Rev. Danny Gulden

Senior Minister

The Super Bowl has come and gone which leads sports fans to begin thinking about pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training. They use this time to get ready for the grind of the regular season. As people of faith, we are entering a time when we are getting ready--ready to turn around, to change our minds, to celebrate resurrection. The season of Lent is a time of spiritual preparation when we take stock so that we may be prepared for God to do something new with us. Lent is not only a time of preparation, but of transformation.

We emulate the 40 days that Jesus spent wrestling in the wilderness. In the wilderness, Jesus was tempted to become someone inauthentic to his call. He was tempted to sacrifice his mission for self-indulgent pleasures. Fredrick Beuchner describes this period as "Jesus figuring out what it means to be Jesus." Much like Jesus, we spend time figuring out what it means to be ourselves, to be authentic to who God has made us to be. Many give up something during this season as a discipline. It's a realization that we need to give up something so that we can make room for God, make room for true life.

I suspect that when we make room for God, we will be pleased with what we discover. Paul wrote to the church at Rome, "You are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you." For Paul, God already dwelled in us, in humanity. The words of Jesus, "You are the light of the world" are true because God dwells in us. May you make room for God during this time so that you may discover that God dwells in you. May you make room for God so that you not discover who you are but whose you are. Transformation comes when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what it means to be yourself in this world and live a life worthy of that truth. 

Peace to your path,

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Options FOCUS GROUP SUNDAY SCHOOL 

February 2015

10:10 AM

"Saving Jesus Redux"- Leslie Lady, facilitator -

                                                    Common Ground

A 12-episode video exploration of a credible Jesus for the 21st Century. Join 25 experts for a conversation around the relevance of Jesus for today.

Modern Family - Rev. Danny Gulden, facilitator - 

                                      Conference Room

Seeking Justice, Loving Kindness? Tough Topics

Kids are smart and seemingly getting smarter every day. They have a unique lens to the world that often challenges our closely held notions. As a parent, how do we respond to tough, but faithful questions? How do we help them make sense of what goes on in the world in a manner that will enable them to "seek Justice and love kindness?  

Path Finders -  An Adult Education Community for All Ages and Stages at SSCC - 

Bryant Hodgson & Art Edwards, facilitators - Leslie Classroom

                                February Series: Believing Is Seeing . . . And Doing

A tenet of some thought leaders of the "New Physics" is that the outcome of an experiment is ultimately defined by the bias of the experimenter, i.e.:  light energy presenting itself as either a particle or a wave.  

How might this phenomenon apply to our faith experiences-in prayer, in worship, in relationships . . . in "ordinary" life?  

In this four-week series facilitated by Bryant Hodgson and Art Edwards we'll focus the group's collective optics on scriptural narratives illustrating this principle and how it encourages and challenges us in these times.  "See" you there.

February 1 - Foundational Joy or Grim Reality 

        Special Music Video(s):

        For the Beauty of the Earth

        Now Thank We All Our God

February 8 - I Don't Pray Unless I'm By Myself or With                                             Somebody...Wha. . .?

        Special Music Video: Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts         of Life

February 15 - Surprise and Awe: Experienced any Miracles Lately?

February 22 -  The  Power of in Forgiveness

Lectionary- Larry Steinmetz, facilitator - Children's Worship Room - next to Conference Room) - Bible Study based on each Sunday's scripture lesson 

Believer's Sharing -  Barb Duren, facilitator - 9:20 AM Campbell-Stone Conference Room - Bible study using The Present Word

Come Grow at SSCC!

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The Discipling Forum has completed the survey compellation and, as promised, would like to share the results with you.  We have only started analyzing the data and, over the next year, you should start seeing minor changes to worship based on the wishes of the majority of the respondents.  The Forum appreciates your willingness to participate in this survey and wishes to thank each of you for your time and effort to respond.

There are two reports: 

The first is titled, "Worship Survey Results by Numbers"  (click here for results). This report contains the actual data of the survey.  It is divided by the preferred worship service and the age of the participant.  If you are interested in seeing how your responses compared to other responses, this is the report for that.

The second is titled, "Worship Survey Narrative" (click here for narrative).  This report is an overview of the results by category and is, as its title implies, a narrative of the results. 

You should find the information contained in these reports to be interesting; we certainly did.

Leslie Lady

Discipling Forum Chair

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At the conclusion of the 9 AM worship service on January 25, Nancy and Bryant McDaniel were recognized by Danny for their significant leadership at SSCC. Bryant just completed serving three years as President of the Congregation and Nancy has been leading and coordinating many of our ministry programs for even longer.  Most recently Nancy served on the Leadership Council as Chair of the Outreach Ministry Forum.  On behalf of last year's Leadership Council, Danny presented Bryant and Nancy with a gift card to the Buckhead Life restaurant chain. Bryant and Nancy will continue to be actively engaged in SSCC in various ways and we are grateful for that. 

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Nan Woods

Nan Woods has faithfully served God and Sandy Springs Christian Church for a number of years. She was hired by Rev. Dr. Glen Miles in 2001 as Membership Director and served until 2007, when she and Woody moved to Cartersville. Nan was hired back in 2008 as the Communications person for SSCC and has been an invaluable member of our team. The first online Wellspring was produced in June 2009 and the weekly online Chalice Chat (now This Week @SSCC) was produced in February 2010. Nan and Woody have also long been involved with our Advent and Lent devotionals. Nan has made the decision to officially retire at the end of February. You will be hearing more about how we will celebrate Nan's service. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to serve with Nan, who is one of the most faithful and gracious people I know. 

In addition to our new brand, Seek, Serve, Grow, there has been a lot of energy around how we communicate not only within the congregation but to the surrounding community. Communications has changed greatly in the last 20 years and we have many ways now to communicate. In consultation with the Leadership Council, I am pleased to share that Beth DeLemos will be joining our team for the next six months to help us develop a comprehensive communication strategy that will include print, online, web, and social media. She will guide us in how we communicate within the congregation and to the community. Beth has worked extensively with churches in communication, including owning her own consulting company. She is also a parent of three children at The Day School. One of Beth's first objectives will be developing a congregational survey for communications that you will be receiving very soon. Your input on communications and how the church can best communicate with you will be crucial to developing an overall strategy. Thank you, Nan and Welcome, Beth! 

Rev. Danny Gulden

Senior Minister

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Andrew Black thrilled the congregations of both services on February 1 with his heartfelt rendition of "Live Like You Were Dying," backed up by our Worship Band.  Andrew performs at various venues around Atlanta and made some new fans!  We hope to have him back again.  

Andrew Black

Click here for more pictures

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Go to www.SandySpringsCC.org to view our monthly calendar 

"Invitable events" are highlighted in red

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