Coming to Our Senses Psalm 32 and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Bible Challenge 03/10 - 03/16

Greetings All!

This week we continue our journey through the book of Genesis. The focus shifts now from Abraham to subsequent generations. What speaks to me most from these pages? God's incredible patience and persistence in seeking a relationship with his people. Genesis gives me a lot of hope because it stands as an awesome reminder of God's faithfulness.

Here is the schedule:

10, Sunday: Genesis 13-16

11, Monday: Genesis 17-20

12, Tuesday: Genesis 21-24

13, Wednesday: Genesis 25-28

14, Thursday: Genesis 29-32

15, Friday: Genesis 33-36

16, Saturday: Genesis 37-40

May God add his richest blessings to the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen.

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series - This Sunday we are continuing our preaching series entitled, Ashes to Fire, which we will be doing in conjunction with Belleview UMC. Ashes to Fire is an intentional journey with Jesus from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week and Easter and on to Pentecost Sunday - from penitence to praise to power. This Sunday we will look at the power that is found in God's grace and how that power was revealed in love of Jesus, based upon Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 and Psalm 32. I pray this time of reflection will be one that will draw you deeper into your faith journey as we look to the life of Christ and example of love that he modeled for us. I encourage you to invite a friend and I hope to see you there!





2. Spring Forward - Do not forget to set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night before you go to bed. We would not you to miss a second of worship as we gather together! Rest well my friends!





3. Passover Seder - There is wonderful opportunity I want to tell you about! We have invited the group, Jews for Jesus, to come to Druid Hills to deliver their presentation, Christ in the Passover. During this wonderfully moving experience, missionary Ron McDevitt, will explain to us the Jewish background of Holy Communion and how all of this points to Jesus Christ as the Messiah. We will listen as Missionary McDevitt describes the ancient and modern Jewish customs with an emphasis on the redemption accomplished by Christ through His death and resurrection. This will take place on Wednesday, March 13th, at 7pm. The presentation will last about 45 minutes and will take place in the Sanctuary. We will also collect a love offering at the conclusion of the presentation. This is an exciting opportunity that I think you all will want to see! Invite a friend and I hope to see you all there!





4. Easter Tableau - It’s time to start thinking about the Easter Tableau, which will be on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29. There will be sign-up sheets on the Connection Station beginning about the middle of February. Your help will be needed in the scenes and also making refreshments to help defray the kitchen costs. Each scene needs to have a coordinator, so if you would like to volunteer to be a coordinator for one of the scenes, please let us know. If you would like to assist in any of the various areas; such as scene set-up, costumes, make-up, sound, lighting, etc., please let us know. Please be in prayer for a successful 2013 Easter Tableau. If you have any questions, please contact Eunice Reid. Thank You!





5. Bible Study - We are in the midst of our Lenten Bible Study, 24 Hours That Changed the World. We will continue this class for the next three weeks as we look to the last day of Christ here on Earth and the events that surrounded that very important day. Next week we will spend our time looking at the crucifixion of Jesus. We meet each Thursday at 10 A.M. and 7 P.M., and you can pick either class to attend. There is a companion book available for $13, if you would like it. It is never to late join, all you need to do is show up. I hope to see you there!





Bonus Five: The month of March has five Sundays and you all know that anytime we have five Sundays in one month, Pastor Debbie and I swap pulpits. However, the fifth Sunday in March is Easter, and I want to be here with all of you on that very special Sunday. Therefore, we are going to switch this Sunday, March 10th instead. I hope you will come and be blessed by the sweet and gentle nature of Pastor Debbie as she guides you through this weeks message of Ashes to Fire.



Have a great weekend and I will see you soon!

Midweek Moment

Next Wednesday, March 13th, at 7pm we will be honored to hear from a missionary with the ministry, Jews for Jesus. Ron McDevitt, will come and join us in the Sanctuary to present Christ in the Passover. I have had a few conversations with Ron and he seems like a wonderfully authentic and passionate individual. Ron shared with me a bit of his testimony and it was a very moving story. He then shared with me a YouTube video he created that I want to share with all of you. As you get a chance, I invite you to give it a listen. It is about six minutes long and will give you an insight into what Ron has experienced in his life and will help give some depth to his testimony.



I hope you all are making plans to be with that night as Ron explains how the Jewish celebration of Passover points to Jesus being the Messiah. Ron has graciously agreed to spend some time at the conclusion of the presentation answering a few questions that we might have for him. We will also take up a love offering at the conclusion of his presentation as a way of expressing our thanks for his time and witness.

Invite a friend and I hope to see you all there!

About Face - BeautifulI Corinthians 10:1-13 and Luke 13:1-9

Bible Challenge 03/03 - 03/09

Greetings All!

