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The Chimes nline
Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
SUNDAY Schedule Sunday, July 15 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:15 am, Winship Chapel
• The Mustard Seed Bookstore - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm • Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
Sunday, July 22 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:15 am, Winship Chapel
• Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
July 15 & 22, 2012 Christ at the Center
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ince this is my first letter to our whole community, I’d like to start with a word of thanks. My family and I are so grateful for the warm welcome and support you have given us July 15 - Rebekah LeMon to preach since I joined the staff of First Presbyterian 10 months ago. I have often observed and felt God’s presence and power among us during that time, and as always, I look forward to the future God has in store for us all. During worship on Sunday we will consider together how we respond to God’s presence; both our psalm (24) and Old Testament lesson (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19) give us glimpses into times when our ancestors were in the presence of the ark of the covenant, which was understood to be God’s throne, the object in Israelite worship that represented God’s presence. In both texts, there is rejoicing before the Lord, and in 2 Samuel, we are told that “David danced before the Lord with all his might.” Perhaps you don’t often dance before our God (or maybe you do!), but as we come to Sunday, I hope you will look for the times in your week when you most clearly experience God’s presence or power and consider what you do in those times. I look forward to rejoicing with you all on Sunday! Blessings, Rebekah
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e are redeemed p e o p l e . We are broken people. As Christians, we often wrestle with this seeming contradiction, struggling to July 22 - Joel Moore understand how a to preach God who loves us and forgives us still allows for us to experience the consequences for our sins. Well, since human nature today is little different from human nature 3,000 years ago, the Bible tells us many stories that deal with the all too common human conflict between consequences and redemption. One of those stories involves King David. He wrestled with the seeming contradiction of being, “a man after God’s own heart,” and being a man who, “deserves to die.” As I study the life of David, I find that I can relate to his struggles, not in terms of content, but in terms of condition. What happens when ordinarily good people do extraordinarily bad things? How do we deal with the consequences of our sins? How do we recognize and embrace God’s mercy and God’s grace? Psalm 51 gives us a good indication of how David dealt with his indiscretions and provides us a model of how we might deal with our own. Please join us as we learn about David and Bathsheba. Let’s discover together how Redemption is bigger than Consequence. In Christ,
Joel
Joel Moore