NORTHSIDE NOTES - March 27, 2013 |
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 A Pastoral e-pistle
By James Lamkin
Jesus, Easter, and Waffle House
Years ago, I wrote an article about Jesus showing up at a Waffle House on Easter Sunday. A week later, I received a letter from the CEO of Waffle House.
He was OK with it and thanked me for the free publicity.
Turns out that his friends, Wilton Looney and John McIntyre, both had sent it to him. John and Wilton were both active NDBC trustees.
If indeed, we are judged by the company we keep, then God has been generous to us all with the "good company" of Wilton and John.
Awhile back, John crossed the Jordan; and we still miss him. He died a few months after Easter.
Once again, Easter is near. In memory of John McIntyre, here is that Waffle House article....
"If heaven ain't a lot like Waffle House, then I don't wanna go." Someone should write that lyric into a country music song. Grill-sizzling ambiance plus loud, generous hospitality reminds me of home...and church.
I go for breakfast at the W.H. about once a month. I take my Lipitor. I bring my journal. I sit on my pew; and I listen.
Why? Well, first, I like being called "Hun." "Welcome to Waffle House, Hun." "Sit wherever you want, Hun." "What can I gitcha, Hun?"
Second, I like a menu in a language I can pronounce; also, it doubles as a placemat. The All-Star Special Breakfast is my meal o' choice.
Third, my order is hollered-out with full-throttle twang, texture, and confidence: scattered, capped, smothered, and all the way! And that is just the eggs. The hash-browns are even more sensual.
And who says that a cook/customer conversation need be quiet and confidential? The slam/bam emotional processes helps season the food. It's dinner theatre. I overhear the couple next to me: "Yep. He done run off with her, but they ain't told them others yet." It makes me homesick. Gossip and good food go together.
All Lamkin men cook; and we do so as a full-contact sport. Hollering, burning, boiling, banging. We turn culinary arts into martial arts. Plus, we never put down a knife, fork, spoon, or spatula, in the same place twice. Pots are dropped, not placed. Lamkin chefs need spotters.
If Jesus Christ were to get himself resurrected from the dead this week, he would head straight for the double-wide, yellow-rimmed building. He would blend in with the regular customers: sulking disciples, absentee apostles, burned-out preachers, fatigued firefighters, and weary women who bear the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Watch for Jesus on Easter. For sure, he'll be on a stool at the Waffle House breakfast bar, nail-scarred by the wounds of life. A puffy-eyed waitress named Mary will greet him. She's cried all weekend because a good friend died. She didn't get finished grieving because the body had been taken away.
Years later she'll still be telling about this Easter. She'll tell how the stranger's voice sounded strangely familiar, especially when he sat right there on the stool and called her by name, "Mary."
She'll tell of his stack of waffles, his cup of coffee, and a side order of grits. Every time she tells it, she will do so with a tear and a far away look. And she always ends the story the same way. "What it was like," she will say, "was communion." |
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Holy Week
at
Northside Drive Baptist Church
March 27: Passover Seder Service
6: 45 PM, A Seder ritual, not a full meal.
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March 28: Maundy Thursday
6:45 PM,
A Service of Tenebrae
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March 29: Good Friday
"Noon Until Three"
The seven last words of Christ.
Homilies presented by NDBC members.
David Cook
12:05 PM, "Father forgive them..."
Chris Coleman
12:30 PM, "Today, thou shalt be with me..."
Alyssa Aldape
12:55 PM, "Woman, behold thy son!"
Karen Massey
1:20 PM, "My God, my God why...?"
Brian Knight
1:45 PM, "...I am thirsty."
Mary Dean
2:10 PM, "It is finished."
Rachel Sherron
2:35 PM, "Into thy hands..."
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March 31: Easter Sunday
11:00 AM, Worship
12:15 PM, Easter Egg Hunt |
Easter Lunch
All college students and young adults who cannot go home for Easter are invited to Mike and Amanda Gregg's home for a potluck lunch following NDBC's Easter Worship Service and Easter Egg Hunt on March 31. Bring a side item or dessert to share. The Gregg's address is: 2346 Thomas Rd, Atlanta GA 30318. We look forward to spending Easter together. |
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 Northside Kids & Holy Week
Donate Easter Eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt
The children of the church and in the community eagerly anticipate the Easter Egg Hunt every year. Please donate 1-2 dozen stuffed plastic eggs for the event (no peanut products please). You may drop off the eggs at the church office during the week or in the Children's Sunday School room every Sunday until Easter.
