Please submit your Tuesday Newsletter articles and pictures  before 10:00 a.m. on Mondays, and your Friday Reminders articles and pictures before 12:00 p.m. on Thursdays.

Thank you!

Stay tuned for upcoming events....

DWM HAS A NEW LOOK!

At our last meeting, DWM members agreed it was time to take a fresh look at DWM. The leadership team had a great planning session and we have come up with some innovative ideas about how we gather, what we do, and how our leadership functions. We’ll talk more about this at our next DWM gathering, which will look very different from the past! Ladies, please mark your calendar for THIS Monday, February 14, at NOON (not the old 9:30 am meeting time!) via ZOOM.  

For our January service project in the name of DWM, we selected six among us, plus Tasha York’s mom, to receive a “Box of Love” to remind them of how much we love and miss them. We began with a Valentine card expressing our friendship, along with a triple heart door or wall decoration, a bag of candy, and a pen and notebook for personal notes. The boxes were wrapped and mailed or delivered by Mildred, Linda, and Jackie. 

Disciples Women’s Ministry includes ALL the women of Round Rock Christian Church. We hope you’ll join us on February 14! 

Two new small group discussion classes will be offered in the coming months. These are one-hour classes that meet via zoom on Tuesday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Both of these books aim to bring the reader to a greater level of understanding of racial justice issues in the United States. New Kid, a graphic novel, will be discussed for three weeks in February, and How to Be An Anti-Racist will be our study during the six Tuesdays of Lent.

If you're interested in participating, or just want more information, please contact Rev. Maxted by email or phone. If there is interest in starting an evening group as well, please let Rev. Maxted know.

• Feb. 8, 15, 22 New Kid by Jerry Craft
• Mar. 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12 How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi 

United Christian Church of Austin invites you to join them in celebrating a service of installation for their new Senior Minister, Rev. Anna Kreisle. The service will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 27 at the church, located at 3500 W. Parmer Lane in Austin. A reception will be held immediately following the service.

Rev. Anna is a fifth-generation native Austinite with an undergraduate degree in music from Washington University in St. Louis and Master of Divinity from Harvard University. She has been ordained in the United Church of Christ for 10 years and is working towards dual ordination in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

February 13 - Amy Osteen

February 14 - Bea Sherry

The Chancel Choir rehearses on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.

[There will be no Sunday School classes in the church building for the foreseeable future. Some classes will be meeting via Zoom during this time of social distancing.]

Early Childhood Class (ages 4-7) -Taught by Lisa Walker

Intermediate Class (3rd-5th grade) - Taught by Jennifer Kienzle

Chi Rho Class - (6th - 8th grade) - (studying the book, "Middle School TalkSheets" for ages 11-14. "These TalkSheets present every aspect of Jesus' life in a way that young teens can connect with as they learn to apply the lessons to their own lives.")

CYF Class (9th - 12th grade) 

Open Circle (primarily adult women) - 9:15 a.m. Sunday mornings in person and via ZOOM, studying Love Without Limits. ALL ARE WELCOME! Link HERE

Explorers (mixed adults) - 9:30 a.m. Sunday mornings via ZOOM, facilitator is Mildred Adair; studying Paul's letter to the church at Corinth. Link HERE

The Wired WORD (adult men) - 11:00 a.m. Thursday mornings. Led by Rev. Maxted, this class looks at what the scriptures have to say about important current events and issues.

Mondays: 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Tuesdays: 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Wednesdays: 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Thursdays: 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Fridays: 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!

-- Luke 5:8

What was it in Peter's experience that so convicted him of his sinfulness? Why was his response to Jesus in light of that sinfulness to want to send Jesus away? Is there something in us that is afraid of getting too close to holiness? Notice the contrast between the crowd that "was pressing in on him to hear the word of God" and Peter who wanted to send Jesus away. If Peter is the symbol of the church and the crowd is the world of spiritually hungry people, then this story speaks to the issue of evangelism. It is important to recognize the association between work and evangelism. It was while the four disciples were engaged in their profession of fishing that they experienced the power of Christ in their lives. It was while they were exercising their profession that Jesus addressed the spiritual hunger of the world.

Too often we separate any effort at evangelism from our work as if it were an extracurricular activity. Following the story line, we recognize that Jesus enters our boat and teaches the crowd even while we are just mending our nets. The possibility for spreading the good news of Christ will come when we least expect it while we are engaged in the most ordinary procedures of our lives. When Jesus asked the disciples to let down their nets in deeper water, they reluctantly obeyed while explaining why it would not work. It is not unusual for the most powerful message of good news to come in a way that we think will not work.

When God worked through the disciples to accomplish what they did not believe possible, they were suddenly aware of how they were more willing to trust their judgment of what was possible than to trust God. Our awareness of the weakness of our faith makes us want to send Jesus away because we feel unworthy. But Jesus says to us, as he did to those first disciples, "Don't be afraid," I will use you to save others. It is because Jesus trusts us more than we trust Jesus that we can share good news.

Prayer: Dear Lord, who knows that we are more than we know because you made us. Help us to live into our faith in you that we may share your loving goodness with all we encounter. In Christ's holy name, Amen.