Focus MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

APRIL 2019

Change for Change Communion Sunday

NEXT SUNDAY

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 10:45 a.m. Prayer Group

11:30 a.m. Lenten Lunch Study

3:30 p.m. Tuesday Connection

3 10:00 a.m. Presbyteri-

an Women

6:30 p.m. Soup Supper

7:00 Mid-Week Lenten

Service

4 5

6

7 Change for Change

9:00 a.m. Sunday

School

10:00 a.m. Worship &

Communion

11:00 a.m. Coffee Fellowship

5:00 p.m. Boy Scouts

8

9

10:45 a.m. Prayer Group

11:30 a.m. Lenten Lunch Study

3:30 p.m. Tuesday Connection

6:30 p.m. Session

10 6:30 p.m. Soup Supper

7:00 Mid-Week Lenten

Service

11 12 Butter Braids &

Cookie Dough

Delivery Day

13 Phillips

Shower

14 Palm Sunday 9:00 a.m. Sunday School

10:00 a.m. Worship

11:00 a.m. Coffee

Fellowship

11:15 a.m. Christian

Ed Meeting

5:00 p.m. Boy Scouts

15

16

10:45 a.m. Prayer Group

11:30 a.m. Lenten Lunch Study

3:30 p.m. Tuesday Connection

6:30 p.m. Deacons

17

18 Maundy

Thursday 6:00 p.m. Dinner

7:00 p.m. “A Walk

Through Holy

Week”

19

Good Friday 7:00 p.m. Service

20

21 Easter

9:00 a.m. Breakfast

10:00 a.m. Worship

5:00 p.m. Boy Scouts

22 CHURCH

OFFICE

CLOSED

23

9:30 a.m. Bible Study

11:00 a.m. Prayer Group

3:30 p.m. Tuesday Connection

24

25

26 27

28 9:00 a.m. Sunday

School

10:00 am Worship

11:00 a.m. Coffee

Fellowship

5:00 p.m. Boy Scouts

29

30

9:30 a.m. Bible Study

11:00 a.m. Prayer Group

3:30 p.m. Tuesday Connection

HOLY WEEK

BLYTHE, Doug 04/03 PHILLIPS, Courtney 04/03

BLYTHE, Bryson 04/05 BOLAND, Charles 04/12

KEEGAN, Carol 04/12 ALJETS, Keith 04/13

GROEPPER, Todd 04/14 BLYTHE, Donna 04/15

SANCHEZ, Tenley 04/18 SANCHEZ, Tyson 04/18

SCHMIDT, Sam 04/18 ALJETS, Louise 04/24

JONES, Evelyn 04/24 LEICHSENRING, Hunter 04/25

SANDBERG, Brian 04/30

Have a birthday or anniversary in April and your name is not on this list? Please contact the church office and

update your personal information profile.

DATE Service Meal/Kitchen duty Theme

04/03/14 Taizé Service Mission Committee and

Teams

Scripture: Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32

Theme/Focus: Holy Lives are inti-

mate lives

Description: Adding on to being

repentant we also need to recognize

the relationships we are in

04/10/19 Worship &

Music

Session Scripture: John 12: 1-8

Theme/Focus: Holy lives are gen-

erous lives

Description: looking at how Martha

gives of what she has to Jesus.

Pastor’s Pen

It seems that my yearly physical always lands somewhere within the Lenten season,

it has gotten me thinking about why we do our yearly physicals. Well I do mine each year

for preventive reasons, to make sure I’m healthy, make sure I’m a good weight, have good

blood pressure, good cholesterol etc. Now if the numbers aren’t good my doctor informs me

and tells me the lifestyle changes, I need to start making to be healthy and have a full life.

It occurred to me that Lent as a season functions as our yearly spiritual physical.

That preventive time of a year where we come for introspection, for a solid spiritual check-

up. We step into this time of year using it as a barometer for our spiritual health. How dry

are these bones or how fertile the soil is? We take this time to figure out how close we are

to God; how full our spiritual lives are or if our spiritual lives need some serious work.

I’ve had many physicals some great some not so great, in the ones that weren’t so

great, the doctor would follow up with some suggestions on how to change my life so that I

would be healthier. It's not much different when we come to this time of year we can gauge

where we are at. It’s our chance to explore and figure out how to make our spiritual lives

and really there is no perfect right answer each of us is different. It mirrors much of my

personal weight loss journey, it started with Nutrisystem years ago, then maintaining,

then low carb, then the push back diet, then intermittent fasting. Over the last few years

I’ve used many different ways to be physically healthy. Much in the same way our spiritu-

al journeys are going to look like scatter shots, and we search and find what works for us

and it doesn’t necessarily work for everyone the same.

There is a common theme in health output vs input lose weight, it’s similar in spir-

itual life everyone is praying or seeking to interact with God it's just how we do it. Now is

the time as we take our spiritual temperatures to find what works. Whether is music,

walks, meditation, workouts, reading scripture Lectio Divina style, small groups, prayer

groups, spiritual directors. Really the sky is the limit, but we need to figure out what it is

that works for us during our “physical time” this Lent to discover what works for us to

continue to become healthier and healthier with each new day as we seek to grow closer to

God and one another.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dan

Prayer Requests Health concerns: Joy Fry, Dale Albright’s daughter-in law Holly, Vicki Sher-

man, Marilyn Heitman, Todd Schmidt’s sister Stacy, Mary Greiner’s sister-in-

law Wendy, LaVona Richmond, Aaron Jones’s sister Tonya, Sarah Stoutner’s

dad Mike, Tate Schaefer, Jamie Lillie family, Vicki Carter, LaVona Rich-

mond’s brother, Shane Mullnix, Sandy Lynch’s cousin Crystal, Paula Watkins,

Bill Sinn, Stan Teggatz, Donna McWilliam’s mother.

Active military service: Angela Chipman, Grayson Groepper, Brian Jones, Da-

vid Kabisch, Christopher Schreiber, Matthew Schreiber, and Chaise Turner.

(Please let us know if you have a family member in the service for whom we

can be praying.)

Prayer requests and praises can be submitted any time to

Prayerministry@iowatelecom.net or fill out a form in the Vestibule or in the

pew and place it in the Prayer Ministry box. Requests will be kept confiden-

tial unless you ask they be shared with the congregation.

All prayer concerns will be lifted up for four weeks. If continued prayer is

needed at that time, please resubmit your request.

God bless you and those for whom you are concerned.

Pastor Dan Jessop - pastorfpcburg@gmail.com

Director of Christian Education - The Rev. Bethany Jessop – cyfdirectorfpc@gmail.com

Administrative Assistant - Suzanne Kabisch —fpchurchwilliamsburg@gmail.com

First Presbyterian Church Williamsburg, Iowa

fpc_wburg Phone (319) 668-1375

Church Website www.firstpreswilliamsburg.org

First Presbyterian Church (USA)

504 South Highland P.O. Box 24

Williamsburg, IA 52361

Change Service Requested

Change for Change Everyone is encouraged to bring their loose change to worship the first Sunday each month. This month that will be Sunday 04/07/19. During the Time with Youth on that Sunday, we will pass the tin buckets and collect loose change to go towards Living Wa-ters for the World.