Shippensburg First Church Of God Blog Site: Prayer need, Church Picnic, and SFCOG updates for Sept 10

Sunday is Coming, and so is our Church Picnic!

But first…

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

I realized that as I began to reflect more intently on prayer for this sermon series about Jesus’ instructions concerning prayer, I have been presented with many situations needing extra prayer. Here is one situation in particular for which I invite our church family to unite our hearts in prayer—

Please pray for Pastor Gary, who is now in Chambersburg Hospital facing severe pancreatitis. He will face several tests and procedures today and will likely be in the hospital for several days. Continue to pray for Joyce as well, as she supports Gary through this uncertain time. May God’s will be done in Pastor Gary’s Life today.

On Sunday, plan to join us at Memorial Park at 10:00am for our combined worship service and picnic--

We will not be in the sanctuary (or online) this Sunday, but we will be out in the community at Memorial Park. We will have a combined worship service at 10:00am, followed by a picnic lunch and some followship opportunities, including a Corn Hole Tournament!

At the Church Picnic, we will get to enjoy many wonderful things that can all be connected to different themes from The Lord’s Prayer—

We will be together as a Church Family, Worshipping our Heavenly Father
We will be surrounded by the beauty of our Holy God’s Good Creation
We will be out on our community as a beautiful representation of God’s Kingdom Coming, and His will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven
We will “Break Bread” together in fellowship, as a reminder that all good things come from our Heavenly Father

Last week we began studying the Lord’s Prayer together as found in Matthew 6. We considered how Jesus taught us to pray, addressing our Holy, Heavenly God as our Personal Father.

Before the words of the famous Lord’s Prayer Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:8, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” This underscores the fact that--while it is good and right to go to God with every need and request that we have because he is our loving heavenly father--it also reminds us that praying to our heavenly father is meant to be much more than simply just a list of requests. Prayer is more than just “asking for things.”

But, make no mistake, Jesus our Lord DOES include “asking for things we need” as part of His prayer in verse 11:

“Give us today our daily bread.”

Jesus instructs us to go freely to God our Father with our needs and requests! And so this weekend, before we share in some “Daily Bread” as part of our Church Picnic, we will consider this theme found in Matthew 6. Jesus has more to say about our needs in this chapter as well, and reminds us in Matthew 6:33,

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

A few other instructions about the Picnic:

We will meet for worship at 10:00 at the large pavilion in the center of Memorial Park in Shippensburg. The food will be served shortly after worship.
Our regular offering will be collected, including Sunday School envelopes. There will be instructions about where to place your offerings at the end of the service.
We will have picnic tables for the meal, but you may want to bring lawn chairs for during the worship service.
The church is providing Chicken and Ham and paper products etc., but each household is asked to bring a side-dish to share (1 dish for singles, 2 dishes for 4 or more people).

And here is something else to look forward to:

Did you know that the term "repentance" actually means "a change of mind?"

Find out more at "The Commands of Messiah" seminar taught by Dr. Arnie Fleagle from Aim High Ministries. The Friday night session on September 22nd, will be from 6:30 pm. until 8:30 pm. The Saturday morning session on September 23rd will be held from 8:30 am. to 12 Noon.

*The event is FREE for everyone, but to help with preparations, please Register by signing up in your Sunday School room or the Gathering Place, or by calling the Church office at 717-532-8421.

Dr. Fleagle will also preach the message, "The Now But Not Yet Kingdom," at both services on Sunday, September 24th.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

-Philippians 4:6

Hope to see you soon!

Pastor Rodney Bistline

Shippensburg First Church of God

seniorpastorbistline@shipfcog.org