Email Newsletter: Today is Thursday, March 1, 2018

JOHN CALVIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 12567 Natural Bridge Road | Bridgeton, MO 63044

Call 314-739-3066 | Check us out at www.jcpchurch.org

ABOUT THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 4 As I continue my sermon series using Dr. Seuss stories, this Sunday is one of my favorite. It is called The Sneetches. In case you are not familiar with this story, it basically involves a community of yellow looking birds called Sneetches.

But guess what? The man with the machine could remove their stars for just $10.00. Well you can now imagine what begins to happen.

Paul writes a letter to a group of churches in a region we call Galatia. Paul has to get a bit testy with the churches because they are not acting in very Christian ways, so in the scripture reading for Sunday we learn that we are all the same. We learn we may be different, but when it comes to being a child of God and being saved by the work of Christ, we are really all the same. That is great news for us in our work as Christians in this world today.

Come and see how I preach this message this Sunday. ~Pastor John

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Saturday, March 3 at 11:30 the Presbyterian Women will have a Luncheon and Bible Study. All women are welcome.

Friday, March 9 at 11:30 Goldtimers to Fratelli’s

Restaurant. All are welcome. Please sign up.

Saturday, April 21

8am—2pm JCPC Indoor Garage Sale

The 2-3-4+ Group has finalized a date for their Spring Work Project at Mound Ridge. It will be April 27-29. See Brian Shear if you have any questions.

ALSO THIS SUNDAY THE WOMEN’S MOVIE DISCUSSION GROUP

9:30—10:25 IN THE JCPC LIBRARY All women are invited to join in the viewing and discussing of Emma, a movie based on the classic novel by Jane Austen. The objective of this group is to encourage women to grow in their faith and to deepen their personal relationship with Jesus Christ while reaching out to each other in an informal and comfortable setting. A variety of movies and DVD Bible studies are used to stimulate engaging discussion with a Christian perspective.

There is no cost, all materials are provided and all are welcome to visit. Please come see if this group can be a way for you to strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ and connect with other women in a safe, small environment.

About half the community has stars on their bellies, while the other half does not. As life happens, the Sneetches with stars felt they were better than the Sneetches without. It is a perfect example of discrimination. As it happens a guy shows up with a machine that can put stars on the Sneetches' bellies who had none, for only $5.00. Those Sneetches were ecstatic. They paid the price and now they were all the same. Well the ones who originally had stars saw they were no longer different.

Discussion topics the group will cover in the movie Emma, include: humility, compassion, pride, and social class structure. The group will study what the Bible has to say about these issues so to know God better and understand his message to us.

BE CONTAGIOUS! Sounds scary during flu season, but we are talking about BECOMING A CONTAGIOUS CHRISTIAN, a training experience that will equip you to share your faith in a personal and natural style that fits you – all in one day! This is a DVD-based course, dynamically presented by Mark Mittelberg, Lee Strobel, and Bill Hybels. Our first offering of this course is intended primarily for Session members but our goal is to quickly train the whole congregation. All are therefore invited to the first class.

Why should I take this course? Our marching orders, given in the so-called Great Commission, are to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). In responding to this call, it is best to put on the “full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11). These Biblical teachings are reflected in the Mission Statement of JCPC, adopted in 1997, which includes the following “Becoming a Church of Prayer and Outreach through Bible study, worship, and discipling.”

The first course will be given in six one-hour sessions, from 9am to approximately 4pm (including a break for lunch) on Saturday, March 10. You will receive a workbook which will be a valuable reference tool to remind you what you have learned and to further develop your skills. The total cost (workbook plus lunch) is $10.00. Please register by signing up at the signup table. (It is not scary.)

PRESBYTERIAN CHILDREN’S HOME

The Mission Committee, with the approval of session, will be collecting Easter Baskets to be filled with games, goodies, socks, school supplies and candies for the children at Presbyterian Children’s Home in Farmington. We will need 90 baskets with filling. We did this last year and it was such a hit for the children and we as a congregation had fun doing with this project. They have asked to pick up the baskets on March 19. We appreciate your generosity and spirit in making this project a success. Thank you. ~ The Mission Committee

eSCRIP PROGRAM UPDATE

John Calvin Church received $69.12 from the Schnucks’ eScrip Community Card Program during December 2017. This increases our total receipts to $10,583.88 since we started the program. This program includes purchases from Food and Pharmacy. Thank you for your continued support. If you would like to sign up for the program or need a new card, call Marion Elliott, 314-739-5372, for information on how to receive a card.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 3/1 Brian Shear 3/2 Steve Dill 3/4 Stephen Hardy Mark Cline 3/5 Virginia Smith 3/6 Kim Van Buren 3/11 Katherine Groff 3/12 Judy Pickett 3/15 Heather Wolz 3/17 Hannah Robinson 3/24 Dick Dill Phil Hadggega 3/27 Arlene Walters Lindsey Oldham 3/29 Mark Miller Kathy Baker 3/31 Roy Farley

SOMEONE WHO CARES It’s easy to become discouraged when we pause to consider the needs all around us. So many worthy causes and pressing concerns require action. What can one person with limited resources accomplish? Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) said: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” We’re most effective and fulfilled when we put our God-given talents and resources into areas he has uniquely shaped our hearts to be passionate for. Passion is the key. If you want to make a difference, find something you care a “whole awful lot” about and then dive in.

