What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Life Choices Baby Bottle Drive If you haven’t returned your baby bottles yet, please do bring them in this Sunday and give them to Christine Osgood. Thank you all so much for your help raising funds for this worthy cause.
Concert at Good Shepherd Last Thursday, Good Shepherd hosted 53 students from the Northwestern College Symphonic Band. They shared dinner with us, and gave a great performance of many beautiful pieces of music. The entire sanctuary was filled with classical, jazz, and contemporary music. It was truly a blessing being able to share this event with our community, and to minister to these students by opening our homes and families to them for the evening. Thank you to the fortified Shepherd’s Bowl team that put on a great meal, and all the people that opened their homes to host!
Shrove Tuesday Thank You A big Thank You to all who helped with the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Mardi Gras Celebration! A special thanks also to Jeremy the Illusionist who performed his amazing tricks while, more importantly, presenting the Gospel in an unusual and powerful way! We hosted new friends and old ones with His Spirit among us! May God bless our efforts for His kingdom and for His glory!
Scheduling Reminder If you need to make an appointment with Pastor Matt, please be sure to contact Stephanie directly at gs.binghamton@gmail.com.
Often when people come to speak with Matt after the service on Sunday, he’s already been working for over nine hours, and doesn’t always remember to put it into the calendar. This can cause double bookings, or forgotten appointments. Please keep in mind that the office is closed on Mondays and Fridays, but you can always leave a message. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Update and Announcements If you have an item you’d like to have announced on Sunday morning, or included in the update, please be sure to forward the item to Stephanie by Wednesday afternoon, and specify if you’d like it announced or just listed in the updates. It will then be edited and forwarded to Anne/Ife to announce on Sunday and/or added to the paper and digital update.
New Members and Attenders Class If you’ve decided to become an official member of Good Shepherd, or would just like more information about Good Shepherd, and what we believe, a new members class session started on January 29th after the 10:30 service in the youth room. If you missed the first class, but would like to catch up, you can hear the first class here: New Members and Attenders Class #1. Please call or email Stephanie at the church office for more information or to let us know if you’d like to attend the remainder of the sessions. Meetings typically last around an hour. The second new members class has been scheduled for March 26th immediately following the 10:30 service.
Ongoing Ministries
Children’s bulletins are available to help your children follow all parts of the service today. Please pick one up from an usher.
Bread and Wine If you are interested in joining a group of moms for a monthly supper and discussion of women in the bible, please contact Liz Hull.
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.
Member Food Pantry When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God supplied them with good things to eat like manna and quail, and gave them water to drink from a rock. But today, he can use the church as a tool to get the job done. When we shop for others less fortunate than we, and keep our member food pantry stocked, we are doing the work that God has commanded us.
Items needed: Peanut butter, jelly, pasta and pasta sauces, canned fruits and veggies, one box meals, canned meats and tuna, crackers and cookies, 1 lb bags of rice, condiments and salad dressings, and anything else you’d like to bring.
Note: Please don’t bring flour or sugar, or leave any open packages of pasta or rice in the pantry, as it attracts mice.
Last Week
Last Week in Christian Ed This was the first class in a series on Evangelism. In this session, ‘Divine Sovereignty and Evangelism part 1’, we discussed the topic first from a theological perspective, using JI Packer’s, “The Sovereignty of God and Evangelism”. In several weeks we will turn to more practical “how to” questions.
Last Week’s Sermon was called ‘The Danger of Apostasy‘, and was based on Hebrews 6:1-6. It can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Read Hebrews 6:1-8
1) What does the preacher mean by the word “leave” in verse 1 when he says “let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ”? Does he mean to forget all about the elementary doctrine?
- What does repentance from dead works mean for a believer? Why is the understanding of this significant for a believer?
- What does “faith toward God” mean? How is it related to repentance from dead works?
- Why were rituals of washing and cleansing important under the Law of Moses? How is baptism similar and different to these rituals?
- What does “the laying on of hands” signify? Why is this important for a believer?
- What does resurrection from the dead mean for the believer? How about for the nonbeliever? Why is it important for a believer to know that there is a resurrection?
- What does “eternal judgment” refer to? Why is this an elementary doctrine of Christ?
2) How does understanding the elementary doctrine of Christ lead to maturity?
- What are some specific indicators of maturity in a believer?
- What things should we do to build and maintain a solid foundation of understanding concerning the elementary doctrine of Christ? How can we encourage each other to remember?
3) What kind of person is described in verses 4 through 6? How do you know?
- Why is it impossible for one who has experienced the blessings of Christ, but then fallen away to be restored to repentance?
4) How does the illustration in verses 7 and 8 confirm your understanding of verses 4 through 6?
- In the illustration, what does the rain represent? What does the rain cause to happen?
- What does “a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated” represent? What do “thorns and thistles” represent?
- Who does each type of land represent? Which type of land are you?
- What hope does the word “near” provide in the phrase “near to being cursed”? What does this mean about one who is still falling away, but hasn’t completely fallen?
Tuesday Morning Bible Study ‘O My Lord, Please Send Someone Else‘ was based on Exodus 4.
Moses wasn’t a visionary leader, eager to hear God’s voice and say “Here I am Lord, send me…” Instead, he was distinctly unenthusiastic and afraid. When God told him Moses that he would be his mouthpiece before Pharaoh, he said: “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” But neither God’s sovereignty over history nor his eternal purposes depend upon human beings having good attitudes and big dreams. And for this we can all be quite thankful. Tomorrow we move into Exodus 4 and Moses’ attempts to negotiate with God and find a way to get out of what God has called him to do.
You can catch up on the last month’s recordings here.
Preventing Grace Podcast Did you know that Matt and Anne have a podcast? They talk about everything from church polity to rustic breads. In this week’s episode, ‘American Religion, Minimalism and the Brady Bunch’, Matt and Anne discuss religion in America, Minimalism, The Shack, Edwardian manor houses, the Brady Bunch and the war on Lent.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
This Week
This week in Christian Ed Our next Christian Education series is focused on Evangelism. The bare bones essential vocation for every believer is to “make disciples of all nations…”(Matthew 28) but how do we do this? I would like to approach this question first from a theological perspective…if God is sovereign, that is: if God is the only one who changes hearts and faith is a gift from God, why should we share the Gospel?
Thankfully, Dr. JI Packer (an Anglican) has spent a good deal of time and energy considering this question. He authored a book called “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God”. It is only 122 pages but an excellent read. This next series will begin with a series of discussions based on his book. You can buy it here. And if you cannot afford it, don’t worry (we’ve been there) there will be free copies available at the church soon.
After we discuss evangelism from a theological perspective we will discuss it on a more practical, every day, level…but it is important to start with theology so that we know why (and to what end) we are doing what we are doing.
This Week’s Sermon is based on Hebrews 6:9-12.
Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Team Phillipians is working on the altar this Sunday with Anne Kennedy.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 5 will be working this week with Michael and Martha Rice (3/16).
Altar Guild Karen Berman is serving this Sunday.
The readings for this week are: Genesis 12:1-9 and Hebrews 6:9-12.
The PDF Bulletin for this Sunday’s 10:30 service can be downloaded here.
Have an item for the Update or an Announcement?
Email the secretary at:
gs.binghamton@gmail.com
by Monday night.