August 14, 2020


520 Washington Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31405
PLANS FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 16
After a month in Maine, I may have adopted a Down East twang in my speech. View the on-line service for Sunday, August 16 and find out. I promise not to mention the weather--most mornings began in the mid-60s--or the plentiful lobster bought directly from a friendly lobsterman.
Some schools have opened in-person classes and others are preparing for a time of virtual instruction. A Presbyterian motto is "The life of the mind in the service of God." Here is a prayer for students: “Eternal God, your wisdom is greater than our small minds can contain, and your truth shows up our little learning. To those who study, give curiosity, imagination, and patience enough to wait and work for insight. Help them to doubt with courage, but to hold all their doubts in the larger faith of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
A Zoom class convenes on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. for a time of informal fellowship and 9:30 a.m. for lively discussion. This week, Eric McManus will lead the class on the Gospel lesson assigned for the day, Matthew 15:21-28. Email Gina@savannahfpc.org if you need the Zoom link.
The service of worship will look at a challenging text, Matthew 15:21-28, the persistent and
persuasive Canaanite woman who convinces Jesus to heal her daughter. The sermon is, “The Day Jesus Insulted the Canaanite Woman.” The much admired Bible commentator, William Barclay, seeks to soften the harsh words that Jesus used in his reply to the woman’s initial plea. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Barclay writes, “The tone and look with which a thing is said, makes all the difference. Even a thing that seems hard can be said with a disarming smile…” Do you agree? Or should we wrestle with what is actually recorded in the text?
Worship begins with the stirring hymn, "You Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim" which
was written by Charles Wesley in 1744. A caption to the hymn stated, “To be sung in a tumult.” The hymn was one of thirty-three hymns in a collection titled, Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution. Danny Cohen will sing the solo, “Christ Has Risen While Earth Slumbers,” arranged by William McNair, who is also serving as organist for the service.
--SCW

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