This week we finish up the end of Revelation for our first trip through the New Testament and begin the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. Following is a bit of background information to help you in your reading.

Revelation - This book is thought to have been written by the disciple John after a vision he received while in exile on the island of Patmos (Greece). It is written specifically to a group of churches in Asia (that was a province in the Roman Empire which encompasses modern day Turkey). The book deals a lot with sevens: messages to seven churches, the seven seal judgments, seven trumpet judgments and finally the seven bowl judgments. One of the big keys to understanding the book is found in the Old Testament - 278 out of the 404 verses in the book allude or refer to things contained in the Old Testament. Personally, I have found the most benefit when I read through Revelation thinking of it as God's great triumph over evil. And there is a lot of love and mercy to be found in the words as God continually provides opportunities for people to turn away from sin and turn to Him.

Next up is Genesis. Did you know that Genesis means "beginnings" or "origins"? And there are several beginnings and origins that are actually outlined within the book of Genesis as we move through it.....Creation, the flood story and God's covenant with Noah, the tower of Babel and the dispersion of the people, God's calling of Abram and covenant with him, the continuation of that covenant through Isaac and later Jacob, and finally the starting over of the Israelites under the protection of Joseph in Egypt. We should pay close attention as we read Genesis because this is the beginnings of our history as the people of God. Also because it is a point of commonality with at least two other major world religions who claim at least part or all of this story - Judaism and Islam.

I pray that your reading this week is inspired by the Spirit!

3 - Revelation 7-10

4 - Revelation 11-14

5 - Revelation 15-18

6 - Revelation 19-22

7 - Genesis 1-4

8 - Genesis 5-8

9 - Genesis 9-12

May God add his richest blessings to the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen.

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series - This Sunday we are continuing our preaching series entitled, Ashes to Fire, which we will be doing in conjunction with Belleview UMC. Ashes to Fire is an intentional journey with Jesus from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week and Easter and on to Pentecost Sunday - from penitence to praise to power. I pray this time of reflection will be one that will draw you deeper into your faith journey as we look to the life of Christ and example of love that he modeled for us. This Sunday we will look at the power and important of repentance as taught to us by Jesus, based upon Luke 13:1-9 and I Corinthians 10:1-13. I encourage you to invite a friend and I hope to see you there!

2. Easter Tableau - It’s time to start thinking about the Easter Tableau, which will be on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29. There will be sign-up sheets on the Connection Station beginning about the middle of February. Your help will be needed in the scenes and also making refreshments to help defray the kitchen costs. Each scene needs to have a coordinator, so if you would like to volunteer to be a coordinator for one of the scenes, please let us know. If you would like to assist in any of the various areas; such as scene set-up, costumes, make-up, sound, lighting, etc., please let us know. Please be in prayer for a successful 2013 Easter Tableau. If you have any questions, please contact Eunice Reid. Thank You!

3. Bible Study - We are in the midst of our Lenten Bible Study, 24 Hours That Changed the World. We will continue this class for the next three weeks as we look to the last day of Christ here on Earth and the events that surrounded that very important day. Next week we will spend our time looking at the humiliation, torture, and condemnation of Jesus after his arrest. We meet each Thursday at 10 A.M. and 7 P.M., and you can pick either class to attend. There is a companion book available for $13, if you would like it. It is never to late join, all you need to do is show up. I hope to see you there!





4. Bread Ministry - We here at Druid Hills have a wonderful welcome ministry. From the bags prepared and given out by Bob Greene, to the way each of you extend the hand of hospitality to all who enter, corporately we have this gift. Marianne Bingham has offered us an idea to enhance this gift of ours, bread. We are beginning a bread ministry, where each Sunday one volunteer will sign up to bake several small loaves of bread for us to give to any that visit our church. I would ask that you each consider signing up for a few weeks. There is a sign up sheet at the Connection Station and there are recipes we can provide you that are quick and easy. This is such an easy thing that will go such a long way. I hope you each will give God the opportunity to use you in this way to bless another.





5. Passover Seder - There is wonderful opportunity I want to tell you about! We have invited the group, Jews for Jesus, to come to Druid Hills to deliver their presentation, Christ in the Passover. During this wonderfully moving experience, missionary Ron McDevitt, will explain to us the Jewish background of Holy Communion and how all of this points to Jesus Christ as the Messiah. We will listen as Missionary McDevitt describes the ancient and modern Jewish customs with an emphasis on the redemption accomplished by Christ through His death and resurrection. This will take place on Wednesday, March 13th, at 7pm. The presentation will last about 45 minutes and will take place in the Sanctuary. We will also collect a love offering at the conclusion of the presentation. This is an exciting opportunity that I think you all will want to see! Invite a friend and I hope to see you all there!


Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday!