The Beacon A PUBLICATION OF ERIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 200 Lockett Rd. — Knoxville, TN 37919 — (865) 588-5350 — www.ErinPresbyterian.org
October 2012
A Message From The Pastor
Tues Oct 2 Let’s Do Dinner Macaroni Grill 5:15pm Fri-Sun Oct 5-7 Erin Art Exhibit Fellowship Hall Sat Oct 6 Work Day Sun Oct 7 Peacemaking Sunday Hunger Hike Mon Oct 8 PW Circle IV 7:30 Tues Oct 9 PW Circle II 10:00 Sat Oct 13 Men’s Breakfast 8:30 Sun Oct 14 Pink Sunday Fri Oct 19 Bread Breakers 6:30
Colossians 1:17-18 And Christ is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. Dear Friends, If you were to look at a meline of Erin Presbyterian Church from its humble beginnings in 1877 to its present form in 2012, you would see Rev. John Stuart that the common thread is Jesus Christ. All that we have ever done – whether in the 19th, 20th or 21st centuries – has only been accomplished through the Spirit of Christ being within us. People and programs, missions and messengers come and go but the one constant in our congrega on’s life is her Savior and Lord. Different genera ons have different issues to face, as well as different ideas about church and society. Our congrega on has been maintained by the loyalty and devo on of its people, but only when we center that loyalty and devo on to Christ. If we ever seek to replace Jesus with something else, then Erin church will come to an end. He is at the heart of all that we seek to be and do; without Christ, we are nothing. Some people think that churches exist to give them what they want, but the actual reality is this: churches exist to show people what Christ declares that they need. When churches get into the habit of pandering to what people want, then they become religious clubs. Wan ng and needing are two en rely different a ributes. We come to church to be shown what we need; we go to the world to get what we want. The Spirit of Christ has blessed our church in many ways. We are now at a special stage in our congrega onal life because we have successfully remodeled our facili es. This needed to be done because the building was deteriora ng and uninvi ng. It has now become a place of welcome and a rac on, so our duty to Christ is to welcome and a ract other people to come through our doors and help them draw nearer to Jesus. We may not want to do this because we are shy at invi ng others to church, but we need to do this because Christ expects these blessings to be shared with other people. We cannot keep them all to ourselves; we need to reach out to our families, friends, and neighbors so that they can also enjoy the blessings of Christ through the gi of Erin church. In doing so, we honor the work of the Erin people before us in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as plan ng seeds for the Erin people who will come a er us in the rest of the 21st century. QuesƟons for personal reflecƟon When did I start coming to Erin church? Who or what brought me here? Who can I invite to come with me to church? Have I asked anyone recently? May God bless and be with us all in Christ’s Name.
~Pastor John