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A NOTE FROM NATHAN

This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week – the sacred time on the Christian Calendar during which we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, gather with him at the table for the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday, bear witness to his death on the cross Good Friday and celebrate the empty tomb on Easter morning. In just seven days, we will commemorate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Holy Week is important to Christians for many reasons, not the least of which being that it serves as a reminder of all three phases of the Christian story. Life, death and resurrection are so intertwined, that you cannot have one without the others. What we experience in this last week of the Lenten journey is the culmination of the entirety of Jesus’ story. Each step Jesus takes during these days helps us relate to and make sense of, theologically, the steps we take, as people of faith, in our attempts to follow him.

 

I would encourage you, this year, to immerse yourself in the fullness of this week. While it’s easier to move from the Hosana’s of Palm Sunday to the Alleluia’s of Easter morning, the shouts of “He is risen!” cannot take place without the silence of Good Friday. Thus, we are offering several reflective and worshipful opportunities, which we hope make your Holy Week more meaningful. 

 

In addition to Palm Sunday worship this Sunday, April 10th, we will be offering both a worship service on Maundy Thursday and stations of the cross on Good Friday. The Maundy Thursday service will take place at 7:00 PM in the sanctuary. It will also be livestreamed. We are referring to the Maundy Thursday Service as a “tableau” – a piece of art come to life, namely the Last Supper. In addition to watching the Last Supper unfold, we will participate by receiving communion as well.


On Good Friday, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, we will have the stations of the cross on our church grounds. A program will be available in the Whitmire Pavilion for you to participate in this self-guided experience, at a time that suits your schedule. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday will be very different at SSCC than years past.

 

On Easter morning, we will have a Sunrise Service in the Whitmire Pavilion at 7:00 AM, followed by a church-wide brunch in Dunlap Hall at 9:00 AM. An Easter Egg Hunt for the kids will take place at approximately 9:45 AM. Easter Worship will be in the sanctuary at our normal time, 10:15 AM.

 

After not being able to journey Lent and Holy Week in person or without safety protocols these last two years, we are looking forward to finally being able to spend time together during this sacred season without these challenges. We hope you will join us!

 

See you Sunday!

 

Peace,

Nathan

CHURCH OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED

Monday, April 18th the office will be closed for Easter Monday. If you call, please feel free to leave a message, we will return your call on Tuesday.


NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION DEADLINE

If you have something for publishing in the newsletter next week, please submit it via email to: amy@sandyspringscc.org

by noon on Thursdays.

UPCOMING SERVICES

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Join us this Sunday, April 10th, as we make the triumphal entry with Jesus into Jerusalem during Palm Sunday Worship.

CLICK HERE TO READ SUNDAY'S SCRIPTURE
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE LIVESTREAM 10:15 SUNDAY AM OR TO VIEW PAST SERVICES
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Join us Thursday, April 14, at 7:00 pm for our Maundy Thursday service in the sanctuary. The Elders will reenact the last supper.

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This year on Good Friday, April 15, from 9 am to 6 pm, SSCC will offer a self-guided Stations of the Cross on the Whitmire Pavilion side of the church. Stations will include scriptures and a meditation or prayer. Please make time for this meaningful practice.

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EASTER SCHEDULE:

Sunday, April 17, 2022


7:00 am Sunrise Service in the Whitmire Pavilion


9:00 am Easter Breakfast in Dunlap Hall


9:45 am Easter Egg Hunt starts on the lawn and playground


10:15 am Traditional Easter Service in the sanctuary

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COMMUNION BY INTINCTION

We have exciting news for you! Easter Sunday, April 17, we will return to communion by intinction. Obviously, we will still offer a gluten free option as well. We look forward to getting back to this meaningful practice at SSCC!

SSCC NOTEABLES

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EASTER BRUNCH FOOD SIGN UP

LAST CHANCE!

On Easter Sunday we will be host a brunch for all. We are looking for volunteers to sign up to bring breakfast food and beverages.


