The Beacon A PUBLICATION OF ERIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 200 Lockett Rd. — Knoxville, TN 37919 — (865) 588-5350 — www.ErinPresbyterian.org
September 2012
A Message From The Pastor 3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is geƫng along well. Dear Friends, Mon Sept 3 Labor Day Holiday Church Of ice Closed Tues Sept 4 Let’s Do Dinner Parkside Grill 5:15pm Wed Sept 5 Wed Night Dinner 5:45pm Fri Sept 7 Family Game Night 7:00pm Sat Sept 8 Men’s Breakfast 8:30am Sat Sept 8 PW Fall Gathering 10:30am Wed Sept 26 WordPlayers 6:30pm
The sanctuary is looking great and sounding fantas c. Last month, we had a wonderful wedding full of guests and I was very proud of how the church appeared. It was a great occasion and a perfect way to introduce our church to the wider community. Later on this month, we get the opportunity Rev. John Stuart to do it all over again when a member of the congrega on gets married at Erin. These are great mes for our wee church and I just want to write a big THANK YOU to all of you. What you have accomplished here will be a blessing to many in the years to come. The last Sunday in September is our Homecoming Sunday. It will be a special service of thanksgiving for all of the work that has been completed. I’d like to encourage you to bring your family and friends to the worship service. I’m calling the day a BASE Sunday – Bring Along Someone Else. If everybody was to invite a rela ve, friend, or neighbor, then we could double our a endance that morning. The hope is that when other folks get to see what we have and do here, they will want to become a part of the growing fellowship at Erin. I know that some of you worry and wonder how to invite someone to church. Here’s a way of helping you using the le ers in the word PRAY. P = Pray for someone specifically before you invite them to church. Ask God to open their hearts and minds to the invita on that you will make, and pray that you will ask them at the right me, with the right words, and in the right manner. If you prayerfully prepare your own heart and mind to the task of asking, you will not be anxious about it. R= Reach Out. At some point, you have to make the invita on vocally. You want to do this naturally and without ar ficially introducing the invita on into any conversa on. Rela ves and friends know who you are, so if you try to insincerely offer an invita on, they will reject it. Talk regularly about being at Erin in small posi ve ways concerning the worship, the programs, the renova ons, and the people. When you give the invita on, let them know how pleased you will be to have them ‘come and see’ what’s going on.
A= Accompany them to church. Offer to give them a li or meet them for coffee/breakfast before church at a predetermined loca on. Driving into a new parking lot or walking through the doors of a church for the first me is a bit daun ng. If you accompany your guests, you will help them to feel at ease much quicker. Sit with them throughout the worship service and leave with them a er church. Thank them for taking the me to come to church. Y= Y do this? The work of the church is to reach out to the local community with the Good News. Your family, friends, and neighbors are only human and they will go through mes of stress, trouble, illness, and crisis. They will need to know that God loves them all of the me and that He is accessible to them in all circumstances. By invi ng them to church, you may be opening a new door of faith, hope, and love for them to experience. I hope that all of this helps you. Please invite people to come to church on Sunday September 30th for our special homecoming and thanksgiving service. It promises to be a remarkable occasion and a wonderful way to open up your loved ones, dear friends, and good neighbors to Jesus Christ. May God bless and be with you all. ~John