all who have witnessed to God’s justice and peace in every nation.  Following worship we will be participating in a cemetery clean-up while learning about past members of EBPC and their contributions to our church.  This is a great way to learn more about the history of our church.  Be sure to dress for the weather!

On Sunday December 2nd we will be making Advent wreaths.  Each family is invited to stay after worship and create a wreath to take home.  An advent wreath is a great way to keep Christ at the center of Christmas and teach children the true meaning of Christmas.

The children will be participating in the Shepherds Game during the month of December (date to be announced).  This should be a fun and educational event for the children of the congregation during the Christmas season.

 

 

Week of 9/24-30

Hi All, 

We had a great trip to Ghost Ranch and retreat with young adult volunteers returning from their time of service to God and the larger church. It entailed a lot of listening to their stories and experiences. A lot of the time when these folks return they experience reverse culture shock as they re-enter the American mainstream culture, they expect culture shock as they enter a new environment but when they return they don't realize how much they have changed. They also feel alone because people do not understand the significance of their service. Please join me in praying for them as they integrate their experiences of the past year(s) with where they are currently living. 

If you'd like some more information about the Young Adult Volunteer Program please check out: 

http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/yav/yavexperience/ 

http://yavalumni.wordpress.com/who-are-yav-and-what-is-yava/ 

This WEEK @ East Bethany Presbyterian Church

The steeple was fixed! 

Wed. 6:30 pm Sexual Misconduct Policy Document Meeting

Saturday 9:30 am Book Club meeting at Coffee Culture in Batavia

Sunday 10:30 am Worship 

Please keep in PRAYER 

 - Jessie Elliot who has returned home from the hospital and is being treated for Myeloma. 

 - Megan, Adam and Greysen Wynn as they adjust to their new life together as mother, father, and son. 

 - The YAVs and others serving in the mission field. 

 - The Sexual Misconduct Team as they meet tonight. 

 - Our Congregation and our Presbytery. 

Scripture for this Sunday: Ester 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22; Psalm 124; James 5:13-20; Mark 8:38-50. 

Church Website: http://ebpresbyterian.blogspot.com/

God's Peace, Rev. Michael Fry 

Sermon for 9/9/12

Scripture – Mark 7:24-30

Jesus’ response seems very un-Jesus like doesn’t it?  Instead of compassion and mercy he lashes out and calls this woman a dog.  Some speculate that Jesus is tired and looking for a rest.  He seems to be traveling alone and the purpose for this journey is not to preach or heal, all of us need a break some time.  Jesus’ words disturb us because they are not consistent with our image of who he is, but being both fully human and fully God, Jesus can and does get frustrated and tired.    

The mother is not deterred when he tells her “it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (v 27).  The children Jesus refers to here are the Jews - the children of the covenant between God and Abraham.  Gentiles were not descendants of Abraham therefor not included in the covenant. Jesus has gone to an area which is decidedly Gentile which is unusual because Jews and Gentiles did not really mix except when necessary. 

The woman defends her request answering back, arguing her case saying that she is not searching for a meal but for crumbs.  She is seeking only a taste of what he can do; such is her faith and her desperation that she knows that just a taste of his healing is all that her daughter needs. 

The mother’s faith reminds me of the woman with the hemorrhage who has the faith that if she just touches the hem of Jesus’ robe that she will be healed (5:25-34).  Both women have great faith related to small actions.  The one woman in touching Jesus’ clothes and the other that crumbs from the kingdom of God can heal her daughter. 

In Mark’s gospel it seems that these women get what Jesus is about when those who are closest to Jesus and those who should recognize him do not.  Here this gentile woman notices him when he does not want to be noticed and approaches him bowing at his feet in a posture of submission, paying respect or honor when begging him to heal her daughter.  

And when she is insulted she has the courage to be persistent pointing out that he has not just come for the children of the covenant but all of God’s children.  In this sense she is a kind of prophetess strong in her conviction bringing to mind the words of Isaiah, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6). 

She says, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (6:28).  And I am learning how true these words are as Alex learns to feed himself. 

But seriously, this woman knows how abundant God’s Kingdom is.  She realizes that Jesus came to redeem all people, period.  And that the meal that is served at the Lord’s table spills over so that even those who do not have a seat still get to enjoy the feast. 

And when Jesus is reminded of this he changes his mind and heals her daughter giving her a serving of his healing grace.  Because of her faith she is given seat at the table where she was not welcome before. 

We learn from this woman the importance of persistence in the face of adversity, we learn the importance of asking Jesus for what we want or need.  Some times we are content to pray, “Lord, thy will be done.”  Don’t get me wrong this is a good prayer, but sometimes we need to be a little more specific. 

One time I was out with my dad watching a meteor shower and I was busy wishing on the stars as they fell.  Dad asked me what I was asking God for and I was little and said a baseball glove.  He asked me why I didn’t ask for world peace and I told him that I thought God already knows that. 

We should be encouraged to pray specifics even though God knows our prayers before they are formed on our lips.  One of the reasons we pray to God is so that we realize that we depend on him and recognize that the results of prayer indeed come from God. 

This woman’s specific prayer is that Jesus will heal her daughter; she has heard about what he is capable of, perhaps she has heard how Jesus brought back Jairus’ daughter and seeks restoration for her daughter and she receives it. 

After the sermon and before our next hymn I would like you to take a minute or two for you to reflect and perhaps write down:

What is your specific prayer? 

I’m not talking about a prayer for an open parking spot or a baseball glove.  

What is it that you long for?  

What is it that you desire for yourself or someone that you know? 

Some of us might feel some resistance in doing this because it seems silly or there is the fear of disappointment in unanswered prayer.  We might have been taught that it is not right for us to pry for ourselves, but I assure you that it is.  

I encourage you to set whatever resistance creeps in aside and take the chance and pray in faith and pray in persistence and the more specific the better.  If you still feel resistance ask God to help you pray, to give you the words to speak in prayer. 

Perhaps you too, will find a crumb of grace if not an entire meal.

Rev. Michael Fry preaching

at East Bethany PC

September 9, 2012

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Sources used for this sermon include.

• Sermon Brainwave and the Working Preacher Website. www.workingpreacher.org 
• Feasting on the Word Bible Commentary, Year B, Vol. 3. WJK: 2009. 

This passage in seven words: Crumbs of Grace taste wonderful to me. 

Haiku:            Grace falls to the ground

                        God’s crumbs heal, restoring all

                        and taste as good as the feast.