Su Voz: "Seventy Times Seven"

SU VOZ     WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when sins against me?  Up to seven times?”
Matthew 18: 21

We don’t know if Peter’s question was due to honest ignorance or if it was the brazen question of one who wants to define the limits of his responsibilities.  The disciple had already traveled quite a ways with the Lord and had been able to hear his teachings. Nevertheless, Jesus is categorical in his reply:  I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven. Forgiving, absolving, and forgetting are the means through which God demands that we live.   For that to happen requires an urgency of thought, repentance, discernment, and the kind of prayer which makes us walk the extra mile, and to make room for the betterment of our interpersonal relationships.
To forgive up to seventy times seven means to do unto others as we want others to do unto us.  It is to place, above all else, the right of each human being to feel fragile, weak, welcomed and restored, in short, to feel like a HUMAN BEING; because if God is One and if in His Grace He forgives us, how much more are we obligated to forgive one another and to live in peace.

Prayer:  Lord, help us to be forgiving enough that we can become bridges of reconciliation.  Amen.

Translation by:
Elisa Menocal, M.A.
Visiting Professor of English
Evangelical Theological Seminary
Matanzas, Cuba

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Elisa Menocal is a member of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church, sent to the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba.  She is spending the year there teaching English and translating for the school.

Letter to APC Children's Choir Parents

Dear APC Children's Choir Parents,

 

We have had a great first three weeks in Children's Choir, as part of Wednesday PLUS at APC.

 

The choir is about 15 members and is off to a fine start, learning concepts, warm-ups, hymns and anthems.  Yesterday three singers tested and passed the September hymn!

 

Just to remind you, the choir sings twice in October:

 

October 16 - Introit "Come Worship God" with youth and clarinet

 

October 30 - annual Reformation 3-choir anthem, "Look at the World" with youth and adults

 

It's important that as many singers as possible attend on Sundays we sing.  Though we have a great Wed. program, the Sunday services are the only time we are "visible" to most of our congregation.  Plus it is valuable experience for the children--it is an important part of their religious education, it validates their present contribution to our corporate life, and it prepares them for future leadership.

 

PLEASE BE ON TIME for Sunday warm-ups.  The typical call (like Oct 16) is 10:10 a.m. in the sanctuary. BUT it is 10:00 on Oct 30 (Reformation)!

 

Finally, in addition to the faith and music elements in choir, we must also stress the value of teamwork, cooperation and relationships.  This is a challenge when these children attend different schools and only meet in this context once per week.  We'll work on this at church--both during rehearsals and during Mrs. Foote's "Journey to Jerusalem."  Meanwhile, I would ask you also work on this with your children.  Plesae remind them that they should interact kindly with everyone in the choir (not just their best friends), and to be welcoming to visitors and new members.

 

Thanks again for your child's participation.

 

Gary Garletts

Su Voz: "The Bible: My Very Own Book"

THE BIBLE:  MY VERY OWN BOOK
John 14: 23-27

…Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching
John 14: 23

Gabriela Mistral was born in Chile in 1889.  A teacher by profession, she eventually became one of the most valued poets in her country. Among her memoirs there is an essay which she titled: “My Very Own Book” is a book which at any time and at any hour is powerful and strong; a companion which has shown me the immense beauty, the simple candor, the terrible truth, through brief passages. Your nakedness frightens hypocrites and your purity is hated by libertines.  I love every part of you, even the fool in the parables.
 
Just think about all of the years we have invested reading pages of little content, while “My Very Own Book” remained asleep.  When we recall how sometimes we used the Bible as an excuse to promote our own ideas, which were neither always true nor convincing, we feel the need to repent.
 
How much good we could do for others if we drew them towards the “Book of My Own”:  the word of God!

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for the Bible:  grant that your Word become “the Book of Our Own”; our daily bread. Amen.


Translated by:
Elisa Menocal, M.A.
Visiting Professor of English
Evangelical Theological Seminary
Matanzas, Cuba


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elisa Menocal is a member of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church, sent to the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba.  She is spending the year there teaching English and translating for the school.

SU VOZ: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2011

A LIFE OF TRIUMPH

II Corinthians 2: 14-17

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:15

On a certain work-related visit I made to the United States, a person who greatly appreciates me wanted to take me to a beauty salon to have my gray hairs colored and to get a manicure, because I looked older than I should.  Our western culture tends more and more each day to propagate the notion that we must triumph over everything.  This notion carries with it an implicit public image with certain characteristics such as youth, a stylish figure, a stereotypical smile, etc.

