Friday, July 10
“Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Have you thanked God today? For what, you may ask? For anything other than your last meal. Sometimes we can go an entire day without remembering God even once, much less thanking Him for His many gifts. It is so easy to forget in the relative safety of the American Church just how dependent on God we really are. No one is trying to kill or imprison us for our faith. Such comfort can breed complacency. We need to combat this potential with the truth of God’s Word.
A good verse when thinking about being thankful to God is the first part of Acts 17:28: “For in Him we live and move and exist.” We are alive today by the power of God. We got out of bed today, perhaps took a shower, got dressed, and ate breakfast all because God is actively sustaining us. We exist because He continues to will that we exist. Realizing this gives a completely new perspective to Jesus’ words, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” When we remind ourselves just how much God has given us and just how much we need Him for everything, we can’t help but thank Him.
For most of us, being able to breathe is probably at the top of the list of things we take for granted. However, each breath we take is a gift from God. Taking time to thank God for this most fundamental necessity of life can help remind us to have a heart of thankfulness. Whether it is the air we breathe, the new day’s sunrise, or the embrace of a friend or loved one, decide to thank God today for something you normally take for granted.
It’s easy to thank God when everything is “as it should be.” But some of us are going through some dark days right now. What do we do when we just don’t feel like saying thank you for what’s going on in our life? In Psalm 116, David is praising God for rescuing him from death. In verse 17, David tells God he will offer Him a “sacrifice of thanksgiving.” Sometimes saying thank you to God in hard times is really difficult. Acknowledge this difficulty to God, and then thank Him anyway.
When all else fails, there is always one thing we can thank God for: the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. We were once God’s enemies, but now we are His friends. We were children of sin, but now we are children of righteousness. We were once destined for eternal death, but now we have eternal life. Even in our darkest hour, we can thank God we don’t have to face that dark hour alone.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me” – Psalm 50:23
Yours in Christ, Pastor Steve
WORSHIP SERVICES AND MINISTRY ACTIVITIES
Wednesday, June 10
Dear Church Family,
The board of our church met on Tuesday, June 9, to continue the conversation on opening the church for in-person worship and ministry activities. After a lengthy discussion, the board determined that we are not yet ready to do so. We will revisit the question at the next Board meeting on July 14.
While all of us on the board and in our church desire to be able to be together as a congregation for worship and fellowship and ministry outreach, we believe that the risk of spreading and contracting the corona virus in such in-person settings is still too high to justify being together.
Another factor that weighed strongly in the board’s decision is the wonderful way in which our church is responding to the crisis. People are staying in touch with each other through phone calls, hand written notes, and emails; we are consistently being told that the worship videos downloaded to our website featuring Pastor McLane, Beth Katzenberger and myself are providing spiritual strengthening and encouragement; the financial support of our church is strong as generosity continues to be a hallmark of our congregation; and, while many have expressed their preferences on the question of in-person worship and ministry gatherings, there is a strong feeling of trust in our staff and board that they are making decisions based on what is best for all of us as a community of faith, whether young or old, healthy or with underlying medical issues.
Please continue to pray with us for the health and safety of all in our church. And pray for the staff and board that they will clearly discern the leading of Christ’s Spirit as to when it is right for us to begin meeting together again. As we look forward to that day, may our Lord continue to bless us all.
Yours in Christ, Pastor Steve
Lewis Clark Christian School Dessert Night – Tuesday, July 14
The Lewis Clark Christian School welcomes you to come meet their teachers and see their school on Tuesday, July 14 at 7:30pm, 1034 Main Street, Lewiston.
Hope on the Farm 2020 – Friday, July 17
The 3rd annual Hope on the Farm event is a Benefit Concert for Reliance Ministries located in downtown Lewiston. The event is Friday, July 17 at 6:00pm at The Barn at Mader Farm, 13506 Hillside Road, Genesee, Idaho. Gates will open at 5:00pm! We are so excited to announce that our friends We Are Messengers will be joining us again, along with River City Worship Band and 2 more surprise guests!! Bring your lawn chairs or blankets, we will have food trucks available for you to get dinner and some other fun activities! We are so excited to enjoy a FUN evening with you! Tickets are $35 per person and kids 10 and under are free! Proceeds benefit the life-affirming work of Reliance Ministries and the women, men and families served by Reliance Center. For tickets and further information, go to www.relianceministries.com/events.
2020 College Scholarships
The Congregational-Presbyterian Church (CPC) Fund Ministry had the pleasure of awarding $14,400 in college scholarships of $1,200.00 each to 12 outstanding college applicants. The monies for these scholarships come from the interest accrued on our College Scholarship Fund which is independent of the Congregational-Presbyterian Church budget. The Fund is supported solely by contributions in the form of memorials from members of our church family.
