What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Special Request Joan Dinnel is hoping that you have a sum of refillable plastic eggs that are in need of a good home. They will be used to increase the numbers for next year’s Easter Egg Hunt. If so, please see Joan to make arrangements.
Space Available A young, single female parishioner at Good Shepherd is in need of a roommate to fill the remainder of her lease. She is looking for a single Christian female to share her space with. If you know anyone that would be interested, please contact Steph at the Good Shepherd office.
A Happy Occasion Nick and Lauren S. are expecting triplets in mid-October! They will be in town on Sunday, April 22, and you are invited to stop by the Dreher’s house that day anytime from 1:30-4:00 PM for an open house style baby shower. Lauren would like the opportunity to sit for a bit and enjoy time with you. They have been given many clothes already and have said they don’t need more for now. You can find the many things they do need on their registry at Buy Buy Baby. They will only have a car that weekend, so consider having gifts mailed to them if that works well for you. For more information, grab an invitation card downstairs on Sunday or talk to Anna.
Health Fair and Ice Cream Social June 2nd noon to 3PM- Please prayerfully consider how you might participate in this upcoming annual gift to our community. Have you a skill that you might share? A craft to do with children? A Christian Health worker willing to provide a service? There is also chili and healthy snacks to provide and many, many other ways to help!
Thank You! Many thanks to all who made the Saratoga Youth Easter Party a beautiful blessing! Resurrection Eggs facilitated the explanation of the importance of God’s great sacrifice for us sinners. The children were engaged in the opening of each egg as we all remembered how Jesus suffered and died for our salvation. Later when Ms. Jackie asked them what they had learned, the children responded accurately and enthusiastically. Each child received a goodie bag where chocolates and toys reinforced the Easter message. May God bless our efforts with His Holy Spirit!
SYNOD facilities projects and preparation are being managed by Tyler Van Fossen. Please email him if you would like some flexible, do-at-your-convenience tasks around church, as well as be put on the work crew email list. Talk to him at church, or email him at tvf.arrowhead@gmail.com
CANA East Synod Our diocese, CANA East has asked Good Shepherd to host the annual Synod meeting again this year. It’s an honor that Good Shepherd has been chosen to host this event again, and we are looking forward to it! On May 3rd-5th, close to 300 clergy and lay people from around the country will come together to decide church business, and to worship and fellowship together. This year’s theme is: The Divine Allurement of God – Archbishop Cranmer’s Missional and Pastoral Principles for the 21st Century.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null, our guest speaker, is one of the foremost experts on Thomas Cranmer. He travels widely throughout the Anglican Communion, teaching regularly on the godly, biblical heritage of Anglicanism in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia.
Many things will need to be done to prepare for this event, and many hands will be needed. In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing about opportunities to serve by painting, cleaning, reorganizing, decorating, and even helping with some construction work! Please consider coming in to help beautify Good Shepherd as we prepare to host this exciting event.
There will also be a great need for volunteers during the event. If you are able to come and volunteer for part of the event, please let Stephanie in the office know by email or a phone call. We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with serving meals, cleaning, keeping refreshment areas well stocked, running small errands, child care, parking coordination, and ushers. If you’d like to attend the event, you can register at the CANA East website. The cost is $100 if you register before March 1, and $135 after March 2 for the full event. If you’d like to attend for free, then please contact Stephanie to sign up as a volunteer.
Good Shepherd Coffee Hour There’s been a trend as of late for people to spend time visiting in the sanctuary after the 10:30 service. It’s wonderful to see that so many relationships have formed, and that Good Shepherd’s parishioners love spending time together. However, this is problematic for two reasons. Firstly, there are often events scheduled to happen in the sanctuary immediately following the 10:30 service. It is difficult to have these events in an orderly manner when there is noise and commotion happening in the room. Secondly, (and more importantly) when visitors come to Good Shepherd, they are encouraged to go downstairs and get to know people. If a visitor goes downstairs and finds a mostly empty hall, they don’t get to know many people and can go away feeling unwelcome. For both of these reasons, please do go downstairs and have a nice lunch, or a cup of coffee and spend some time visiting and building the community of Good Shepherd.
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.
An Offer of Prayer The prayer team prays for the needs of the church on a weekly basis. If you have a specific request (Praise or intercession) please fill out a card and place it in the “prayer box” by the bulletin boards in the parish hall. All prayers are kept confidential.
Ongoing Ministries
Good Shepherd Youth Group Each Sunday evening, the youth of Good Shepherd meet for fellowship and worship. Any young person between the ages of 12 and 18 are welcome to attend. Led by Good Shepherd Pastoral Assistant Tyler VanFossen. For more information, contact the Good Shepherd office at (607)723-8032.
If you’d like to know how to help or be involved, please contact Tyler VanFossen.
Bread and Wine If you are interested in joining a group of ladies for a monthly supper and discussion, please contact Liz Hull. The group is currently reading a book called Money, Possessions and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn. The next meeting will be at 6pm on 4/21 at the Hull home.
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.
Last Week
Last Week in Christian Ed we took a little tangent away from but directly related to our Great Councils class and address some of the greatest ancient heresies and how they continue to pop up in our day. We’ve focused heavily on Arianism so far, so we focused most of our time on Gnosticism, Marcionism, Docetism, Apollinarianism, Donatism, and Pelagianism. This isn’t just a historical study…it’s training. Many, if not most, of these heresies are alive and well today under different names.
Tuesday Morning Bible Study Tuesday morning bible study returned this week. We are working our way through the book of Exodus and left off two weeks ago in chapter 34. God reveals his glory and his name to Moses on the mountain, renewing the covenant Israel broke when she worshiped the golden calf. If you could not be there in person, you can watch here, or in the window below.
Posted by Matt Kennedy on Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Preventing Grace Podcast Did you know that Matt and Anne have a podcast? They talk about everything from church polity to rustic breads. This week, in ‘What’s Wrong With Evangelicalism‘, Matt and Anne Kennedy discuss evangelicalism and what went wrong with the evangelical movement in the west.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
This Week
This Sunday’s Sermon will be based on Acts 4: 5-12.
On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Team Corinthians is working on the altar this Sunday.
The readings for this week are Acts 4: 5-12 and 1 John 1:1-2:2.
Karen B. will be serving on the altar guild this Sunday.
Brenda V. will be working in the nursery this Sunday
Shepherd’s Bowl Anne Kennedy is serving this week (4/19).
To download a PDF of the 10:30 service bulletin, click on this link.
Have an item for the Update or an Announcement?
Email the secretary at:
gs.binghamton@gmail.com
by Monday night.