Sunday, August 25, 2024 @ 11 am

Sermon: "Compassion and Amazement"

Scripture reading: Matthew: chapters 5-7

Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor

both in-person and on Facebook or YouTube (click here)

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ELDER OF THE MONTH FOR AUGUST - SUSAN TURNER

ELDER OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER - ED SNODDERLY

* PLEASE NOTE: CHECK OUT OUR NEWLY UPDATED WEBSITE

https://wataugapc.org

SERMON NOTES

The Sermon on the Mount is the longest set of continuous teaching that we have from Jesus in all of the New Testament. But sometimes when we hear this sermon in church, it can be hard to recognize that this was truly just one sermon. We tend to piece it up so that we can focus on only one section. Yet Jesus gets up, speaks for about 15 minutes, and covers a lot! So at WAPC, we have been reading and rereading this sermon for 20 weeks. However, this week, we have one last opportunity to hear it in its entirety. How does the sermon change when we hear it all at once? What things from weeks past have we already forgotten and need to be reminded of? Join us this week as we try and answer some of those questions and more as we tell the story of God’s Kingdom found in Matthew 5-7.

May God Bless

Brandon

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL - NEW SERIES

We had a great turnout for the first session this past Sunday of the new series that follows a Yale University on-line course on ”New Testament History and Literature” with Dr. Dale Martin who was the Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies at Yale. This 26 part series will begin the first Sunday in August. The class welcomes any who are interested in joining us at 9:45 a.m. in the Conference Room. 

WAPC INTERPRETATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER

Prompt: "And It Was Good"

Next Month: Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Reflection guidelines: 1.   Choose one of the seven days of creation from Genesis to ponder on its own, or reflect on another creation story that inspires you (such as the Native American myth, "Skywoman Falling," or Tolkein's fantastical "Ainulindale").

2.   God called creation “tov” טוֹב , or in Greek, καλόν. The words suggest a goodness that can be noticed, felt, relied upon. To be called טוֹב is to be praised as useful, precious, pleasing, beautiful. Likewise, to be καλόν is to be called beautiful, fitting, advantageous, desirable. Where in the world do you find these qualities? Where might God have found them in the beginning, or still find them now?

3.   Creation is "good," but it has never been "perfect" or "complete." Reflect on the ways that the universe still expands and life still develops. Reflect on the work God's Spirit still has yet to complete. Or, lament the sickness, ruin, and lack that pervade the cosmos. What "might have been" that you wish had come to pass by now?

PW RETURNS IN SEPTEMBER

YOU ARE INVITED TO PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY AND FELLOWSHIP MEETINGS THIS YEAR (2024-2025) ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH FROM SEPTEMBER THROUGH MAY. THE FIRST MEETING WILL BE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH @ 10 AM IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL.

The PW / HORIZONS BIBLE STUDY BOOK this year is “LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN” by Patricia K. Tull. There is an introduction to the study by the author on YouTube. Please click here to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qieBTa9hzEw

LESSONS INCLUDES: 1 – ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; 2 – LAND JUSTICE; 3 – FOOD JUSTICE; 4 – WATER JUSTICE; 5 – AIR QUALITY; 6 – CLIMATE CHANGE; 7 – ECOMOMIC CLIMATE JUSTICE; 8 – INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE; and 9 – SUSTAINING CREATION’S HEALTH FOR ALL. This should be an exciting year of Bible study for all. Please contact Nancy Fennell for study books; or Ginger Helm for other information. Please note the change in meeting time this coming year.

JOINT CHURCH-WIDE RETREAT AT HOLSTON CAMP

Churches in Holston Presbytery have a long history of coming together to do things. Sometimes those changes are monumental like forming joint session meetings to invite churches that likely felt discrimination into joining their churches. Sometimes the events are less historic, like doing joint bible studies or blessing animals, and yet they are still beautiful and community building. There is a long history, and now there is another opportunity. September 13-15, Watauga Avenue Presbyterian, Covenant Presbyterian, and First Presbyterian of Elizabethton will be gathering for a retreat at the Holston Presbytery Camp and Retreat Center located in Banner Elk, NC. This retreat is open to any and all church goers from those three churches and will be an opportunity for us to grow with each other, to learn more about one another, and be refreshed and renewed by the spirit within God's glorious creation. The cost of this retreat will cover the meals that we eat at the camp, and cleaning of the cabins if we stay. There is an option for only participating Saturday, so if you can't come the entire weekend, don't let that deter you from coming for the day to see the camp! 

