Grace Notes VOLUME 153 RYE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ▪ 882 BOSTON POST ROAD ▪ RYE ▪ NY ▪10580 OCTOBER 2015 Imagine there’s no scoreboard… You can feel it in the air! There is enthusiasm - there is excite- ment! The Imagine Initiative in all its many facets is rolling out for all to see. Imagine! Beyond all the good that goes on here each day, imagine what our church can be! An additional worship opportunity. Fully funding our third pastor to better serve the many children and youth of this church. The stained-glass win- dows of the sanctuary restored to their original brilliance to match the beautiful new paint job. New opportunities to gather and grow and serve together. Imagine what God can do – in and through and beyond our dreams! Something else can be felt in the air as well. After all, for the dreams to become reality means we have to talk about topics that many wish we would avoid: generosity, money, giving to Imagine above and beyond what we already give for the annual stewardship campaign. At times it can get a little uncomfortable. Yet we fol- low and bear the name of one who never shied away from talking about such things. “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also,” Jesus said. It may not be the “root of all evil” (a common bible misquote), but he knew that how we view our resources and the decisions we make regarding those resources says a great deal about who we are and the state of our hearts. It can, and probably at times should make us a bit uncomfortable. But often, I think our discomfort comes from a misguided sense of what God is looking at and asking for from us. The scene I found in a nearby church basement captured that sense of it for me - Jesus as keeper of the scoreboard. Perhaps we operate with a sense that God is more interested in keeping score of who among us is the most faithful and most generous. We think that a big gift to Imagine means that someone is more faithful, more spiritual, more what Jesus is looking for. We get nervous when we hear of someone giving more. We look down upon those who give less. That’s not the Jesus I see. Instead, Jesus showed us a God who doesn’t keep track of rights and wrongs, or the size of our mone- tary gifts. Instead he showed us a God of great generosity – a God of grace who welcomes us as we are – who forgives again and again, who loves beyond measure. The divine scoreboard long ago was disconnected and shut off. It is we, in our misguided worry about whether we measure up and our endless competitive and comparative instinct, who drag it out of the basement and turn it back on again. Instead, Jesus invites us…and, yes, challenges us. Forgiven much, richly blessed, gifted in so many ways, how might we live a more faithful and generous life? How might we more fully partici- pate in God’s vision and God’s active work making this world more just, more loving, and more whole? How might we trust God even more than we do, to be at work in us and through us? Imagine that . . . This month, as pledge cards for both Imagine and Annual Stew- ardship arrive at your home, as you think and pray and talk about what numbers to write down, and as we commit ourselves and our resources to the future in worship on October 18, imagine the scoreboard off. Imagine instead the next step that God is calling you to take, not just in your giving, but in your life and faith. Imagine . . . What’s Inside? Page 2: Imagine, Peace & Global Witness Offering Page 3: Adult Education Page 4: Music Notes, Rachael Huntley, New Member Classes, YAV Volunteers Page 5: Christian Education, Confirmation 2016, Connection Pool Party Page 6: Women’s Association Page 7: Church Picnic Photos Page 8: Sundays in October, Bible Study Page 9: October Calendar Page 10: Rye Presbyterian Nursery School
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Grace Notes VOLUME 153 RYE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ▪ 882 BOSTON POST ROAD ▪ RYE ▪ NY ▪10580 OCTOBER 2015
Imagine there’s no scoreboard…
You can feel it in the air! There is enthusiasm - there is excite-
ment! The Imagine Initiative in all its many facets is rolling out
for all to see. Imagine! Beyond all the good that goes on here
each day, imagine what our church can be! An additional worship
opportunity. Fully funding our third pastor to better serve the
many children and youth of this church. The stained-glass win-
dows of the sanctuary restored to their original brilliance to match
the beautiful new paint job. New opportunities to gather and grow
and serve together. Imagine what God can do – in and through and
beyond our dreams!
Something else can be felt in the air as well. After all, for the
dreams to become reality means we have to talk about topics that
many wish we would avoid: generosity, money, giving to Imagine
above and beyond what we already give for the annual stewardship
campaign. At times it can get a little uncomfortable. Yet we fol-
low and bear the name of one who never shied away from talking
about such things. “Where your treasure is, there your heart is
also,” Jesus said. It may not be the “root of all evil” (a common
bible misquote), but he knew that how we view our resources and
the decisions we make regarding those resources says a great deal
about who we are and the state of our hearts. It can, and probably
at times should make us a bit uncomfortable.
