Scott's Thoughts

 

Grace Presbyterian Church

E-mail bulletin

September 14, 2004

 

Dear Members and Friends of Grace,

 

Hello to you all in the name of our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you are finding rest and joy in Christ this week as you abide in him. And, I trust you are finding his grace sufficient to meet the challenges of each day.

 

Note the following information:

         

           

          Last Lord’s Day (9/12)

 

-         At the special congregational meeting that was held last Sunday, the congregation voted unanimously to approve the following recommendation brought before it by the session:

 

“That the congregation of Grace OPC request the Presbytery of the Southwest to appoint Mr. William Doerfel as an augmentee to the session at Grace indefinitely.”

 

The action was taken to provide for Bill’s ongoing service as an elder at Grace. Since his membership is with the presbytery, and not with any local church, the presbytery needs to approve his service with the session of a local church. We anticipate that presbytery will approve this request and look forward to Bill’s continuing labors for the sake of the church.

 

Wednesday evening prayer meeting (9/15):

 

-         Because of Presbytery meeting this week in Austin, there will be NO prayer meeting this Wednesday evening. We will meet as usual next Wednesday (9/22). For those who have not come to the prayer meeting, I encourage you to come and participate. We sing several hymns, discuss matters for prayer, and join together for a time of prayer. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. each Wednesday and takes place at the Johnsons’ house. Please contact me for more information.

 

         This coming Lord’s Day (9/19):

 

-         Bill Doerfel will teach from chapter 6 of the book of Hebrews for the adult Sunday School.

 

-         We welcome to the pulpit on Sunday morning Rev. Mike Shipma of Knox OPC in Oklahoma City, OK. As Rev. Shipma ministers the Word at Grace, I will be preaching at Knox.

 

-         For the evening worship service, I will preach from 1 Samuel 26:1-27:12, “Saints Who Fail”.

 

Upcoming Lord’s Days:

 

-         Because our family will be on vacation from Sept. 27^th to October 11^th, Grace will have the privilege of hearing guest ministers proclaim the Word of God on October 3^rd and 10^th.

 

-         October 3^rd: In the morning, Rev. Doerfel will fill the pulpit. In the evening, Mr. Dave Guild will lead in a study of the Heidelberg Catechism’s teaching on prayer.

 

-         October 10^th: The Regional Home Missionary of the Presbytery of the Southwest, Rev. Gary Davenport, will teach the adult Sunday School and preach during the morning service. For the evening service, Mr. Dave Guild will continue his study on prayer.

 

Presbytery meeting:

 

-         The Presbytery of the Southwest (OPC) will meet this week, September 16-18 in Austin, Texas. The presbytery is made up of all the teaching elders (pastors and other ministers) and ruling elders from the Orthodox Presbyterian churches of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Pray for wisdom for the elders who will be serving as delegates. Pray also for those from Grace who will be traveling to Austin. To learn more about our presbytery, go to http://austin-opc.net/opcsouthwest. 

 

Care Net Pregnancy Center of Norman:

 

-         The Care Net Banquet 2004, “Beauty for Ashes”, will be held on September 16 at 6:30 p.m. The key note speaker is Lisa Nunley. Call 579-4673 for a complimentary reservation. The Care Net Pregnancy Center of Norman “expresses the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the gospel and providing practical assistance in the areas of sexuality, pregnancy and post-abortion trauma” (from their Mission Statement).

 

Eric Pyle’s work with Wycliffe Bible Translators:

 

-         You can view Eric’s latest newsletter at: http://opcnorman.org/Wycliffe/ericpyle/newsletters/heart_lang_exp_jun04.pdf. Pray for Eric’s continuing support-raising efforts. 

 

            College students:

 

-         The Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) of OU is hosting a Fall Conference for area university students September 24-26. To find out more, visit RUF’s website at http://www.ouruf.org or contact Rev. Doug Serven at dserven@ruf.org or 405-812-8758. Many of you know Rev. Serven from his having preached at Grace many times in the past. He is the RUF minister to Norman’s OU community.

 

OKC Reformed Conference:

 

-         Grace Presbyterian will be assisting in the planning and running of the next Oklahoma City Reformed Conference coming up in October (the 29^th and 30^th). The speaker at this year’s conference will be Jim Elliff, a former pastor and currently president of Christian Communications Worldwide. I volunteered our congregation to help with “Program Overseer Responsibilities”. Here are some ways that you can serve:

 

- Hymn leader

                             - Usher

                             - Setting up and manning the registration table

 

Please let me know if you would be interested in taking on any of these responsibilities.

 

-         Be sure to visit http://reformokc.com/. Here you’ll find more information about the conference. You’ll also find a link to a short article on “Solus Christus” (Christ Alone) that I wrote for the website.

 

Voter registration:

 

-         If you are not already registered to vote in Oklahoma for the upcoming elections in November, there are voter registration applications available on the literature rack in the narthex of the church. While Grace does not endorse any specific party or candidate, I certainly encourage you to exercise your right and privilege to take part in the election of our civil authorities.

 

 

 

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

 

 

 

 

Pastor Scott Johnson

Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC)

Norman, Oklahoma

Visit our website: www.opcNorman.org