September 2, 2022
Dear Peace Members and Friends,
I began writing this from under the English Channel! For an old train guy like me, it’s still fun to travel this way (especially on much, much faster trains than those I worked on! 186 mph!). After a whirlwind drive through southern Ireland and a brief time in Paris, Marcie and I are on our way to London. It’s been a wonderful vacation and a fun time away.
I do hope that those of you who are in town will be in worship on Sunday. It will be the last sermon in a series, “Stories Jesus Told About Himself” with one of the most famous parables of all. Let Pastor Joe preview it himself: “The story of the Prodigal Son,” he writes, “is one of the most well-known parables Jesus tells. Yet, as that title infers, the father seldom gets as much attention. But the father’s responses to his sons—full of grace, full of joy—is otherworldly. No one can believe it, and that’s exactly the point! God’s love is bigger and better than any of us could ever imagine, and that’s a very good thing. Together, we’ll find that this is a story about who God is: A loving father, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” Come join us!
We’ll be home on Labor Day and I’m looking forward to beginning the fall season of ministry together, Gathering Sunday, September 11. In particular, the fall sermon series and Wednesday evening Bible study, “Great Stories of the Bible”; a guest speaker on two Sunday morning Adult Education sessions discussing “resilience” and another multi-Sunday series on “food and hunger”; fellowship and a fall of youth and family ministry.
I will see you soon. In the meantime, a good Labor Day weekend to you all and God’s grace and peace to you all!
Mark