Church and Home October 2015

First Presbyterian Church 1901 W Leota Street

North Platte, NE 69101

Telephone: (308) 532-1083 Fax: (308) 532-2968

Web site: www.fpcnp.org Church e-mail address:

office@fpcnp.org pastorpolly@fpcnp.org

STAFF

PASTOR: Polly K. Deppen-Williams

Admin Assist: Naomi Okoye

Custodian: Regan Brown

Choir Director: Connie McCreery

Bell Director: Ann Jones

Child Care: Deb Welsh

ELDERS Clerk of Session:

Jon Beggs Dean Kurth, Treasurer

Rachel Allison Scott Baker

Lowell Fenster Chuck Francis

JoAnne Greene Ann Jones Ned Mack

Ron Ochsner Martha Orcutt

Cyndee Orr Glenn Petersen Mandy Vargas

Jim Whitney

DEACONS Glenda Feeney

Howard & Ruth Gebhardt Janet & Leroy Hare

Jim McClymont Tammy Miller

Marlene Minshull Maxine Mulder

Scott Orr Susan Peters

Betty Priel Irene & Danny Ridgway

Gertrude Stewart Robert Weber

Doris Wells

PW Moderator: Dixie Francis

“Boldly with Christ We Belong, Believe, Grow and Reach Out”

Dear Friends,

Each month at our session meeting, one of the elders opens the meeting with a devotion and prayer. Last night at our monthly meeting, Cyndee Orr shared a wonderful devotion called “Clay Balls” that I want to share with you:

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone.

Excited the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he just threw it away.

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person by God.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.

May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

Grace & peace,

Pastor Polly

Peacemaking Offering—”Work together to Grow Peace”

Peace Begins With Us. When we think of conflict, many of us think of places mired in war, a world away. Yet often, some of our greatest opportunities to witness to the Prince of Peace are right outside our doors. When you give to the Peace & Global Witness Offering, 25% of your gift stays local, bringing the power of reconcil-iation and the peace of Christ to your own community. During this Season of Peace, consider the difference your gift can make to challenges like these. Your generous support of the Peace & Global Witness Offering compels change in cultures of violence. Together with the Peacemaking Program and World Mission, our community in Christ builds communities of peace. Our 25% has been designated by Session for RDAP (Rape and Domestic Abuse). The offering will be taken World Communion Sunday, October 4, and donations can be sent to the church throughout the month.

“Second Sunday = Second Purchase”

of an item for the Pantry

Fellowship Time!!! MS Friendship meets

Friday, October 2, at 6:00pm at the airport Everyone is Welcome!

We extend our sympathy to JoAnn Engbrecht whose brother passed away in September.

To our Radio Listeners:

We strive for a quality radio ministry. For us to achieve and maintain a high quality, we would like those that listen to provide feed back to the worship committee. If you receive a bulletin in the mail, mark right on the bulletin comments and return this information to the church office. By letting us know exactly where and what the problem is, we will be better able to address it. Thank you. If you would like a hymnal and song books to follow the music, let the church know and we will provide you with one.

Deacons Meeting Sunday, October 4, 2015 Following morning worship.

Hospital visits: If you need a hospital visit or know of a member who needs a visit, contact the church office or Pastor Polly. Due to privacy laws, a family member or the hospital needs to con-tact the church to let us know when someone is admitted to the hospital.

1 Dorothy Conger Steven Finke

2 MaryAnn Blackledge 3 Marilyn Jones 5 Gerald Finke 6 Doug Wright Amy Ziegler 7 Mike Lashley 8 Wylie Johnson 9 Karla Dorzweiler 10 Madison Erickson 11 Elaine Boyle 12 Joan Amweg 13 Jakob Ochsner Bev Sallee 13 Gertrude Stewart