Deadline for registration is next Friday, August 30th. If you would like to sign up, you can at this link - https://form.jotform.com/242055867227057 or there will be a QR code in the bulletin insert. 

LUNCH BUNCH / UPCOMING FOOD NEWS

      AUGUST 25 - Fellowship Potluck Lunch

      SEPTEMBER 1 - Cootie Brown's Campus

      SEPTEMBER 8 -Wok & Hibachi

      SEPTEMBER 15 - Costa Chica Grill (N. Roan)

A FALL LUNCH BUNCH SCHEDULE (September-October-November) is now 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 still 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.

Sunday, August 25, 2024

9:45 am Adult Sunday School / Open Yale series "New Testament History and Literature"

10:30 am Café WAPC in Heritage Room

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

12:15 pm Fellowship Potluck Lunch

Monday, August 26, 2024

NO Weekly Bible Study this week

6:30 pm ETSU / U-Kirk Welcome Back Gathering & Cookout (1412 College Heights Road, JC)  

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Friday, August 30, 2024

Deadline for registration for Joint Church Retreat @ Holston Camp, Banner Elk, NC

Sunday, September 1, 2024

9:45 am Adult Sunday School / Open Yale series "New Testament History and Literature"

10:30 am Café WAPC in Heritage Room

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

12:15 pm Personnel Committee (in Conference Room)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Cootie Brown's Campus

Monday, September 2, 2024 - Labor Day

12:30 pm Staff meeting and lunch (in Conference Room)

NO Weekly Bible Study this week

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

7 pm WAPC Interpretations (in Fellowship Hall)

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Saturday, September 7, 2024

10 am PW Bible Study & Fellowship Meeting (in Fellowship Hall)

Sunday, September 8, 2024

9:45 am Adult Sunday School / Open Yale series "New Testament History and Literature"

10:30 am Café WAPC in Heritage Room

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

12:15 pm Growth Committee (in Conference Room)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Wok & Hibachi

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

PEACE & GLOBAL WITNESS SPECIAL OFFERING will be taken sometime between September 8 - October 6, 2024. A gift to the Peace & Global Witness Offering enables the church to promote the Peace of Christ by addressing systems of conflict and injustice across the world and to advocate for peace and justice in cultures of violence, including our own, through collaborative projects of education and Christian witness.. 

SESSION COMMITTEES and CHAIRS

      a. Connections - Sherry Bailey & Jenny Darling

      b. Finance – Nancy Fennell (meets quarterly)

      c. Growth – Karen Clark (meets 2nd Sunday of the month)

      d. Mission – Debi Hughes & Susan Turner

      e. Personnel – Wilsie Bishop (meets 1st Sunday of the month)

      f. Property– Dick Lura & Ed Snodderly

THOUGHTS & PRAYERS & JOYS

For Friends and Family

Bruce Clarke; Hunter & Camilla Lyle; Stephen Patrick's cousin, Rob Laxton (stage 4 cancer due to the burn pits in Iraq); Nancy Spahr; Sue Sheffield's friend, Charlotte Woody's husband Robert (hospice); Camilla Lyle's brother, Jeff McFee; Sue Shanks' college roommate, Sue Trevathan; Alynda Worrell-Welch’s mother-in-law, Shelly Welch; George, Jo & Nikki Rolling; Jonathan Sharp; Don Loughry; Sarah Suptin; Kelly Hodges.; Heather Hughes; Edna Campbell; Mary (grandmother diagnosed with stomach cancer).

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.

The Great Shift: Encountering God in Biblical Times

By James L. Kugel

(220.9/KUG)

Why does the Bible depict a world in which humans, with surprising regularity, encounter the divine—wrestling an angel, addressing a burning bush, issuing forth prophecy without any choice in the matter?

These stories spoke very differently to their original audience than they do to us, and they reflect a radically distinct understanding of reality and the human mind. Yet over the course of the thousand-year Biblical Era, encounters with God changed dramatically.

As James L. Kugel argues, this transition allows us to glimpse a massive shift in human experience—the emergence of the modern, Western sense of self.

In this landmark work, Kugel fuses revelatory close readings of ancient texts with modern scholarship from a range of fields, including neuroscience, anthropology, psychology, and archaeology, to explain the origins of belief, worship, and the sense of self, and the changing nature of God through history.

In the tradition of books like The Swerve and The Better Angels of Our Nature,The Great Shift tells the story of a revolution in human consciousness and the enchantment of everyday life. This book will make believers and seekers think differently not just about the Bible, but about the entire history of the human imagination.

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