COMMUNION BEYOND BARRIERS

It is a delight to be able to serve such a

warm, welcoming and diverse church. Sure, we

have shortcomings, challenges and needs. But

the heart of the congregation, the character of

the congregation reflects the loving openness our

Lord wants his people to display everywhere. And

I am thankful.

As we look around at the people gathered for

worship on Sunday morning we find individuals

from numerous nations. We are drawn together

by Jesus. And when we share together at the

Lord’s Table, he is present as the unseen host

who calls us to eat and drink with him. But as we

commune with bread and cup, we are united with

brothers and sisters throughout the world who

have also been invited to the Table by Jesus.

The first Sunday of October we are given a

special reminder of the broadness of our family of

faith as we celebrate World Communion Sunday.

On this day Christians from nations and

denominations around the world will gather in

worship and explicitly acknowledge the oneness

of the Church and the centrality of the Lord’s

Table in our life of faith.

Communion has always had a central role in

Disciples of Christ worship services. Some

versions of Christianity celebrate the Lord’s

Supper rarely but we believe it was the ancient

practice to partake of it often. As we do so, we

invite all who desire to draw closer to Jesus to

participate. We remember the body of Jesus as

we eat the bread and remember his blood as we

drink of the cup.

But we don’t just look to the past as we

come to the Table. We look forward in hope as

well. Jesus promised his disciples at the last

supper that he would again eat and drink with his

followers “in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:18).

The Lord’s Supper is an occasion of joyful

anticipation. It is a foretaste of the Messianic

Banquet of eternal celebration with all who have

been drawn close by God.

On World Communion Sunday we are

reminded that our brothers and sisters in faith

are near and far, made part of one family by

faith, not by race, nationality or common

language. A wonderful old hymn says,

In Christ there is no East or West,

In him no South or North,

But one great fellowship of love

Throughout the whole wide earth

In him shall true hearts everywhere

Their high communion find,

His service is the golden cord

Close-binding all humankind.

And that is the truth we need to proclaim,

not just on World Communion Sunday, but every

day of the year. It is a truth that breaks down

barriers and opens the way of peace for all.

Grace and Peace,

Craig

“God has shown you, o mortal, what is good and

what does the lord require of you? To act justly

and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your

God.” Micah 6:8 (NIV)

PRESCHOOL NEWS FROM MS. SUZANNE

Thanks to all of our families who

attended Meet the Whole Family Sunday. It was

so nice to share Pastor Craig’s inspiring message

and a delicious lunch with you all.

Fall has arrived and we have been tasting,

cooking and graphing our favorite apples. Our

preschool garden is underway thanks to Ms.

Stephanie Stepp and Ms. Finondra Wilkins. They

worked all summer preparing and now together

with our VPK students they have planted herbs,

seedlings, and seeds. They are learning about

healthy veggies, nutrition and composting. So

much fun and learning in our new garden!

Mark your calendar for October 6th, 13th,

20th, and 27th. Cindi Watts will be conducting a

Positive Solutions for Families discussion group

after Sunday church services from 12:15 – 2:30

PM for parents of 3-6 yr. old children. Child care

and lunch will be provided. Cindi has many years

of experience as a Family Specialist.

Church Chatter October 2013

“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’.” (John 8:12)

OCTOBER PRESCHOOL HAPPENINGS

10/1-2 Sharing with Ms. Alice

10/2 Ms. Rita the Dramatic Storyteller

10/6 Positive Solutions for Families

10/8-9 Individual Student Photos

10/12 Teachers Attend Broward Early

Childhood Conference

10/13 Positive Solutions for Families

10/15-16 Sharing With Pastor Craig

10/20 Positive Solutions for Families

10/23 Buehler Planetarium Mobile

Astronomy Program

Preschool Staff Meeting

10/25 Planning Day – Preschool Closed,

Full-Time Care Open

10/27 Book Fair Kick-Off

Positive Solutions for Families

10/28-30 Scholastic Book Fair

10/30-31 Class Harvest Parties

11/2 Fall Fiesta

OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS 1st Kelli Pruner

6th Kevin McGee

Paul Veliyathil

7th Judy Borchardt

8th Christine Dunhill

10th Lydia Genno

11th Brandon Ehlebracht

Tami Ehlebracht

12th Karen Miller

16th Sharon Jennings

Kristen Ramos

17th Lori Beach

20th Marjorie Davilmar

21st Coral Wiedman

23rd Paul Shuster

24th Mike Burke

26th Angela Edwards

31st Jonathan Watts

OCTOBER ANNIVERSARIES 11th Coral & Ken Wiedman

25th Rick & Julia Angle Jr.