Nursery Help for Easter Sunday
Easter, March 31, is one of the best opportunities to welcome guests and their children. In order to keep our nursery safe with an increased number of children during Easter Sunday Worship, the Children's Ministry Team needs you to volunteer to be in a preschool room or the nursery. Please contact Mike Gregg at mike@northsidedrive.org for availability and more information. |
Lenten Devotional
Dr. Steve Sheeley will be writing devotionals through the Lenten season. If you would like to be on his email list and receive his musings, you may email him at ssheeley4@comcast.net. May the longings of this Lenten season lead us to the resurrected Christ.
Today's devotional...
Even the casual reader will quickly realize that John's Gospel seems to make its points by being different from the familiar story we find in the Synoptic Gospels. This difference is particularly evident in the way Jesus faces the week of his Passion in the Fourth Gospel. The Synoptic story is fraught with suffering, with Jesus' anguish taking center stage as the evening grows late in the Garden called Gethsemane. There he pleads that the "cup" might pass him by, and the Synoptic Evangelists leave no doubt that Jesus will suffer overwhelming pain and loss as he fulfills God's plan and becomes the sacrifice leading to cosmic redemption.
Not so in John's Gospel. The Fourth Evangelist offers a picture of a Savior in control and committed to the only plan that will allow his return to the heavenly side of the Father. Sometimes the references to death are encoded, but Jesus' death is always intentional. From the beginning of John's Gospel we have known that Jesus' path of return always goes to and through the cross. From the beginning, Jesus controls his own destiny, awaiting the moment in time for his "hour" and seizing that moment with intentionality....( click here to read more) |
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Fellowship of Families
Church School Class
Presents...
Sunday Mornings in the Parlor
9:30 AM-10:30 AM
Examine the Cross
In Making Sense of the Cross, the author of this study, David Lose, invites participants to candidly examine the questions that many of us have about the Cross of Christ. Participants will explore how the Cross transforms how we read the Bible, what the Cross reveals about God, and how the Cross impacts our daily lives.
Topics include:
-- Why does the Cross Matter?
-- Portraits and Perspectives
-- Ransom and Victory
-- Substitution, Satisfaction, and Sacrifice
-- Example and Encouragement
-- Event and Experience |
Holy Week: What is it all about?
Passover Seder Service: March 27
Every spring, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the Passover feast. It is an eight-day celebration, begun with the Seder, the Passover Meal. Passover is one of the high holidays---the most holy of days---in the Jewish year. It marks the single most important event in Jewish history, the Exodus from Egypt. And Passover is a joyous celebration. In that event, God delivered a people from oppressive slavery, and called them to be the people that would make this God known to the rest of the world. Celebrate the Passover Seder Service at Northside Drive on Wednesday night, March 27, at 6:45 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Remember, this is a symbolic ceremony, not the actual meal. Please make reservations through Renee Gamache at renee@northsidedrive.org or 404-237-8621.
Maundy Thursday: March 28
The 6:45 PM service of Maundy Thursday in the sanctuary remembers Jesus' last supper with his disciples. To them he gave the commandment to "love one another." Thus, Maundy Thursday is from the Latin, Dies Mandati, or Day of the Mandate. In this quiet evening service we observe a solemn communion service at the rail and own the darkness within ourselves and our need for grace.
It is a Northside Drive tradition to end the Maundy Thursday service with The Office of Tenebrae (Shadows). There are eight scripture readings. The candles in the Passion Cross and on the Chancel will be snuffed. The service will end in darkness.
Good Friday, Noon Until Three: March 29
This is the most somber of all services. One Gospel writer comments that as Jesus died on the cross, "there was darkness from noon until three." Thus, the sanctuary will be open during this time for any who want to spend the afternoon in worship and reflection. The Noon Until Three service contains seven rhythms focused on the seven last words of Christ (a composite from the four Gospels). Each rhythm lasts about twenty minutes and includes a tolling bell, a scripture reading, instrumental music, a brief homily, a prayer, and silence. It is "come and go" or feel free to "come and stay".
