What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Missions Brochure The Missions Committee has been hard at work creating a shiny new updated missions brochure. More information to come on Sunday!
Life Choices Baby Bottle Drive Please be sure to return your baby bottles by February 26. Thank you all so much for your help raising funds for this worth cause.
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Mardi Gras Celebration on Tuesday February 28th, from 5-7PM, Good Shepherd will once again host this event. Pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit, and homemade applesauce will be served. There will be face-painting, mask-making, and Jeremy the Illusionist (5:30) who will present the gospel in a unique way. At 6:30 there will be prayer and a solemn burning of last year’s palms as we prepare for Ash Wednesday. There is no charge, but love offerings will be accepted.
Please sign-up to 1) bring fresh fruit (grapes/strawberries) or homemade applesauce 2) help make pancakes 3) help serve 4) help children make masks 5) face-paint 6) clean-up. Please consider attending this outreach event with family and friends! It’s a great meal, great fun, and a great way to reach out to our neighbors!
Concert coming to Good Shepherd On Thursday March 9th of this year at 7pm Good Shepherd will be hosting a free concert by the Northwestern College Symphonic Band. We hope to use this event as an outreach to the community. Northwestern College is a strong Christian college (Jason Carlton’s alma mater) and the concert will include some brief testimonies by the musicians. And the music is excellent. The orchestra includes about 53 student members and we are looking for volunteers who would be willing to open their homes for Thursday evening, providing breakfast on Friday morning and perhaps a sack lunch for their departure. If you are willing and interested in supporting this outreach and opening your home, please contact the church office at 607-723-8032.
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, there is a link to a recording on the http://www.goodshepherdbinghamton.org/ website where you can listen in. 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.
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 If you have looked into our Member Food Pantry recently, you will see that we have an abundance of cereal, crackers, cookies, peanut butter and jam, apple and cranberry sauce, and some veggies like peas and green beans. Thank you so much for your generosity, these items are all well stocked.
Items Needed: Canned meats and Tuna Fish, Assorted Salad Dressings, and cooking oils such as Vegetable, and Canola oils; Ketchup, mayonnaise, relish, pickles and olives, Stews, one box meals other than mac and cheese, Bread Crumbs, Canned fruits, Coffee, Tea, cocoa, powdered milk, Canned corn, creamed corn, carrots, beets and asparagus or anything else you care 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 we continued our discussion on the Q & A questions. We unfortunately didn’t get the class recorded, but will continue our Q & A discussion this Sunday.
Last Week’s Sermon was called ‘The Order of Melchizedek’, and was based on Hebrews 5:1-5. It can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Read Hebrews 5:1-6
1) Why is it necessary for someone to act on behalf of men in relation to God?
- Why were priests chosen from among men? Why not appoint an angel?
- How was Jesus qualified to act on behalf of men?
2) Why did a priest need to be able to deal gently with the people?
- What made him able to be gentle?
- What weaknesses did Jesus experience as a human?
- Why did Jesus need to experience human weakness?
3) Why did the priest need to sacrifice for his own sins before sacrificing for the people?
- Why is it an honor to act on behalf of men in relation to God?
- What is significant about Jesus being appointed by God as a high priest?
4) Who was Malchizedek?
- What is the significance of being a priest in the order of Malchizedek?
- What does this mean about who Jesus is?
Tuesday Morning Bible Study ‘The Hebrew Midwives‘ based on Exodus 1.
We continued our discussion of Exodus 1. The Hebrew midwives “feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live…”(Exodus 1) There are times when disobeying governing authorities is not only permissible but required. In this case, obeying the king would mean murdering children and disobeying God. These midwives were willing to lose everything rather than submit to an evil command. And God blessed them for it. We discussed what they did and much more as we continued our study of Exodus.
You can watch it below, or click this link.
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, ‘Creation, Evolution and the Internet Wrecking Everything’, Matt and Anne discuss the relationship between scripture and science, especially as it relates to Genesis. then they move on to talk about internet pornography and how some men use it as a substitute for real relationships.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
This Week
This week in Christian Ed we’ll be having another Q and A session. Please forward all of your questions to Father Matt.
This Week’s Sermon is based on Hebrews 5:5-10.
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Team Corinthains is working on the altar this Sunday with Melissa Boeker.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 2 will be working this week (2/23).
Altar Guild Chirstine Osgood is serving this Sunday.
The readings for this week are: Isaiah 49:1-7 and Hebrews 5:5-10.
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.