The sign up sheets are in the lobby. Please write your name in next to the item you will be bringing, and thank you for your help!

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EASTER LILIES - LAST CHANCE

For the next few Sundays, you will find an insert in your bulletin for donations for Easter Lilies. You can fill out this form to celebrate, honor or remember loved ones. Please note "Easter Lilies" on your check or CLICK HERE to enter a payment online. Please indicate if you wish to pick up your lilies on the form, and you may take it/them with you after Easter Services are complete.


The deadline to turn in your form is this Sunday, April 10th. Each of the Easter Service bulletins on April 17th will have an insert with all of the names of the honorees. 

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SPEAKING OF FLOWERS...

Are you looking for a way to commemorate/celebrate something or someone? Would you like to express your love or gratitude in a special way? AND beautify your church at the same time? Well, we have just the thing!


Starting the first Sunday in May, we will be adding flowers to our church space. Every week, two arrangements from Flowers of Marietta will be on the baptistry. They have agreed to supply the flowers at half price if we mention their name in the bulletin. We are paying $50.00/per arrangement ($100 value) plus $7.50 for delivery. We hope you will sponsor one arrangement for $55.00 or two for $110.00. Your name and why you purchased will be acknowledged both in the bulletin and in Nathan’s announcements. Best of all, you will get to take the flowers home with you at the end of the service! You can sign up for your date/dates by clicking the button below, by signing up on the sheet in the lobby or just call the church office 404.256.2582. Then write a check to SSCC any time prior to your date or you can ZELLE the amount to "accounting@sandysppringscc.org".  

PICK YOUR DATE(s) HERE
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THE EASTER BUNNY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

The Easter Bunny will make a guest appearance at our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Easter (April 17th) at 9:45 am. He let us know that he's going to be quite busy that morning and he needs your help! Our goal is to have 1,000 plastic eggs for our children to hunt that day. 


Pre-stuffed eggs with candy are the most helpful, but we also welcome candy or eggs and we'll stuff them here. Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated. Please have them in by April 15th. Thank you!

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EASTER SPECIAL OFFERING

The Easter Offering, received on April 10, 2022, supports several of the general ministries of the Christian Church. Your gift supports college students in leadership development programs, global mission partners, health and social service ministries, the formation of new congregations, support for pastors and chaplains, and so much more. 

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WEBSITE UPDATE

The website redesign team is planning to have a videographer, Stephen Buchness, at our Easter Service, April 17th. He will be taking some candid video before and after the service as well as parts of the Easter Service from discrete locations in the sanctuary. He will edit this film down to short segments for our website redesign. This is just an FYI, there’s nothing to do except be yourself. He will be doing candid shots of activities after the service. So, if you want to ham it up for the camera, feel free to hang around and socialize after the service.

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OUTREACH UPDATE!

SSCC STAFFS the CAC on 3rd Saturdays! Please help your neighbors in need on April 16th by CLICKING HERE TO SIGN UP. Thank you for volunteering. 


The Sandwich Project notified SSCC and other volunteer groups in the community of an urgent need for spring break foods and necessities. With local schools being closed for spring break many food insecure children do not have access to breakfast and lunch meals normally provided at area schools.


Also, seniors and others are in need of non perishable food and toiletries. The Outreach Committee provided: protein bars, applesauce, snack crackers along with toiletries, diapers and some coolers for the Sandwich Project. 

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TAKE THE OUTREACH SURVEY

The Outreach team is looking for your feedback regarding the programs you would like to see SSCC support. Please contact any member of the Outreach team if you have questions. There are paper copies of the survey and the current program descriptions available on the Outreach credenza in the lobby (but we prefer that you take the survey using the link below).

Click Here to Take the Survey
Click Here to see Outreach Program Descriptions
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INTERNATIONAL DINING IS BACK!

Our International Dining Group is resuming meeting this month. Our first time together will be on Sunday, April 24, at noon at Kid Cashew, 6090 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. This is a very new Mediterranean restaurant. 


