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F.P.C MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
 From Faith to Faith
August 2008
 VOL. XXIV No. 8
Pastor: Mark Scholten         Asst. Pastor: James Kobb

Church website

in this issue

  1. Come Hear Igor Bagirov
  2. MESS Hall and STING
  3. Vacation Bible School 2008
  4. Tabletalk
  5. Birth
  6. Scheduling Changes and Cancellations
  7. August Preaching Schedule
  8. Bible Quiz
  9. Chaplain Information
  10. Leadership in Worship
  11. Bible Quiz Answers
  12. Click here for a easy  printable  pdf  format

AUGUST CALENDAR (new printable web page)

1. Come Hear Igor Bagirov

On Wednesday, August 13th, at 7 pm at the church, Igor Bagirov will be speaking on his evangelistic ministry. Igor is a converted Russian Jew who has a passion for evangelism.

This is from a recent newsletter, “A couple weeks ago I met one Jewish man. He came from Odessa, Ukraine. He told me that he is very rich and he doesn’t need something else, even Jesus. A Jewish man from Orenburg, Russia with his Russian wife was very angry after I tried to share about Jesus to them. Two other women from Lithuania were very kind to listen to my witness. One of the women told me that she speaks German, Lithuanian, English, and Polish. She passed WW2. I studied German myself in the school so I had little opportunity to speak with her in German. Another Jewish lady said that everyone has own God and she doesn’t want to listen that Jesus is the only God and Savior. From Odessa there is an elderly Jewish man who received my witness with happiness. Another young Jewish lady who understands Russian but can’t read in Russian took from me a NT in English.“

Igor is the missionary of Beth-El Russian Messianic Ministries and pastor of Bethel Messianic Congregation in Cleveland. They are moving their services to Bethany Covenant Evangelical Church of Lyndhurst. He has spoken at several PCA churches and his passion for the gospel is contagious. We would like the whole church to come to the prayer meeting on August 13th to hear him speak.

2. MESS Hall and STING

Mess Hall will meet twice in August. The first time will be at the Scholten’s home on August 14th at 7:00 p.m. The second activity will be hosted by the Tasseff family and will be announced at a later date. 

STING will meet at the Scholten’s home from 4-6:00 p.m. on August 2nd and August 16th. 

3. Vacation Bible School 2008

Once again it is time for Vacation Bible School! (August 4-8 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)

(Kids: Get a head start…start memorizing now! KJV only please.)

Day One: Follow: God gives us faith to follow his plan. (Romans 1:17)

Day Two: Believe: God gives us faith to believe his promises. (Hebrews 11:6)

Day Three: Obey: God gives us faith to obey him. (Ephesians 2:8)

Day Four: Repent: God gives us faith to repent and give our lives to Jesus (Matthew 6:19-20)

Day Five: Share: God gives us faith to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

 We still need one day helpers and a nursery worker. If you would like to donate to help our “VBS Staff Lunch” program please see Melinda Althuis. After working hard all morning the staff sit down to a meal to relax, unwind, and discuss the next day of VBS. Please save your glass jars (mayo, pickle, baby food, etc.) for the craft class. Please place your clean and empty jars on the vestibule table.
NOTE: On August 3 after evening service we will set up for the big day! Everyone who can stay and help would be greatly appreciated.

Please check the web site weekly for updates and more news.

4. Tabletalk

 We have several copies of three different Tabletalk devotionals from Ligonier Ministries. We would like you to pass them out to friends, family, neighbors, or even to use them in your own devotions. They are on the book table in the vestibule. Please feel free to take as many as you can give away.

5. Birth

Margaret Grace Duff, infant daughter of Dr. Joel and Mrs. Dawn Duff, was baptized by Pastor Scholten on July 13th. Margaret was born June 24th.

6. Scheduling Changes and Cancellations

Please note there will be no WIC meeting or Shepherding Group meeting in August. 

7. August Preaching Schedule

 Aug. 3            AM:    Pastor Scholten           PM: Pastor Kobb
Aug. 10           AM:    Pastor Scholten           PM: Pastor Scholten
Aug. 17           AM:    Pastor Scholten           PM: Pastor Kobb
Aug. 24           AM:    Pastor Scholten           PM: Pastor Scholten
Aug. 31           AM:    Pastor Scholten           PM: Pastor Scholten

8. Bible Quiz

1.         Who was the first man to build booths for his cattle?

2.         Who was the first man to be born?

3.         Who was the first man to be tied up?

4.         Who was the first to bake bread?

5.         Who was the first to break the Ten Commandments?

6.         Who was the first to be buried in a cave?

7.         Who was the first couple to be buried together?

8.         Who was the first to be buried under a tree?

9.         Name the first passage to mention camels.

10.       Who were the first mentioned in the Bible riding camels?

11.       According to the Bible...which came first...the chicken or the egg?

12.       Who was the first woman to die in childbirth?

13.       Who was the first to refer to children?

14.       Who was the first to build a city?

15.       Who was the first to be given fine linen clothes?

 

9. CHAPLAIN INFORMATION

The ladies of WIC gathered a box of toys and supplies to send to Iraq. Our original chaplain, Lt. Garland Mason, is coming home, so the box is being sent to another PCA chaplain, Captain Shannon Philio. We received an email from Captain Philio: 

“We would love to receive some support here at FOB Kalsu, about 15 miles south of Baghdad. We are the 703D Brigade Support Battalion out of Fort Steward, Georgia (just Southwest of Savannah). We deployed in November 2007 and redeploy in January 2009. My soldiers are on the roads every day hauling and retrieving resources and supplies. In fact, I just returned a few minutes ago from a 48-hour convoy. We experience IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and EFP’s (Explosively Force Projectiles-Penetrators), plus much more dangers, not to mention the snipers and heat. Feel free to write any time and to pass my information to anyone interested. Thank you for your support and prayers for our men and women in uniform.” 
CH Captain Shannon K. Philio
HHC Company, 703d BSB
Unit 40623
KOB Kalsu, Iraq
APO AE 09312

