this issue

BULLETIN BOARD P. 2

CALENDAR P. 3

STEWARDSHIP NEWS P. 4

RANDALL’S PEN P. 5

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS P. 6

reminders

January 3 – Volunteers to the Bridge. January 12 - 8:00 am Men’s Prayer Breakfast Christmas Decorations will be taken down. January 27 – Commitment Sunday

St. Mark Connection St. Mark Presbyterian Church

9999 Ferguson Road Dallas, TX 75238 214-321-6437 office@saintmarkchurch.org www.saintmarkchurch.org

Volume 66

Issue 1

January 2019

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)

Our pack currently consists of two dogs – Peggy Sue and Abbie.

Peggy Sue, who is about 10 years old, has been with us since 2009; two-

year-old Abbie joined us in 2017. They play together a lot – wrestling and

tugging mostly. That is about the only thing they have in common. Peggy

Sue has 3 legs, while Abbie has the full set. We don’t know much about

Peggy Sue’s early life – only that she had been brought to East Lake

Veterinary Clinic with a badly damaged back leg that had to be amputated.

Abbie, on the other hand, began her life in Abilene as our granddaughter’s

puppy. The two differ in other ways. Peggy Sue maintains her normal

routine and demeanor whatever the weather. Abbie is nervous and

uncomfortable when there is severe weather.

So, with the rain and thunderstorms that are visiting our area on

this day after Christmas, I couldn’t help but compare the ways that our

dogs react to weather with the ways in which we approach the coming new

year. Some of us glide into the new year, barely acknowledging the

symbolic changing of the calendar. Others, like Abbie, are filled with dread.

Ancient Greeks had two words to signify time: chronos and kairos.

Chronos is the term for chronological time, the sequence of events. Kairos

represents proper time for action. I interpret these terms as chronos =

quantitative, while kairos = qualitative. Seminary professors usually

illustrate chronos as being a flowing river that carries us along in a

particular direction while kairos is like a quiet lake where we can take the

action of swimming.

With the start of a new year, I’m viewing 2019 through the interplay

of those terms. Chronos tells me that the new year will flow like a river,

one day at a time. Kairos – which in modern Greek can be a term for the

weather – tells me that there will be times of joy and times of doubt and

times of sadness. And I hate to break the news to Abbie, there will be times

of thunder and lightning storms. I would love to help Abbie understand

that fear holds too much power in our lives. But maybe that is a lesson that

I am called to learn instead.

Unlike Abbie, I can choose not to dread the threatening skies, but

instead to express gratitude for all that the flowing river brings. My prayer

for us all in 2019 is that we all embrace the abundant life open to us

through God’s life-transforming love.

With the start of a new year, I’m viewing 2019 through the interplay of those terms. Chronos tells me

that the new year will flow like a river, one day at a time. Kairos – which in modern Greek can be a term for

the weather – tells me that there will be times of joy and times of doubt and times of sadness. And I hate to

break the news to Abbie, there will be times of thunder and lightning storms. I would love to help Abbie

understand that fear holds too much power in our lives. But maybe that is a lesson that I am called to learn

instead.

Unlike Abbie, I can choose not to dread the threatening skies, but instead to express gratitude for all

that the flowing river brings. My prayer for us all in 2019 is that we all embrace the abundant life open to us

through God’s life-transforming love.

Blessings, Pastor Rick

St. Mark Presbyterian Church exists to know Jesus and to make Him known. January 2019 Page 2 of 6

Sunday Sermons, Scriptures and Events

January 6 - “Another Way” Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany of the Lord Celebration of The Lord’s Supper

January 13 – “Endearment Endorsement” Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-22

January 20 – “What’s Faith Have to Do with It?” Genesis 14:17-20; 2 Corinthians 13:3-6 Colin Boring, guest preacher

January 27 – “Audacious Statement” Psalm 19; Luke 4:14-21 Commitment Sunday

God Bless You on Your Birthday

January 4 January 24 Vickie Lall Norma Murray January 5 January 26 Selina Cantu Clive Duncan Sue Duncan January 27 January 15 Mary Allison Crawley Cody Robinson January 30 Travis Stephen Marie Chambers January 31 Marilyn Jackson

White Rock Center of Hope

Sunday, January 13th

URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!

Canned Meat Products: chili, chicken, Chef Boyardee, ham, etc. Any boxed shelf items, Helper, Suddenly Salad, potatoes. Also needed: Peanut Butter, Canned Soup and Canned Tuna. Thank you!

Directory Update

Contact the church office for details on the following address changes.

Pam McGuire Kathy Moore Frank Roberson

Frank hopes that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! He would love a call or visit.

