From the Pastor’s Keyboard

While fall does not officially begin until later this month… the first football games are the official sign of the season, and so we are off and running. There are good things happening this fall at Christ Presbyterian Church, and I hope you’ll be part of them.

First is our fall kickoff this Sunday, September 11, when we begin a new year of growing in faith as children, youth, and adults begin Sunday School at 10:10 a.m. Children and youth will be celebrating their baptism with the Water Olympics. Perhaps foolishly, I offered to let any child who wishes throw a water balloon at the pastor, and my guess is that many of you will choose this moment to claim your identity as “children of God.”

Worship this Sunday will mark fifteen years after 9/11. We will honor the day with a Time of Remembrance and Hope during worship, which will not include any troubling images of that day but will rather lift up some of the many signs of hope that have happened since.

We need your rummage! One person’s junk is another person’s treasure, and we’re counting on that for the Rummage Sale on Saturday, September 17. Bring your slightly used treasures anytime next week, Monday through Thursday, to support our growing community garden!

This fall our three “Sister Faiths” will each sponsor a Sunday evening and address a topic they would like the other two faiths to know more about. We begin on September 18 when our Muslim friends will present “Islam in the Media” from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. On October 16 it’s our turn as we Christians talk about “The Trinity: One God” and on November 6 our Jewish friends will present on the Holocaust.

The last Friday of the month, September 30, is a unique event at CPC: the all-church campout on the church lawn. Pizza and a movie, and sleep in tents or under the stars. I missed last year’s campout, but I’ll be there this year!

This fall we’ll begin a year-long sermon series Through the Bible: Fall into the Old Testament and Spring into the New. That’s an awfully long way to say we’ll be preaching on the Bible’s greatest hits – or more accurately, we’ll be hoping to get a sense of the Bible’s story from beginning to end. My experience is that even though the sermon scriptures will be chosen long in advance, the Bible will speak to whatever events or issues are current on a particular Sunday. The Holy Spirit is rather remarkable that way…

See you in church!
Greg