What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Prayer Shawl The next meeting for GS Prayer Shawl Ministry will be Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11:15. Keep Knitting!
“And as for your little ones…”
Children’s Bulletins Children’s bulletins are available from the ushers. They are designed to help children 8-11 engage more fully with the worship service and sermon. Younger children who are worshipping with you may also find them helpful.
Catechesis recently began for children 3-6 years old. Please ask Anne Kennedy for a classroom tour and consider bringing your children or becoming involved as an occasional classroom assistant.
Upcoming ACW Events
Anglican Church Women (ACW) with have a meeting on Saturday, October 10 at 11:15 followed by a pot luck lunch. We will be discussing an exciting ACW year filled with fun and fellowship!
Upcoming Outreach Events
Trunk-n-Treats Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd (360 Conklin Avenue) will again host Trunk ‘N Treat from 4 to 7PM on October 31st. There will be hot chocolate, donuts, cider, games, antique cars, and trunks of treats.
Jeremy the Illusionist will share the gospel as he performs his amazing “magic” show from 6 to 7PM! Please come in costume with decorated trunks full of treats and enjoy the fun! Also invite friends and neighbors to this family-friendly event!
Balloon Animals If anyone is interested in making balloon animals for outreach events, please see Carmen.
Saratoga Outreach Please let Carmen know if you would like to share some special time (30-45 minutes) with the kids at Saratoga Youth Center. Some ideas: read a favorite book/books to the children, talk about a country where you have lived/visited, teach a craft, play a game, cook, etc. Also feel free to join us in the garden usually at 10:30AM on Tuesdays depending on the weather. Afterwards we prepare a salad from the harvest to enjoy in the Parish Hall. We have also made zucchini chips and kale chips, but are eager for more healthy, kid-friendly recipes. Thanks for continuing to pray for these beautiful children!
Ongoing Ministries
Good Shepherd Garden Good Shepherd has a community garden containing 11 personal plots. If you are interested in helping in the garden, or if you’d like to learn about gardening, please contact Steph Warner or Carmen Swoffer-Penna. We’re in need of waterers, planters, weeders, and knowledgeable folks to mentor newer gardeners.
This Week It’s time to close down another successful year in the Good Shepherd Garden! This year we expanded our flower garden, rebuilt two beds, got some new equipment, made lots of tasty meals with the Saratoga kids, and spent some time with the youth group, growing our relationships and knowledge along the way. Praise God for all of the work he’s done with our little patch of dirt! Thank you to all who tirelessly gave of themselves to make the garden such a success once again!
Health and Wellness Our bodies are “the tents” that the Lord has given us to house our souls. Begin to take care of the body which God Has given you. Check your blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight every Sunday in the Parish Hall 9-10AM. Please see Dolly Shaller or Carmen Swoffer-Penna for more details.
Good Shepherd Food Pantry With the holidays fast approaching, there is a greater need to keep our member food pantry well stocked. If those of us that can afford to do so would help those who can’t, it would be a blessing to all. One, we would have the satisfaction of knowing that the members of our congregation who use it would have good, healthy food to put on their tables, and two, those who use it would know that someone cares enough to see that they are well fed and their families too. In this way it would be a blessing for all.
Pantry Needs: Canned hams, turkey, beef, chicken and tuna, Stuffing mixes, canned soups and stews, kid foods, pie mixes, instant potatoes, assorted gravies, fresh potatoes, onions and carrots, and anything else you’d like to bring.
Last Week
Sermon Last week’s sermon: ‘Ashamed of the Resurrection’ was based on Corinthians 15:1-8 and can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
(1) Why does Paul have to remind the Corinthians of the gospel?
- That is, what part(s) of the gospel have the Corinthians forgotten or intentionally dismissed? [consider the events and problems brought up by Paul throughout the letter so far]
- Looking at the words Paul uses in verses 1 and 2, does he consider the Corinthians to be believers or unbelievers? [he considers them believers because he calls them “brothers and sisters”]
(2) What is meant in verse 2 when Paul uses the present tense to say that the Corinthians “are being saved” by the gospel? [sanctification]
- From verse 2, what is it that continues to save us? [hold fast to the word, that is the gospel]
- What is “the word” to which Paul refers? [The word is the gospel Paul has preached, see Romans 10:5-13]
(3) From verses 3 and 4, what parts of the gospel are of “first importance?”
- Why was it necessary that Christ died for our sins?
- Of what significance is the burial of Christ?
- Why did Christ need to be raised from the dead?
- Is the gospel complete if any of these are left out?
- Why or why not?
- What is the significance of the phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures” in verses 3 and 4?
(4) Why does Paul list as many witnesses as he does in verses 5 through 8?
- In verse 6, why does Paul make a point to tell the Corinthians that most of the 500 brothers to whom Christ appeared are still alive?
- What does “last of all” mean in verse 8? [It means that Paul was the last person to whom the resurrected Christ appeared in person] Why is this significant?
This Week
This week’s sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 15:8-19.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:8-19 ESV)
Team Romans is working on the altar this Sunday with Chris Jones.
The readings for this week are Job 23:1-9, 16-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:8-19.
The PDF Bulletin for the 10:30 service can be downloaded here.
Have an item for the Update?
Email the secretary at:
gs.binghamton@gmail.com
by Monday night.