Sunday, May 5, 2024 @ 11 am

Sermon: "Anger Management"

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:21-26

Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor

SERMON NOTES

When we take a look at the world around us, it is clear to see that there is a lot of anger. Anger at friends and family, anger towards political rivals, and even anger towards strangers on the internet that live on the other side of the world. Anger can permeate deep. Jesus knew this. That is why after he declares that he has come to fulfill the law, he offers a new teaching. Each one begins with the phrase, you have heard that it was said… But I say to you. So join us this week as we jump back into the Sermon on the Mount to hear that we should not murder, but we also should be careful with our anger. 

May God Bless

Brandon

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL

The adult Sunday School Class will complete the discussion of Elaine Pagels book, The Gnostic Gospels, by May 12th. Starting on May 19th, we would like to move our meeting location from the Library to the Conference Room. On that date, we will begin a new discussion format that will be prompted by a video series on the “History of Christianity” by Dr. Matt Baker. Dr. Baker explores Christianity and its branches from its early origins to the present using a genealogy chart of the “Christian Denominations Family Tree.”  The class is open to all church members, and we would welcome additional participants.

STEWARDS OF CREATION - 7th annual PLANT GIVEAWAY

As referred to by Johnson City Housing Authority staff and residents, the "Spread a Little Sunshine Campaign" will take place Saturday, May 11th beginning at 9:00AM at Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church.  Volunteers will prepare supplies by bagging dirt, cutting loop ties, counting plants and stakes.  Supplies will be separated to match housing resident lists. We hope to pair volunteers in teams of two( i.e. a driver and assistant). Teams will depart at 10:00 to deliver the plants and supplies to the specific resident addresses. Bring garden gloves if you want to bag dirt. If you would like to drive, a cover for the inside of the car (seat or trunk) is handy. Please join us for this meaningful experience of providing tomatoes, green peppers, marigolds, dirt, plant stakes and ties to public housing residents. We have a goal of 150 residents. Rain date Saturday, May 18th.

NEW GROUP - ATTENTION CREATIVE PEOPLE!

There's a new WAPC group forming called INTERPRETATIONS.

Have you been wanting to make some art, but need some inspiration or maybe some motivation in the form of a deadline? We've got both. Each month a prompt will be provided, based on a Biblical story, verse or theme. You may interpret the prompt in whatever form or medium you choose - drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, fiber. It could even be music or poetry. After receiving the prompt, you will have a month to create. We will then meet together at the church to share and discuss our interpretations. No experience necessary!

Stay tuned for announcement of our first prompt. Our group will meet on the first Tuesday of each month beginning on June 4th at 7 pm.

LUNCH BUNCH / FOOD NEWS FOR MAY

May 5 @ Cafe Lola (2 spaces still available)

May 12 @ White Duck Taco

May 19 - Pentecost Fellowship Potluck Lunch

May 26 @ Hachimi Japanese Cuisine

A SUMMER LUNCH BUNCH SCHEDULE (June-July-August) will be posted on the bulletin board soon. Happy Dining!!

IF ANYONE HAS SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER DINING VENUES, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE TO ADD THEM TO OUR LUNCH ROTATION. THANKS

Please note: Constant Contact is having various technical issues, including run-on items; i have worked around most issues, but cannot fix others. I have notified the company several times and they are well aware of the problems.

Thursday, May 2, 2024

10 am - PW meeting (ltentatively at the church)

Sunday, May 5, 2024

10 am Adult Sunday School reading "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels

11 am Morning Worship / Communion, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)

12:10 pm Personnel Committee (in Conference Room)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Cafe Lola

Monday, May 6, 2024

12:30 pm Staff Meeting / Lunch (in Conference Room)

6 pm Weekly Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

8:30 am Holston Presbytery Meeting at Jonesborough Presbyterian Church

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Saturday, May 11, 2024

9 am Bagging dirt in the church parking lot (weather permitting)

10 am Distribution of plants will begin

Sunday, May 12, 2024 - MOTHER'S DAY

10 am Adult Sunday School completes reading "The Gnostic Gospels," by Elaine Pagels

11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ White Duck Taco

Monday, May 13, 2024

6 pm Weekly Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

The 5 cents per meal offering is taken the first Sunday of each month.

Our next special offering will be the Pentecost Offering to be taken

on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

The Pentecost Offering unites us in a church wide effort to support young people in Christ and inspire them to share their faith, ideas, and unique gifts with the church and the world. Pease give generously,

NEW SESSION COMMITTEES and CHAIRS

      a. Connections - Sherry Bailey & Jenny Darling

      b. Finance – Nancy Fennell

      c. Growth – Karen Clark

      d. Mission – - Susan Turner & Debi Hughes

      e. Personnel – Wilsie Bishop

      f. Property– Dick Lura & Ed Snodderly

THOUGHTS & PRAYERS & JOYS

UPCOMING MAY BIRTHDAYS

May 6 - Mike Miyamoto

May 10 - Theresa Lura

May 17 - Rev. Maggie Lauterer

May 18 - Jo Rolling & Megan Turner

For Friends and Family

Brandon Davis' sister, Celeste Davis Evans & family (house fire); Nancy Spahr; the Hughes and Billheimer families in the loss of Jonathan Billheimer; Michelle Browning's friends and co-workers, Jay and Bevi; Sue Sheffield's friend, Charlotte Woody (hospice); Marat Moore; Camilla Lyle's brother, Jeff McFee; Sue Shanks' college roommate, Sue Trevathan; Jeff Morris; Alynda Worrell-Welch’s mother-in-law, Shelly Welch; George, Jo & Nikki Rolling; Jonathan Sharp; Don Loughry; Rev. Maggie Lauterer; Sarah Suptin; Kelly Hodges.; Heather Hughes; Edna Campbell.

IN THE POTEAT LIBRARY

Please remember the library is open by appointment and you are welcome to drop by the church library if you are looking for something new to read. We ask that you to sign out any books on the register sheet found on the file cabinet in the corner with the call #, book title, your name and date checked out.

A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to Its Senses

by S. Brent Plate

(203.7/PLA)

Humans are needy. We need things: objects, keepsakes, stuff, tokens, knickknacks, bits and pieces, junk, and treasure. We carry special objects in our pockets and purses, and place them on shelves in our homes and offices. As commonplace as these objects are, they can also be extraordinary, as they allow us to connect with the world beyond our skin.

A History of Religion in 5½ Objects takes a fresh and much-needed approach to the study of that contentious yet vital area of human culture: religion. Arguing that religion must be understood in the first instance as deriving from rudimentary human experiences, from lived, embodied practices, S. Brent Plate asks us to put aside, for the moment, questions of belief and abstract ideas. Instead, beginning with the desirous, incomplete human body (symbolically evoked by “½”), he asks us to focus on five ordinary types of objects—stones, incense, drums, crosses, and bread—with which we connect in our pursuit of religious meaning and fulfillment. 

As Plate considers each of these objects, he explores how the world’s religious traditions have put each of them to different uses throughout the millennia. We learn why incense is used by Hindus at a celebration of the goddess Durga in Banaras, by Muslims at a wedding ceremony in West Africa, and by Roman Catholics at a Mass in upstate New York. Crosses are key not only to Christianity but to many Native American traditions; in the symbolic mythology of Peru’s Misminay community, cruciform imagery stands for the general outlay of the cosmos. And stones, in the form of cairns, grave markers, and monuments, are connected with places of memory across the world. 

WATAUGA AVENUE PC IS ON .. click and see for yourself.