In This E-psitle:

Onward, then you people
A Faith Shared 

Sunday’s sermon text is Ephesians 6:10-18, the “full armor” of God passage where the Apostle Paul challenges his friends to stand firm in the faith and then uses the image of a Roman Legionnaire’s battle equipment to suggest ways to prepare ourselves for the spiritual battles we surely face.  As part of the service we will sing two familiar hymns, “Lead On, O King Eternal” and “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The hymns also use military imagery.  “Lead On, O King Eternal” remains in the Presbyterian Hymnal, but “Onward Christian Soldiers” was omitted in this 1990 collection used throughout our denomination.   

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Click here for the E-pistle Online http://epistle.parkchurchbeaver.org

Amazing Grace/Amazing Change

Last week Becky and some friends and I saw the new film, Amazing Grace, the story of the anti-slavery work of English statesman William Wilberforce.  I would recommend it to you highly.  It is not playing locally, but you will find it at several theatres in the wider area.  

Wilberforce entered Parliament towards the end of the American Revolution and at age 21, he was the youngest person ever to become an MP.  Three years later, he had already grown tired of success and the excesses of a young single man’s life in late Georgian England.  He describes a spiritual awakening in the summer of 1783 and the birth of a deep evangelical faith.  For awhile he considered leaving politics for the ministry,  “He confided in his friend Pitt, now prime minister. Pitt told him not to withdraw. With ‘ten thousand doubts,’ he approached John Newton. The aging saint advised him, ‘It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of his church and for the good of the nation.’” (click here for the full article)

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