In the Epistle:

A FATHER’S HEART
$150,000,000 JUST FOR US!

Sunday is Father’s Day we will be looking at two texts that I believe still speak powerfully to godly fathers: Malachi 4:6 and the turning of the father’s heart to his children; and Ephesians 6:4 which calls fathers to nurture and discipline their children in ways that do not provoke them to anger. In the meantime, fathers often spend their workdays in environments that reward competitiveness and aggressiveness, where their ability to provide for their family seems to demand a certain hard-heartedness and insensitivity. Simply put, like many other roles (including that of mother), the role of father, especially Christian father, is very difficult in our world.

Sunday’s sermon speaks especially to fathers, but the rest of you should feel free to listen in. And, please, be sure the Dad you love is in worship on Sunday.

And, by the way, what does Jeremiah 46:4 have to do with Ben Roethlisberger? You’d better come Sunday to find out!

Most of you know that the General Assembly of our Presbyterian Church USA has just opened in Birmingham, Alabama. So far they have elected a moderator and are working in committees. No big decisions until Tuesday and Wednesday next week. But the Assembly began with the astounding news of a $150 million gift to the denomination. Read all about it! Blessings on a man named Stan Anderson.

One of the things that I find most encouraging about Mr. Anderson’s gift is the strings he attached. This isn’t a gift to the bureaucracy or the institutionalists in Louisville. It really is a gift to the church. Most of the money will be used in and by Presbyteries that will be encouraged to seek God’s vision for the creative and fruitful use of this generous gift. I imagine that a medium sized Presbytery like Beaver-Butler might be eligible for $500,000 - $750,000. What might we do? Help find new and creative ways to use our camps and conferences facilities in the new world of the 21st Century? Launch non-traditional multi-ethnic, multi-cultural congregations sensitive to the needs of places Beaver Falls or Aliquippa? Help even more congregations in our presbytery be energized by the kind of missional partnerships seven of our churches now have with churches in Brazil?

What kind of dreams will we Beaver Presbyterians be dreaming?

Of course, not even $150,000,000 will buy you the greatest gift of all. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…

We worship because we’re thankful. See you Sunday.