Here I am again after many years. I will be walking in the footsteps of a most capable and organized Moderator. I will do my best to continue the traditions he has started while adding my own touch. I want to thank Mike Zebulske for his leadership and organization. He has calmly led us through a very difficult time in our church history.
As our Sunday Bulletin for January 24 states, “We are a resurrection people. This means that as Christians we understand as the most important tenet of our faith that something old must pass away in order for something new to be born.” I do not mean to say that Mike is old, only that he has led us to many new things! We have participated in virtual services, ZOOM coffee hours and meetings and a new Pastor! He has led, others have contributed (we are so blessed to have Sarah and Aaron Staebell in our midst!) and we have survived! One day, I am going to ask Susan Hayward to help me find out if we have any minutes or notes from 1918, to see how the church handled the Spanish Flu Pandemic. Blessings to you Mike for getting us through this far, I will try to move us on.
Welcome to Pastor Bradley! We are all still getting acquainted, he seems a brave and insightful young man. We will try to train him up right!
In the midst of all of the political happenings recently, I heard an interview with one of the newly elected Senators from Georgia, Reverend Raphael Warnock. He is the current Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (Martin Luther King’s pulpit) and he plans to continue his work there while serving in the United States Senate. The interviewer was asking him about that, “How do you plan to continue?” and “Tell me about your Christianity”. Reverend Warnock replied that he was a “Matthew 25 Christian”.
I wondered what he meant by that, so I went to Matthew 25 to see if I could figure it out. WOW! That is a chapter packed with good stuff! It begins with the story of the bridegroom and bridesmaids who needed to be prepared with oil for their lamps; continues with the landowner who gave talents to his workers, some who invested their talents and one who did not and so did not increase the profits for the landowner; then the warning that the Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats when he ascends the throne and ends with “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I want Parma Greece UCC to be filled with people who give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned. God, give us strength to do so.
Ann
As our Sunday Bulletin for January 24 states, “We are a resurrection people. This means that as Christians we understand as the most important tenet of our faith that something old must pass away in order for something new to be born.” I do not mean to say that Mike is old, only that he has led us to many new things! We have participated in virtual services, ZOOM coffee hours and meetings and a new Pastor! He has led, others have contributed (we are so blessed to have Sarah and Aaron Staebell in our midst!) and we have survived! One day, I am going to ask Susan Hayward to help me find out if we have any minutes or notes from 1918, to see how the church handled the Spanish Flu Pandemic. Blessings to you Mike for getting us through this far, I will try to move us on.
Welcome to Pastor Bradley! We are all still getting acquainted, he seems a brave and insightful young man. We will try to train him up right!
In the midst of all of the political happenings recently, I heard an interview with one of the newly elected Senators from Georgia, Reverend Raphael Warnock. He is the current Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (Martin Luther King’s pulpit) and he plans to continue his work there while serving in the United States Senate. The interviewer was asking him about that, “How do you plan to continue?” and “Tell me about your Christianity”. Reverend Warnock replied that he was a “Matthew 25 Christian”.
I wondered what he meant by that, so I went to Matthew 25 to see if I could figure it out. WOW! That is a chapter packed with good stuff! It begins with the story of the bridegroom and bridesmaids who needed to be prepared with oil for their lamps; continues with the landowner who gave talents to his workers, some who invested their talents and one who did not and so did not increase the profits for the landowner; then the warning that the Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats when he ascends the throne and ends with “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I want Parma Greece UCC to be filled with people who give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned. God, give us strength to do so.
Ann