15 Robert Tiedemann Patty Whitney 17 Bryce Estrada Loncey Johnson Deb Welsh 18 Jeff Baldridge 20 Jennifer Fisher 21 Dennis Lombardi 22 Janet Barnhart Duane Hoschouer 23 Glenn Petersen Alfred Swanson 24 Ruth Reynolds 25 Ramona Anderson Dixie Francis 26 Cecil Sallee 27 Wendy Staroska Barbara Stearns 30 Hannah Dolan Anna Morton

10/06/63 Karen and Dan Troyer 10/06/84 Paula and Larry Stobbs 10/11/97 Chris and Ron Ochsner 10/16/54 Harriet and Jess Nielsen 10/18/52 Toni and Charles Volcek 10/23/77 Cyndee and Scott Orr 10/25/97 Kristi and Mike Leibhart 10/30/65 Charlene and Bruce Hoye

Boy Scouts host dinner

Please join the Boy Scouts from Troop 291 following the morning worship service on Sunday, October 25th, for a spaghetti dinner. We will be

serving spaghetti, garlic bread and dessert. This a fundraiser for the Scout Troop—freewill donations will be accepted.

Bring the whole family.

Letter from a member: I received this letter from Lyle Anderson at the end of August and I wanted to share it with you all. As we get ready to add new technology to our worship service, Lyle focuses our eyes on Jesus instead of what may be changing. Thank you, Lyle, for this thoughtful letter.—Pastor Polly Dear Pastor Polly, The following thoughts came to mind after reading the daily devotional the other day in The Upper Room. The words in the Bible (John 4) about the Samaritan woman at the well raised a serious question for me: what decisions do we make in our day (2015) that affect our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church? A similar question confronted Calvin, Zwingli, and Luther in their day. They decided the church was locked into practices and ways of being “church” that prevented the people from a vital, living, breathing relation-ship with Jesus and Almighty God. The church at that time had made certain practices more important than the believer’s life in Christ. The urged the church (the people who formed the churches) to change, to adopt different ways of worshiping and dispense with some old ways. It was not an easy time for them and the church. When ways we consider bedrock (“The way we’ve always done things.”) are challenged, there is often pain and struggle, and often “bedrock” wins. Or consider what happened to Jesus. The Pharisees were determined there would be no changes in their “system” or religious rituals. (Please read Matthew 23) Jesus did not have it easy. In fact, the Cross was the final act of his opponents. So, in the story of the Samaritan woman there were words that can be used to help us answer that long-standing question – what decision will we make when today’s church faces new ways of being “God’s people?” Start with John 4 vs. 1. Jesus did not follow a long-standing, practically “holy” tradition and asked for help from a Samaritan, which gave him the way to offer her “living water.” Next, consider verses 13 and 14 and those words. Finally, there is that shocking declaration of Jesus at verses 21–24. What? Not worship God in Jerusalem in the Temple? Wasn’t that the only true way to be a true, faithful Jew? What are the ways today that bother us when they change? Are we making them too sacred and missing the opportunity of a deeper, more life-giving relationship with Jesus? Jesus said that the true way of worship is “spirit and … truth.” Was he saying that truth and the spirit of worship are not fixed to a certain pattern, a particular style, a long-held practice? Over the years since Jesus lived and preached the good news of God’s gracious, unlimited, forgiving, eternal love, the church has faced many changes and has embraced many ways that at first seemed strange (consider Acts 2 vs 44-47). Is it time for our church to claim the value of a 21st century technology that can enable us to be understand and follow the ways of Jesus so we can be better Christians? Rev. Lyle W. Anderson, Rel. D

Media Project Pledge cards are available in the church office. Amount Pledged to date: $13,315.00 Amount Received to date: $12,435.00