Easter Sunday: March 31
What a day of rejoicing it will be! On this day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The choir offers joyous and celebrative music; and before we go, as always, there will be a congregational singing of The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. An Easter Egg Hunt for all children will follow the Worship Service on the church grounds. |
Missions Corner
Andrew P. Stewart Center Celebrates 96 Years in Atlanta
On March 15, 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was assassinated. March 15 also marks the birth of Andrew Jackson (1767), the premier of The Godfather (1972), and Lyndon B. Johnson's address to a joint session of Congress calling for equal voting rights for all people (1965). On March 15, 1917, a group of committed women from the First Baptist Church of Atlanta opened the doors of the Andrew Stewart Day Nursery at 219 Bellwood Avenue (presently Donald Lee Holloway Parkway). Since that day 96 years ago, Atlanta has seen the Great Fire of Atlanta that burned 300 acres and almost 2000 homes, the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., the world premier of Gone with the Wind, the election of Maynard Jackson as the city's first black mayor, the Braves' World Series victory, and the Centennial Olympic Games. While these and other events grabbed headlines throughout the years, the Stewart Center has been faithfully loving and serving under-resourced children in two of the city's most historic and challenging neighborhoods.
In 1916 a group of concerned women began making plans and raising money by giving $1.00 a month to establish a "nursery" to care for needy children in the English Avenue community of Atlanta. Seven children attended the Center on its opening day. In 1919 the Center was given to the Woman's Missionary Union of the Atlanta Baptist Association which owned and operated the ministry until 1995. The Center had two locations in the English Avenue community before moving to the Reynoldstown neighborhood in 1950.
Those that serve today are fortunate to partner with an organization that has had such a profound impact on so many lives for almost 100 years. We are grateful for the founding women, the missionaries that lived at the Center, the children and families that participate in programming, the countless volunteers and staff, and our committed supporters. Today's Stewart Center is the reflection of all these people.
For too long the Center has been one of Atlanta's best kept secrets. It's time for that to change. We are excited about our Book Buddies program that is helping struggling readers achieve proficiency and about the upcoming summer that will see over 100 children participate in camps in the Reynoldstown and Pittsburgh communities.
Northside Drive has provided financial support and been a participant in the Stewart Center activities for many decades. Watch the Pinnacle for ways we can continue to be part of this rich heritage of service. |
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LifeSpan
 Spring quarter begins Thursday, April 7, at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. come join us for educational classes and lunch. A great opportunity for fun and meeting new friends. Brochures are in the Narthex and Fellowship Hall. |
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 Special Opportunity through
Triple E!
April 9, 2013, at 11 AM in the Fellowship Hall
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY--DON'T MISS IT!
Please join us for Triple E on Tuesday, April 9, at 11 AM, to hear Julia Forbes, who is Shannon Landing Amos Head of Museum Interpretation and Digital Engagement for the High Museum, as she brings us a presentation on "Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics, and Painting," a major exhibition of work by Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on view February 14-May 12, 2013. Atlanta's High Museum is the sole U.S. venue for this widely acclaimed show. Come and bring your book clubs, friends, and neighbors. If you would like to stay for lunch at noon, call the church office for a reservation. See you there!
THE EXHIBITION:
Few artists have captured the public's imagination with the force of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and her husband, the Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957). The myths that surrounded them in their lifetimes arose not only from their significant bodies of work, but also from their active participation in the historical happenings of their time. Their work speaks of a fierce loyalty to and pride in Mexico, the ideals of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, and their commitment to the conditions of the common man. The exhibition pairs together works by Kahlo and Rivera chronologically and according to themes, including maternity, Mexican identity and portraiture. While the exhibition positions the artists' work in the political and artistic contexts of their time, "Frida & Diego" also examines the ways their work continues to influence Mexican artists.
