What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
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!
Church Spring Work Day – Saturday April 14th We had a huge success in cleaning, purging, and working around church at our last workday in the fall, and our church is organizing another one this Spring! April 14th @ 9:00AM will be our workday this Spring, and it will include another dumpster we want to fill, cleaning parts of church in preparation for SYNOD, and a late lunch we can enjoy together after our work. Please join us rain or shine!
SYNOD facilities projects and preparation are being managed by Tyler VanFossen. 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. There will not be a youth group meeting on April 1 (Easter).
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 4/14 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 break from our series on the Great Councils and discussed Jesus’ bodily Resurrection and some of the very early evidence for it using 1 Corinthians 15 as our guide.
Last Week’s Sermon was called ‘The Resurrection of the Son of God’. It was based on Mark 16:1-8. It can be listened to or downloaded here.
Tuesday Morning Bible Study was cancelled for Holy Week, but will be returning on April 10th, at 9am.
Preventing Grace Podcast Matt and Anne did not record a podcast this week, but will be back with a new episode soon.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
This Week
This Sunday’s Sermon will be based on John 20:19-31.
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Team Romans is working on the altar this Sunday.
The readings for this week are Isaiah 26:1-9, 19 and 1 John 5:1-5.
Mary S. will be serving on the altar guild this Sunday.
Anne T. will be working in the nursery this Sunday
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 1 is serving this week with the Swoffer-Penna team (4/12).
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.