Trinity Church - Clover Sitesstorage.cloversites.com/trinitychurch/documents/2012-1-29.pdf · 1/29/2012  · From time to time we ask Trinity members to share about their faith, life

January 29, 2012January 29, 2012January 29, 2012January 29, 2012

KirkwoodKirkwoodKirkwood Trinity ChurchTrinity ChurchTrinity Church

2 Corinthians 4:52 Corinthians 4:52 Corinthians 4:52 Corinthians 4:5

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What can be more excellent than prayer; what is more profitable to our life; what sweeter to our souls; what more sublime, in the course of our whole life, than the practice of prayer! Augustine

For PreparationFor PreparationFor PreparationFor Preparation Prayer comes with great difficulty for me. In the same way that I struggle to actively engage God’s word, I struggle to engage with God himself in prayer. Knowing that through prayer, I have access to the very throne room of God does not lessen my struggle and I don’t think I am alone in struggling. The obvious question is why? For starters, we live in the modern age where the idea of spending time alone speaking to a God we cannot see or hear is a weird thing to do. In fact, there are few things that are as counter-cultural as praying. Further, it is hard for me to focus my mind and heart on God and actually speak with him. I of-ten find myself coming back to familiar cliches or worse, I quit praying alto-gether because my mind has wondered off to different topics. I believe prayer is one of the foundational practices of the Christian faith and without it, our faith will be seriously impoverished. Because of this, I have forced myself to reevaluate and change my prayer life. For example, I try and remind myself that I have been given permission to enter the throne room of God and bring my life before him and this is a fabulous gift. But perhaps the biggest change I have enacted is that I now pray almost exclusively out loud. If I pray silently for any length of time I quickly lose my place. I need the physical act of speaking out loud in order to engage my heart and mind with God. Coupled with this, I have come to depend upon communal prayers be-cause of the way others can help direct my heart to God. In other words, my prayer life has changed from a silent and private thinking about God, to a noisy and communal talking with God and it has made all the difference. May this morning be an instance in which we noisily worship together, bring-ing our praise, songs, confessions, and prayers to our God, communing with him and not merely thinking about him.

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OOOOOOOOOOOORDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDERRDER OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF WWWWWWWWWWWWORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIPORSHIP January 29, 2012 9:30 AM

* Congregation stands

Worshiping the Triune GodWorshiping the Triune GodWorshiping the Triune GodWorshiping the Triune God

Welcome

For Preparation Sanctuary Words and Music by John W. Thompson and Randy Scruggs

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.

Invocation

Bringing Praise and Adoration to our GodBringing Praise and Adoration to our GodBringing Praise and Adoration to our GodBringing Praise and Adoration to our God

*Call to Worship– Psalm 111:1-4

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.

*Song of Adoration And Can It Be That I Should Gain Verses 1,3,4,5 Charles Wesley, 1738 Trinity Hymnal 455

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*Song of Adoration By Faith Words and music written by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend

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*Prayer of Adoration

Doxology Thomas Ken, 1709 Trinity Hymnal 731

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*Passing of the Peace- 2 Corinthians 13:11

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Ministry Update Rev. Leon Pannkuk

Pastoral Prayer

Tithes and Offerings

(Children ages 4yr-2nd grade may be dismissed for Children’s Church)

Hearing from the Word of the LordHearing from the Word of the LordHearing from the Word of the LordHearing from the Word of the Lord Sermon “Standing in the Gap”

Ezekiel 22:23-31 Rev. Leon Pannkuk

Notes

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*Sending Song O Church Arise Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

*Benediction

Faith StoriesFaith StoriesFaith StoriesFaith Stories From time to time we ask Trinity members to share about their faith, life and interests. If you would like to share your “faith story,” please contact the church office.

Little did I know where it would lead…

Last year at about this time a small group from Trinity gathered for sev-eral weeks to consider “Intentional Christianity.” It was led by Pastor Pol-ski and 2 seminary students, Anthony Gammage and James Nichols. I knew that I hadn’t been very intentional at all in reaching out to non Christians—in fact, I pretty much avoided it.

We looked at barriers that get in the way of interacting at a deeper level with people around us, and we were encouraged to identify 7 people to begin to become more intentional with. We had a great reference book,

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman that taught us how to use questions to touch peo-ple’s hearts the way Jesus did. (My copy is available for borrowing.)

I identified my 7 people, but God has taken me in a very different direction to someone not on that original list. In fact God took me into prison to interact with a former 22 year old inner city student of mine who is now serving 40 years for murder. Last summer I read about his case in the newspaper and felt a strong push to write him a letter and tell him that I was praying for him. About a month later I received his surprised response and we have been communicating regu-larly for the past 5 months.

I asked him if he had a Bible, and if not would he like one. He said he would like a Bible but did-n’t know anything about it or how to read it. So I got him one and he finally received it in mid December (after it was checked page by page). He is usually confined to his cell 23 hours/ day—so lots of time for reflection.

In November I drove to Joliet, IL to visit him only to find the prison on lockdown. What a disap-pointment! But God encouraged me to make the trip again in early December and this time we had a 2-hour visit with a chance for me to pray for him before leaving. Prisons are oppressive and I was a bit scared, but I felt the strong presence of God with me.

Now each week I send him a lesson from a Bible study designed for seekers and new believ-ers. He finally got permission to go to prison church a couple of weeks ago, but can only go about every 2 weeks. He said most of the prisoners were rude and disrespectful during the ser-vice—but the message about forgiving others went straight to his heart. He has also asked me about how God can forgive him. To my knowledge there is no prison ministry or Bible study, so right now I feel compelled to fill the void through my letters and maybe future visits. My prayer is that a Christian male mentor can come into his life to disciple him.

