Wednesday, February 1, 2012: An E-Note from the Pastor…
Dear Members and Friends of First Pres,
Last Sunday, my sermon was entitled “Who Does God Root For?” With only a week before the Super Bowl, I tried to answer the question “Does God play favorites?” whether we’re talking about sports teams or individuals or even nations.
This Sunday, my sermon will commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Dickens who was born 200 years ago next Tuesday. The author of such classics as David Copperfield and Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, he served as the conscience of Victorian England by exposing the wretched conditions under which most people lived throughout the middle of the 19th century. When he died in 1870--58 years later--he was laid to rest in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. Upon his tomb, the following epitaph was inscribed: “He was a sympathiser to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England’s greatest writers is lost to the world.” We’re going to look at perhaps his most famous work to grasp a better understanding of what the Bible speaks of as “grace.” The youth will be collecting for the “Souper Bowl of Caring” at the doors.
In the Sunday morning Adult Class, we are continuing the Adam Hamilton video series entitled “Who Is This Man?” concerning the identity of Jesus Christ. As with all of Hamilton’s videos, you will be greatly enriched by it. We meet every Sunday at 8:45 a.m. in Calvin Hall.
The Deacons will be meeting at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday but there will be no Committee Meetings throughout the month. The Session will be overseeing their responsibilities.
Pastor Dave
Please Keep in Prayer: Randy Lippert, going in for back surgery in Iowa City on Feb. 13; Tom Campbell; Dorothy Jennings at Manor Care; Irene Bird, at the medical pavilion at Friendship Village, Dorothy Sohner; Marjorie Hunting, at Lutheran Home in Cedar Falls; Margaret Diestelmeier; Mary Haasis, Eleanor Nottger, the rest of our shut-ins; peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the globe.
“BE WITH THEM IN THOUGHT, WORD, AND DEED,
AND KEEP THEM IN OUR LOVING CARE.”
