Scott's Thoughts

 

Grace Presbyterian Church

E-mail bulletin

July 20, 2005

 

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

(Augustus M. Toplady, “Rock of Ages”)

 

 

 

Dear Members and Friends of Grace,

 

Greetings in the name of Savior! In our Sunday School study of “The Christian Life”, we have been reminded again and again of God’s sovereign grace towards us: he called us out of sin and darkness, he enlightened our hearts so that we could perceive the mercies of Christ in the gospel, and he has given us new birth that we might embrace Christ by faith and receive all the spiritual blessings of salvation and life that are found only in him. I hope your hearts are encouraged this day as you reflect upon the riches of God’s kindness toward you in Christ Jesus.

 

Please note the following information:

 

          This evening (Wednesday, July 20^th):

 

-         The Wednesday evening prayer meeting will meet at our house at 7:00 p.m. Please let me know if there are any matters for prayer or thanksgiving that we can include in our time of prayer.

 

 Saturday, July 23^rd:

 

-         Remember in your prayers those going to the presbytery’s Young People’s Camp: Marilyn Doerfel, John and Jordan Doerfel, and Eric Pyle.

 

This coming Lord’s Day, July 24^th:

 

-         The adult Sunday School class will continue its study of the “The Christian Life” by Sinclair Ferguson. We will conclude our consideration of the Holy Spirit’s work in the conviction of sin, and will begin looking at the biblical teaching on the new birth, or Regeneration.

 

-         The morning sermon will be from Colossians 3:18, 19.

 

-         At the evening service, I will speak on peace, the third fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

 

Pastor’s vacation:

 

-         Robyn, Sander, and I will be away from July 25^th to August 1^st. We will be in Wasilla, Alaska. I was asked to give the messages for an OPC family church camp that week. Please pray for safe travel, and for an encouraging time there. If you have any pastoral needs during that week, please call one of our elders: Bill Doerfel (364-0830), or Dave Guild (605-2440).

 

Next Lord’s Day, July 31^st:

 

-         Rev. Bill Doerfel will fill the pulpit for the morning service, and Dave Guild will teach Sunday School that day.

 

-         Joint hymn sing: For the evening service of July 31^st, the people of Grace will meet with other area churches for a joint hymn sing. It will be held at New Covenant Bible Church in Oklahoma City (directions to follow).

 

Eric Pyle’s work with Wycliffe Bible Translators:

 

-         Read Eric’s latest e-mail update concerning his work as a software developer for Wycliffe:

 

http://www.opcnorman.org/blogs/EricPyle/archives/2005/06/16/20.43.36/

 

Website update:

 

-         Eric Pyle has updated our church’s website, www.opcNorman.org. The messages and Sunday School lessons up to July 10^th are now available online.

 

Opportunities for service:

 

-         Grace Presbyterian will again be involved with the annual Oklahoma City Conference on Reformed Theology. The conference dates are Sept. 30^th and Oct. 1^st, and the speaker is Dr. Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary in California. You may have heard his radio program, “The White Horse Inn”, or be familiar with the magazine he edits, “Modern Reformation” (Dr. Horton also happens to be Faithann Basore’s uncle). Volunteers are needed to help with registration, ushering, and other types of service. Please call me if you would like to help in any way with the planning and running of the conference. For more information on the conference, go to: www.reformokc.com.

 

-         Volunteers are needed to clean the church building for October and November. Please contact me if you would like to serve in this way, or sign the sign-up sheet at the church.

 

-         We will have an opportunity for outreach to the University of Oklahoma community on Friday, August 19^th. The event is called Norman Sooner Kickoff, and we will have a table set up with Reformed literature and church information to hand out to the incoming freshmen class. We will also distribute to the students bookmarks with information about Grace Presbyterian. When we did this last year, it proved to be a very good opportunity to meet many people new to the area and invite them to our services. Let me know if you would like to participate in this outreach.

 

Baseball night:

 

-         We are planning a group outing to watch an Oklahoma Redhawks baseball game. The date is tentatively set for Tuesday, August 16^th. Please let me know if you are interested in attending, or if you would like to attend but that date wouldn’t work for some reason.

 

OPC Fall Retreat:

 

-         There will be a fall retreat for families and singles on October 14^th and 15^th at Shady Lakes Ranch in Cleburne, Texas. Activities include a fishing derby, boating, hayrides, a bonfire, softball, volleyball, a children’s Olympics, and “folf” (Frisbee golf). Fees are $30.00 per adult, and $15.00 per child 6-11 years old (children 1-5 are free). The fee includes meals and lodging. You can take a virtual tour of the retreat site by going to www.shadylakesranch.com. Please contact me for more information (it sounds like fun!).

 

 

 

 

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

 

 

 

 

Pastor Scott Johnson

Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC)

Norman, Oklahoma

Visit our website: www.opcNorman.org

church: 405-321-5220

home: 405-321-6151