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All are welcome this Sunday for Communion at both the 9:30am and 11:00am Worship Services and GenOn East Youth Summit Participant Commissioning at the 11:00am Worship Service!
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MESSAGE FROM PASTOR JON
Dear Friends and Members of Ark and Dove,
When have you stepped out of your comfort zone? What happened? What did you learn about yourself? As I look back on my life, I realize that most of the meaningful and transformative experiences are those that took me way out of my comfort zone. When I have tried new things, surrounded myself with different people, or wrestled with new ideas, I have been stretched and changed for the better. As I read the gospels, I find that Jesus is always calling people out of their comfort zones into new, transformative ways of being.
This Sunday at the 11 am service we are commissioning the
GenOn Youth Summit group, who will be leaving early the following Sunday. I am excited to be joining them this year, not only because they are a great group, but also because the theme of this year's Summit is all about getting out of our comfort zones. I know we will be stretched and we will grow in faith as we confront our comfort zones in order to step beyond them. And I know that this Summit group will challenge us to step beyond the comfort zones of our community.
In the last couple weeks, we have passed out a "Time and Talents Survey" which encourages all of us to examine our calling to specific ministries in the church. One great way to complete this survey is to check off those areas you would be comfortable serving in. Another way is to find an area of ministry in which you might be particularly challenged, an area that might draw you out of your comfort zone. Perhaps it is in teaching a range of children about "Old Testament Heroes" in our summer Sunday school classes. Perhaps it is in leading a recreation activity at Vacation Bible School this year. Maybe it is in participating in Winter Relief, our outreach program for homeless men, this fall.
Taking steps out of our comfort zones teaches us to trust in God, who promises to be with us in our stepping out. Every time we take an authentic risk like this, we learn so much about ourselves and God. Let's step out together in faith.
In speaking of comfort zones, the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and five Dallas police officers simply pull all of us out of them. These deaths are deeply disturbing and in an effort to deal with that we rationalize and justify such horror. But we must sit in the pain and ugliness of these events-however disturbing it might be to do so. I think in really confronting pain and death like this we will be ever more drawn to love in action. Below, I offer a prayer of lament following this Sunday's gospel reading.
Peace,
Jon
Pastor Jon
jgnelson1985@gmail.com
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VERSES AND HOUSEHOLD PRAYERS
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. --Luke 10:30
God of life: How can it be that life is taken so easily, so mercilessly? Alton Sterling killed, and we watch his son weep for all to see. Philando Castile killed, and we watch as his loved ones only begin to grapple with the horror. Five Dallas police officers killed and many wounded. We watch as life is taken, as if it doesn't matter. All of this is before us, O God, in a time when technology makes us bystanders to murder. Why is life forsaken? Why, O God? And where are you? We are tempted to tune it all out, to walk to the other side of the road hoping justice be done. But in doing so, we confess that we perpetuate the problem. In Jesus Christ, we find you are just as present in the giving and taking of life-in the beauty and ugliness of life. And in Jesus Christ, we once again find you are for the victim and for the oppressed. We may not find you in our avoidance of suffering, but we may find you in the loving acknowledgment of victims. So in prayerful contemplation, flood our hearts with your life-affirming love that all our hatred may come out in the wash. Stir us to love the lives that don't seem to matter in this world. Strengthen us to love in action. Amen.
But wanting to justify himself, [the lawyer] asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' -Luke 10:29
God of compassion: Your love is limitless. It has no boundaries. It is not distinguishing. Help us to know this of your love, for our love often has limits. When told to love our neighbors, we make distinctions between them. Yet, you call us to love our neighbors north and south, east and west. You call us to dissolve the distinction between friend and foe and simply love. Open us today to recognize our neighbors and care for them with extravagant love. Amen.
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N
TES FOR YOU
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This Sunday, the choir will be doing a beautiful song called "With Grateful Heart."
If you'd like to sing with the choir, please join us at 8:30 on Sunday. We would love to have you!
