These blessings come at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount. They are the “opening slide” of his PowerPoint. They are the statement of purpose, the vision, the broad stroke. He utters these before he talks specifics about behaviors, gives instructions, before the idea of obedience or disobedience is introduced, before he tells stories like the Prodigal Son, Good Samaritan and workers in the field that we have read recently in worship. Continue Reading »
Throughout the first nine months of 2008, Four Explorer Teams worked to bring recommendations and ideas to the Leadership Team regarding the church’s future programming, leadership, and facility. The Leadership Team is excited to present a draft Next Generation Initiative proposal for congregational discussion and action. We encourage and invite all members to participate in one of the following opportunities for discussion on this exciting proposal to expand and improve our programming & facilities in order to strengthen and deepen our faith.
December 14 at 9 a.m. – Second Presentation of proposal with discussion January 4th at 9 a.m. – Discussion of proposal January 4th at 11:15 – Discussion of proposal
*Additional discussion opportunities are being offered for each Ministry and the Over 55 group. If one of these opportunities for discussion does not work with you or your group in the church, please contact John Lemke for alternate plans. January 25th – Congregational Action on Leadership Team proposal at Annual Meeting
Here are the full reports from each of the FOUR explorer Teams:
On Sunday, November 10 the Search committee met for the first time. At the meeting, Association Minister Rev. Bob Mutton outlined the hiring process. A poster showing the process step and our progress is in the hallway leading to the kitchen. An important next step will be the creation of a congregational description or profile for candidates to consider along with the job description.
Everyone should feel free to contact committee members with questions or suggestions. Committee members are:
Preached by Winton Boyd on November 16, 2008
Matthew 20:1-16 (Contemporary English Version) – full text at the end of this sermon.
As we work our way through this sermon series on the essential stories of the bible, this one about the workers in the vineyard – is probably the least popular of the one of the three parables of Jesus we are addressing (the Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan being the other two). It is a bit more problematic. Continue Reading »
My hunch is that if we, as a group, were asked to name a story that most defines the lifestyle of Christians, the parable of the Good Samaritan would be among those stories. It is among the most familiar stories of the Bible, even for those who don’t read the Bible or go to church.
While a lovely story, the fact that we know it so well has its downsides. Continue Reading »
Sunday Worship
Sunday Morning Schedule 9:00 am : Education for all ages; nursery care 10:00 am : Worship, Music program for children through 7th grade; nursery care Directions to ORUCC
