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THIS WEEK AT FAITH
March 24, 2024
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No matter who you are
or where you are on life’s journey
you are welcome here.
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FAITH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
5992 Route 378
Center Valley, PA 18034
610.282.3939
Office Hours:
Monday (*remotely) - 9 am - 4:00 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - 9 am - 4:00 pm
Friday - Closed/Pastor's Sabbath
*Sandy will be working remotely but will check messages
on a regular basis. If you find yourself in immediate need,
call or text her at 610-967-9232.
faithchurchcv@gmail.com
www.faithchurchucc.org
MEMBERS & FRIENDS DIRECTORY
(Updated January 2024)
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We lost a friend...Mike Ford passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. Plans will be made for a funeral service and burial in his hometown in Central Pennsylvania. Mike will be missed by so many. He was always willing to step up and help out in whatever way he could. Rest in Peace Mike. | |
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The April Issue of Focus on Faith is here!
Inside you'll find...
- A Note From the Pastor
- One Great Hour of Sharing
- Pie Sunday
- Spring Bingo
- Mission News
- and MORE!!!
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Join us for Worship this
Palm/Passion Sunday
March 24, 2024
10:15 am Worship
NO Sunday School
Guest Musicians:
Nora Sugg, flute, John Arnold, guitar, and Carole Burkhardt, soloist.
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Thanks to our Volunteers:
Kim Ritter, Head Usher
Donna Schoenberger & Kim Ritter, Ushers
Youth, Lay Reader
Bruce Torrence, Financial Secretary
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- Sunday 03/24 - Palm/Passion Sunday; 10:15 am WORSHIP (No Sunday School); 1:00 Encore Recital FH
- Monday 03/25 - Sandy Works Remotely
- Tuesday 03/26 - 2 pm Faith in Stitches
- Thursday 03/28 - 9 am BAMC Pastors Meeting; 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Service
- Friday 03/29 - Office Closed/Pastor's Day Off
- Sunday 03/31 - Easter Sunday 10:15 am WORSHIP (No Sunday School)
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Lenten Devotional
https://online.flippingbook.com/view/1072485778/
Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional Cards
In order to protect their work, please refrain from sharing this link or posting it on social media.
*If you prefer a hard copy of the Lenten Devotional and the Daily Devotional Cards you will find some in the Narthex.
LENTEN SCHEDULE
Palm Sunday
March 24, 2024
10:15 am
Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service
March 28, 2024
7:30 am
Good Friday Vigil
March 29, 2024
6 pm - 12 am
(see details below)
Easter Sunday
March 31, 2024
10:15 am
Communion
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GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGIL
March 29, 2024
Objective: The intention is to draw us individually and collectively closer to the Lord, to share a common experience as a congregation, and to create an unbroken prayer chain that binds us together as worshippers.
When: The vigil will go from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight. Members/friends of our congregation each take a 15-minute period of time to pray, holding silent vigil until the next person’s time.
Where: Participants can pray at home or another setting conducive to quiet and contemplation. It is fine if more than one person signs up for the same prayer time.
Prayer Focus: There will be no formal materials or format involved. The intention is to be spiritually simple before the Lord Jesus, thanking Him for dying on the Cross for us, as we fill our minds and hearts with Holy Scriptures, prayers or hymn verses to be lifted up to Him from the Bible or related sacred texts. Worshippers are invited to make this their own. (A list of suggestions will be provided).
How do I sign up: There is a sign-up sheet on a clipboard in the narthex from now until Maundy Thursday. You can also click HERE to sign up online.
Please do consider participating, and, if you cannot or choose not to formally sign up, please join us in prayer and meditation during the 6-hour period.
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CHANGE OF DATE!!
Future Child Stars is holding an
Egg Hunt on Sunday, March 24th from 1 to 3 pm
and would like to extend the invitation
to our church family!
Bring your children and grandchildren to meet the
Easter Bunny and enjoy the outdoor activities!!
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Mark Your Calendars
Spring Bingo and Basket Raffle
When you win you may select the Purse or Tote of your choice from a great selection of:
ThirtyOne Vera Bradley Lug Baggalini
Each Special Game will be a Gift Card Basket valued at $100
WHEN: Sunday, April 28, 2024
TIME: Doors open at Noon. Play Begins at 1 PM
PRICE: $25 FOR 25 Regular Games
Specials sold separately $2 each game or 3 for $5
WHO: YOU and all of your friends, relatives and neighbors
TICKETS: On sale Tuesday, March 26.
This is the Mission Team’s biggest fundraiser that will help support missions such as Haiti Family Sponsorship, Phoebe Home, Pathways, The Allentown Rescue Mission and many more. We really need your support in order to continue Faith’s mission work.
How can you help?