Biography: 

Chaplain, Captain Shannon K. Philio (single and 42) was born August 4, 1967 in Sarasota Springs, New York. Six months later, his family moved to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where he spent all of his growing years at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi. Ch Philio is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). After pastoring at First Presbyterian Church in Biloxi, MS from 1993-1996, he joined the USAF Chaplaincy on November 11, 1996, served ten years and crossed over Blue to Green into the USA Chaplaincy beginning January 7, 2007. Ch Philio successfully graduated the U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA in February 1998, as the Officer Distinguished Graduate and became the first USAF Chaplain to be placed on permanent jump status. He was featured in the April 1999 issue of Airman. Ch Philio has numerous awards and decorations.

10. Leadership in Worship

by Dr. Robert Godfrey

Discussion of the Word in worship leads naturally to the subject of leadership in worship. The classic pattern of Protestant worship was for the minister to lead the worship. That pattern arose from the teaching of the New Testament, since out of the congregation God called pastors and teachers to be set apart for leadership roles. “It was he (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service” (Eph. 4:11-12).

Called to Ministry
Paul elaborated upon that call to ministry in his personal advice to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. . . . Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction . . . keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Tim. 3:16; 4:2, 5). Here is Paul’s charge to a minister to be faithful in his teaching and leadership in the Christian community a charge that related to worship as well as to the whole of Timothy’s service to the Lord.
In light of the responsibilities of the office of pastor and teacher, churches must not only call faithful men, but must also when possible provide special education for them. Most universities and, later, seminaries were started to educate church leaders. The foundation of such education rested on the conviction that a thorough knowledge of the Bible and theology was a vital need for preachers. Today when the education of congregations and the population generally is much higher than in earlier generations, the need for well-educated ministers of the Word is stronger than ever.

Two Objections
Today at least two objections are raised against the exercise of leadership by carefully educated and called leaders in worship. The first reflects an anti-intellectual tendency in some Christian circles. It suggests that education kills a man’s zeal. It argues that the Holy Spirit will help a man understand the Bible but a school will only undermine his passion. This notion is unbiblical since the Bible repeatedly calls for the people of God to know God and his will. Hosea wrote in the name of God, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). Isaiah recorded the complaint of God that “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isa. 1:3). He looked forward to a day when many will say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isa. 2:3)
Godly education leads one into the Bible and toward God, not away from him.

The second objection to special, educated leadership flows from our democratic culture, which suggests that many people should lead worship, not just one. This view places a high value on participation and on individual expression that will make the service more interesting and vital. Its adherents often appeal to 1 Corinthians 14:26 as support:
 “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” Does not such a passage not only justify but actually call for the participation of many in the leadership of worship?

To answer that question we must remember that Paul is writing to a church where things are out of control in worship, and he is reminding them that “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33) and that “everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (v. 40). More specifically, he is giving advice on how to regulate prophecy and speaking in tongues in worship (see 1 Cor. 14:1-2).

The situation he is describing and regulating reflects the extraordinary days of the early church when the Lord Jesus was still laying the foundations of the church in the work of the apostles and prophets. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “You are members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19-20). That foundational work included both the revelation given to the apostles and the special work of the Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, in the church as a whole. Over the years of church history the majority of Christians have believed that just as the office of apostle passed away after that foundation was laid, so the prophecy, miracles, and speaking in tongues that accompanied the apostolic ministry as signs of the apostles’ work (2 Cor. 12:12) also passed away.
First Corinthians 14:26, then, is not specific direction for the worship of churches today. Rather, it was direction for those extraordinary first-century times. The abiding responsibility for worship lies with the ongoing office of pastor and teacher that the Lord and his apostles established.

A Spiritual Conversation

The minister leads worship as a conversation between God and the people. In the movement of worship God speaks to his worshipers, and they respond to him. As James reminds us, “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (4:8).

The role of the minister in leading this dialogue between God and his people is sometimes unclear because in worship the minister both speaks for God to the congregation and speaks for the congregation to God. When the minister reads the Bible, preaches, administers the sacraments, or pronounces the benediction, he speaks for God to the congregation. When he offers the pastoral prayer, he speaks for the congregation to God. By the call of God and the congregation, the minister is set aside to these important tasks in worship. It is obvious that in his education, examination, and ordination the minister is set aside to preach. But we should remember that he is also set aside to present the prayers of the congregation to God in words that will please God because they are orthodox and represent the concerns of all.
In his leading role the minister leads the worship of God in a way that keeps the worship faithful and expresses the unity of the people in their meeting with God.

 

11. Bible Quiz Answers

1.         Jacob (Genesis 33:17)

2.         Cain (Genesis 4:1)

3.         Isaac (Genesis 22:9)

4.         Lot (Genesis 19:3)

5.         Moses (Exodus 32:19) – in anger he threw them down and broke them.

6.         Sarah (Genesis 23:19)

7.         Sarah and Abraham (Genesis 25:10)

8.         Deborah (Genesis 35:8)

9.         Genesis 12:16

10.       Rebekah and her damsels. (Genesis 24:61)

11.       The chicken (Genesis 1:24-25)

12.       Rachel. (Genesis 35:16-18)

13.       God. (Genesis 3:16)

14.       Cain (Genesis 4:17)

15.       Joseph (Genesis 41:42)

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Faith Presbyterian Church
 2540 South Main Street Akron, Ohio 44319-1137 (330) 644-9654

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