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Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
| Weekly News For
Sunday, August 30, 2015 | |
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Friends,
Every college student knows there are usually two ways to register for courses, in order to earn credit: letter grade or pass/fail. There are stereotypes associated with each option.
Students who go for the letter grade are thought to be more competitive, more driven to succeed. Those who prefer pass/fail, on the other hand, are often tarred with the "slacker" label.
The stereotypes are inaccurate and unfair. Sure, with pass/fail, there's the option of cutting class more often and scrimping on the reading. All you have to do to get that "P" on the transcript is to deliver marginally-satisfactory work. Yet, some students opt for pass/fail for different reasons. They do it precisely because they're interested in the material and strongly motivated to learn. The approbation of earning an "A" means little to them. Their desire to learn is motivation enough.
In his Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus contrasts two men who have very different motivations for worshiping in the Temple. One, a Pharisee, is proud of his ability to earn high grades for his religious devotion. The other, a tax collector - a man his community shuns as a sinner because of his collaboration with the Roman occupiers - is grateful for an opportunity to pass (and is not entirely sure he will).
So, how does God grade us for living the Christian life? Does God even grade us at all? If so, by what standard?
These are the questions we'll consider this Sunday as we unpack this well-known parable. We'll discover that its two characters are more complex than the stereotypes suggest. And maybe we'll see something of ourselves in the story, as well.
Pastor Carl
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Sunday, August 30, 2015
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 18:9-14
Dr. Wilton preaching: "SORRY, LIFE IS PASS/FAIL"
10:00 a.m. - Worship 11:00 a.m. - Congrgational Meeting
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will take place this Sunday, August 30th, at 11:00 am, for the purpose of acting on a report from the Nominating Committee. The committee will be nominating Ruling Elder Frank Jones for the Session, Class of 2017, and Deacon Chris Cook for the Board of Deacons, Class of 2018.
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"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6
The Prayer Person for the week of August 30 is Barbara Griggs. Let us be prayerfully aware of Barbara, as well as all our members and friends.
Prayer concerns: The family of Mildred Haeni; Carol Clayton; Vincent DeMartino; Lois Francello; Ethel Lemke (mother of Carole Smith); Jacob Mendelsohn; Joanne McGuire; Kelly Romanowski; Courtney Norton Rzeplinski; Bill Shoppell.
Long term concerns: David Allen; Bill Blauvelt (Jacque Thornton's brother in law); Fred Bierach; Jules Bierach, Jr; Kathryn Feldman (Bill Shoppell's sister); Elise Cason; George Griffiths (Cousin of Heidi Steinert); Nicholas Hudnut; Robbie Mangan (Uncle of Kerry Jones); Margie McGhee; Jane Millar; Maureen Oakley (Aunt of Heidi Steinert); Cherisse Petruzzi; Edith Pula; Gemma Roberts; Nancy Smith; Gail Ward; those struggling with addictions and mental illness.
Military: Michael Limpantsis; Matthew Warren; all those in the military.
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COFFEE HOUR - Please join us for coffee hour this Sunday as we following Sunday's service. We are in need of people to host coffee hour in the Fall. There are simple guidelines for hosting coffee hour. A sign up sheet is in the church kitchen.
BAPTISMS - Baptisms will take place on Sunday, September 20 at the 10:00 a.m. worship service. Ordinarily, at least one parent must be a member of PPPC. For more information, please call the Church Office.
DEACONS WILL BE MEETING THIS WEEK - August 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Room. Please speak with Dee D'Amore if you are unable to attend.
A REQUEST FROM THE DEACONS - We who serve on the Board of Deacons are ever grateful for our congregation's continued monetary support as we offer emergency financial assistance to those in need. If you are in a position to help the Deacons, please consider making a donation next Sunday, September 6 (Communion Sunday) using the Deacons Fund envelopes in the pews. In making a donation, you will be helping people directly and immediately through the Deacons' vital ministry. Thank you. The Board of Deacons
MONEY SAVING TIP - Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes and Church World Service School Kits will be collected in a few months. Why not take advantage of back-to-school supplies sales now and pick up your items!