FROM THE PANTRY: What a treat it has been to enjoy fresh vegetables from the garden this summer! Hot days, lots of sunshine, and warm nights helped produce a bountiful crop. As easy as it is to grow a few vegetable plants, I am always wondering why people enduring financial hardship don't put in gardens. But most of the working poor don’t have the time or know-how required to tend to produce, let alone, know how to prepare it. In National Geographic's article last year on hunger in America, author Tracy McMillan stated, "Given the dramatic increase in cheap fast foods and processed foods, when the hungry have money to eat, they often go for what’s convenient, just as better-off families do." It is sad knowing that a fresh tomato or green pepper would be such a healthier alternative. August was a quieter month at Grace Ministries Food Pantry, and we see that as a good thing. We always hope that we are providing a temporary service, one that is only needed when times are particularly rough for a family or individual. We served 112 families in August, which was down from 157 in the month before. In August we served 226 individuals, compared to 372 in July. So yes, a very big difference! Our volunteers continued to work very hard for us, and we are so thankful for their dedication! 246 volunteer hours were logged, and 174 of those hours came from you all at First Pres-byterian!

continued on page 5

The K-5 kids started the year with the story of Abra-ham. What a great begin-ning! The covenant be-tween God and Abraham was for them and is for us. God said, “I will be your God, and you will be my people. This is my everlast-ing promise to you and to everyone who comes after you”. These song lyrics connect us to the cove-nant. Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you. So let's all praise the Lord. God told Abraham that he would one day have as many children as there are stars in the sky. To remember this promise, the children made star mobiles. The craft corner is under the imaginative planning of Doris Craig and Tammy Miller. Sara Pierce and Sarah Kaminski lead the story and discussion. Janie McCarthy leads the kitchen lesson and Ann Jones leads the worship. Mary Pendleton can be found in the kitchen overseeing the dinner prep and Scott Baker can be found anywhere help is needed. An invitation is open to anyone wanting to help with dinner or to come and eat on Wednesdays.

Senior High Youth Group

The high school youth group has started up again with 6-8 kids attending. If the kids are able, they go to the Wednesday night worship service at 6:30, followed by supper, fellowship and a lesson. There are fun evenings and service projects in the works for this group! We communicate by text to the kids we have phone numbers for, and we are trying to get parent phone numbers added to the group text, so if you have a high schooler and you aren’t hearing from us, send us your numbers!

Renee Callaghan 530-1905 Susan Petersen 530-0189

Worship is for everyone! Join us for dinner at 5:45pm with worship

at 6:30pm or just come for worship.

Adventures of Bob and Kristi Rice Democratic Republic of Congo / Kanaga, West Kasai

Keeping up With the Rices http://bobandkristi.blogspot.com/

The simple life While at Lake Munkamba for a few days of vaca-tion, we enjoyed walking along the beach. The lake is surrounded by houses and villages, and it is the pri-mary source of water for those who live around it. It becomes the gathering place for a community – the place to share news, get the housework done, find some fish to eat, or splash around and have fun. When we took an early morning walk, about 6:30am, we passed by groups of women who were bathing, washing dishes, or washing clothes in the lake (sometimes all three at once). They laughed as they splashed and worked and enjoyed being togeth-er in the early morning sun. We admired their sense of community, and the unhurried way that they went about their tasks. In the early evening, people also gather in the shallows of the lake, sometime whole families bathing, washing, or fishing. As we walked one evening, we were passed by kids and teenagers excitedly gathering at a place ahead of us. We real-ized that a couple of men were dragging in their huge fishing nets with the final catch of the day. As the net got near the shore, clusters of children surrounded the net, holding mosquito nets themselves to catch any fish that might escape from the larger net. Again, we were impressed with the sense of community, of working together, and of not being driven by time. The people we saw at the lake would be consid-ered poor by most standards, they have to work daily