~On the day of Bingo we can use volunteers in the kitchen from
(11:30 am-3 pm)
We could use any of the following donations:
~Gift Cards for Special Games and Basket Raffle
~Lots of Desserts
~3 Regular Coke (12 packs)
~2 Diet Coke
~1 Sprite
~10 dozen bottles of Water (16 oz size)
~Door Prizes valued at $10+
~Basket Raffle items valued at $25
Please let us know if you will be donating any items so we do not purchase duplicates of items. Contact Karen Talboo at cktalboo@gmail.com or 610-282-1552. Thank you.
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From our Conference Minister,
Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates
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The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord-- the King of Israel!’" (John 12:12-13, NRSV)
Dear Friends,
This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday and begin the journey of Holy Week. Palm Sunday is often a joyous occasion with palm branches waving, processions (sometimes of adults and sometimes children), and shouts of “Hosanna!” As I reflect on this Sunday and the upcoming week, I wonder what Jesus was feeling, riding on a colt into Jerusalem, proclaimed as the King of Israel. Neither of the gospel selections in the lectionary this week (Mark or John), include the passage from Luke’s gospel where the Pharisees demand that Jesus silence the disciples. And you may remember that in the next set of verses, the Pharisees plot to kill Jesus.
Jesus had engaged with the Pharisees before, and it usually didn’t end well. It won’t this time either. As we celebrate this Sunday, we know the story – we know what is coming - the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the crowd turning on Jesus, the walk to the cross, and the crucifixion. I remind us that the celebration of Palm Sunday and the celebration of Easter have a deep journey of trial and challenge between them and to skip from the celebration of Palm Sunday to the celebration of Easter diminishes the resurrection joy.
In the world we all encounter challenges, many of us encounter betrayal, and we have difficult paths and journeys to take as human beings. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t celebrate the good times – just as Jesus and the disciples do – but it means that we need to remember and reflect that joy is amplified by our experiences of challenge.
Over the last five weeks, all four Conferences in Pennsylvania have participated in a Lenten Bible Study. Thank you to Becky Sausser for her development of the study and thank you to all those who led sessions: Becky Sausser, Nicole and Zach Jackson, Kevin McLemore, Nora Foust, and the Conference Ministers. These were meaningful sessions and allowed us to get to know each other while we delved into study and Lenten preparation. We concluded the study last night with a discussion about betrayal and how it impacts us. We also remembered the servant leadership of Jesus that some of us celebrate through the act of foot washing on Maundy Thursday and the Holy Meal of Communion.
As we celebrate Palm Sunday, as we move through the remainder of Lent, and as we deepen our faith and explore our own journeys through life, I hope we will remember that Jesus, both fully human and fully divine, experienced much of what we experience, including the betrayal of friends, anger targeting him, pain and loss, and also joy at the presence and glory of God and the joy that we, too, anticipate on Resurrection Day.
Blessings my friends,
Bonnie
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Full-Contact Love
by Vicki Kemper
When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. – 2 Kings 4:32-35 (NRSVUE)
Maybe this is what it’s like when, according to the Letter to the Ephesians, we who are as good as dead because of our wrongdoings and shortcomings are made alive together with Christ.
It’s not easy or pretty. It’s not magic, and it’s not guaranteed. But Jesus, like the prophet Elisha, refuses to give up on us. Our deliverance from death is a labor of mercy, grace, faith, prayer, and maybe just a little desperation. It is a full-contact, hold-nothing-back love that paces the floor and tries yet again, refusing to give up on us.
Which is not to say that the return to life is smooth or glamorous. We might fail multiple times before finding our life-legs. We might sneeze and snort our way back to the land of the living and loving.
No matter. We’re here. We’re alive. We learn that life is pure gift and new life heaven-sent.
Prayer
Life-Giver who pulls out all the stops, Life-Restorer who never quits, thank you for seeing what is possible for me.
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About the Author
Vicki Kemper is the Pastor of First Congregational, UCC, of Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Is your closet too full? Do you have clothing that no longer fits you? Are blankets sticking out of your linen closet? The Wm Allen High School Clothing Closet has a solution to help you. The Clothing Closet is opened once a month to the public to come in and select clothing, toys, blankets, and household goods. All sizes of clothing -- mens, womens, infants, and childrens clothing are welcome. If you have anything that you are looking to get rid of, please bring it in to Faith Church. If you have any questions, ask Donna Schoenberger (610-390-1574). All donations are greatly appreciated. Thank YOU.
(Donna will be collecting items through May.)
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ITEMS DESPERATELY NEEDED:
BAKED BEANS
CANNED RAVIOLI
SPAGHETTI SAUCE
SPAGHETTI NOODLES
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MARCH
23 Lisa Koch
24 Kathryn Y
28 Barbara Strimple
30 Thomas Herstine
31 Patricia Babos
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A Special THANK YOU to all who continue to financially support our ministry as you are able. We'd like to remind you there are several ways you can do this:
- Mail your offering directly to the church
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Make an electronic donation through Tithe.ly on our website's Giving page
- Use your bank's Bill Pay service
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