Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Linda Pokrajac - "The Polar Bear Picnic"

Links:

 

Messages of Grace

(Past Recorded Sermons) 













 
This Sunday
Sept. 18, 2016



Sermon Title:
"In Him, It's Who You Are"
The Start of Something New

"Behold, I am making everything new!"
Revelation 21:5 



Scripture:
2 Corinthians
5:11, 14-21
 




Linda Pokrajac
September 18, 2016
 
Dear MLEPC Family and Friends:
 
We started off our Family Fusion season last night with our All-Church Picnic on the roof, and I was reminded of an event that occurred for many years at our previous church. We have a fellowship of friends from that church who continue to gather several times a year for socials, even though the church has closed and the members dispersed to several different churches. Huddled between two former members of the church last night during our rooftop worship service, each one leaned over to me at a different time and said, "this reminds me of The Polar Bear Picnic," one social we eliminated as we and our children grew older. Each year, we'd plan a picnic in the fall in a local park to enjoy sweatshirt weather and the colorful beauty of autumn. For one such picnic back in the 1980's, it was so cold there were snow flurries predicted for later in the evening! The minister at the time named the event "The Polar Bear Picnic" and it was called that each ensuing year regardless of the weather. The Polar Bear Picnic was an appropriate description of last evening's picnic as the weather was windy, cloudy, and cold. A day that started out with sunshine and summer weather quickly changed into fall when rain and a cold front came through midafternoon.
 
As I looked over the large group of people, from children to older adults, who braved the elements to worship together after dinner, I felt warm inside. Earlier, I walked through the tables and felt that same warm feeling as I saw clusters of friends sitting among new faces at table at mealtime. Fall at MLEPC means another season of Family Fusion and with it the awesome opportunity for our church family to live out our mission statement. We have the opportunity to reach upward to God in worship, and this fall our worship time will center around the topic, "Now That's a Good Question." Pastor Tim previewed the series by sharing his testimony and several of many good questions that appear throughout scripture. As the church family gathers around table at dinner, we continue the tradition of reaching inward to each other in fellowship. As we are intentional about welcoming the new faces among us, we reach outward in witness, and as teams prepare and serve dinner, we are reaching outward in service. I welcome the coming of autumn and its colorful display of God's handiwork, and I'm looking forward to what God will do in this season of Family Fusion. Join us next week, but in the warm Fellowship Hall . . . not on the roof!
 
Love, in Christ
 
Linda Pokrajac, Director of Congregational Care

Having Trouble Viewing the Clip Art?

 

If you are having trouble viewing the clip art on this Pastoral E-Letter, please go to the top of the page and click where it reads "Click Here." If you have Outlook, please right click in the image block and "download pictures."