FOREST PLANT
We have the green light to start our first worship service in Forest this Sunday, October 5 at 9am. How exciting! There will be nursery and children’s church, but no Sunday school for the short term.
In Lynchburg, things remain the same: Sunday school/nursery at 10am, worship at 11am with nursery and children’s church.

RIDE TO CHURCH
Need a ride from LU to church? Willing to help another with a ride? Please contact Ashley Atkins who is happy to coordinate. Use the email: Atkins_A at students dot lynchburg dot edu ( note: there is _ between Atkins and A.)

BOY SCOUT POPCORN
Popcorn fundraiser runs Friday, September 26th - October 31st.

Scouts from Redeemer with flyers will be available to assist you in the foyer in supporting our church sponsored Troop 1412. (There will be scouts from different troops all over town selling popcorn: please support our boys and young men. Proceeds help individual scouts pay for summer camp and helps the troop become self-sustaining) Redeemer scouts are: DJ or Drew Crowe; Carter or Phillip Head; Sam, Jim or Jack Hurt; Matthew or Gregory Knopp; Austin or Jackson Williams.

Cub Scout PACK 1412 is underway! (Boys 1st thru 5th grade)

A Cub Scout Pack sponsored by Redeemer has just begun. If you are interested, call Roseanne Richards @ 434-384-5375. Details will be coming soon.

Grace and peace,
Mike

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

This week marks the beginning of an exciting new season of ministry for our church.
After a few weeks delay, we are meeting to worship in two sites this Sunday: Forest at 9
and Lynchburg at 11. This is the next step in the church-planting vision that our church
has followed since the beginning of our ministry in Lynchburg. We pray that these
multiple worship sites will remove obstacles of distance and encourage community, and,
in this, enable our congregation to minister more effectively in the Lynchburg area. If
you have not already read it, please take a few minutes to read our Church Planting
Frequently Asked Questions to better understand the shape of this new season for our
church. And please continue to be in prayer that God would continue to bring His
Kingdom through the ministry of Redeemer.

Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.

This week we continue in our study of John 4. Following Jesus’ interaction with the
woman at the well, the disciples find him and notice that He hasn’t eaten. Jesus responds
to their concerns saying, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. My food is to
do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Behind this answer are very
important questions. What are our real needs? Where do you go to get these needs met?

Our opening hymn, “Brethren We Have Met to Worship”, very intentionally points to
these same questions. Take another look at the first verse, which opened this e-mail.
George Atkins, the hymn’s writer, points towards the expectancy that should accompany
us to worship each week. It is an expectancy to join our voices with brothers and sisters
in worship, to hear the Truth spoken from God’s Word, to experience fellowship with the
Spirit. Like manna to the Hebrews in the wilderness, we are fed through these ordinary
means of Grace in our common pilgrim journey to the Kingdom of our God.

I believe in the love of God
It is an orphan’s wildest dream
It is a narrow little road
It is an ever-widening desert stream
It is portrayed in the bread and wine
Let it fortify my bones
It is more than just a sign
It is the fountain from that desert stone

I want to keep this edition of the Worship Notes short, as I hope that you will take some
time in intentional prayer to prepare your heart for gathered worship this week. Ask the
Spirit to reveal those other places you go for life and sustaining power that is outside of
His Word. Talk with your community of friends and family about what it would mean
for you to come expectant on Sunday morning. Ask that the Spirit would open your heart
and hands to receive what He has for you this week. Then come on Sunday and let’s
experience the joy of God’s good gifts together.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness.
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfil in us
All Your purposes, for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise
Cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ’til Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Eagerly anticipating Sunday,

Tim Sharpe
Worship Director
Redeemer Presbyterian Church; Lynchburg (and Forest!), VA

Announcements for 10/5/2008

Christian Education
Parents are encouraged to bring their children to Sunday school at 10am. We also have a bible study for adults on Hebrews.

Sermon CDs
In addition to requesting CDs at church, you can access sermons on-line.

Missions Speaker
Luis Bush will be the keynote speaker at the Rivermont EPC’s Triennial World Missions Conference this fall. On Sunday September 28th, Bush will speak at all services (8:30, 11:00 and 6:30) and he will also address a joint adult Sunday school class in the Sanctuary at 9:40 AM.

Bush is a visionary missiologist and highly respected missions statesman. He coined the term the 10-40 Window some twenty years ago, a term that has become part of the standard vocabulary of the church world-wide. Currently, he is the main strategist and facilitator for a global movement called Transform-World Connections.

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Boys Scout Ministry Update
Boys Scouts (Ages 11-18)

Redeemer sponsored Boys Scout Troop 1412 meets every Wednesday 7-8:30PM at New Covenant School. For information, call Scoutmaster Chuck Hurt@ 434-384-4349.

BOY SCOUT POPCORN

Popcorn fundraiser runs Friday, September 26th – October 31^st.

Scouts from Redeemer with flyers will be available to assist you in the foyer in supporting our church sponsored Troop 1412. (There will be scouts from different troops all over town selling popcorn: please support our boys and young men. Proceeds help individual scouts pay for summer camp and helps the troop become self-sustaining) Redeemer scouts are:  DJ or Drew Crowe; Carter or Phillip Head; Sam, Jim or Jack Hurt; Matthew or Gregory Knopp; Austin or Jackson Williams.