[We apologize if your name is not on the list. Please call the office to update your information!]

Sunday

October 6th

High School & Middle School

Youth Group AND

Kidz Praiz

Elementary youth

EVERY WEDNESDAY

AT 7:00 PM

When Sat, October 5, 8am – 2pm

Where RPCC

What Community Yard Sale

Crafts in Fellowship Hall

Pancake Breakfast (CMF)

BIBLE STUDY IN SPANISH

Members of the Spanish Bible Study group

have decided to contribute to RPCC’s general

fund by offering donated used clothing for sale at

our Bazaar and Yard Sale on October 5th. Please

note that our contribution will go to the general

fund - and not to any specific organization within

or outside of our church. As we all know, RPCC

serves God's purpose in many ways. Thank you

for all of the generous donations!

“SALT AND LIGHT” MOVIE! The only religious pacifist to ever win the

Congressional Medal of Honor was an amazingly

courageous unarmed man named Desmond Doss.

We will be viewing a film about this exceptional

man of faith on Sunday, October 20, at 5:30pm.

The multiple award winning film “The

Conscientious Objector” tells the story of his

passion to follow the peaceable ways of Jesus

regardless of the ridicule of fellow soldiers, nearly

100 of whom he saved at tremendous risk to his

own life. Some people have called him a “Rambo

without weapons.” Check it out. A light meal and

discussion will follow the movie.

ARE YOU AN RPCC FOLLOWER? If you are on Facebook, have you "liked" our

church page? An easy way to keep up with what

is happening is to get Facebook posts from the

church. In our hectic world, helpful reminders can

keep you on top of things. If you don't want to

miss anything, add Royal Palm Christian Church

to your list of Facebook pages you follow.

RPCC WEB PAGE

Have you looked at our web page recently?

It’s https://www.royalpalmcchristianchurch.org,

and it has a lot of information to share. It even

has photographs of staff members, board

members, committee chairs and elders, as well

as photo albums of recent events, slide shows of

upcoming events, and many other links. See if

you can find all the links on the home page!

FALL FIESTA is happening soon and there is

much to do to prepare. If you are out at your

favorite restaurant (or spa, hair salon, store,

etc.), why not ask for a donation for our Auction?

(We have donation explanation letters available

in the office if it is needed.) Or maybe you have a

skill that you’d like to donate (babysitting;

portrait painting; computer assistance; yard

work; housework). Be thinking (and praying)

about how you can help, and then let us know!

GATEWAY ITEMS NEEDED Continued thanks to all

who faithfully support the

food pantry through prayers

and donations. We have a

core list of items we try to

provide our clients every week. Many of these

items, such as toilet paper, are not available with

food stamps. Our list includes: toilet paper, bath

soap, feminine pads, oatmeal (we usually divide

the boxes), eggs, potatoes, bananas, apples or

oranges, and carrots. We also use sandwich,

quart, and gallon size plastic bags each week to

package up bread and other donated items.

Donations of any of these items would be greatly

appreciated and also help our budgeted money

go further. They can be placed in the wagon

outside the office.

BLESSINGS God is always at work, and blessings come in

all shapes and sizes! We would love to include

some of your blessings in an upcoming Chatter.

Please email your blessing to the church office at

royalpalmchristianchurch@gmail.com.

FAREWELL AND BEST WISHES Our RPCC Family is branching out.

Unfortunately what that means is that several of

our members have moved or are moving to new

places where they will continue to sow seeds of

God's love. Please keep them in your prayers as

they get established in their new homes. We will

certainly miss them! In an effort to maintain

contact, their new address info is as follows:

• Sandy & John Alexander (and Jane), 842 Dawes Road, Frostproof, FL 33843

• L.A. (Lori) Beach, 40335 Calle Vecina, Temecula, CA 92592

• Peter & Debbie Lundberg, 3008 Maple

Shade Place, Sefner, FL 33584

Lori Beach also shared “I just want to thank

God for my whole church family! Romeo Espiritu

just provided me with a TON of moving supplies!

And God has blessed me with so many great

friends at Royal Palm... So I just want to say

thanks to everyone for all the years of love &

support & fun. I'll miss you all SO VERY MUCH!”

We don't have a new address for the

Surgeoner Family yet, but they share the

following: “God has truly blessed the 'family

Surgeoner' with a home in RPCC. We love you all

and will hold you close in our hearts. 'For the

Lord loves the just and will not forsake his

faithful ones' (Psalm 34:28)”.