to get the food they eat, they don’t have the luxury of electricity or technology, and they don’t have access to good medical care. At the same time, most are not encumbered with the abundance of ‘stuff’, the infor-mation overload, or the drive for productivity that I am. As the papers pile up at our house and I fight the daily battle with dust, bugs, and clutter, I am remind-ed that all of these tasks bind me to the ‘stuff’ rather than to community. We listened to an interview with writer Pico Iyer recently, who said “A lot of us have the sense that we are living at the speed of light, at a pace determined by machines. We have lost the ability to live at the speed of life.” Would I trade our 2-bedroom apartment and all of our books and ‘stuff’ for life in a mud hut with nothing? No, frankly. But it gives me pause, reminds me of the joy of the simple things in life, and helps me to temper my drive for productivity in the interest of engaging with people around me. Didn’t Jesus talk about this? And live it? Jesus placed a priority on the people at hand, showing compassion or responding to requests. He was never in a hurry, willing to stop mid-stride to call blind Bartemeus, willing to stay and feed the crowd or bless children when his disciples urged him to send them away. “Don’t worry about tomorrow”, he told his disciples, and later “my peace I leave with you.” I am struggling to balance the call to be present with people, to slow down, and to embrace the ‘inefficiencies’ of Congo with my drive and desire to ‘be productive’ or cross things off the to-do list. And in that tension, I am grateful that God meets us and helps us in that tension, and reminds us of the things that have eternal significance. And I am grateful for the joyful people at Lake Munkamba who reminded us efficiency is not always the highest value.

Pantry news continued: In August, we gave out 410 cans of soup. As the weather turns cooler, keep your eye out for specials at local stores on canned soup to help us replenish our supply. Mac 'n Cheese dinner, peanut butter, canned tuna, Hamburger Helper, and plastic bags continue to be constant needs at Grace Ministries, but it doesn't have to be those items. Every single item that is donated finds a home. We are not finicky at all! Someone asked the other day if people ever get food they don't want. We recently had a woman that was allergic to wheat. She kindly went through the bags she was taking home, and pulled out several items that she could not eat. We gladly accepted them back again. Some members in our congregation recently made a donation to Grace Ministries in memory of a special friend. What a wonderful and thoughtful way to honor a special individual! As we've mentioned before, 100% of each monetary gift received at the Pantry is used to get food to hungry people. Doesn't get any better than that! Thank you, friends, for your continued support! - - Leigh Henline

SERVICE: OCTOBER SERVICE COMMITTEE

Coordinator: Janet Hare Members: Charlene Cash Cyndee Orr Irene Ridgway Tammy Weber

BIBLE STUDY: Come to the Waters everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. The PW Bible study started at the beginning (Genesis 1) with the story of creation. For many the previous experience was to name each day and what God created. Our author led us with new insights. She described the waters as chaos - having no organization but brimful of possibili-ties. God was there in the beginning. God was in charge and brought organization and order. 'Let their be. . . . . and there was’. All that God created God saw as good. God spoke to human kind suggesting he wanted to establish a relationship with humani-ty. Human kind was given dominion over God's creation. Having been created in God's image dominion entails caring, respect, and love. God wants humans to be in relationship with his creation. God rested. Sabbath keeping allows one to renew and restore oneself and to build the relationship with God and all God's creation. Our author writes: The creation account reads “and there was evening and morning a fifth day”. The text does not read “morning and evening”. Is it not interesting that we humans usually begin each new day with rest and sleep? What a loving and good God to give us Mother Earth!

In October we will come to the waters of Baptism. Please bring something of your baptism story: a picture, a certificate, a remem-brance.

GATHERINGS AND FELLOWSHIP TIME: PW Coordinating Team will meet next on

Thursday, October 1 at 10:30am

Women’s Fellowships will meet Thursday, October 8,

at the church 9:30am - Morning Fellowship Hostess: Judi Pedersen 6:00pm - Evening Spirits Hostess: Sandy Kaleuati

* If you have never been a part of one of the fellowships, and would like to start, please feel free to come to either the morning or evening fellowship. Also, if you are unable to attend each month, you are more than welcome to just show up when you are able to either of the fellow-ships. If you need a ride, please call one of the members of the fellowships or the church office. You are always welcome!

DIRECTORIES: The Presbyterian Women’s directory for 2015-2016 is available in the office or during Fellowships. Due to the cost of mailing we are asking that you pick up your copy at the church. If you know someone who cannot get out and would like to have a copy, please take an extra one and deliver it to them.