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Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
SUNDAY Schedule Sunday, April 3 • 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 • Worship Service - 9:00 am, Sanctuary • Cherub Choir & Worship Education - 9:30 am • Sunday School for all ages - 10:05 am • Worship Service - 11:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 12:15 pm Fifield Hall • Hillside & FPC Joint Lenten Bibe Study- 5:30 pm, FPC
Sunday, April 10 • 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 • Worship Service - 9:00 am, Sanctuary • Cherub Choir & Worship Education - 9:30 am • Sunday School for all ages - 10:05 am • Worship Service - 11:15 am, Sanctuary
April 3 & 10, 2011 Christ at the Center
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n one of his earliest books “A Cry For Mercy,” Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote these words which have held great meaning for me over the past thirty years: April 3 - George Wirth “God’s Mercy to preach is greater than our sins…(but) our temptation is to be so impressed by our sins and failings…that we get stuck in paralyzing guilt…Guilt says ‘I am too sinful to deserve God’s mercy’…. Lent is the time to…direct our attention to our loving Lord and ask the question: ‘Are we like Judas, who was so overcome by his sin that he could not believe in God’s mercy any longer and hanged himself, or are we like Peter who returned to the Lord with repentance and cried (for forgiveness) of his sins?’ The Season of Lent, during which winter and spring struggle with each other for dominance, helps us in a special way to cry out for God’s mercy.” I hope those words will lead us to our worship services this coming Sunday at 9 and 11:15am as we talk together about Jesus’ Beatitude “Blessed Are The Merciful, For They Will Receive Mercy.” I look forward to seeing you in the sanctuary, and please invite your family members and friends to come on along too!
• Fellowship Hour - 12:15 pm Fifield Hall • Sunday School Coordinator’s Meeting - 12:15 pm, Room 156
Faithfully yours,
• Musica Sacra Concert - 2:00 pm Lunch & Learn preceeding, Reception Following
George B. Wirth
• Hillside & FPC Joint Lenten Bibe Study- 5:30 pm, Hillside
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hirty four years ago in my senior year at the University of North Carolina, I took a course in which we studied side by side the works of the Danish Christian April 10 - Craig Goodrich philosopher Soren to preach Kierkegaard and the Southern novelist Walker Percy. It was a great course! It was Kierkegaard who wrote a work entitled Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, and so it was him (and springtime in Chapel Hill!) that I thought of when I read the beatitude for this Sunday, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” But what does this saying of Jesus mean? From what I have gleaned from my study, “purity of heart” is less about chasteness and more about singlemindedness of purpose or focus. Or in others words, “to will one thing.” I wonder if you were to describe the “one thing” that motivates or dominates your life, what would it be? As Christians who are always in need of a little help, the apostle Paul is a good guide for us. In his first letter to the Church in Corinth he describes the love of God which “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” and goes on to say that we are to “pursue love” or to “make love your aim.” (1st Corinthians 14:1, RSV). What about you? What about us? Is the love of God our aim? Are we pursuing the love of God with all our heart? If we do, we just may be surprised to find that, from time to time, we catch a glimpse of God whose love in Jesus Christ never ends.
See you Sunday,
Craig