Holy Habit: Living the Question

Over the course of this next week, set aside time each day to ponder the six questions below. You might even consider journaling your responses or reflecting on your responses with a trusted friend. On the seventh day, spend some time pondering how God is seeking to speak to you through these questions.

Were there any questions that you would have liked to respond to differently? Is God calling you to live the question in a new way? How might these "good questions" serve as "seeds to be planted toward the greening of the landscape of faith," even as we remember the words of Jesus: Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it does, it produces many seeds (John 12:24).

Six Questions:

-          Who is your Lord? When everything is said and done, whose agenda are you really following?

-          Who are you? At the beginning of each day do you wake up knowing that you'll have to go out and win your share of security and significance or can you truly say that those are priceless gifts you have already received from God?

-          Who is your Barnabas? Who is your spiritual mentor, the one from whom you are learning to follow Jesus?

-          Who is your Timothy? Who is your apprentice, the one to whom you are passing on the lessons that God has entrusted to you?

-          Where is your Antioch? What small cadre of special friends is helping you to discern God's special direction for your life?

-          Where is your Macedonia? What field of work is most closely aligned with God's call on your life and hauntingly stirs your deepest passions?

Source: The Disciplemaking Church

From the Clerk's Desk:

Please include in your prayers to hold up all those around the world who are suffering from natural disasters. I do not subscribe to the theory that these should be called "acts of God." I do believe that God mourns along with us and calls us to respond however we can, as individuals and as congregations, to alleviate some of that suffering. Your generous financial support of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Church World Service helps to dispel our feelings of helplessness. I encourage you to let your children know how we all can help--this sends a message to our children that every act of kindness and compassion makes a difference.

Our next presbytery gathering will be on Saturday, September 29^th, at Christ Presbyterian Church in Canton. I hope that each person attending will bring large jars of peanut butter and jelly to help stock the shelves of the church's community food distribution program that serves ever-increasing numbers of hungry children and adults.

Transitional Stated Clerk's Weekly Update from 8/23 

Applications for 2012 grants from the MVP 2 Cents A Meal fund will be accepted at the MVP Mission Center through Monday, October 15, 2012. The application form is available on the MVP web site (see Forms-Miscellaneous). Please be sure to fully describe the program for which funds are requested (number of people served, involvement of other churches/community organizations...) and the difference a 2 Cents A Meal grant would make (new program start-up, expansion, matching funds...).

The application must be signed by the clerk of session and the pastor/moderator of the sponsoring church. Incomplete applications or those received after Monday, October 15 cannot be considered. Awards will be announced at the MVP stated meeting on Tuesday, November 27 at the College Drive church in New Concord.

2 Cents a Meal Grant (.PDF) 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;^* this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.^{* 27}Guided by the Spirit, Simeon^* came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸Simeon^* took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

²⁹ 'Master, now you are dismissing your servant^* in peace,
   according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹   which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles
   and for glory to your people Israel.'

33And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. ³⁴Then Simeon^* blessed them and said to his mother Mary, 'This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-and a sword will pierce your own soul too.'

Prayer in the Spirit within Simeon  

Pray in the Spirit that held Simeon for many years of hopeful waiting, faithful service, and righteous living.  

Pray in the Spirit of the tradition that provides us a structure to be in the position to hold Christ when he came in a new and tender way.

Pray in the Spirit that inspires one to be watchful, opens one's eyes to see, and gives the light by which Christ is revealed.

Pray in the Spirit that strengthens us to hold together the challenges of faith:

• The rising and falling of all
• The piercing of the heart of love & the promise of love revealed
• Some will choose dark ways over the ways of light. Some will choose light.

Pray in the Spirit that helps us depart in peace; to let go of the challenges of life, knowing we have done our part, the light has come, and the world is in God's hands. Our work is done.  

If Simeon's prayer is a guide for us to live daily in the Spirit of hope and courage and not in a spirit of impatience and anxiety, how would our lives as spiritual leaders look?

These are on the regular menu in study and fellowship groups, thanks to God's grace and the Spirit's power. Thriving disciples need a steady diet of them, too. You need not dine alone! Here's what's on the adult table this fall. If your discipleship whets your appetite for something you don't see, talk with an elder or me.  

• Bible study - digests a book of the Bible (currently Genesis) chapter by chapter-Tuesday mornings,10:30 a.m., Gaylord Hall-contact Sherry Marshall
• This We Believe - chews on "truths Presbyterians affirm" picking up with chapter 5-2nd & 4th Wednesdays, 7 p.m., Gaylord Hall-contact Pastor Barbara
• Men's Fellowship - savors friendship, fun, & food along with enriching programs-3rd Thursdays, 7 p.m., Gaylord Hall-contact Howard Troutner
• Women's Fellowship - relishes a buffet of programs, creative projects, & service-3rd Wednesdays, 1 p.m., Gaylord Hall-contact Sandy Hall
• Learning Hour - nibbles from a smorgasbord of scriptural & spiritual topics-Sundays, 10 a.m., Deerfield - contact Ruth Orr