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Annual Meeting Pastor’s Report – February 4, 2024

February 4, 2024 Annual Meeting Slides

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Sunday Services

See below for a link to the live streaming of our services or to see previous services:

YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYF6JWnNARixsYXmVVp-ImA/?guided_help_flow=5

 

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April 19, 2024

 

“You are all God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 3:27, Common English Bible)

Members and friends of Valley,

Renowned 20th century theologian Karl Barth, when once asked by a student to summarize his extensive life’s work, responded:

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

This is a summary – brilliant in its simplicity – of who Christians believe we are.   Our faith tells the story of God’s love revealed through the grace and gift of Jesus Christ; the “Word” of God is found both in the testimony of scripture and the life of Jesus.   In this, we can find the twin commands of Jesus to love God and love our neighbor.

But author Gil Rendle, in Countercultural:  Subversive Resistance and the Neighborhood Congregation, suggests that, for the Christian church, there is one more simple concept we must add; that we need to not only remember who we are but, also, what is our purpose; what we are called to be and do.  In addition to love God and love your neighbor, Rendle points to another marker of the Christian story:   include everyone.  Thus, he quotes another beloved children’s song:

“He’s got the whole world in his hands.”

Christians believe that God’s love is for everyone; that there is no division between Jew and Gentile, male or female; that the neighbor to be loved is anyone and everyone.  Our place – our purpose – is to love others, regardless of label, category, or status; to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

Rendle calls this Christian story about loving all people:  the messianic family.  We are united – by Christ – like sisters and brothers, parents and children, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews.  We all have those people in our families that can be difficult to understand, maybe even hard to like.  But like our families, our world has something in common; we are all created and abide in God’s hands.

So, to be the messianic family, we must resist the temptation to construct walls to divide and ask, “who is not being included?”  Our congregations are tasked with inviting and welcoming even those we might not understand or may be hard to like.

How do we do this?  It is, at the same time simple and hard:  love our neighbors, all of our neighbors; to care as much about “we” as we do for “I” and “me.”

If this messianic family is something to which you are feeling called, let’s figure out how to do it, together.

In Christ,
Pastor John

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ANNOUNCEMENTS
(additional announcements are in the bulletin and newsletter)

 

Knitting For Others

Inviting all folks from 12-100 years of age, who like to knit or who would like to learn, to be a part of Valley’s Knitting Group.  We will be knitting special items like prayer shawls, blankets, and other helpful and comforting items for our members and people in our community.

The group will meet (come when your schedule allows):
Tuesday, April 23 — 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 24 — 12:15 – 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 5 — 12:15 – 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 14 — 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 22 — 10:30 a.m. – noon

For questions, please call one of our Co-Chairs, Beverly or Bev:

Beverly Wahl – 502-553-7255

Bev Keough – 330-888-5385

 

Presbyterian Women Spring Gathering

Focus on Health
“Improving Your Outlook on Mental Wellness”
Saturday, April 27, 2024
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s
22111 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood
$10 in advance, $12 at door

Make reservations by Monday, April 22nd at:
suzancp@yahoo.com or 440-269-1465

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LINKS

 

Church YouTube Channel

The livestream of the worship service is being broadcast via the Valley YouTube channel using this link:

Link to YouTube Live

 

Link to Facebook

Link to Prayer Request List

Link to Sermons

Link to service bulletin:

Sunday, April 21, 2024, service bulletin

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April 11, 2024

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Members and Friends of Valley,

During this period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost – what is sometimes called Eastertide – we are exploring the nature and function of the church.  In the decades following Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, the apostles gave witness to the good news of God’s salvation for all; that Christ did not die in vain but was risen so that we might, with him, live eternally and in abundance.

But the Apostle Paul – writing here to the Christians in Corinth – reminds them of the difference between the treasure:  this good news of God’s extraordinary power of love and grace; and the man-made instrument that holds it:  the church.  We, church people, sometimes confuse the clay pot for the treasure; we are prone to believe that our religious institutions are so beautiful and compelling that folks just can’t wait to flock to them.

The institutional church in our age – in its many differing denominations and forms, with its countless cases of division and corruption – can sometimes be hard to defend.  We see and hear of churches hiding abuse, pilfering money, and promulgating hate.  Many folks these days are drifting or walking or being driven away from congregations.  The clay facades look cracked and worn.

There is beauty and power in our churches; just not in the ways we might expect.  Congregations – these local clay jars that, in our time, might appear fragile or fractured – reveal the true treasure of the gospel when they model service, humility, and acceptance.  They are shown through the ways we treat neighbors and strangers, by our care for the environment, by the tone of the stories we tell, by the ways we value all people as created in God’s image.

This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Easter, we will be singing “Christ Has Risen,” with words written by John Bell, from our supplemental hymnal, Sing the Faith.  Here is the final verse:

Christ has risen and forever lives to challenge and to change
All whose lives are messed or mangled, all who find religion strange.
Christ is risen; Christ is present making us what he has been –
Evidence of transformation in which God is known and seen.

Transformation – whether in us or the institutional church of which we are a part – is happening all around us.  The power of God is to change the messed up, the misshapen, and the doubting.  May we be open to be transformed so that our clay jars can reveal the true treasures they hold inside.

In Christ,
Pastor John

P.S. – There is still time to join us this weekend for the David Lamotte concert at John Knox on Friday, the “World-Changing 101” seminar on Saturday at Rocky River, and to sign up for next Tuesday’s community meal!

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ANNOUNCEMENTS
(additional announcements are in the bulletin and newsletter)

 

David Lamotte Events (from Presbytery)

To carpool to John Knox on Friday – meet at church at 6:15 p.m.
David will be offering a concert on Friday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m. at John Knox Presbyterian Church.  On Saturday, April 14, he will be offering a workshop entitled “Worldchanging 101” at Rocky River Presbyterian Church from 9:00-11:30 a.m.  This workshop will focus on the three prongs of the Matthew 25 Initiative that we are part of as a presbytery. See the April Valley Voice for more information and to register.

 

Knitting For Others

Inviting all folks from 12-100 years of age, who like to knit or who would like to learn, to be a part of Valley’s Knitting Group.  We will be knitting special items like prayer shawls, blankets, and other helpful and comforting items for our members and people in our community.

The group will meet three different times each month in the Church Library; so folks can come when their schedule allows.  Our first meeting will be the second Sunday of the month – April 14 at 12:15 p.m. after the 10:30 a.m. service.  This will be an informational meeting and a time for folks to get started on their first project.  If you can, please bring size 8 knitting needles with you.

Our monthly schedule will be:
2nd Sunday of the month — 12:15 – 2:00 p.m.
3rd Tuesday of the month — 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
4th Wednesday of the month — 10:30 a.m. – noon

Please attend as often as you can.  Look forward to having you be a part of this ministry.

For questions, please call one of our Co-Chairs, Beverly or Bev:

Beverly Wahl – 502-553-7255

Bev Keough – 330-888-5385

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LINKS

 

Church YouTube Channel

The livestream of the worship service is being broadcast via the Valley YouTube channel using this link:

Link to YouTube Live

 

Link to Facebook

Link to Prayer Request List

Link to Sermons

Link to service bulletins:

Sunday, April 14, 2024 service bulletin

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Pass-It-On Mission Store