THE SPEAKER:
We are delighted to welcome Julia Forbes as our speaker. She has held education positions at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington National Cathedral, the Walters Art Museum, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. She served as the Eastern Region Director in the Education Division of the National Art Education Association, and was honored as the Eastern Museum Educator of the Year for 1998. She has degrees in Art History and Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Master's Degree from the George Washington University in Art History/Museum Training. |
Church Week
EASTER SUNDAY, March 31
9:30 AM - Church School
10:25 AM - Children's Choir
11:00 AM - Morning Worship
12:15 PM - Easter Egg Hunt
12:30 PM - Young Adult Easter Lunch
EASTER MONDAY, April 1
Church Office Closed / Preschool Open
WEDNESDAY, April 3
10:30 AM - Pastor's Bible Study
7:00 PM - Prayer Shawl Ministry
7:30 PM - Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal
THURSDAY, April 4
7:00 PM - TNT
FRI-SUN, April 5-7
Alliance Gathering/Convocation in Greenville, SC
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ALLIANCE OF BAPTIST
GATHERING
(CONVOCATION)
To Register Click Here |
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EASTER MONDAY
(Monday, April 1, 2013)
Church Office Closed
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Preschool Open |
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This Week's
TENDER LOVING
PRAYER (TLP)
List*
Linda Clark
Aline Cofield
Bedford & Louise Davis
Nancy F. Davis
Valerie Landers, Jackie Poole's daughter
*The TLP is a Diaconate ministry. Each week's list contains the names of three NDBC senior adults, plus two or three others who are facing a difficult time. If you would like your name placed on our rotating TLP list, please give the church office a call. |
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APRIL
BIRTHDAYS
Chance Cooper - 1
LeAnna Anantaraman - 3
Anne Hunt - 4
Linda Long - 4
Allen Abbott - 5
Dot Clark - 5
Greg Colson - 6
Kay Braswell - 6
Allison Dick - 6
Letty Konenkamp - 8
Jennifer Sardone - 10
Mary Schwartz - 12
Brian Knight - 12
Zach Stines - 13
Suzanne Clark - 13
Robbye Taylor - 13
Tim Whiffen - 14
Marjorie Rives - 14
Ken Brant - 16
Liam Collins - 16
Glenn Allen - 16
Daniel Moore - 16
Dick Houston - 17
Hardy Pickering - 17
Ryan McClure - 17
Wilton Looney - 18
Claire Maust - 19
Jada Getsay - 20
Heather Bongers - 20
Theresa Goriczynski - 20
Dave Wooten - 21
Patti Clark - 21
Floyd Carroll - 23
Noah Davis - 23
Gerry Humphries - 30
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PASTOR'S WEDNESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
We meet weekly at 10:30-11:30 AM in the church's Conference Room. We study the texts selected in the Revised Common Lectionary for the next Sunday. Large print editions are available each week and for the upcoming week. Discussion is deep and lively. All are invited. |
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(Retired Older Men
Eating Out)
Every 3rd Tuesday of the month from
11:30 AM-1 PM.
A time to visit with friends, tell stories and
eat good food
(bring your lunch money)!
Piccadilly Cafeteria
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"TNT"
(Thursday Nights Together)
People of all ages from NDBC meet
at 7 PM every
Thursday night for dinner.
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YOUNG ADULT:
SMALL GROUP
SUNDAYS
The young adult small group reads a book each month on various faith-related issues. We meet on the third Sunday of the month at 6:30 PM for discussion and then go off campus for dinner together. The small group meets in the Undercroft.
to sign up.
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Come join us on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7 PM, in Room #207, the Parlor, to knit or crochet a prayer shawl. If you are not sure how, no problem, there will be plenty of people to help you get started. This group is open to anyone who would like to join! For more information call Susan Harlan at 770-377-3869. |
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YOUNG ADULT
UNPLUGGED EVENTS
Young Adult Unplugged evenings. These are casual dinners at our homes where Mike will bring the main course and everyone else brings a side item. They are on Friday nights once a month at 7 PM.
If you are interested in attending an Unplugged event contact Zach Bay
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YOUTH LUNCH AFTER CHURCH
The NDBC Youth meet every 2nd Sunday after church to have lunch together. For more information contact Zach Bay at zach@northsidedrive.org.
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YOUTH
Encore! is a once a month youth event on either Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. We focus this time on fellowship, discussion, and/or mission service.
Contact Zach Bay with questions. |
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YOUTH UNDERGROUNDS
The youth café, UNDERGROUNDS, will be open for a light breakfast at 9:30 AM each Sunday. Youth Church School will meet in the newly renovated youth space and will begin at 9:45 AM. |
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THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS BOOK
A copy of the book is in the Narthex for previewing and the cost is only $30. To get your copy, call us at 404-237-8621 or email the church. |
Wi-Fi is now available in the educational building as well as the Fellowship Hall and youth area.
The network is: ndbcwireless The password is: northsidedrive. |
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NORTHSIDE NOTES
ARCHIVES
Did you miss an issue of our Northside Notes?
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THE PAPERLESS PINNACLE
The Pinnacle is emailed as a link to the congregation and is available on the church website at www.northsidedrive.org.
If you would prefer not to receive the Pinnacle by U.S. mail, please call 404-237-8621 or email us at info@northsidedrive.org to let us know. |
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