Wednesday Bible Study

Wednesday Bible Study will resume on January 2nd at 10:30. You are invited to join Pastor Rick in study and conversation using the Wired Word. Great fellowship and snacks are provided.

Men’s Prayer Breakfast

All men of St. Mark are invited to join together for the monthly Men’s Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, January 12th at 8:00am. After our

breakfast and prayer time, we will take down the outdoor and Sanctuary Christmas decorations, and pack them away for next year.

Thank you, friends and family for the lovely gift bag. God bless you all for thinking of me.

Vickie Lall

Bulletin Board

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St. Mark Presbyterian Church exists to know Jesus and to make Him known. January 2019 Page 4 of 6

Treasurer's Report Five Months Ending November 30, 2018

Operating Fund - YTD income was $3,100 above budget and YTD expenses were $3,300 below budget, for a net $6,400 better than budgeted.

Fund Balance - Total fund balances are up $3,200 from the previous month and up $8,700 from the beginning of our fiscal year.

Special Christmas Offering Update

Grateful thanks to all who have contributed to this year’s Special Christmas Offering. As of December 30th, we have received

$4,339 in contributions to this project. We will continue to receive contributions through January 6th. Your generous contributions this year are going to the PC(USA) Joy Offering and to the Scholarship Program of the Ministry of Hope in Malawi, Africa.

Commitment Sunday - January 27th

The Session of St. Mark invites you to participate in our annual stewardship program. Our theme again this year is “Stewardship Is Heart Work” On January 27th, Commitment Sunday, we will dedicate our Faith Promises to the Operating Fund as well as volunteer for various church responsibilities and activities. We will also renew our covenant as a faith community to the mission of St. Mark Presbyterian Church.

The Operating Fund is the recipient of our tithes and provides funding for all activities, worship and music, Christian education, utilities, building maintenance and salaries at St. Mark, as well as our support for all PC(USA) and other mission and outreach ministries, including the White Rock Center of Hope, Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services, Grace Presbyterian Village and the Ministry of Hope in Malawi, Africa.

If you wish to make a Faith Promise to another permanent fund, such as the Capital Fund or the Mission Fund or the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund, you will also have an opportunity to do that. However, please make this promise as an “over and above” gift after supporting the Operating Fund.

Please look for more information and a Faith Promise card coming in the mail soon, and join us on Sunday, January 27th as we come together once more to commit to the future of St. Mark Presbyterian Church. Everyone’s financial commitment to the support of St. Mark Presbyterian Church is vital to our future mission.

Bulletin Board

St. Mark Presbyterian Church exists to know Jesus and to make Him known. January 2019 Page 5 of 6

Once again, a new year is upon us. Who knows what 2019 will bring us? On the national and world stage 2018 certainly is going out in an interesting way, to put it mildly. 2019 will certainly bring new opportunities and challenges for St. Mark as we continue to proclaim the Good news in our corner of the world. Of course, some of us have clues about what our households and friends might

encounter in the coming months. But there is much that is unknown, and some things may happen that we cannot even imagine. So, I think it might be a good idea to begin the year with a reminder of some of the promises that we have been given by God. I immediately thought of Psalm 46. It is one that we often read in times of challenge and grief. But it is a good idea to start the year with these words in mind:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

Less well known is the very first question from the Heidelberg Catechism. Here is part of that question and answer:

What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ… Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Finally, there is the promise that we find at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. The risen Jesus is with the disciples. He sends them out into the world with the charge that we have come to call “The Great Commission.” But he does not just leave them with a task list. He gives them this promise:

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

And the church has remembered that promise through the ages. May you hold on to these promises as we move into a new year.

THE SOCK TREE

Thank you for your gifts of warm adult and children’s socks left at the sock tree! The adult socks were given to Austin Street Center and are so appreciated! The children’s socks were given to the White Rock Center of Hope. A special thanks to Bar Tuinstra for providing and decorating the Sock Tree, and to Susie Miller for providing the baskets in which the socks were placed. We thank you for your love and generous giving during the Christmas season! Your Mission Committee

SESSION

Stated Meeting of the Session, November 19, 2018

• Motion passed to accept the Annual Financial Records Review for fiscal year ending June 30, 2018

• Motion passed to elect Becky Page and Dick Waters as Commissioners and Charles Miller as alternate for the Stated Presbytery Meeting, Saturday December 1, 2018, at Northpark Presbyterian Church, Dallas.

A full set of Session minutes are available to read on the Session bulletin board.

Thank You! St. Mark Church Family,

Thank you so much for your generous Christmas gift. It is a blessing to work with and for such a remarkable congregation. You exemplify your mission statement in all that you do, existing to know Jesus and to make Him known. May God bless you richly in the coming year. And may God continue to bless this church and its leadership.

In Christ’s Love, Kat