The students will receive the funds when they matriculate in the fall. Those receiving scholarships this year are: Shayne Ashe – a sophomore in Environmental Science at Columbia Basin College; Jake Dilling – a senior in Kinesiology with a specialty in Exercise Science at LCSC; Michaela Hersh – a senior in Elementary Education at LCSC; Lauren Johnson – a freshman in Pre-nursing at North Idaho College; Noah Norwood – a sophomore Earth Science major at LCSC; Emilyn Sheppard – a junior in Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the U of I; Autumn Symonds – a junior next fall in Safety and Health Management. She is transferring to Central Washington University; Geonna Travis – a senior next fall in Food and Nutrition at the U of I. This will be Geonna’s fourth year of receiving funds from CPC; Ryanne Travis – a sophomore Elementary Education major at LCSC; Ben Williams – a junior in Civil Engineering at LCSC; Julia Williams – a freshman Nursing student at LCSC; Rachel Williams – a returning student to the Nursing program at LCSC.
The CPC Fund Ministry Committee congratulates all our college graduates who have received scholarships during their student years. We are so proud of our youth and our college students. Congratulations and our best wishes and prayers for your new school year.
Peggy Fulton, CPC Fund Ministry Chair
SEEKING NEW DIRECTOR OF SENIOR ADULT MINISTRY
Jim McCracken, our Director of Senior Adult Ministry, has left our church staff for a position with Union Gospel Mission in Spokane.
A search team has been established by our Trustees to seek our new Director, and it is receiving applications for the position. Please submit resume and cover letter to:
Director of Senior Adult Ministry Search, Congregational-Presbyterian Church, 709 6th Street, Lewiston, ID 83501
For a copy of the position description, click here.
For additional information, please contact Pastor Steve Wilbraham at the church.
WE’RE GETTING READY FOR YOUR RETURN! FACILITY PROJECTS DURING OUR SHUTDOWN HAVE INCLUDED:
King’s Services spent eight days doing a deep cleaning of the Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, Pilgrim Hall, and Administrative Building. All carpets, pews, vinyl flooring and touchable surfaces were cleaned and sanitized.
The Sanctuary stair railing going down to the basement was raised from 32″ to 42″ per City of Lewiston Building Code.
Rain gutters were cleaned, chain link fencing was repaired, and a Sanctuary HVAC malfunction was fixed.
MEET LISA HUDDLESTON, OUR NEW ADMINISTRATOR
On November 1, 1994, the Lord richly blessed our congregation when Kathy Johnson became our Administrator. Now, Kathy is retiring, joining her husband, Alan, in his recent retirement from the Moscow Police Department.
Kathy has been turning over the details of her position to our new Administrator, Lisa Huddleston. Lisa was born and raised in Lewiston. She graduated from Lewiston High School and Lewis Clark State College with a degree in Business Administration. Lisa has two grown sons, Richard, a letter carrier in Lewiston, and Christopher, who is retired from the US Army; and, 3 grandchildren: Alex, Izabella and Mara.
Please join me in welcoming Lisa to our church staff. You can reach her by phone at the church and by email: LisaH@congopres.org. She is eager to begin getting to know the congregation, and I encourage you to stop by and meet her in the office beginning Monday, May 18.
FINANCIAL NEWS
I am so grateful for the generosity of our congregation. Because of your ongoing faithful support of the ministry of our church and the reduction of some of our ministry expenses, our year-to-date receipts as we move into the month of July exceed our expenses by about $4,700.
OUR CHURCH LIFE
- Church Office Hours: 8am to 1pm, Monday through Friday.
- Join us online for Sunday Worship. Past worship videos are posted to our account on youtube. To access, go to www.youtube.com and type “Congregational Presbyterian” in the search bar. Go to “subscriptions” and you will be taken to our church account.
- Jim McCracken, our Director of Senior Adult Ministry, has announced his resignation effective the end of May. He has accepted a position with the Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, managing their Employment Preparation Program. While embarking upon a new chapter of ministry, this will also allow Jim and Clare to be closer to their children and grandchildren who live in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. We are very grateful for Jim and Clare’s ministry with our seniors – we will miss them!
- One of the many ministries of encouragement in our church is “Food Bank Sunday.” On the third Sunday of each month we invite our congregation to bring food to Fellowship Hall and place it in the shopping cart. The food is then delivered to the Lewiston “Community Action Food Bank” located at 124 New Sixth Street where those in need can go and be served. As we are not able to bring our food donations to the church, we invite you to take it directly to the Food Bank which accepts donations from 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.
- I want to personally thank Deb Zenner, the chair of our Worship Committee, for the beautiful decorations that have been gracing our Sanctuary when we record the Sunday Worship video. Deb is the manager of The Picture Gallery in Lewiston, and we are the benefactors of her aesthetic talents. Beginning with the palms on Palm Sunday and the lilies on Easter Sunday, she has been coming to the church to provide renewed adornment of the chancel.
- We have activated our all-church contact “tree” whereby our congregation is being contacted by phone, email or text message to check in and see how you’re doing. If you have not yet received such a contact and would like to be included, please let Gary Chase know at 208-791-7220.
- There are those in our congregation who are not on the internet and are therefore unable to access the resources available on our website. If you know of someone who would like to receive a copy of the weekly printed Sermon and the weekly Daily Devotions, please pass on their name and address to the church office. Or, if you would like to provide them yourself, you can download and print them from the website.