Being intentional in sharing my Christianity has been a wonderful blessing. I encourage you to push beyond your comfort zone.

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Trinity Institute for Christian GrowthTrinity Institute for Christian GrowthTrinity Institute for Christian GrowthTrinity Institute for Christian Growth Why should I take part in the Trinity Institute for Christian Growth?

Reading, writing and arithmetic. These are the building blocks of a good education and there is no one who thinks that they aren’t necessary in order to build a strong foundation for future learning. How many of us think it makes sense to require these building blocks for the intellectual growth of our children or ourselves, but who are neglecting the best op-portunity given to us in a normal week to cultivate our spiritual understanding by taking part in Christian education in our church? I want to exhort you to make the time on the Lord’s day to stay around and take part in Trinity’s Institute for Christian Growth where you can learn the “reading, writing and arithmetic” required for the progress of your soul.

Adult ClassesAdult ClassesAdult ClassesAdult Classes Living With Jesus Every Moment of Every Day-Rev. Leon Pannkuk (room 103) Next week Nick Gray will resume Pastor Polski’s class entitled, Blue Like Jazz Ministry in the Context of Modern Youth Culture. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God in the Writings of John Dr. Rob Fossett (room A101) This 8 week class is on the doctrine of the love of God and how difficult it really is when we dig into what John has to say about it. We will explore various texts of the Bible, but will look primarily as the Gospel of John and his letters.

Children/Youth/College Sunday SchoolChildren/Youth/College Sunday SchoolChildren/Youth/College Sunday SchoolChildren/Youth/College Sunday School Classes Teachers: Infant Nursery Meg Fossett, Katie Polski Toddlers & PreSchool Paige Knerr, Joy Spoon, Jess Longenecker Pre K and K Beth Kling, Debbie Highmark, Joyce Simpson 1st and 2nd grade Carrie Johler, Neil Shah, Ellie Perry 3rd, 4th & 5th grade Kyle & Suzanne Roberts, Kiara Lackey, Gary Peterson Jr. High Kable Cunningham, Nick Gray, Scott Mitchell, Gary Peterson Sr. High Nick Gray, Kable Cunningham College Duncan Highmark, Molly Gerstung

This Week at TrinityThis Week at TrinityThis Week at TrinityThis Week at Trinity January 29, 2012January 29, 2012January 29, 2012January 29, 2012

These are just announcement highlights, if you’d like to know more about Trinity connect with us in one of the following ways... - By phone: 314/821-7311 - On the web: www.trinitystlouis.org - Facebook: Trinity Church Kirkwood or - Twitter: @tbeza (Pastor Polski’s Twitter Handle)

Worship and General Church InformationWorship and General Church InformationWorship and General Church InformationWorship and General Church Information • Join us tonight at 5:30 for a time of worship through prayer, music and study

of God’s Word.

• TWIGS (women’s bible study) has begun a study on Joshua. Is in not too late to join us. The Tues. evening group will meet at the home of Joan Kwong this week at 7pm. The Wed. morning group meets at the church office at 9am.

• Disciplines of A Godly Man, a men’s study group, will meet next on Fri. Feb. 10. A group of men will also meet this Tuesday at TJ Wings in Valley Park at 8:30pm.

• Trinity Kids will meet tonight, as they continue to prepare for this year’s musical entitled, “It’s All Because of Jesus.” Lord willing we will perform this musical in our new building this Spring. There are many parts so come join the fun!

• Snack volunteers needed. Please see Amy Mitchell.

• Trinity’s first cookbook to be published this Spring: Please help us raise funds for Engage St. Louis while sharing favorite family recipes. The first step is to turn in as many recipes as you are willing to share to Jodi Plunk or in the drop box in the foyer.

• A Trinity Easter Devotional are available to purchase or order today.

• The Jr. High will meet tonight at 5:30pm. Sr. High will gather for dinner at the Maglione’s from 6:45-8pm. Mark your calendar for the Super Bowl party on Feb. 5th at 5pm.

• We will be updating the pictoral directory in January. Andrew Kwong will be avail-able to take pictures TODAY immediately after the morning worship service. Please see Amy Mitchell if we do not have a picture of your family or if you would like to up-date your photo.

• Promise Christian Academy is hosting two Tim Hawkin’s comedy shows on Feb. 4 as their annual fundraiser. Visit www.promisestl.org for more information and to purchase tickets. (see flyer on p. 18)

• Leave Your Mark: On Sun., Feb. 12 the congregation will have the chance to write on the walls of our new sanctuary before it is dry walled. We will meet at the new church building immediately after the morning worship service.

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• Read thru the Bible this week:

Jan. 29 Deuteronomy 1, Psalm 81-82 Jan. 30 Deuteronomy 2, Psalm 83-84 Jan. 31 Deuteronomy 3, Psalm 85 Feb. 1 Deuteronomy 4:1-15, Psalm 86 Feb. 2 Deuteronomy 4:32-49, Psalm 87 Feb. 3 Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 88 Feb. 4 Deuteronomy 7, Psalm 89

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Join us in worship, Sundays, at 9:30 AM Westminster Christian Academy

800 Maryville Centre Dr.

Town & Country, MO 63017

Visit our website, www.trinitystlouis.org for Sermons, resources for Christian life & Trinity Church information

We welcome your interest in Trinity Church

If we can be of any assistance to you, please contact us: 13545 Barrett Parkway Dr.

Suite 140

St. Louis, MO 63021

314/821-7311

Pastor: Rev. Christopher Polski

Trinity Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America

ccli# 2808417 Music for use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com

Trinity Church Exists

To nurture people toward a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ;

To equip believers in every generation,

by faithfully proclaiming the Word of God;

To exhort people to serve the Lord by actively ministering the gos-

pel of Jesus Christ to all people, in all places, in every way possible.