But often, I think our discomfort comes from a misguided sense
of what God is looking at and asking for from us. The scene I
found in a nearby church basement captured that sense of it for me
- Jesus as keeper of the scoreboard. Perhaps we operate with a
sense that God is more interested in keeping score of who among
us is the most faithful and most generous. We think that a big gift
to Imagine means that someone is more faithful, more spiritual,
more what Jesus is looking for. We get nervous when we hear of
someone giving more. We look down upon those who give less.
That’s not the Jesus I see. Instead, Jesus showed us a God who
doesn’t keep track of rights and wrongs, or the size of our mone-
tary gifts. Instead he showed us a God of great generosity – a God
of grace who welcomes us as we are – who forgives again and
again, who loves beyond measure. The divine scoreboard long ago
was disconnected and shut off. It is we, in our misguided worry
about whether we measure up and our endless competitive and
comparative instinct, who drag it out of the basement and turn it
back on again.
Instead, Jesus invites us…and, yes, challenges us. Forgiven
much, richly blessed, gifted in so many ways, how might we live a
more faithful and generous life? How might we more fully partici-
pate in God’s vision and God’s active work making this world
more just, more loving, and more whole? How might we trust God
even more than we do, to be at work in us and through us?
Imagine that . . . This month, as pledge cards for both Imagine and Annual Stew-
ardship arrive at your home, as you think and pray and talk about
what numbers to write down, and as we commit ourselves and our
resources to the future in worship on October 18, imagine the
scoreboard off. Imagine instead the next step that God is calling
you to take, not just in your giving, but in your life and faith.
Imagine . . .
What’s Inside?
Page 2: Imagine, Peace & Global Witness
Offering
Page 3: Adult Education
Page 4: Music Notes, Rachael Huntley, New
Member Classes, YAV Volunteers
Page 5: Christian Education, Confirmation
2016, Connection Pool Party
Page 6: Women’s Association
Page 7: Church Picnic Photos
Page 8: Sundays in October, Bible Study
Page 9: October Calendar
Page 10: Rye Presbyterian Nursery School
rye presbyterian church • grace notes • october 2015 (2)
All are asked to bring their Imagine and Annual Stewardship commitment cards to worship
so that we may give thanks and ask God’s blessing as Imagine becomes reality!
Sunday, October 4
“L“LIVINGIVING AA FFULLYULLY GGENEROUSENEROUS LLIFEIFE”” Sunday mornings, October 4-18,
9:00-9:45 a.m., Westminster Room
This series invites participants to be engaged in reflection about the themes lifted up in our Imagine Reflection Journal. 10/04 Treasure and Time 10/11 Wisdom and Work 10/18 Spirituality, Soul, and Sacrifice
Adult Education
In October, Adult Education programs
will continue to focus on support of the
Imagine Initiative, using the Personal
Reflections Journal as a guide.
Throughout the month, we will focus
on the last three sections of the Journal.
Those three weeks will cover the Journal
subjects on the following themes:
Treasure and Time: Sunday,
October 4, led by Dr. Miller.
Wisdom and Work: Sunday,
October 11, led by Nancy and Bob
Steed.
Spirituality, Soul, and Sacrifice:
Sunday, October 18, led by Rachael
Huntley.
The following Sunday morning, October
25, in the Westminster Room from 9:00
to 9:45 a.m., we will begin a series on
“Parables from the Backside,” based on
a book by J. Ellsworth Kalas. On Tues-
day evening, October 27, in the West-
minster Room from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.,
Rev. Love will begin a book study on
“Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of
the American Elite and the Way to a
Meaningful Life.”
For details on these programs and the
many other Adult Education offerings
for the fall, see the brochure “Imagining
our Journey Together” available on
RPC’s website or at convenient locations
in the church.
CORRECTION: The date for the
panel discussion on “A Culture of Vio-
lence: No One is Immune” will be
changed due to a conflict with a major
high school program. Watch for the new
date in the weekly RPC update.
The Adult Education Committee, as
well as the Co-Pastors, hope to see in-
creasing numbers of RPC members par-
ticipating in the wealth of opportunities
for growing our faith and our under-
standing of God through this fall’s
offerings.
rye presbyterian church • grace notes • october 2015 (3)
Sunday mornings, October 25-November 22 9:00-9:45 a.m., Westminster Room
Using J. Ellsworth Kalas’ book, we’ll gain new insights into Jesus’ parables as approached through the “back side”; though a unique starting point, a creative retelling, a new “lens,” or the eyes of a minor character.
10/25 The Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37 11/01 The Prodigal Son, Luke 15:1-32 11/08 Laborers in the Vineyard, Matthew 20:1-15 11/15 Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30 11/22 Parable of the Soils, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23