Love,
Rebecca
rebeccaebell@gmail.com
In a couple of weeks, I am going to be playing a very cool concert in Baltimore on Tuesday, July 19 at 7:00 pm at Roland Park Presbyterian Church. I'm so excited to play this concert, because it's my first experience performing with a harp player! We are playing two beautiful pieces, one by the American composer Alan Hovhaness, and another by the guitar virtuoso, Maximo Diego Pujol. If you are curious, please come up and chat with me, send me an email, or visit: http://www.rpchambermusic.com/concert-three/.
God bless,
Mark
mark.edwards.guitarist@hotmail.com
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CAP WEST COUNTY AND MEALS
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CHRISTIAN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM VOLUNTEER NEEDS CAP the Christian Assistance Program, Inc., a group of about 13 churches, including Ark & Dove, that provides food and clothing to families in West Anne Arundel County.
CAP currently needs volunteers at its food pantry to carry groceries on Tuesdays (11 am - 1 pm) and Thursdays (3 - 5 pm). CAP also regularly needs help picking up food from the County Food Bank once a month, usually a Friday around 10am. For more information or to sign up please contact Greg Makar, 301-483-8255 or GLMakar@juno.com. Thank you!
CAP WEST COUNTY'S FOOD PANTRY Featured item for July is CANNED FISH (tuna, salmon, sardines, etc.). Please drop off food items in the Mission Zone bin. Thank you for your donations!
DEACONS MEALS Please consider joining the Deacons in providing loving care through the simple gift of meals to our extended families in need. This kindness is greatly appreciated at a time when meal preparation is difficult or impossible. We have needs for families of 2 - 5 members. Perhaps you prefer not to cook, but would be willing to assist by delivering which is also greatly appreciated! If you are able to prepare and/or deliver food, please contact Bill Gaurin billg.deacon@gmail.com or Judy Cooper jkcooper@umd.edu
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Children, Youth and Young Adults
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SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL Help teach Summer Sunday School! We will be focusing our summer lessons around Old Testament Heroes with video stories and activities that will engage our children pre-K through fifth grade. All adults who feel the call are encouraged to sign-up as teachers or assistants this summer. High school and middle school teens are encouraged to help as assistants, especially with our youngest children. See Kim Champagne about the potential for service learning credit, too. A sign-up sheet is now in the lobby for both services. You sign up and we supply the lesson and necessary materials! Contact Kim (kim.champagne@gmail.com) or Pastor Jon (jgnelson1985@gmail.com) for more details. Thank you!
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VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Register now for "Water All Around the World" Vacation Bible School (July 31st - August 4th, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm). For more details and registration, please see our link for VBS on the Ark and Dove website. Contact Kim Champagne, kim.champagne@gmail.com, or Pastor Jon, jgnelson1985@gmail.com, if you have questions or would like to know how you can help out!
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 PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT for Janet Dabbs; Brett; Laurie Barrow; Lester Dabbs; Kirsten Seidler; Dot Bruno; Nora Chidlow; Florence Myers; Ann Hirschy; Laura Talbert; Chip Burnett; Mary Benson; Norma Forgrave; Minnie Bradley; Dot Forloines; Henry Duncan; Jason DeVono; Pat Stanton's brother-in-law, Ken Hare; Marlene DeHaven; Shelly Franklin's father, Arlo; Bill Champagne's mother, Patricia; Ryan Stavely's grandfather; Pat Stanton's niece, Karen; Jane Biondolillo's sister, Betsy; Amy Tardiff's brother-in-law, Brian and father, Shawn Burke; Ashley Ricciuti; Preston Ritchie; Paul and Mimi Marchand; Helene Marchand-Stancil; Emma Harrison; Deja; Christine Connally's mother; Josh Zumbrook; Christy Yeager's father; Marian Greathouse, a friend of Lorrie Robinson; Leon Jordan; Ed Barrett's aunt, Pat Blake; Steve Debus' cousin, Linda Donhauser; Julie Devers' aunt; Ray Mosella; and Martin Hayes, a friend of the Gaurins and Brecheens.
If you have prayer concerns or blessings that you would like to share, please contact Deacon Sue Hanburger at avongypsygal@gmail.com, and she will add your concern to the prayer partners email chain.
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