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Rally Day 2015
Attention, attention! We are doing a new thing at PPPC for Rally Day this year. Our focus will be on our children and youth ministries which include Sunday school, Youth Connection and Dove Choir. We will be hearing from our young people and the leaders of each ministry as they talk about what excites them about being part of the childrens and youth programs here at PPPC.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
On September 13, Rally Day,
WORSHIP WILL BE IN THE ANNEX at 10 am.
It will be a Spirit filled, Spirit-led worship helping all of us to get "pumped" for the new programs in the church. Following the worship service there will be BBQ for everyone, also in the Annex. Come and worship together. Come support our young people. Come.
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CHOIR OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL - Point Pleasant Presbyterian is blessed with a wonderful music ministry. There's a place for EVERYONE, young or old, to make a joyful noise to the Lord!
Calling all children to join the Dove Choir! Rehearsals begin Wednesday, September 9 from 5:00-5:45 p.m. during the school year. All children ages 3 to 15 are invited to join. Dove Choir kids learn to sing, read music and perform in a traditional children's choir. If you're interested in seeing your kids enjoy this great musical experience, please plan to bring them to rehearsals every Wednesday from 5:00-5:45. For further information please email Dove Choir director Rebecca Muraglia or call her at 732-551-7115. Chancel Choir rehearsals begin Thursday, September 10, at 7:30 p.m. We extend a warm, ongoing invitation, to anyone who likes to sing, to come and join us. If a full-year commitment does not fit your schedule, please consider joining us in the Fall until Christmas; or, join us in the New Year until Easter. For more information on the choir, please speak with Bill Shoppell or call the Church Office.
The Choral Bells is our handbell choir. The first rehearsal will be Monday, September 14, at 6:15 p.m. in the Fellowship Room. Rehearsals are every Monday evening, 6:15-7:30. The Choral Bells enrich our Sunday worship approximately every other month, about five times a year. There's great camaraderie among the Choral Bells members. Potential ringers must have the ability to read music. Beginners are VERY WELCOME, even if you've never picked up a handbell before. There are lots of experienced ringers who can teach you. Both men and women are welcome! Bell-ringing is FUN! Please contact Bill Shoppell at 732-223-6274 for more information on the Chancel Choir and Choral Bells.
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Parents, please mark
your calendar for the start of Sunday School, which is:
Rally Day
September 13th
We'll be having a special, kid-friendly worship service
at 10:00 am,
followed by a barbecue lunch!
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Letter from Mexico
 From a June, 2015 letter from Mark Adams and Miriam Maldonado Escobar, PC(USA) mission workers along the Mexico/U.S. Border:
We are privileged to have Iglesia Presbiteriana Lirio de los Valles as a strong church partner of Frontera de Cristo, the ministry with whom we serve.... The church and their leaders are committed to binational ministry and to continuing to live as sisters and brothers and seeking to discern how God is calling us to be in ministry in the borderlands. We are also very grateful for the privilege to have accompanied, prayed with and cried with them as they have dealt with great adversity. Yet, in the midst of all of the challenges the church has faced, we have been amazed by their faith and trust in God "who entered fully into the suffering of the world in Jesus and knows our suffering." In the midst of what could have turned them inward, they have chosen the text "Called to Serve, Not to Be Served" as their theme for the year....
 A single mother of Lirio de los Valles, abandoned by her husband, shared a vision of providing welcome and a safe place for women, men and children who were being returned to Mexico from the United States. In June the Migrant Resource Center will celebrate its 9th anniversary. Over those nine years more than 85,000 men, women and children have received blessing in the midst of their suffering. Rosita, a woman who had returned home to Mexico from the U.S. to visit her dying mother, arrived at the Center after having failed in her attempt to return to the U.S., her home for the past 12 years, to be reunited with her husband and children. She broke down in tears and gave thanks to God: "I never would have imagined having a welcome like this . . . it's like a mother's embrace."
Eduardo, a displaced coffee farmer, arrived limping at the Lirio de los Valles sanctuary-scraped, battered and bruised after an unsuccessful attempt to enter the U.S. He shared that "to leave our land is to suffer . . . but if we could only control our coffee we could stay on our land." This year Cafe Justo will celebrate its 13th anniversary and the vision of Eduardo has helped allow over 200 families in four communities to stay on and/or return to their land. Eri, one of the founders of Café Justo, shared: "I give thanks to God for the suffering we experienced, because now we experience more profoundly the joy of what God is doing in our community."
