What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
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.
CANA East Synod Our diocese, CANA East has asked Good Shepherd to host the annual Synod meeting this year. It’s an honor that Good Shepherd has been chosen to host this event. This year is even more special, as it’s the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation. On May 4th-6th, 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, the keynote speakers will be Archbishop Foley Beach (Archbishop of the ACNA), and Dr. Rev. Lee Gatiss.
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 co-ordination, and ushers. If you’d like to attend the event, you can register at the CANA East website. The cost is $120 for the full event. If you’d like to attend for free, then please contact Stephanie to sign up as a volunteer at gs.binghamton@gmail.com or by calling the office.
Work Day #1 Will be next Saturday, March 25th. This work day will be from 9:30am until 4:30pm. We’d like to have people work in shifts. The bulk of the work during this work day will be cleaning out closets, painting, and reorganizing. Lunch will be provided with a GF/low-carb option available. If you happen to have them, please bring along one of these items (labelled): painter’s tape, cutting in brushes, drop cloths, paint trays (we will have inserts), ladders/step stools, long handles to attach to the rollers so we can reach the tops of the walls, boxes that can be used to pack up and carry books, office supplies, etc. There will be opportunities to come in and work prior to the work day, so please see Anne Kennedy or Erin Annis (eaannis@gmail.com) for more information.
Food Distribution The next Broome County Mobile Food Pantry food distribution will be Wednesday, March 22, from 10-11am. All are welcome, please bring containers to take away any goods that you receive.
Hymn Sing and Potluck Did your mom have a Best Dish? Something that she was known for? That you might have had to beg and plead to get the recipe for? Our next potluck will be on Sunday April 2nd. The event will feature a hymn sing (with guest Jennifer Woolfolk at the keyboard) and the theme will be Mom’s Best Dish. Please stay and help celebrate our mom’s cooking and sing some of the old favorite hymns! Bring a dish to pass, if you can, but stay and enjoy the afternoon even if you don’t.
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 2’. This is the second class in a series on Evangelism. We discuss 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…
Audible has a deal on the audiobook for $6.95, and can be found here.
Last Week’s Sermon was called ‘God’s Justice and the Believer’s Works‘, and was based on Hebrews 6:9-11. It can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Read Hebrews 6:9-12
1) What are the “better things” that “belong to salvation” that mark the difference between believers and the unbelievers from 5:11-6:8?
- What are these things better than?
- Why is the preacher “sure of better things” than what he spoke about in verses 5:11-6:8?
2) For what are the believers commended in verse 10?
- Why would it be unjust for God to overlook the good work done and love shown between believers?
- What is the significance that the work and love was shown “for his (God’s) name”?
- In what ways have you recently served and shown love to fellow believers?
- Why are these works you’ve done and this love you’ve shown of value to God?
3) What is “earnestness”?
- What things do you express earnestness for? What does “the full assurance of hope until the end” refer to? Are you earnest to have the full assurance of hope until the end?
- Why is earnestness for anything without first being earnest for the gospel perilous?
- What does earnestness for the gospel look like?
4) What does it mean to be “sluggish” in verse 12?
- What leads to this sluggishness?
- What are believers commanded to do instead of being sluggish?
- What does the word “imitate” mean in the context of verse 12? What are the qualities of those we should
imitate?
- How and why are both faith and patience involved in inheriting the promises of God?
Tuesday Morning Bible Study was cancelled, due to what we are lovingly calling ‘The Snow-pocalypse’. We should be back next week, as we move further into Exodus.
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, ‘Snowpocalypse, Conservative Silence, and that Viral Video’, Matt and Anne discuss the coming destruction of everything by snow, the silence of social conservatives regarding President Trump’s failure to support religious liberty, and that viral video wherein two small children crash dad’s big interview.
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.
Audible has a deal on the audiobook for $6.95, and can be found here.
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 6:11-20.
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.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Team Romans is working on the altar this Sunday with Joe Osgood.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 1 will be working this week with Carmen Swoffer Penna (3/23).
Altar Guild Christine Osgood is serving this Sunday.
The readings for this week are: Exodus 17:1-7 and Hebrews 6:11-20.
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.