Theodor Seuss Geisel born March 2, 1904, was an American author, political cartoonist, poet, animator, book publisher and artist, best known for authoring more than 60 children's books under the pen name Doctor Seuss. http://www.holidayscalendar.com/event/dr-seuss-day

MORE FROM PASTOR JOHN MEN’S SATURDAY BIBLE STUDY Now that I am driving and back to almost full pace, I will resume the Men's Bible Study on Saturday morning at 9:00. We are studying the important “male leaders” of early Christianity. The first lesson will be highlighting the twelve disciples of Jesus. The first gathering will be on Saturday, March 17 and continue through June. If you have not participated in this study before, it is not too late to join us on March 17.

HEALTH UPDATE Many of you know I have been walking with this "bionic" foot for almost two weeks now. I continue to move forward in preparation of golf season. But this past week I went to the doctor for additional medical tests and evaluation and I am happy to report all the test results were well into the normal range.

There is a funny story with that. When the doctor came into the exam room after having looked at the test results, he told me that the tests results were great. In fact he was so taken-away by the results he asked if they could draw blood from my other arm and run the same tests just to make sure. The blood was drawn and the results were the same. These results are better than they have been in years. Thanks be to God who not only heals our souls but guides professionals in the healing of our bodies.

March 25—Palm Sunday We will celebrate in a Worship Service with the Korean Church at 11:00am followed by a potluck lunch. The congregation is invited to bring a potluck dish (No Desserts) and the Korean Church will provide their special dishes. JCPC will provide hot dogs and hamburgers and Italian Ice for dessert.

March 29—Maundy Thursday The service begins at 6:00pm with a meal of stew and salad, around a common table. Communion will be observed in memory of the first communion offered by Jesus to his disciples.

April 1—Easter Sunday From 8am—10am a breakfast will be available for a slight fee. Kid's Easter Activities will begin at 9:00. Worship begins at 10:30 and will include a Choir Cantata and a brief homily from Pastor John. The Easter Sunday homily titled, Only Fools Do Not Believe will be based on 1st Corinthians 15:16-20.

For the past several years, off and on I have started writing a book and then stopped. During my last illness I believe God planted in my mind a new idea for a book and God gave me the time write it. I did use some of the previous stuff I had written.

The book is done and in the final editing process. I hope it is published around the 1st of April. It is called The Verse After the Verse. The book looks at twelve very familiar scripture passages. I then unpack that familiar verse, but then I look at the verse after it to see how that might impact the familiar verse. The book will be in paperback and about one-hundred pages.

I am fortunate to also have our own Tara Barnum do all the illustrations.

DAYLIGHT-SAVING

TIME BEGINS

SUNDAY MARCH 11

It is that time of year again when wake up calls mean more sunshine and days get a bit longer. We “Spring Forward” to Daylight-Saving Time on March 11. Early risers rejoice and those of you who hit the snooze button-at least you get to do it with a bit of light in your room! Start and end each day with enthusiasm. Try reciting Psalm 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us

rejoice and be glad in it.

The Fourth Annual Pasta and Praise night was a huge success. There were over 140 in attendance and the event raised over $1000.00 net with an additional offering of $270 toward the handbell fund. The music was spectacular which included numbers from all three of our music groups, along with the Granite City Swing Band. The event also had stirring music from the Korean Presbyterian Church and a piano and saxophone couple, Aaron and Anna DiVesta.

A big thank you to all those who helped in the kitchen with food prep and with cleanup, with bulletin preparation, with coordinating all the music, those talented brothers and sisters who shared that talent in music, with sound booth management, and of course all who sold tickets and all those who attended.

Plans are underway for our fifth Pasta and Praise Night in 2019.

Last Sunday I made an appeal to the congregation to help contribute to the Pastor's Discretionary Fund. That fund will be used to help those who have been participating in our church when they face unexpected expenses. It is not designed to just hand money out at the door. I was hoping for maybe $500.00. Based on the count sheet, your efforts and contributions totaled $1040.00. Praise be to God! And thank you for helping in this outreach. I know families we help will be so appreciative. Last week, a family I have been helping sent me a thank you card, which read in part, “We could not have done it, without the help of the people of John Calvin Presbyterian Church. Thank you.”

This is exactly what Jesus calls us to do and I believe God will continue to bless our work. Always remember—the harvest is great, but the laborers are few... But we have the VOOM. If you are not sure what VOOM is, ask someone who was in the service last Sunday as we talked about The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.

The Session at its last meeting, made a few changes in assignment teams. Here are the new leaders:

Innie Group (Responsible for everything that happens inside the Sanctuary on Sunday Morning)

Audrey Hahn, Kara Myers

Outie Group (Responsible for everything that happens outside the sanctuary on Sunday Morning)

Mark Miller, Stuart Kinquist

Finance Tracey Robinson, Cindy Lay, Stephen Dill

Church Leadership (Includes Personnel)

Wayne Myers, Todd Van Buren

Mission Rosalea Vogler, Robert Messersmith

Nurture and Member Care Doug Peterman, Mary Myers, Jennifer Hardy

Property

Lonnie Schoonover, Jim Lueker

Clerk of Session Mary Myers

Treasurer Wayne Myers

President of the Corporation Doug Peterman

Comptroller Paul Doty

Recording Secretary Kim Van Buren

A Night of Pasta and Praise at JCPC on February 23, 2018

A Night of Pasta and Praise at JCPC on February 23, 2018

A Night of Pasta and Praise at JCPC on February 23, 2018

A Night of Pasta and Praise at JCPC on February 23, 2018

Worship at JCPC on February 25, 2018