What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
A Heartfelt Thank You Birthright of Binghamton expresses our deepest appreciation and ‘Thank You’ for your continuing and generous support of our Mother’s Day flower Sale. Birthright is a non-profit pregnancy center staffed by dedicated volunteers. All of our services are free, including pregnancy tests (58 in 2016), newborn layettes (71 in 2016), clothing (244 clients were helped with clothing in 2016), diapers (233 babies in 2016) and resources, as well as guidance, support and friendship. For further information, or if you are interested in volunteering please call Diane at (607) 372-0312! We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Diane Yajko, Birthright Co-Director
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.
‘Thank You’ Doesn’t seem sufficient for all the work that was done in preparing for, working at, and most importantly praying for the CANA East 2017 Synod! The synod was a great success, and over and over again, we heard that our volunteers were warm, welcoming and helpful. Thank you!
Basileia is Coming! Over the next two weeks, almost 900 people, including college students from all over New York and New Jersey, will attend InterVarsity’s year-end discipleship and leadership conference, Basileia. Good Shepherd supports InterVarsity at Binghamton and around Central NY. Please pray for those attending from Good Shepherd — (students): Ashley, Joe, Mary, and Melissa, (staff): Carrie, Lauren, Lisa, and (volunteers): Bill Freund and Anne Thompson.
Garage Sale Donations Needed: CHE Nicaragua will be holding their annual garage sale in Montrose on Saturday, May 27th, at Harford Congregational Church, Lathrop St, Montrose, PA. 8am to 4pm. Proceeds will help support Nicaraguan missionaries serving in rural communities. Thanks very much for your support!
Health Fair Saturday June 3rd noon to 3PM we will again be hosting our Health Fair and Ice Cream Social! This is a great means of reaching out to the community with the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ! It is also a perfect venue for evangelism! Please plan to participate in the event and be sure to invite friends and neighbors to come! In the Parish Hall, there is a sign-up which includes the many ways you can help!
An Invitation Lauren Kirst and Nick Sluyter are getting married! All are invited and welcome to celebrate the beginning of their marriage at the wedding ceremony. It is taking place here at Good Shepherd on June 24th at 2:00pm.
VBS Vacation Bible School is coming! Think about joining in the fun of telling our neighborhood kids about Jesus.
Look for the sign-up sheet downstairs and save these dates: Monday, July 31- Thursday, August 3. 6:00-8:15 PM
Captial Campaign Many of you have asked for information on the capital campaign. Look for a letter in the upcoming weeks with more details.
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.
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 With Summer quickly approaching, the need to keep our member Food pantry stocked is extremely essential. In summer, when food is more plentiful, we tend to forget that there are people at Good Shepherd who depend upon our pantry.
Summer can be a busy time with picnics, weddings, graduations, and the like, but the food pantry could easily slip our minds during the summer months, leaving those who use it with few options.
So, let’s make a change for the better, and keep it well stocked the whole year through, so that those who depend on it won’t have to go hungry.
Items needed: Canned meats, and tuna, peanut butter, canned beans -other than green beans, canned peas, corn, carrots, asparagus, potatoes, yams, chili, canned soups and stews, one box meals, assorted cereals for adults,
and kids too, one pound bags of brown or white rice, fruit juices, coffee packets, powdered creamers, powdered milk, wholesome snacks and anything else you’d like to bring.
God bless and thank You!
Last Week
Last Week in Christian Ed we finished our series on the JI Packer book “The Sovereignty of God and Evangelism”. It is a great book, and one worthy of a permanent place on your bookshelves.
If you’re like me (Steph) and sometimes find it easier to listen to a book, then I have another great option for you. Hoopla (a digital media service that many public libraries offer as part of their memberships, has an audiobook copy of the book available for free.
Last Week’s Sermon was called ‘His Indestructible Life’. It was based on Hebrews 7:11-19, and can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Read Hebrews 7:11-19
1) The word “perfection” in verse 11 is a synonym of the words “completion” or “salvation.”
a. Why was salvation not attainable through the Levitical priesthood?
b. What then was God’s purpose for the Levitical priesthood?
c. Why did God give the Law to the Israelites, if not for them to earn salvation?
2) Why must there be a change in the law when there is a change in the priesthood?
a. What do verses 11 and 12 imply about the law and the priesthood that replaces the Law of Moses and Levitical priesthood?
b. What is this new “law” and “priesthood” that does provide salvation?
3) Under the Law of Moses and Levitical priesthood, why couldn’t kings also be priests?
a. How is the priestly order of Melchizedek different in this respect?
b. How does Jesus satisfy the conditions of verse 16?
c. What does “indestructible life” mean?
4) Did the Law of Moses and the Levitical priesthood serve their purpose as intended by God?
a. What is the “better hope” we have now in place of the old law and priesthood?
b. What does it offer? What is its purpose?
Tuesday Morning Bible Study was called ‘Warning of the Final Plague’ and was based on Exodus 11. You can watch here, or in the window below. You’ll need a LiveStream account, but it’s free and easy to sign up for.
You can catch up on all of the older classes 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, ‘Baptism and the Gradual Conversion of the Depraved’, Matt and Anne discuss their own entry into Christianity and how that relates to baptism, Anne not able to pinpoint the moment she became a Christian and Matt having a definitive conversion experience.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
This Week
This Week in Christian Ed as is our custom after we finish a lengthy series, we’ll have a Q&A session. If you have any questions that you’d like to discuss, please forward them to the GS office or to Matt.
This Week’s Sermon is based on Hebrews 7:20-28.
And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost[a] those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Team Romans is working on the altar this Sunday with Chris Jones.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 5 will be working this week with the Rices (6/1).
Altar Guild Christine Osgood is serving this Sunday.
The readings for this week are: Ezekiel 39:21-29 and Hebrews 7:20-28.
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.