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Here are the upcoming volunteer groups who will be staying in the Volunteer Village this fall:
Sunday, Oct 4 - Helping Hands of Lehigh Presbytery, PA and First Presbyterian Church, Warren, PA
Sunday, Oct 11 - Lend A Hand, Carlisle, PA
Sunday, Oct 18 - Scioto Valley Presbytery, Columbus, OH
Sunday, Oct 25 - Crossroads Presbyterian Church
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A 5-minute video from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), depicting some of the wonderful people who give a week of their time to stay in our
Volunteer Village (and other sites like ours,
around the country).
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CHURCH CALENDAR - The latest edition of the church calendar is available online, on the church's website. 
Sunday, August 30
IHN Departs
10:00 a.m. - Worship
11:00 a.m. - Congregational Meeting
Monday, August 31
6:30 p.m. - Princeton Review SAT class, Chittick Lounge
7:00 p.m. - Deacons Meeting, Fellowship Room
Tuesday, Sept 1
9:30 a.m. - Busy Hands, Fellowship Room
Wednesday, Sept 2
9:00 a.m. - Women's Breakfast at the Rainbow Diner
6:30 p.m. - Princeton Review SAT class, Chittick Lounge
Thursday, Sept 3
8:00 a.m. - Men's Breakfast at US Subs
Friday, Sept 4
Saturday, Sept 5
Sunday, Sept 6
10:00 a.m. - Worship with Communion
11:00 a.m. - Sundae Sunday
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 Birthday Blessings
Aug 30 Lynn Hahm
Aug 31 Elaine Flannelly, Lisa Van Winkle
Sept 1 Sept 2 Sept 3 Sept 4 Laura Desiderio, Christa Lomuscio, Rebecca Muraglia Sept 5 Nicholas Duino Sept 6 Connie Curtis, Charles Vitale, Jack Vitale Sept 7 Glenavie Gauer, Connor Kells, Mark McDermitt Sept 8 Claire Meany, Susan Findlay Sept 9 Elaine Conheeney, Karissa Leek-Clayton, Shirley Young-Callari Sept 10 Tyler Johnson, Lois Lang, Evelyn Leach, Louis Pazienza Sept 11 Kiera King Sept 12 Virginia Claeys, Melissa Erb, Todd Ferry, Christine Hamilton Sept 13 Thomas Crawley, James Scott Sept 14 Sue Perkowski Sept 15 Heather Rice Sept 16 Susan Reilly Sept 17 Dane Bongiovi, Jacklyn Cutting, Donald Williams Sept 18 Kevin Conheeney, Jack Tolley Sept 19 Chase Lovgren, Joan Whitman Sept 20 Kaitlyn McKay, Paula Pennypacker Sept 21 Sept 22 Sept 23 Kate Norby, Logan Milancewich, Jessica Pazienza Sept 24 Sept 25 Sept 26 John Brzyski Jr., Katherine Durante, Robin Fiorentino Sept 27 Sept 28 Quintessa Baker Sept 29 Rylie Rampone, Leigh Reinwald Sept 30 Donna Fahey, Dalton Garner, Taylor Van Wagenen
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Start Up Dates in the Fall
August 31 - Deacons Meeting 7:00 p.m.
September 9 - Dove Choir Rehearsals Begin
September 10 - Chancel Choir Rehearsals Begin
September 11 - Point Beach Prep Orientation
September 13 - Rally Day
September 14 - Choral Bell Rehearsals Begin
September 15 - Session Meeting
September 16, 7:30 - "GRIEVING WITH HOPE" Sandy Survivor Group Begins
September 20 - Youth Connection Begins
September 20 - Sunday School Begins
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Pastors
The Rev. Carl Wilton, Ph.D., Pastor
The Rev. Linda Chase, Associate Pastor
Office Staff
Kim Gaydos, Church Secretary
Donna Ferry, Financial Secretary
Dee D'Amore, Volunteer Village Bookkeeper
Music Staff
Sara Hoey, Organist
William Shoppell, Chancel Choir and Choral Bells Director
Rebecca Muraglia, Acting Dove Choir Director
Christian Education Staff
Courtney Rzeplinski, Youth Connection Coordinator
Tricia Stoffers, Sunday School Coordinator
Devlin House, Point Beach Prep Preschool Director
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