We hope you enjoy receiving  our weekly email  designed to keep  you informed on current and upcoming events scheduled here at Roland Park Presbyterian Church.   

In This Week's Email:

minute4mission
Noticing the Discomfort and Letting It Be
A Reflection by Pastor Mark 
 
With a few rare exceptions (like exercise) we try to avoid discomfort at all costs. This seems like a pretty self-evident statement, right? Why would it be otherwise? From the moment we are born, we seek to comfort over discomfort. Warmth over cold. Safety instead of danger. Satisfaction over disturbance. Pleasure over pain. These are choices we don't even think about. Again, why would we? It is nonsensical to entertain the idea that it would be any other way.

But what do we do when discomfort cannot be avoided? What do we do when pain is necessary? Do we continue to try to avoid these realities? Do we give in and admit defeat? Do we lose faith and hope?

A good part of Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians has to do with comfort versus suffering. In our reading for this coming Sunday from 2 Corinthians 1: 1-11, Paul uses the word "comfort" or "consolation" 9 times. Similarly he uses the word "trouble" or "suffering" 8 times.

You see, the good people at the Church in Corinth ask Paul to address a fundamental theological question: if God loves us and we have put our faith in God through Jesus Christ, why do we still face so much trouble in the world? Shouldn't faith save us from any and all suffering? Perhaps you have wondered the same thing yourself on your own faith journey.

Given our proclivity toward comfort, Paul's response is rather surprising. Instead of defining suffering as something to be avoided at all costs, he actually suggests that, as followers of Christ, we should embrace suffering as an opportunity to enter into God's holy work. Essentially, Paul's definition of a Christian is a human being who, from time to time, will voluntarily shut off the instinct to seek comfort at all costs, in order to go where God calls. To make his point, Paul directs us to Christ and his suffering.

Professor Lois Malcom writes, "In Christ, we now have a different way of interpreting all that happens to us: all our affliction now becomes the means for others' consolation and affliction; and all the consolation we receive is such that it not only consoles us but others as well as they go through the same suffering."

Let me be clear, this does not mean that all suffering is good or that we are to seek discomfort over comfort to please God. That would be sadistic. But what it does mean is that suffering is redeemable, because we know that God does not abandon us in the midst of it. This allows us to transform our pain into something that is useful to others and ourselves. In other words, because we know that God works with us in our times of trouble, we are enabled to partner with others who suffer. According to Paul, this is central to our identity as followers of Christ.

Being with others as they suffer is hard. Just ask anyone who does it with regularity, such as social workers, doctors, therapists or chaplains. Much like our own suffering, most of us would rather avoid being with others when they are in pain, whether physical or emotional. We don't know what to say, how to act or what to do. The experience puts us face to face with our own helplessness and sense of inadequacy. Yet, as followers of Christ, this is precisely where we are called to be.

Join us this Sunday as we explore this calling and ways we can become just a little bit more comfortable with our own discomfort. I think the Anne Lamott quote that will be on our bulletin cover sets the tone nicely: "Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns." The promise of the Gospel is that the light will always return, not necessarily to take away the pain, but to reinterpret it and replace despair with new hope!

In faith, hope and love,
Mark

book
Faith and Fiction Book Club
Next Meeting Date: 7/13 @7pm  

All are welcome to join our Faith and Fiction Book Club in reading our next selection:  The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam. We will meet in the church library at 7pm on July 13th to discuss the book. Please contact Pastor Mark with any questions ( pastor@rolandparkchurch.org).

gifts
Gifts of Children/
WOW Celebration Sunday
6/12 @10am

  
gifts
Sunday, June 12, will be another very special Sunday at RPPC. It is Gifts of Children Sunday, where the worship service is planned and led by our young people. This is always a treat! 

It is also the Sunday where we will announce the total amount of pledges made to the Widening our Welcome Capital Campaign. We will celebrate our successful campaign with a luncheon in the assembly hall from 11:30- 1pm. All are welcome. Child care will be provided for infants. Activities will be available for older children. If you have not received an invitation, please contact the office so that we can correct your mailing address. We kindly request that you RSVP by June 1.

summer
Summer Office Hours mem

The church office will be closed May 27-30 for the Memorial Day weekend. Summer Office Hours will be Monday - Thursday, 9am -2:30pm.

 

give
Did You Know?
Mobile-Friendly,
Online Giving Available

RPPC now offers convenient ways to give using your mobile device. Just scan the QR code above and it will allow you to make a secure, one-time gift to RPPC. 

 

Worship
Worship This Sunday
May 29, 2016
1 0am 

 Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1: 1-10
Message: Partners in Suffering

bcc
Baptism, Communion and Confirmation on 6/5
On Sunday, June 5th, our current confirmation class of Maddie Cochran, Riley Friedman, Abby Letocha, Zack Lutzky, Ruby McAslan and Sam Robles will be confirmed during service. Zack Lutzky will be baptized and confirmed. We are proud of these young people for the work they have done in the pursuit of their faith and the commitment they are now making on their own to walk as disciples of Jesus. 

As it is the first Sunday in June, we also will celebrate the Lord's supper. We hope that you will join us for this very special Sunday.

concert
Free Concert for RPPC
6/5 @3pm
All are invited to a special musical event in our sanctuary on Sunday, June 5th at 3:00 p.m.  RPPC will host Charm City Bronze (handbell choir) and Young Soloists of Baltimore in an hour-long concert featuring outstanding youth musicians and handbell music.  Mr. Beau Lochte of 2nd Presbyterian Church serves as music director for this event.  Free.

chambermusic
Summer Chamber Music
Season 9 Schedule

Season 9 of Summer Chamber Music in Roland Park has been announced! For a complete lineup, please visit www.rpchambermusic.com. Concerts will take place in the sanctuary at 7pm on Tuesday evenings in July.

Roland Park Presbyterian Church
4801 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD  21210

 Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 9:00am -- 2:30pm

410/889-2001
410/889-2990- Pastor's direct line
410/889-2000-fax