Loading... Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be
tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted
by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of
each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Collect for First Sunday in Lent, p. 218 Book of Common Prayer
How interesting that the First Sunday in Lent is also Valentine's Day. Our Gospel from Luke 4 is about Jesus being tempted in the desert. Our Collect for the day asks God to come help us "who are assaulted by many temptations...." The love Jesus teaches us and asks us to live is one that builds up one another and strengthens relationships.
Yet, sometimes in our culture, relationships become twisted and confused. We may call it love, but it's not really. In our prayer, we acknowledge that God knows our weaknesses and our temptations. We express our confidence that God is mighty and can save us.
What in this world is tempting you to stray from God? May you find God mighty to save!
Many blessings as you finish your week and remember, we'll have pancakes and sausage at coffee hour this Sunday!
Love, Rebecca+
Parlor People
Jane Hoover Reports: A visit from Dr. Dan Welliver, Associate Professor of Sociology at Juniata College, capped our Parlor People series on Undoing Racism. Just as we had done ourselves in the earlier weeks of the series, Dr Welliver explored his own experiences with the African American community as he was growing up. Even though he had been brought up to be open and accepting, he learned about himself that he occasionally acted in ways that indirectly supported racism.
Then he moved on to research that demonstrated how long lasting and pervasive racist patterns can develop throughout our society from single decisions: After WW II millions of veterans took advantage of the GI Bill’s new home loan guaranty. From 1944 to 1952, VA backed nearly 2.4 million home loans for World War II Veterans. However, administrators, banks and loan agencies consistently refused to grant loan guarantees to People of Color.
Levittown in eastern PA sprung up, fueled by new mortgage availability. But Levittown intentionally refused to sell houses to African-Americans, so they could not use the major instrument to build wealth. They did not have a home to use as collateral to help their children go to college. They didn't have the home equity that would aid them in retirement. They were relegated to renting housing in districts usually having poorer schools. With a poorer education, well-paying jobs were not available. Without a good income you had no chance of even trying to buy a house in a better neighborhood. You can see how the cycle would perpetuate itself.
This Sunday we begin our Lenten series on Ten Ways to Pray. The first session will be Praying with Scripture.
A note from Rebecca: Maria Yohn, reporter for The Juniata Sentinel has written an extensive piece on Dr. Welliver's Parlor People presentation. I hope to have it scanned and uploaded in a few days.
Centering Prayer and Taize’, Tuesdays during lent (February 16, 23, March 1, 8, 15), 5:15pm. Join us for ten minutes of centering prayer followed by an evening Taize’ service. For more on centering prayer, go to the Contemplative Outreach website at//www.centeringprayer.com/. For more about Taize’, go to //www.taize.fr/en
Wednesdays at Incarnation United Church of Christ, 47 N 4th St., Newport 5:30-6:15 is soup and bread supper. 6:15 program.
Feb. 17 - Presenter - Jan Custer "Judging Others"
Feb. 24 - Presenter – Trevor Lightner "Discouragement"
March 2 - Presenter - Tony Hill ""Complaining"
March 9 - Presenter - Gloria McPherson "Resentment and Bitterness"
March 16 - Presenter - Cheryl Dorman "Overspending"
Sign up for the Lenton Carbon Fast For more info and to sign up, visit: //www.macucc.org/carbonfast
Upcoming Meetings
Wednesday, February 17, 7:15pm - Vestry
Thursday, February 18, 1:00pm - Environmental Committee
Sunday, February 28, Noon - Welcome Committee
Godspell, February 21, 2:00pm, Hershey Playhouse. If you’ve ordered a ticket through the church, please make check out to The Church of the Nativity with Godspell in the memo line or put your cash in an envelope with your name on it and Godspell. Please give to Rebecca.
Cost is $23 for adults and $20 for children.
ELIMINATING RACISM: THE URGENT NOW: Workshop & Seminar Leadership Day
February 13, 2016, 8:30AM - 2:45PM St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Harrisburg PA Keynote Speaker: Felicia Brown - Haywood, D.Ed.
Sign up now! At www.diocesecpa.org on the Homepage. $20 registration fee; Lunch Included.
6th Annual Benefit Auction for Perry County Animal Rescue, Saturday, Feb. 13, 9am, The Faktory, Liverpool Donations are still being accepted. Contact PCoAR at 589-3005 for more info.
Central Pennylvania Symphony, Sunday, February 14, 3pm, Greenwood High School. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or online at //centralpasymphony.org
The choir practices every Sunday at 8:30am prior to the service. The choir will also practice some Wednesdays at 10:30am.
Church Committees. If you served on a church committee during 2015, please let Michele or Rebecca know if you are still willing to serve on that committee. If you’d like to be included in the membership of a committee, please speak with Rebecca or a member of Vestry.
Men’s Breakfast - each Wed., 9am, Espresso Yourself Café.
Women’s Breakfast - Feb. 24th, 9am, Railside
Join Hands items of the month are diapers. Sizes 4, 5 and 6.
Help People in Need when you buy your Groceries! See Gail Shull or Pat Szabo to purchase cards in various amounts to use at Giant, Mutzabaugh's, or Weis Stores. 5% of the cost of each card stays with the church and is used for outreach and mission projects.
Food Bank Donations are needed! During Lent, we'll collect the donations in front of our altar. For a list of the items needed by the Food Bank, go to their website at //www.perrycountyfoodbank.org/ and click on their wish list.
Honor or Remember a loved one or a special occasion with flowers on the altar! Flowers help make our worship space more beautiful and remind us of the blossoming life we have in Christ. Please consider sponsoring the flowers in memory of a loved one, or to celebrate your thanksgivings. Flowers are $35. A sign-up chart is in the Undercroft.
