Westminster Presbyterian Church is pleased to offer a digital option for making contributions. This is not intended to replace giving as a part of corporate worship, but to provide another way to give for those who may be unable to attend church in person or would like to set up an automatic tithe. For online giving, click HERE
.
You may also
mail a check to the church office. Thank you all for your continuing faithful and generous stewardship of God's resources.
"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work" (2 Cor. 9:7-8).
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SUBMIT YOUR PRAYER & PRAISE REQUEST
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If you are unable to attend corporate worship in person, we still want for you to make your prayer requests known so that we can pray for one another.
You may do that by sending an email to
[email protected]
. In the subject line, please write "Prayer Request." If you would like your prayer request to remain confidential, then please annotate as such. Please submit all prayer requests no later than 4:00 p.m. each Monday. We will publish our weekly prayer and praise email on Tuesday of each week.
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WESTMINSTER
CHRISTIAN
ACADEMY
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Click the logo to learn more about our school.
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byFaith
is the official magazine of the PCA.
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Preparation for Worship
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Beloved Congregation,
At our Session meeting on Tuesday night, I sought to encourage your elders by pointing them to a series of statements from John Owen regarding the perseverance of God's people in trials. I beg your pardon for referring to John Owen so often, but I'm presently reading through some of his more significant works in my devotional life, and much of what he writes is astonishingly relevant to our present circumstances. If you will allow me to paraphrase slightly, Owen argues that the key to persevering amid trials is to heed the words of Proverbs 3:5-7, which call upon us to "
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil."
Like scripture, Owen admonishes us to refrain from leaning upon our own understanding, counsel, and wisdom in times of crisis, but instead to live and walk by faith. That is, to exercise trust in God every day, no matter the duration or severity of our trials. Owen argues that churches and people fail in times of testing because they lean upon their own understanding and wisdom, rather than trusting God. Importantly for Owen, trusting God is not merely acknowledging the existence and goodness of God; instead, trusting God means resting and relying upon Christ, who has been crucified and raised on our behalf. After all, Christ is the one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found (Col. 2:3). Owen writes, "
Faith in Christ empties the soul of its own wisdom and fullness, so that it may act in the wisdom and fullness of Christ
." Please join me in praying that God will give us grace to trust in Christ entirely during this season of trial, resisting the sinful temptation to rely upon our own resources and strength, for the truth is, we have no resources and strength apart from Christ (John 15:5).
I also want to update you on a recent decision from your Session regarding the Lord's Supper. Due to a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, we have decided to bypass the month of August and resume observation of the Lord's Supper in September. Moreover, since we have quite a few parishioners who prefer the evening service over the morning service (due to smaller numbers), we thought it wise to alternate between the morning and evening services. Our plan, barring any unforeseen changes in the pandemic, would be to celebrate the Lord's supper on the morning of September 6th, the evening of October 4th, the morning of November 1st, etc. We would appreciate your prayers and support as we seek to implement this new rotation, which we believe will best provide for our flock.
I realize that roughly half of our Congregation is not regularly attending in-person worship due to concerns over COVID-19, but I want to emphasize the immense importance of engaging in worship from home, as best you can. As one who loves and cares for you, I cannot overemphasize the significance of having regular exposure to the songs, prayers, confessions, and word ministry of God's gathered people. As you value your soul, please be vigilant about actively engaging in Livestream worship until we can all gather together again. And please, if there is anything that we can do to help improve or facilitate your worship from home, don't hesitate to inform us.
I will be continuing my preaching in Ezra this Lord's Day morning, concentrating upon the role that Ezra played as a teacher of God's people. Pastor Roberts will resume his series in James chapter 1, which is most appropriate given the Apostle's exhortation to "count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds." We look forward to opening God's Word with you.
In the bonds of Christ's love,
~Pastor Joe
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Online Worship
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Our weekly worship bulletin is available
HERE
. It contains the hymns we will be singing and suggestions from Pastor Steele regarding ways for you to maximize the sense of corporate worship though at home. We have also added the announcements that are included in the tri-fold bulletins for our congregants who worship at home.
We will be singing a new Spritual Song on Sunday evening. Click HERE to listen to the song to help prepare you for worship.
