Monday, January 31, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 31, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Stuffed animals minister to young and old
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 30, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Have you thanked your pastor?
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 29, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Seeing the sacred in everyday movements
Friday, January 28, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 28, 2022
Come to the SPC Souper Bowl Party
Pull out the colors of your favorite football team, because you’re invited to wear them on Sunday, February 13 for our Souper Bowl party. Right after the service on Super Bowl Sunday, the Deacons will offer a luncheon of soup and salads to warm us up for the big game. And if you’re so moved, you may bring a dessert to share. So come to our worship service and Souper Bowl party and invite a friend.
The Bulletin for Our Service - Sunday, January 30, 2022
Below is the bulletin for our service, on Sunday, January 30, 2022. During our worship service this morning, we’re continuing our sermon series entitled Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ. We'll talk about praying to God with faith. Remember, you can stream the service live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube page beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Prayer Requests to be shared during Sunday’s service
On Sunday, January 30, Silgo Presbyterian Church will lift to God the following needs.
- Alice Lucas
- Armed Forces
- Becky's biological sister
- Bruce Amsier
- Bruce Bowman
- Bus Clark
- Church Leaders
- College Students
- Dee, Jeremy & Jacob
- Doctors & Nurses & all essential workers
- Government Leaders
- Jim Mason
- Kathy
- Keith McKinley
- Kevin, Denise & Shayla Mock
- Leatrice, Diane's sister
- Leslie Oswald & her son Es
- Maxine Hartle
- Maxine Simpson
- Melinda Amsier
- Micki Summerville
- Mike Hiles
- Mock
- Mr. Wolff
- Nancy Blystone and family
- Nancy Campbell
- Nancy Wilson
- Our Youth
- Police Officers
- Randy Frampton
- Richard Wallace
- Riley
- Ron & Shelly Haines
- Rwanda Partner
- Samatha Hagan
- Sean Bayless
- Tammy Dell
- The Chuck Marsh Family
- The Perry Kifer Family
- The Teachers and Student at Sligo Elementary
- Velma Stewart
- World Vision
Pray, Praise and Worship: Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World
Pray, Praise and Worship: Call to Prayer for a peaceful solution between the Ukraine and Russia
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - As micropantries pop up, creativity is key
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 27, 2022
Churches, Denominations and Religions: Presbyterian Church USA Weekly News
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Equipping women leaders of color to combat racism
Pray, Praise and Worship: Praying for others
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 26, 2022
The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, January 23, 2022
Sunday, January 23, started a new series entitled "Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ." During the Sundays between the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Lent, we’ll consider seven ways we can live as followers of Jesus. The topics are listed below.
- January 16 – Decide to Follow (Mark 1:14-20)
- January 23 – Grow in the Word (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
- January 30 – Pray in Faith (Matthew 6:5-15)
- February 6 – Claim the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)
- February 13 – Fellowship with Believers (Colossians 3:12-17)
- February 20 – Witness to the World (Matthew 28:16-20)
- February 27 – Minister to Others (1 John 3:15-24)
During this second message, we used 2 Timothy 3:10-17 to discuss how we might decide to grow in the Word.
You can stream all our services live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube channel. If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on the Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community blog (https://thenettransform.blogspot.com/).
Below is a copy of the bulletin, a podcast of the sermon and the video of the worship service.
Sunday's Message - Grow in the Word
Although it’s not hard to believe that we’ve been called by Christ, actually living that call may be a whole lot more challenging. And so, during the Sundays between the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Lent, we’ll consider seven ways we can live as followers of Jesus. The topics are listed below.
- January 16 – Decide to Follow (Mark 1:14-20)
- January 23 – Grow in the Word (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
- January 30 – Pray in Faith (Matthew 6:5-15)
- February 6 – Claim the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)
- February 13 – Fellowship with Believers (Colossians 3:12-17)
- February 20 – Witness to the World (Matthew 28:16-20)
- February 27 – Minister to Others (1 John 3:15-24)
During this second message, we used 2 Timothy 3:10-17 to discuss how we might grow in the Word.
You can stream all our services live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube channel. If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on the Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community blog (https://thenettransform.blogspot.com/).
The passage and message are below:
2 Timothy 3:10-17 [Contemporary English Version]
Timothy, you know what I teach and how I live. You know what I want to do and what I believe. You have seen how patient and loving I am, and how in the past I put up with trouble and suffering in the cities of Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Yet the Lord rescued me from all those terrible troubles. Anyone who belongs to Christ Jesus and wants to live right will have trouble from others. But evil people who pretend to be what they are not will become worse than ever, as they fool others and are fooled themselves.
Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things. Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved. Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.
Grow in the Word
But be-that-as-it-may, this morning, we’re going to continue the series we started last week, you know, the one entitled “Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ.” And since, we’ve already talked about how we can start by following Jesus, today we’re moving on to the second thing we can do, namely to grow in the word. In other words, if we’re serious about actually living the call that we’ve received, we need to decide that we really want to grow in our appreciation and understanding and application of God’s Word, you know, the Bible. And based on what I’ve seen, I think that’s a pretty good thing to do, especially since, for a lot of Christians, well, their understanding of the Bible probably peaked at about the same time they stopped going to Sunday School. Now don’t get me wrong, those same believers will say that the Bible is still really important to them, and it is, and that they’ve heard a whole bunch of sermons that started with a Bible passage, and they have, and that they’ll watch any movie or television show based a story from the Bible, and they will. You see, I’m not questioning their sincerity at all. Still, outside of those who read their Bibles with some intensity or who attend a study or a discussion now-or-then, to actually grow in the word, well, that just may not happen, in spite of their best intentions. As Jesus himself said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [Matthew 26:41b, NRSV] Sad, but true.
And I’ll tell you, if we really want to know why doing this is important, man, I think the place to start is with the passage we just read from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Although I won’t read the whole thing, I do want you to listen to the last four verses, because I think they pretty much cover exactly why we should be looking to grow. Remember, this is what Paul wrote:
Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things. Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved. Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. [2 Timothy 3:14-17, CEV]
Now that what Paul said.
And how can we do it; well, I think that’s directly related to why it’s important. You see, because it involves our emotions, I believe we can grow in the word by, first, loving it. In other words, we can approach the Bible with the same kind of passion felt by the Psalmist. Just listen to what he wrote in the 119th Psalm:
I rely on your laws!
Don’t take away my chance
to speak your truth.
I will keep obeying your Law
forever and ever.
I have gained perfect freedom
by following your teachings,
and I trust them so much
that I tell them to kings.
I love your commands!
They bring me happiness.
I love and respect them
and will keep them in mind. [Psalm 119:43-48, CEV]
You see, we can love the words that come from God. And although I don’t think you can turn emotions on and off like a facet, I do believe we can strengthen how we feel about God Word by ramping both our desire to grow and the urgency on starting that process as soon as possible. You see, in my opinion, this can strengthen that love we may already feel. And I’ll tell you, I think having this perspective may have strengthen the Psalmist’s love for God’s Word. I mean, just listen to what he wrote a little later in the same psalm:
You have been my teacher,
and I won’t reject
your instructions.
Your teachings are sweeter
than honey.
They give me understanding
and make me hate all lies.
Your word is a lamp
that gives light
wherever I walk.
Your laws are fair,
and I have given my word
to respect them all. [Psalm 119:102-106, CEV]
Trust me, since it touches the heart, moving us to feel, we can grow in the word by simply loving it. And that’s the first thing we can do.
And second, I think we can grow in God’s word by learning it. In other words, we can make the effort to actually learn want God is saying to us. Of course, this idea of trying to understand what God wants us to do, well, it’s really not new. I mean, just listen to what it says in the Book of Deuteronomy:
Memorize these laws and think about them. Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and your foreheads to help you obey them. Teach them to your children. Talk about them all the time—whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. Write them on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates. Then you and your descendants will live a long time in the land that the Lord promised your ancestors. Your families will live there as long as the sky is above the earth. [Deuteronomy 11:18-21, CEV]
No, education has always been a part of Christian growth.
And I’ll tell you, this can apply to us; we can all grow in both our knowledge and understanding by simply setting aside a little time for study, something we can do by ourselves but even better in groups, and setting aside a little time for prayer. And I’ll tell you why the prayer is important. I think it’s really easy to put our trust in someone who just tells us what we want to hear and what we want to believe. Now that’s easy to do, but I believe prayer can help us shift our focus from what we want to what God offers, and I’m talking about a truth so real and powerful that it can challenge some of our assumptions and prejudices. You see, we can grow in the word by simply learning it. And that’s the second thing we can do.
Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget. [James 1:22-25, CEV]
I’ll tell you, there’s about two feet that separates our heart and head from our hands, but those twenty-four inches can really make all the difference. And for that reason, I believe we need to actively look for ways to apply God’s word in the world, and I’m talking about the word that we’ve got, not just the world that we might want. In other words, I think it’s important for us to be looking for new ways to share this simple and yet profound message to the world around us: “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” [Mark 1:15b, CEV] And we can share it through the words we use but more importantly, through the compassion and mercy that we show. You see, as both individuals and a community, we can look for how we can apply the word. And then we can follow the advice of Nike and “just do it.” I’m telling you, if we want to grow in the Word, man, we really need to live it. And that’s the third thing we can do.
Well, right now, it’s snowing. And although it’s not suppose to be quite so much, according the source of all truth and I’m talking about The Weather Channel, we can plan on it continuing off-and-on all afternoon. And as to the temperature, again it shouldn’t be as cold this week as it was Saturday morning when I was walking Coco through town. Still, in my book, when the thermometer never breaks freezing, man, that’s pretty cold. What did I call it last week: the dog days of winter. But you know, I don’t think we should allow the weather to distract us from growing in our appreciation and our understanding and our application of the word. You see, since the Word of God touches our hearts, moving us to feel, and our heads, encouraging us to think, and our hands, challenging us to act, I mean, since that’s why growing in the word is important, maybe we can use our time to take the Word of God and to do what we’ve been talking about, namely to love it and to learn it and to live it, something that will help us take another step in living the call
Looking at Mark - The Rest of the Story (Mark 8:31–9:29)
On Wednesday mornings beginning at 10:30 a.m., your friends and neighbors at Sligo Presbyterian Church gather to discuss our faith in Jesus Christ. Currently, we're using the Gospel of Mark as our guide. Pastor Rudiger is leading the discussion and everyone is invited. We’ll be covering the following topics:
- Session 1: Setting the Stage (Mark 1:1-13)
- Session 2: Good Times, Good Times (Mark 1:14-45)
- Session 3: Grey Clouds (Mark 2:1–3:6)
- Session 4: Sharing the Message (Mark 3:7–4:34)
- Session 5: It’s a Miracle (Mark 4:35–5:43)
- Session 6: Taking Sides (Mark 6:1-29)
- Session 7: More of the Same (Mark 6:30–7:23)
- Session 8: “You Are the Christ” (Mark 7:24–8:30)
- Session 9: The Rest of the Story (Mark 8:31–9:29)
- Session 10: Not Their Best (Mark 9:30–10:31)
- Session 11: More of the Same (Mark 10:32-52)
- Session 12: Coming in for a Landing (Mark 11:1-33)
- Session 13: In Contrast (Mark 12:1-44)
- Session 14: What's Coming (Mark 13:1-37)
- Session 15: Beginning to Spiral (Mark 14:1-42)
- Session 16: Son of God (Mark 14:43-15:47)
- Session 17: “for” (Mark 16:1-8)
During our ninth session, Mark began the second half of his gospel with the correction of Peter and the Transfiguration. The passage is below:
Mark 8:31–9:29
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.”
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able! —All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Going where Christ went
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
A Thought from the Word 📖
A brief thought based on Galatians 6:1 - “My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don't be tempted yourself.”
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 25, 2022
Monday, January 24, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 24, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - In praise of Earth Care Congregations
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Our work continues no matter what’
Saturday, January 22, 2022
Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for January 22, 2022
Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Art has a way of flourishing in the midst of crisis’
Project Regeneration: Write your church's next chapter
At the Presbyterian Foundation, we’ve worked with hundreds of congregations just like yours with similar questions – prior to the pandemic, and have continued to do so during and after. Some are grappling with property questions, and need to find a new property that better suits their needs. Others wanted to better serve their community and wanted help thinking through what that might mean. And yes, some decided to close their doors – but make a lasting impact through creating an endowment to support ministries and causes their church loves.
Whatever your congregation’s next chapter, we’re here to walk with you, and discern where God may be calling you next. Our expert Ministry Relations Officers can lead your congregation through a discernment process to help you decide what is next for you.
Our Presbytery dates and locations: From 6-7:30 on Wednesday evenings
- February 2: Homer City Pres
- February 9: Punxsutawney Pres
- February 16: Ridgway Pres
- February 23: Pisgah Pres (Corsica)
Registration not required. Come and gain some valuable new information!
The Bulletin for Our Service - Sunday, January 23, 2022
Below is the bulletin for our service, on Sunday, January 23, 2022. During our worship service this morning, we’re continuing our sermon series entitled Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ. We'll talk about growing in God's Word. Remember, you can stream the service live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube page beginning at 10:00 a.m.
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Prayer Requests to be shared during Sunday’s service
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