Cub Scout PACK 1412 is underway! (Boys 1^st thru 5^th grade)

A Cub Scout Pack sponsored by Redeemer has just begun. If you are interested, call Roseanne Richards @ 434-384-5375. Details will be coming soon.

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Grace and peace,
Mike

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,

For the bliss Thy love bestows,

For the pardoning grace that saves me,

And the peace that from it flows:

Help, O God, my weak endeavor;

This dull soul to rapture raise:

Thou must light the flame, or never

Can my love be warmed to praise.

The weather change is starting to roll through, and Fall is definitely upon us.  Having just recently moved from Florida to Lynchburg, this is a renewed experience for me.  It was a little shocking to walk outside this week and feel that early autumn chill in the air.  It seems silly to say it, but the weather isn’t like it was last week.  It’s changing.  I’ve started to pull out my jeans and light sweaters and put away my flip flops.  By contrast, it’s still in the mid 80s with high humidity back in Orlando, and it’s probably going to stay that way for another month yet.  This new life is different from the one I’d become accustomed to.  And I like it!

An unexpected thing accompanied this seasonal change: the desire to talk about it.  Many of you are probably wondering why I’m starting the Worship Notes talking about something so banal as the weather.  The honest answer is: I can’t help it! I’m constantly amazed by it.  Every time I walk outside I’m surprised anew.  This consistent shock is always on my mind, and thus is one of the first things I find myself talking about.  And that is very analogous to our church’s current study of the woman at the well in John 4.  She had an encounter with Christ, and the immediate response to that encounter for the woman was to go and tell the other Samaritans about Jesus, and many believed (v. 39).

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread through all the earth abroad

The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears,

‘Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of reigning sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,

New life the dead receive,

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,

The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Savior come,

And leap, ye lame, for joy.

As I looked over the text for this hymn, I was surprised to see a developed theme in the words of Charles Wesley I hadn’t noticed before.  The first stanza is a call to worship, stating that the worth of God is greater than can be expressed by the writer’s own voice; he would need a thousand tongues to begin to express God’s greatness.  The latter verses speak of the power of Christ for the deliverance of his people, and the singer in particular (“His blood availed for me”).  And this encounter with the saving work of God is immediately accompanied with a desire “to spread through all the earth abroad / the honors of Thy name.” This theme of being amazed by the power of God, and that amazement overflowing into testimony of His greatness causes me to think about what blocks that sense of amazement in my own life and heart.
I find at times that my lack of evangelistic zeal is connected with the “elder brother syndrome” that Marc Corbett preached about this past Sunday.  I become cold and familiar towards the blessings that God has placed in my life.  I get complacent about the work of grace that He continues in the present, and I underestimate the work that is still to be completed.  What was so personal and vibrant for the woman at the well can become something academic and distant for me.  In my cynicism, I brazenly assume that God is just as detached as I am. 

But this is not the end.  God is at work.  He will not leave us in our disconnected complacency.  He powerfully seeks His wayward and uninspired children in the workings of His grace, by His Spirit and His Church.  Our corporate worship each week is a potent opportunity to challenge that spiritual deadness.  A crucial part of our time together each week is to remind one another of the power of God’s kingdom renewal among us.  This restoration is a gift of the Sabbath that God provides His people.

Let the weak say I am strong,

let the poor say I am rich,

let the blind say I can see,

it’s what the Lord has done in me;

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain;

Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again;

Into the river I will wade,

there my sins are washed away;

from the heavens, mercy streams

of the Savior’s love for me;

I will rise from waters deep into the saving arms of God;

I will sing salvation songs;

Jesus Christ has set me free.

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain;

Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again;

As His renewed people, we are charged with a lofty mission in this time and place: to be the ordinary means by which the good news of the Kingdom goes out to the world.  The point of the Great Commission is not that we would come to a place of perfection and then sell others the secrets of our success.    Rather, the Great Commission is part of the discipleship process for the one who speaks as well as for the one who hears.  Christ calls us to share the good news that we would be reminded again of the news’ goodness.  As we see more and more our need for the Gospel, and as His power meets with our present wounds, our amazement at His work will overflow into celebratory exclamation to the waiting world around us.  The Kingdom is coming.  Christ is on the move.  Come, let us adore Him.

O Church, Arise, and put your armor on;

Hear the call of Christ our Captain.

For now the weak can say that they are strong

In the strength that God has given.

With shield of faith and belt of Truth

We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;

An army bold, whose battlecry is love,

Reaching out to those in darkness.

So Spirit come, put strength in ev’ry stride,

Give grace for ev’ry hurdle,

That we may run with faith to win the prize

Of a servant good and faithful.

As saints of old still line the way,

Retelling triumphs of His grace,

We hear their calls and hunger for the day

When with Christ we stand in glory.

Living in renewed awe of Christ our King,

Tim Sharpe

Worship Director

Announcements for 9/28/2008

Luke 15:11-32 & Galatians 4:4-7

FOREST
Here is the situation with moving to Forest for our first plant:
* The janitor who will open and close the school for us is out of commission with a blood clot in his leg. The school will not let us start until he is better and returns to work. The exact time for that is obviously up in the air. Please pray for Thomas to get well.
**Therefore, we will continue to meet together at 11am (all of us, Foresters included!) until we get the green light from the school. Once we start, they guarantee us use every week. If you have young legs please park away from the JRDS, and try to carpool with friends.

Blessings,
Mike