The Livestream is available
HERE and starts at 9:25 a.m. with the service itself beginning at 9:30 a.m.
For the evening service the livestream will begin at 5:55 p.m. with the service starting at 6:00 p.m. And don't forget to tune in at 11:00 a.m. for Sunday school. Pastor Hammond will be continuing his series on Perplexing Passages.
The Westminster Facebook page also supports the Livestream for those who prefer to use their Facebook account.
The best experience for home is available to those who have an AppleTV, Roku or Amazon Fire streaming device. That was covered in the Livestream Guide. Some smart TVs have built in browsers as well which is another option.
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Women's Ministry
Fall 2020 Bible Studies
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If you would like to attend a specific Bible study, please email
Shelly Davis at
[email protected]
. Childcare will be available for Friday's Bible study only with details to be determined. If you need childcare, please let Shelly know the number of children and their ages.
 Tuesday Morning
(weekly)
Leader: Emma Peace
Start date: September 1
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 Bible study;
Prayer time beginning at 9:15
Where: Church Sanctuary
Book: Romans: Grace, Truth and Redemption by John MacArthur
Wednesday Morning
(weekly) 
Leaders: Jacqueline Bryant & Julia
Frank
Start date: August 26
Time: 11:30-12:30
Where: Church Parlor
Book:
The Promised One: Seeing Jesus
in Genesis
by Nancy Guthrie
 Thursday Evening
(bi-weekly)
Leaders: Jennifer Murphree, Tracey
Zumbach, Ellise Adams, & Shelly Davis
Start date: September 10
Time: 7:00-8:30
Where: Home of Tracey Zumbach
Book:
Job: Lessons in Comfort
by Frances Poston Bennett
Friday Morning
(weekly) 
Leaders: Elizabeth Steele, Anna Bosma,
Mary Margaret Eberle, & Mary
Katherine Keel
Start date: September 11
Time: 9:30-11:00
Where: Church Sanctuary
Book: Leviticus by Scott Behm & Jay Sklar
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High School Girls Social
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 There will be a 'Tea and Paint party' for high school girls this Saturday, August
1st at the church from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Here are some reminders for those attending:
-Bring your own teacup
-Wear your painting-appropriate clothes
-Bring a device if you have one to watch the painting tutorial on (otherwise we will share)
-Bring a mask! We WILL be masking up since we are in the church space! (Except when eating of course)
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Share Your Faith Workshop
September 12, 2020
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 Would you like to be trained to be effective in reaching the lost and to help carry out the Great Commission?
Through a 'Share Your Faith' workshop, your hand becomes a simple memory tool you use to share a Gospel presentation that is conversational and not preachy. Using the five fingers on your hand, 'Share Your Faith' introduces a Gospel presentation that's easy to learn and hard to forget. Each finger represents a key point of the Gospel.
W
hen: September 12th from 9:00 - 4:00
Where: WPC Sanctuary
Cost: $20 - includes material & lunch
Alumni cost is $5 but must bring their own material
and scroll down to Events.
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Missionary Spotlight
Steve & Amy Robertson
South America
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Steve and Amy Robertson are currently living in Tennessee as Steve fills the role of MTW International Director for the Americas. Both Steve and Amy work to train and encourage church planters and missionaries throughout Latin America. The Robertsons were formerly missionaries in Mexico and Chile, and Lord willing, they will be moving in the fall to Medellin, Colombia, as part of a brand-new team that will serve as a strategic nexus for Latin American ministry. God is bringing seminary training, church planting, Christian publishing, and more together in this one city, which is the second-largest in the country. In addition, Amy is now studying through online coursework to earn a master's degree in counseling from Colorado Christian University.
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Children's Sunday School Volunteers
2020-2021 Year
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The Children's Ministry is looking for volunteers for the 2020/2021 Sunday school year! We are uncertain if and when we will begin having Children's Sunday school due to COVID-19 matters. However, i
f you like learning and enjoy talking about the treasures in Scripture, and would like to volunteer as a teacher, aide, or substitute in 3 year olds-5th grade, please contact Sydney Knight at
[email protected] or
256-698-0028.
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