Sermon Preview:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
If we were to conduct a little pop-quiz today, how would you complete this sentence:
Faith is_____________________.
There are, for sure, many words that believers in Christ might legitimately fit into that space. And if this exercise were to include those outside of the Church, the number of likely answers grows even larger!
But what we discover in Hebrews 11:1 is the Teacher’s answer key.
In this verse of Holy Scripture, the inspired author of the Epistle tells us that “ faith” in God is “ the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So the correct answer to the test, at least as far as this verse goes, is “ assurance” and “ conviction.”
But this answer leaves us a bit puzzled. Assurance of what? Conviction about what? And how are these words related to the “ things hoped for”? And, furthermore, what are these “ things” that are “ not seen” anyway?
Well, it looks as if we’ve got our work cut out for us this coming Lord’s Day as we prayerfully consider these words of Scripture. As we study this passage, the Lord will enroll us in the ‘School of Faith’! And our very first task of the day will be to discover what this most essential word really means.
I can’t wait to come before our Father with each of you!
All my love,
Mike
Announcements:
Youth Group:
Fall Youth Calendar
September 26th – Youth Group
October 3rd – Cookout and College Care Packages at the Turnbull House
October 17th – Youth Group
October 24th – Youth Group
November 7th – Youth Group
November 21st – Youth Group
December 5th – Youth Group
December 12th – Christmas Party
*All dates are Sunday evenings. Youth group is from 4:30 to 6:30.
College Care Packages:
As we move steadily into the Fall semester, consider serving our CPC college students by donating items to be packaged that will be mailed out at the beginning of October. A donation box will be placed in the foyer of the church on Sunday mornings beginning September 12. The last day to bring items to donate will be Sunday morning, October 3rd. That evening we will box up our donated items at the Turnbull’s house! It will be compelling and rich. Dinner will be provided.
Having approximately 25 college students, please brings items such as pre-packaged snack bars, candy, cookies, brownies, encouragement cards, gift certificates for pizza and fast food/coffee, tissue packs, hand sanitizer, wipes, pens, snack packs of all sorts, Fall seasonal items, gum, hot chocolate, tea, microwave popcorn, etc. These care packages will certainly be an encouragement to the students from their church family!
Do you have a college student? As addresses tend to change frequently in that stage of life, please send me their name and updated addresses so that we can have accurate information for our mailout! You may email them to Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.
Girls’ Night:
We will have the first of two youth “Girls’ Nights” on Monday, October 18th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the home of Jeff and Denise Brown. All middle and high school girls are invited to join us for dinner, devotion and a special activity. Please feel free to bring a friend!
Senior Fellows:
The next Senior Fellows Breakfast will be 9 AM, Tues, Oct 5. The Discussion on Issues facing the PCA will now be 10 AM, Tues, Nov 9.
Women’s Ministry:
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on October 7 beginning at 11:30 at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself.
Fall Bible Studies:
The fall Bible studies have resumed! The Tuesday study for mothers meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Contact Amy Schnorrenberg for more info. The Wednesday studies meet at 10 AM and 6 PM at the church. Contact Denise Scrip for more info.
Men’s Ministry:
Bible Study: We would like to invite all CPC men to our Fall Bible study series!
Title – Knowing the Times: A Look at Contemporary Works on Race, Social Justice, Wokeness and Christianity
Description – The church has always grappled with competing worldviews, issues of race, and alternate systems of morality. In modern society, we acutely feel the shifts in our society with our increased accessibility to information at our fingertips at all hours of the day. We would like to invite our men to our Fall study on issues of CRT, wokeness, and the response of the evangelical church. Led and taught by Dr. Mike Calvert, we will take several contemporary Christian works as starting points for our study and discussion. Among these works include Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe and Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel.
Time – Friday from 11:30 to 12:30. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy while we study and discuss.
Locale – Church fellowship hall
Schedule – We will meet a total of 10 sessions with our first meeting on Friday, September 24th. Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 10th. skipping Friday, October 8th for Fall break.
Please make plans to join us for this important study! If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.
Fellowship Lunch Groups: Men’s fellowship groups are now forming. The purpose of these groups is to facilitate getting to know our brothers in Christ and enjoy time together. Groups will form around October 12th and run through the Spring Semester, ending around Memorial Day. Normally, groups will meet together for lunch, but it is flexible. Groups could play golf together, go to a Trash Pandas game … whatever you decide to do. For more information, please contact Norman Dean ndeaniv@gmail.com. You may sign up in the Narthex or online at this link: https://www.
Career/Singles:
The weekly bible study and fellowship for career/singles meets at 5:30 PM Sunday evenings at the home of Jim and Sharon Daughtry.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Suzanne Nimon, Lincoln Ely, Dave Angotti, Zig and Virdia Jastrebski, Ramona Edwards, Bill Dent, Jacky Haynes, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton.
Expecting: Please pray for the Prinzingers and Paseurs, both expecting in November, as well as the Elliotts, expecting in March.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Amos and Jessica Williams (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so at the following link:
Emails:
general inquiries: admin@christpreshamptoncove.org
benevolence needs: benevolence@christpreshamptoncove.org
counsel and ministry needs: matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org
men’s ministry: men@christpreshamptoncove.org
women’s ministry: women@christpreshamptoncove.org
children’s ministry: children@christpreshamptoncove.org
youth ministry: youth@christpreshamptoncove.org
senior fellows: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Address:
288 Old Highway 431
Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763