"Desserts with the Pastor" started this week. The first two desserts
were fun and the participants shared some great ideas about church
growth for St. John's. Your input will be given to the Session and we
may expect action on some of the ideas. We keep the length of the
desserts to one hour. Do come.
This Sunday we will celebrate our college graduates. Let the church
office know if you have a college graduate in your family you'd like
us to mention.
Sunday School and VBS teachers are invited to a "Teacher Appreciation
Gathering" on Saturday, May 22 at 6:30 pm at Libby Adams house, 5506
Cheena Drive. RSVP to Mary Sterner at the church office.
After worship on Sunday, May 23 Kathie Hartzog and Léonie Tchoconté
will tell us about their recent mission trips. Kathie went to the
Lulwanda Children's Home in Uganda and Lèonie helped install a clean
water system at Institution Racine/Ecole Normale children's school in
Haiti. Refreshments will be served.
The Pastor's Bible Class begins on the first Sunday in June at 9 am in
the church library. If we were meeting this Sunday, we would talk
about how last Sunday, Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a
perfect game against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. The A's won the game
4-0. It was the 19th such game in Major League Baseball history, a
period of over 120 years and covering tens of thousands of games.
In baseball, if you get a hit four out of 10 trips to the plate,
you're considered a phenomenal success; if you do it over a career,
you're guaranteed a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- even though
you failed at the plate 60 percent of the time. Is there a lesson here
for us? Would you agree that perfection is a process? How so?
In the Pastor's Bible Class we will use Robert M. Price's ground-
rules for small group discussion from his book The Reason Driven Life.
First Commandment: Thou shalt get to thy point as quickly and
succinctly as possible.
Second Commandment: Thou shalt try to stay on topic at least for
awhile.
Third Commandment: Thou shalt avoid politics like the plague!
Fourth Commandment: Thou shalt give heed unto the person talking.
Neither shalt thou merely wait til they're done so that thou mayest
launch into thine own planned soliloquy.
Fifth Commandment: Thou shalt esteem individual persons above their
opinions and beliefs. In this manner thou mayest abstain from personal
enmity and avoid waxing wrathful.
Sixth Commandment: Thou shalt not fracture the group discussion into
two or more. But thou shalt all have one conversation going on until
the informal aftermath of the main event.
Seventh Commandment: Thou shalt not grandstand.
Eighth Commandment: Thou shalt not aim to convert the group to thine
own faith or opinion.
Ninth Commandment: Thou shalt make sure all present know that they are
not expected to speak, though their participation is most welcome.
Tenth Commandment; Thou shalt not interrupt thy brother or thy sister!
Let me know if this sounds like something you would be interested in.
Peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Jon
--
St. John's Presbyterian Church
5020 West Bellfort / Houston, TX 77035
T. 713.723.6262 / F. 713.723-4015 / Email: office.sjpc@gmail.com
Worship Service: Sunday, 10:30 am / Sunday School: 9:00 am
