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The Chimes nline
Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
SUNDAY Schedule Sunday, July 17 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:30 am, Winship Chapel • Sunday School for all ages 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
Sunday, July 24 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:30 am, Winship Chapel • Sunday School for all ages 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
Summer/September Preaching Schedule July 17th - Rev. Craig Goodrich July 24th - Rev. Hardy Kim July 31st - Rev. Kevin Knab August 7th - Dr. George Wirth August 14th - Rev. Caleb Clarke August 21st - Rev. Lindsay Armstrong August 28th - Dr. George Wirth September 4th - Rev. Chris Moore-Keish September 11th - Dr. Tom Tewell
July 17 & 24, 2011 Christ at the Center
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n his book The Hopeful Heart, John Claypool writes, “What breath is to the physical body, hope is to the human spirit….It is the fuel that energizes July 17 - Craig Goodrich us, gets us up in to preach the morning and propels us through the day.” Hope is the ability to look forward to and imagine a meaningful future. As a way to authentic hope, Claypool suggests that we look to Scripture which tells of God’s love and promises. In the first lesson for this Sunday, Jacob finds hope in a barren, rocky place, in a dream in which God promises blessing to the nations through Jacob’s offspring and says to him, “know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” (Genesis 28:15). Jacob awakens with hope and exclaims, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!” In the second lesson, Paul also speaks of hope, encouraging believers that the ‘”sufferings of this present time” cannot be compared to the glory to come, God’s promised new creation, adoption and redemption. (Romans 8: 18-25). Where are you looking for hope today? Maybe the place to start is with the promises and love of God in Jesus Christ. The sermon this Sunday is entitled “The Place of Hope.” See you soon.
uring my time at the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, I have been blessed by the amazing community and inspiring work done in the name July 24 - Hardy Kim Symington to preach of Jesus Christ. I have also had the privilege of welcoming amazing new people into the life of FPC. During the new member process I am almost always asked: “What about predestination?” Predestination is a doctrine important to historic Presbyterianism that is summed up in this passage of the Westminster Confession—“By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.” It seems strangely appropriate, then, that the lectionary readings for this Sunday include Romans 8:26-39, the very passage in which many ground the concept. As my time with you draws to a close I invite you to join me in reflecting, one more time, on this important text and on the question of the role that our own will and choice play in our faith. For I am convinced that our understanding of these ideas is critical in determining, “The Church We Choose.”
God bless,
Craig
Peace, Hardy H. Kim