ST. ELMO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Presbyterian Church in America
August 9, 2020
Online bulletin
Our purpose is to know,
live out of, and proclaim the wonder of God’s grace in Jesus.
Rev. Cal Boroughs, Pastor
4400 St. Elmo Avenue l Chattanooga, TN l 37409 423-821-1424
http://www.stelmopres.org
Music
Welcome and Announcements GATHERING FOR WORSHIP
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which Your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through Him Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Music
L — Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come and buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
P — Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
L — Incline your ear, and come to me; hear that your soul may live. Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near;
P — Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
L — Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life. I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.
Isaiah 55.1—3, 6—7 & John 6.27,35 Afflicted Saint, To Christ Draw Near (see next p. 4)
Prayer (including The Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Sharing of Thanksgiving ... Music
Ordination and Installation of Rob Allen as Ruling Elder Installation of Kedric Webster as Deacon
Offering of Our Gifts: offering plate in the back (live streaming, see note on page 5) Our Return to God Our Savior
Prayer of Confession
God of everlasting love, we confess that we have been unfaithful in our relationship with You and with one another. We have worshipped other gods: money, power, greed, and convenience. We have served our own self-interest instead of serving You and Your people. We have not loved our neighbor as You have commanded, nor have we rightly loved ourselves. Forgive us, gracious God, and bring us back into the fullness of our relationship with You and with one another. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Silent Prayer
Assurance of God’s Pardon: Titus 2.11-14
L — For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people.
P — It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
L — Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.
Prayers of Intercession Anna Smith Colleen Stevens Kathleen Stevens
Darrell and Margaret Stewart
The Missions’ Ministry Group: 2 missionaries retired, 1 family is working toward going back to Japan in a few years, We’ve added 3 more missionaries this year. If you’d like to join us, talk to Bruce Young, Marylu Carl, or Margaret Stewart. We need help!
Bethany Christian Services Covenant Theological Seminary
Dan and Mako Gilchrist: Equipping Leaders International Our U.S. Senators
Pray for the Persecuted Church in LAOS (20)
Continue in prayer for: Our faithfulness in being witnesses to our neighbor Proclamation of God’s Word
Sermon: Ephesians 4.17-24
14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
19
Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Outline:
1. The Distorted Mind of the Unbeliver
2. Learning Jesus
Benediction
L — Having heard the Gospel,
P — Let us go forth to serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ALL — Thanks be to God!
*
Tithes and Offerings (4 options) During COVID-19
1. This option works really well: Send a check to the church at the church's street address 4400 St. Elmo Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37409. Please address the envelope to St Elmo Presbyterian Church ATTN: bookkeeping.
This will ensure privacy and security, as these envelopes will be stored securely and dealt with according to our accounting policies ensuring proper handling. The church mailbox has a lock on it.
2. Another option that works really well is to set up a "bill pay" check through your bank's website. Most banks have a bill pay feature where you can log into your account online, find the bill-pay feature, add the church as a payee using the church's street address, and then schedule one-time or recurring payments to be sent to the church. You may need the church phone number for this when you set up the account: 423-821-1424. If it asks for an account #, use: Offering, Deacon’s Fund, General Fund, or something similar.
3. If one of these options does not work well for you, another option for making a donation to the church is online through the church's Square account. The link to this, found in the FAQ section of the church website, is
https://st-elmo-presbyterian-church.square.site
.
When you get to this page, remember to scroll down. There are many options. We are glad to receive donations in this way if it is the best option for you. If mailing a check or bank bill pay work for you, those two methods are preferred for us, for the sake of avoiding processing fees, and due to the advantage of less complicated processing for bookkeeping. 4. Write your check and drop it off at church during the week. But call/text first to make sure we are here.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Mark Slavovsky at mslavovsky@gmail.com. Thank you all for your faithful financial support of the church. Mark
Bethany Christian Services Contact: Glen and Becky Wieldraayer
Prayer
We’ve received a number of calls from homeless moms who are on the waiting list for shelters/housing options – please pray for housing to open up quickly. We are able to provide limited support if clients are working with us for pregnancy planning.
We have a SFFC (Safe Families for Children) situation that can use prayer – the parent has been non-responsive, so please pray that we can connect with her quickly and that she will find housing. (We are extra lenient in terms of length of use of hosting due to limitations from Corona, but this mom is pushing the extended limits of the program).
