Thursday Notes

Dear Good Shepherd,

Good Afternoon...hope all is going well for you. I am exhausted, have a whole new level of respect for single moms and dads, and I am very ready for Anne and the girls to get back. Good news is that it looks like, since Joyce is doing so well, they are going to be able to come back early...7:45am next Wednesday morning to be exact. I've said it before, but I am so thankful to everyone who has helped me get by these last two weeks: dinners, baby-sitting, patience with less than well organized daily planning on my part...etc...thank you.

Block Party/Ice-Cream Social/Health Fair...It's coming up this Saturday. Festivities start at 11am but I was asked to encourage everyone to show up as early. There will be a prayer meeting at 9:30am to start things off on the right foot. By now I suspect everyone has a task and knows what to do but above all--and this is really important--let's be warm and hospitable to our guests. For most who come, this event will be the first time to meet you and the first impression of Good Shepherd. Good Shepherd has a reputation for being a friendly and welcoming church so let's live up to that and put on Christ before we do anything else.

Thursday Night Bible Study: There won't be any Thursday night bible study tonight because Anne is still gone and the logistics for baby-sitting have not worked out. Next week, when she is back, the Thursday night study will pick back up.

Reaffirmation of Vows: There will be a special celebration this Sunday as Curt and Chris Osgood reaffirm their vows during the 10:30am service. Please come to celebrate the day with them. The sermon will be about marriage and

Friday Men's Breakfast and Bible Study: Darrell and Bob are cooking. Study and breakfast begin at 6:30am every Friday. We're in 1st Samuel 10. All men invited

Women's Bible Study: There will be no women's bible study tomorrow because of the Block Party but it will return the following Saturday.

Systematic Theology: There will be no Systematic Theology this weekend either since everyone will most likely be exhausted from the block party and cleaning up afterwards. We'll pick back up next week with a continuation of our discussion of the Communicable attributes of God and bridge into a discussion of the Trinity and creation

Sermon and Class podcasts: Here is a podcast of last Sunday's sermon on being "Born Again" and what that means. If you've not listened to it yet, please do because it will be the first in a series of sermons on John 3 and this first sermon lays some important groundwork. This Sunday's sermon will be on the topic of marriage--what it is and how it is supposed to work--but next Sunday we'll pick the series back up. Here also is the class podcast from last Saturday's Systematic Theology. I only made it half-way through before the battery ran out but I managed to get some good stuff recorded.

John Piper: If you've not already, please take the time to listen and watch this great lecture series by John Piper on the veracity and reliability of scripture. The first two lectures are linked above.

Photos: If you are from out of town but read Good Shepherd's website, you might be interested these pictures of our new location. Thanks be to God for his grace and power in providing us with this new beginning.

Christian Education: We'll be starting a brand new series this Sunday for Christian education called: Anglican Worship and the Sacraments. If you are new to Good Shepherd and new to Anglican worship, this class will be designed to help you understand not only what Anglicans believe about worship and the sacraments but also why we do the strange things that we do during the Sunday morning Service. We'll start out Sunday with a discussion of Baptism. If you are curious and want to read ahead, you might check out what the 39 Articles say about Baptism and the baptismal service in the Book of Common Prayer.

Don't forget the Chicken BBQ on the twentieth...

That's all for today...