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Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
SUNDAY Schedule Sunday, October 17 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:30 am, Winship Chapel • The Mustard Seed Bookstore 9:00 am - 1:00 pm • Cherub Choir - 9:30 am • Worship Service - 9:00 am, Sanctuary • Sunday School - 10:05 am • Fellowship Hour - 11:00 am Fifield Hall • Worship Service - 11:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 12:15 pm Reception Room
Sunday, October 24 Kenya Conference • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:30 am, Winship Chapel • The Mustard Seed Bookstore 9:00 am - 1:00 pm • Cherub Choir - 9:30 am • Worship Service - 9:00 am, Sanctuary • Sunday School - 10:05 am • Stewardship Brunch - 10:05 am, Fifield Hall • Fellowship Hour - 11:00 am Fifield Hall • Worship Service - 11:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 12:15 pm Reception Room
October 17 & 24, 2010 Christ at the Center
October 17, “Prayer Power” As we continue our sermon series from The Sermon On The Mount during the fall season, we come this Sunday to one on the most familiar October 17 & 24 George Wirth to preach passages in the New Testament – Jesus teaching His disciples to pray what we now know as The Lord’s Prayer. I hope you can read the entire passage from Matthew 6: 5-15, setting the context for Jesus’ instructions on prayer and reminding us that the disciples asked Him the question, “Lord, teach us to pray”. In his classic book “Making All Things New,” Fr. Henri Nouwen writes that “Without solitude, it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but also that He is actively present in our lives…we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention. Jesus says ‘Go into your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place’ (Matthew 6:6). That is how our scripture lesson for Sunday begins, and that will help to set the stage for our sermon entitled “Prayer Power.” It is my hope and personal prayer that each of us and all of us will set aside that sacred time every day as we come to Jesus together with His first disciples, asking “Lord, teach us to pray.”
October 24, “Hakuna Matata – No Problem!” Following The Sermon On The Mount on through the sixth chapter of Matthew, we discover yet another familiar and profound passage which speaks to all of us, especially in these difficult days as we face personal frustrations, financial problems, national issues and world wide crises. The 25th verse begins with these words, as Jesus says “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…” In Kenya, there is a popular phrase which has also become well known to many of us through the Broadway play and Academy award winning film The Lion King – “Hakuna Matata” which literally means “No Problem!” Our Kenyan brothers and sisters say it often, and I think this phrase comes ever so close to the gospel of Jesus Christ when He told us not to worry about so many things. But these words cut across the grain in so many ways today, living as we do in what W.H. Auden once called “The Age Of Anxiety” where worry seems to be rampant in this modern era. So the focus of our sermon on October 24 will be to discern at a deeper level what Jesus meant when He told His first disciples and all of us still today, “Do not worry about your life…your Heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.” I hope you will join us in worship on October 17 and 24, and please invite your family members and friends to come along as well. See you in the sanctuary!
Faithfully yours,
George B. Wirth