Dear Peace members and friends,
A blessed and good fall Friday morning to all of you! I’m looking forward to Sunday…..for many reasons.
There’s worship, for one. Worshipping together is at the center of everything we do at Peace. It is, simply, why we exist. Taking time to thank God for all our blessings, refresh our faith for the week ahead, and be in community with one another sustains both you as an individual and all of us as a congregation. The time we spend together in worship encourages us for our life in the world all week long.
Think of this all that is going on Sunday. Third graders—Emma Byers, Storer Cadman, Harrison Erdahl, Myra Hanson, Stella Loeffler, Miralinda Marinero, Max Sidhom, Luke Toppin, and Wyatt Tschida—will receive their very own Bibles; God’s Word that will encourage and inform them as they grow up. I’m so appreciative of these young people, along with their faithful and caring parents who honor their baptismal promises to bring up their children in the church and sacrifice time and effort to do so. Thanks be to God and take a bow, each and every one of you!
Not only a Bible gifting but the Lord’s Supper, the Peace Choir, a reminder of the life-giving results of your Sunday offerings in our shared ministry with Loaves and Fishes, and the last message of a sermon series on Church and Community. I’ll take on an attitude and affliction that strikes at both the heart of our relationships with others in the Church and our relating with those outside the church in a message entitled, “The Courage to Be Well,” review the Apostle Paul’s instructions to us about life together and our life relating to those outside the church, say something about our life both with one another in the church and how we relate to those outside the church.
But that’s still not all! Along with Sunday School for the children, there will be Adult Education (10:45am) in the Fellowship Hall. We’ll continue a 3-part discussion on “Teen Mental Health.” Guest speaker, Sandy Mortensen, formerly with Bloomington Public Schools and currently with Next Adventure Counseling and Consulting, will be with us to discuss this important issue. Again, whether you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle, or just concerned about our children, this session will be valuable for all.
Yes, there are a lot of reasons to be in worship together! Thank you for being in worship together, for your generous support, and for all you do to help Peace be the church God wants us to be and the world needs us to be.
See you Sunday!
Mark