We have a client making an adoption plan who is meeting family for the first time and is very nervous – so prayers for that meeting to provide her with the clarity she needs to make the best decision for her family. We would also appreciate prayers for the hospital to be accommodating of adoptive family to be present after birth. It has been very unpredictable if families and staff can be at hospital due to corona. The possibility of the family not being able to be there immediately for her baby evokes anxiety in the client.
We also have the opportunity to apply for some funding through TN Cares act – please pray as we put together the application, and for favor. We did not qualify for PPP (Public-private partnerships) funds due to how Bethany is
ZOOM Meetings
LADIES BOOK STUDY AND FELLOWSHIPWe began a new study, Heal Us, Emmanuel (Heal Us, Emmanuel: A Call for Racial Reconciliation, Representation, and Unity in the Church) which can be found on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yb3e36cf
Please join us either for the 10-11:30 AM or the 6:30-8 PM time for this new study. Shelley & I would so enjoy your presence & participation. Please email me with any questions etc. Lynn Hall and Shelley Madueme
Precept Zoom class in Philippians continues on Mondays at 1 PM and 7:15 PM. Contact Jim Lees for more info: jimlees88@gmail.com or 423-544-5073.
Meal/Prayer and Fellowship — 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month for meal usually right after morningworship. Darrell and Margaret Stewart coordinating.
Dan and Mako Glichrist Equipping Leaders International
Introduction:
The organization has almost 35 leadership training partners across the global South (South America, Africa, India ...). The Gilchrist's training activity is primarily focused on partnerships in Ghana (West Africa) and Kenya and Tanzania (East Africa). Dan is also responsible to receive and evaluate requests from prospective
leadership training partners from around the world.
Mako has primary responsibility for Equipping Leaders International social media presence on Facebook and Instagram (be sure to invite folks to "like us" on Facebook and Instagram!)
Praise
Through COVID we give praise and thanks that no one in ELI has seen a pause or reduction in giving; in fact, beyond regular giving, ELI supporters have given close to $100k toward COVID relief for our partners around the world (mostly to help pastors keep groceries in their homes); COVID has also forced ELI faculty to explore new and creative ways to use technology to continue the work of leadership training;incorporation of this technology as a standard part of our equipping and coaching ministry will increase the pace and capacity for the work.
Prayer
Pray for Dan's first video-conference training with two groups of pastors in Kenya (one training last week [i.e. the week of August 3]; another next week [i.e. the week of August 17]);
Pray for Mako's faithfulness to keep the story of Christ's continuing mission in front of people through social media and to continue providing information for ELI's strategic praying partners; (and, as always, be sure to "Like" Equipping Leaders International on Facebook and Instagram!!)
Upcoming
August 29 Cal’s Retirement Party (10am-12pm) August 30 Cal’s last Sunday as our Pastor
September 6 First Sunday for Interim Pastor, Rev. Massey
Pray for the Persecuted Church in LAOS (20) Source: Voice of the Martyrs, August 1, 2020
Like all their neighbors in rural Laos, Khoun and his family worshiped the house spirit, the forest spirit, the river spirit and the livestock spirit. Then, one day a visitor told them about the God who became a man so He could pay our debt of sin. He also told them that this God had given His life for them and that He had power over sickness and death. Khoun’s family and two other families believed what the man told them. They began meeting every Sunday to worship and pray, and they enjoyed listening to a Christian radio broadcast in their native language. Soon, Khoun stopped drinking and fighting with his wife, and his family also threw out their household idols.
But the other villagers were concerned about the new religion, worrying that the spirits might get angry and punish the whole village. From that point on, every bad thing that happened was blamed on Khoun and the other (continued p.9, bottom)
Christians. Then, village elders and Communist Party leaders told the Christians that if they did not renounce their foreign religion and return to worshiping the spirits, they would have to leave the village.
Khoun knew he could not go back on his promise to follow Jesus. He had found the Truth. The next day, two trucks pulled into the village and stopped in front of Khoun’s house. His neighbors loaded all the Christians’ belongings onto the trucks, and the elders then forced them to climb onto the trucks as well. They were driven to an empty field far from the village, ordered out of the truck and abandoned. They had nowhere to sleep and food for only five days. Read the rest at Voice of the Martyrs.org
