Newsletter
August 19, 2020

520 Washington Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31405
SERVICES FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD

On-Line Virtual Format


SUNDAY, AUGUST 23
SERMON: “Faith That Shapes Identity” TEXT: Matthew 16:13-20
Stephen Williams, preaching
 
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30
SERMON: “Losing and Finding” TEXT: Matthew 16:21-28
Stephen Williams, preaching
 
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
SERMON: “The Life of the Church” TEXT: Matthew 18:15-20
Stephen Williams, preaching
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IN LIFE AND IN DEATH WE BELONG TO GOD


“I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ…” Thus, the Heidelberg Catechism declares that our only comfort in our living and dying is the knowledge of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. 

In the past months, four members of First, much beloved by all, have died. We mourn the deaths of Jolene Daughtry, Harvey Morgan, Steven Smith, and Paul Weller. In addition, some of you are grieving the death of family members—a father, a stepfather, a sister, a brother-in-law.  

Because of the pandemic and limits on our gathering, I worry how we are coping with these losses. A funeral is the opportunity to share and listen. I appreciate how to be present for the grieving is a gift to all who participate in the church and who find sustenance in stories of the lives that have been lived among us.

Tom Long, recently retired professor at Candler School of Theology, once made a pithy observation on this subject. He said that funerals are important in getting the dead where they need to go and getting the living where they need to be.  Without funerals some of the living may be having a harder time getting where they need to be.

The Bible is as realistic a book as you will find anywhere. It presents two very different views of how our life ends. The first is found in the mouth of Job: “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last” (Job 14:1-2). That is a dark and hopeless picture where death has the last word. 

But the Apostle Paul offers this stirring alternative: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do that have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

Now Paul is not saying we will not die. No, we will die, just as Jesus died, but then the miracle of resurrection means that just as Jesus died and rose again: “God will bring with him those who have died.”   

While we sometimes focus on the teachings of Jesus or his high moral example, the central fact of the New Testament centers around something else: that Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead. Without that miraculous fact, there would be no New Testament, no church, no Christian faith. 

Because Jesus died and rose again, we can regard the death of those we love and our own death in a new light. The great hope for the resurrection from the grave speaks eloquently for the child whose young life ends too soon, as much as for the person whose long and good life finally draws to a close. Nothing can separate us from God’s faithful love. So we rely on and trust the love of God in life and the love of God in death.

I am praying that all those who are grieving a loss can feel God’s presence and the presence of the community of faith during these days. I look forward more urgently to the time when we can gather to celebrate a life well lived and the promise of the gospel. So we rely on and trust the love of God in life and the love of God in death. --SCW
PRAYER CONCERNS, RECORD OF OUR FAITHFULNESS, ETC.


PRAYER CONCERNS, RECORD OF OUR FAITHFULNESS, ETC.

August offering: $12,523.19... 

Bi-Weekly Announcements


MUSIC SERIES CELEBRATES HYMNODY OF THE CHURCH
The hymn series “When in our Music God is Glorified” continues through August. Each program in the series is approximately 30 minutes long. The link to the programs can be found on our Facebook page and in the Constant Contact email about Sunday worship. Each program contains a link to program notes, which includes the hymn history and information on the composers. The remaining presenters include vocalists Gina Shields, Colin Harrison, and Diane Ricks. Thank you volunteers for enriching this time with beautiful music!



STAY IN TOUCH BY PHONE OR EMAIL
In this time while we are not meeting in person, we remain committed to living out our care for one another and remaining together while apart. We very much want to hear from you. Do you have prayer requests or pastoral care concerns? Call the church office; 354-7615 or email the ministers:



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH RE-OPENING TASK GROUP GUIDELINES
 
The primary sources to develop guidelines have been Georgia Public Heath, CDC, and the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, which Savannah Presbytery recommends.

Once Chatham County has achieved a transmission rate of less than 100 cases per 100,000, guidelines for worshipping safely include the following:

–       The worship space will be sanitized
–       Meeting in a large, well-ventilated space or outdoors is preferred
–       Hand sanitation for staff and worshippers will be offered upon arrival
–       Worshippers’ temperatures will be checked upon arrival
–       The worship service will be no longer than one-half hour
–       Masks are mandatory
–       A distance of 6 feet from people not in your family group is required
–       Activities that include physical touch, such as passing the peace, passing the collection plate, and celebrating communion will be eliminated or replaced with a no-touch option
–       Hymnals and bulletins will be eliminated
–       No choral or congregational singing
–       Attendance will be by reservation to ensure the gathering is not larger than 50 people. Should reservation requests exceed 50, those people will be given first place for the next week.
–       No nursery or childcare will be provided
–       Medically fragile congregants are encouraged not to attend
–       Virtual services will be offered until a vaccine is widely available.
 
Coastal Health District:
 
Georgia Department of Public Health:
 
Greater Atlanta Presbytery:



SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS
 
 
1st        William Love     
2nd       Tucker Eagle, Jim Baker
3rd       Arthur Gignilliat, Ranell Esame
4th       Caroline Szczecinski
5th       Judson Tate, Georgianna Broadwell, Sara Harper Bennett, Patricia Leone
7th       Helen Parker, Sherry McBeath
8th       Ellen Tate, Stewart Bromley, Emily Salzer, William Blaine
9th       Chris Walls, James Strength
10th     Katie Tillman, Christopher Walls, Landon Walls
11th     Kathy DeYoung Ryan
12th     Steven Eagle
14th     Claire Cornwell-Williams, Maggie McManus, Tessa Parker
15th     Melissa Lee, Susan Weston, Tori Quante-Dulaney
16th     Trapper Griffith, Debby Taylor
17th     Stacy Prather, Peggy Summers
18th     Neel Foster, Charlotte Keenoy, Catherine Killingsworth, Aspen Peteranetz,
            Stephen Williams
19th     Bob Massey, Debbie Baker
21st     Samuel Cargill, Claudia Esene
22nd     Luci Barre, Augusta Eswine
24th     Ashley Barre, Jr., Dan Walters
25th     Megan Odom, Woodie Williams
26th     Francine Wright
27th     Althea Barre, Lane Middleton
28th     McKay Bennett
29th     Tom McKee, Jr., Cynthia Gilbert, Peggy Wrenn
30th     Rebecca Odom, Zeke Ross


If we missed listing your birthday, please email judith@savannahfpc.org
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ALL EVENTS CANCELLED
  




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