When Paul writes his letters to the Corinthians he speaks about being triumphant in Christ.  The image which he presents to them is of the reception given to the Roman generals and their soldiers when they returned triumphant from a battle. But, who can achieve this and how? Paul’s answer is “in Christ Jesus.”  Yes, Christ has already achieved victory and invites us to participate together with Him in the victory parade.  It is up to us to accept His invitation, with the challenge that it involves, and to follow him from triumph to triumph.

Prayer:  Lord, teach me to enjoy the victory of your resurrection. Amen

Elisa Menocal, M.A.

Visiting Professor of English

Evangelical Theological Seminary

Matanzas, Cuba

Elisa Menocal is a member of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church, sent to the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba.  She is spending the year there teaching English and translating for the school.

APC Garden Update and a NY Times Article

Hello (Y)Ardfarmers:

We had a very successful outreach during the Ministry fair after the Sept. 11 church service.  Many people stopped by, picked up paper bags of garden produce, and expressed amazement at the statistics on our first year's garden yield.

In the weeks to follow, here is what we need to keep on our radar screens:

1. Once the frost sets in (probably around mid to late October) and the garden is no longer fit for gleaning, we'll need to schedule a Saturday morning cleanup, to get the old plants into the compost bin.  (This will be a lot quicker and easier than filling the beds was last year!)

2. Also later this fall, I'd like to invite (Y)Ardfarmers to  potluck supper at the Van Leeuwen (spouses and children also welcome), where in addition to having fellowship, we can discuss what we've learned from this first year's efforts, and what we might want to change, add, subtract, etc. next year.  My suggested possible dates for this supper are: Fri. Nov. 11, Sat. Nov. 12, Fri. Nov. 18, or Sat. Nov. 19.

3.  Among the things we'd need to discuss is our ongoing part in the Matt 25:35 project (with Overbrook and Calvin Presbyterian Churches).  The other two churches are so impressed with our garden involvement so far (and with Sherina Poorman's willingness to weigh in  helping to train kids in garden skills at Calvin) that they have asked us to be a full partner (not just an affiliate) in the project. The project already has $15,000 in a presbytery grant for an ongoing nutrition project at Calvin Pres., and leaders at Calvin have expressed a wish to start a garden (in CPC's sunny, fenced yard --which would easily accommodate two raised beds like our own).  Wisely, they have decided that it would be best to start modestly -- with rubber-tire beds -- next spring (2012) then apply for further presbytery (or other) grant money to erect raised beds ready for use in the spring of 2013. That way they can teach church members of all ages how easy it is to START growing in a small space -- at church and/or in their own yards.  Jim Young has suggested that getting these tire beds organized and set up might make a great joint-church youth project  (something else we can talk about).

4.  All in all, we can praise God for the great start we've made with the garden itself, its harvest, and the good connections we've made with OPC and CPC for food distribution and opportunities for food an nutrition empowerment in the CPC neighborhood.  AND: Click on the link below for a very interesting NY TIMES article on the current boom in vegetable gardens!

Blessings & thanks,
Mary S. van Leeuwen
(Y)Ardfarmers  Chair

Vegetable Gardens Are Booming in a Fallow Economy
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Rural residents are relying more on locally grown food to save money - or earn it. Some see health benefits, too.

Wednesday PLUS Starts Again on September 14

Dear APC Parents,

I look forward to a new year of Children's Choir as part of APC's "Wednesday PLUS" program.

I hope you read Anne Foote's letter of invitation.  As Interim Director of Christian Education, Anne will direct the activity portion of Wed. PLUS, using "Journey to Jerusalem," which has been very popular with children through many years.

Presently I estimate 15 singers in the choir, which is very good.  Fifth graders are more numerous than usual, which might allow me to push the envelope on musical challenges.  We are blessed again with the assistance of Mrs. Giese and Mrs. Hoelscher.

Please remember this is the year for the three-church choral festival (alternates years with the musical).  The adults will sing Brahms "Requiem" and the children/youth will sing anthems TBD.  Please save Sunday, March 25, 3:00 p.m. (festival) plus the previous morning (rehearsal) in your schedule.

Our first singing date in worship is October 16 (introit with youth choir).  We will also sing in the 13th annual Reformation Sunday three-choir anthem (Oct 30, Rutter's "Look at the World," see the video below).  You will receive a complete list of singing dates ASAP.

See you soon!

Gary Garletts