All are welcome - members and/or visitors. If you care to be added to our mailing list - to guarantee being advised of our upcoming dates, times and places - please contact Milt Hill at: milthill@comcast.net. We usually meet on Sundays after church, but not always. We usually meet near the church, but not always. Our group began meeting fourteen years ago and met eleven months of the year until Covid hit.

DID YOU MISS LAST WEEK'S TOWN HALL MEETING?

We held our quarterly Town Hall meeting last Sunday after service. If you missed it, or just want to rewatch it, just click the button below.


Thanks to all who contributed to the meeting. There was a lot of valuable information shared.

DONATE A DRESSER...

Spring is the perfect time to do some cleaning! Carmen Santiago is looking for a dresser for her daughter Demarise. If you have one that you were thinking about donating, please reach out to her. You can call her at 404.992.8219 or email Csantiago070@gmail.com. She lives very close to church, and might need help getting it to her apartment.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS UPDATES

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PLEASE JOIN US!

Our class gathers in the Conference Room at our normal time 9:00-ish for socializing & refreshments then class begins around 9:15-ish. 


Last Sunday, we finished our epic walk-through of Adam Hamilton's insightful book, "The Walk". I'm thrilled to announce that this Sunday kicks off a new series based upon Rob Bell's "An Introduction to Joy!'' video program. There is no book to read, but you do have homework between Palm Sunday and the next time we meet again the week after Easter Sunday. This homework is for anyone who experiences any type of Joy! in their recent lives to:


1) Take a picture of Joy! and send it to me with the context, if needed.

2) Capture a video of Joy! (preferably a couple minutes or less) and send it to me with the context, if needed.

3) Describe something you've witnessed but don't have picture or video proof, but it still found you Joy!


Eventually, we will spend some time in our class just experiencing all of these moments of shared Joy! together. Hope to see you in class this upcoming joyous Palm Sunday!


All the best,

Casey


P.S. MD will be joining the rest of the church on Easter Sunday for those exciting festivities!

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CURRENT STUDY

Please join the Pathfinders Class at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning in the Common Ground Room. We are currently studying Ephesians, facilitated by John Mills.

PRAYER REQUESTS

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PRAYER REQUESTS AND A THANK YOU

A personal thank you from Cindi and Phil McCollough for the love and support of them for Phil's neck surgery. The surgery was successful and he is recovering well. Your prayers were felt and so appreciated.


Carolyn Dishman asks for prayers for ten families who are now without a home after their condo building burned on 3/26. Thanks to all the firefighters, police and Red Cross who were there to help the families.


Pray for Jim Torbert as he continues to recover and remember his family as they care for him.


Pray for Phillip McCollough as he recovers from surgery.


Continued prayers for the perseverance of the people of Ukraine.


Florene Fowler requests prayers for her daughter, Tina Moseley who is ill. 


Please pray for Fran Michel's friend, Derek Wright, who is in ICU.


Dottie Gill asks for prayers for Phillip Higgins, her son-in-law, as he anticipates knee replacement surgery.


Please continue to pray for Bryant Hodgson as he continues rehab. Prayers for recovery and encouragement for good spirits are needed.


CLICK HERE to see the list of our first responders and military members who we continue to pray for.


If you have any prayer requests or joys to share, please contact Teddy Ivey, Director of Congregational Care via email: Teddy@sandyspringscc.org.

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Camden Gibson April 01

Suzanna Torbert April 01

Caroline Filacchione April 03

Michael McCluskey April 03

Rev. Nathan Brown April 05

Emma McCluskey April 05

Tanner Hicks April 10

Nolan Jones April 10

Betsy Robinson- Hicks April 11

Leslie Kahrs April 11

Michelle Leek April 12

Tom Money April 13

David McGahee April 17

Evan Bensch April 21

Carol Armstrong April 25

Ryan Driemeyer April 25

Debb Olson April 28

Addison Brown April 29