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My Prayer Time - Instrumental Prayer & Worship Music |
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Christian Songs for the Broken Hearted |
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You are receiving "The Wave" for March 2015. This is the electronic newsletter of Tres Rios Presbytery in the Synod of the Sun of the Presbyterian Church (USA). You are invited to read the articles of Holy Week celebrations in several of our churches. The visit of the children of First El Paso to Project Vida is a fresh expression of love and solidarity as well as the traditional Fish Fry of Fort Stockton. A signal of hope are the reports of the remnant group of First San Angelo and Westminster church. God is doing new things and we are in his hands. Finally Ballinger and University churches shared their experiences during this significant season in the life of the church. I especially recommended the meditation of Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia, our 221 vice-moderator who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her meditation "Morning by Morning" is a reaffirmation of our Christians values and faith. Please, let us know your opinions, comments and suggestions, and forward The Wave to those who may be interested in the work of our Presbytery.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN EL PASO PRESENTED AN EASTER CHILDREN PROGRAM AT PROJECT VIDA. La Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de El Paso present? un Programa Infantil de Resurrecci?n en Project Vida By Yoke Wan Gunstream - Director of Children's Ministry at First El Paso
First Presbyterian Church of El Paso Texas had the pleasure of attending an Easter Program at Project Vida of El Paso on Wednesday, April 1th,2015. The Children at Project Vida performed several upbeat and familiar songs; "Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun", "Spring Time" and "He's got the whole world in His hands". And it was so fun to watch and follow along as well. They were so adorable and charming wearing their handmade head dress costumes. We thoroughly enjoyed their performances. After an echoed prayer by the children, First Presbyterian children joined with Project Vida children presented a skit lead by me. We presented the Resurrection Story by using the Resurrection Eggs tool. Everyone was so mesmerized and they listened with great anticipation as each child opened one egg at a time to reveal what was in each egg. One of my favorite surprise hidden in the eggs is the one that has the praying hands.....which represented Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. And when the last egg was opened and revealed "Empty". Everyone was so surprise that there was nothing in the last egg. That's when I ended the story by telling them that it represents the empty tomb that Jesus was buried in. There is no body in the tomb just like there is nothing in the last egg. Jesus is Risen! He is Alive!
Mrs. Christina Mayne helped handed out 51 Easter Bags to The Project Vida's Children. Seeing their smiley and cheerful faces was worth all the effort we put in to join them for their program. Afterward we shared a pot luck meal together and have a great time of fellowship with everyone present there at Project Vida.
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ANNUAL INTERDENOMINATIONAL WEDNESDAY LENTEN LUNCH AT FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CURCH IN BALLINGER Almuezo Anual Inter-denominacional de Cuaresma en la Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de Ballinger By Rev. Wilma Harris, pastor of First Ballinger First Presbyterian Church of Ballinger is a small but mighty force in the Ballinger community. The church has been active in the local ministerial alliance over the years. One of the activities the church held dear was participation in the annual Wednesday Lenten lunch event. Member churches in the alliance sponsor one of the lunches each week during Lent. The community is invited and no charge is levied for the meal. Often the response is quite a large lunch crowd of 100 or more. Everyone considers this an Easter blessing. As the First Presbyterian membership has grown smaller and more elderly over the years, the church had to face the fact that they just were not able to handle this activity any longer. Rev. Wilma Harris took this concern to the ministerial alliance in 2014 and found a co-sponsor for the lunch in Rev. Myron Halford and the Glory Road Cowboy Church. Glory Road is located out of town, an inconvenient location for a community gathering, but their church wanted to be able to participate. So, the deal was a win-win. The lunch was held at First Presbyterian in town and the members of both churches provided food and served the meal. In 2015 both churches elected do this again and the turn out was an astonishing 110 people. Members of First Presbyterian and Glory Road both expressed how much they enjoyed providing lunch for the community and how grateful they were for the interdenominational cooperation.
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UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN EL PASO CELEBRATED THE "SEDER MEAL" ON MAUNDY THURSDAY
La Iglesa Universitaria en El Paso celebr? el "Seder" en el Jueves Santo By Tim Gray, pastor intern at University church. There is something especially theological about the gathered community--especially around food; so much so it seems rather cliche to point it out here. There is theology in our worship, in our weekly events, in lunch meetings, moments alone and moments along with others. There is theology everywhere because God is everywhere.
It is instead more meaningful to point out the theology of moments when things are different--in which theology challenges us; places of dissonance.
Such moments can be found during the meal of Seder.
The zeroah, the prepared lamb shankbone can be a delicious cut of meat. It is a reminder of the sacrificed lamb, the animal that was used to atone for the sins of the people. And yet also in the story of the Exodus, the lamb's blood is what is used to indicate to God to passover an Israelite home. For those who were not Israelites, God's presence in that story brings about the silence of a host of first born children and the cries of so many mothers. The bone that juts from the meat reminds us of the death inherent in passover.
The baytsah, the maror, the charoset, the karpas, the matzah... All of these symbols bring us along in a story, their meanings are not just merely food. And as Christians, we add even more meaning.
University Presbyterian celebrated the Seder meal on Maundy Thursday. Even as we smiled around tables, enjoying good food, enjoying the people who gathered, we could not escape what was coming. Jesus, at a similar meal with his disciples explained his coming death and the sacrifice he would be making. Happy and Sad - the meal itself is conflicted, serving to move us closer to Jesus's execution and then resurrection. But perhaps that is the point of Holy Week--moments in which we don't just simply get to say "Christ is Risen!" Moments in which we must stay in dissonance, unable to resolve the conflicting emotions ourselves, waiting for God to fulfill God's covenant.
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WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH FIRST SAN ANGELO PC(USA) REMNANT?
?Qu? est? sucediendo con el remanente PC(USA) de la Primera de San Angelo?
By Bitsy Stone, miembro
Let me take a minute to tell you about the exciting happenings of the remnants of First Presbyterian Church San Angelo. In November, 2014, our church voted to leave PCUSA. However, there was a small group of us that wished to stay in PCUSA and we all decided that we would like to worship together but we weren't sure how to do it. Well, we had a call from First Christian Church offering us their chapel for worship! Since our first worship service on January 25th our number has grown from 21 to 47. The support of Presbytery, St. Paul Presbyterian Church, and First Christian Church has been incredible! God definitely has had his hand in this!! Each Sunday we have a different preacher and they have all been wonderful! We have also had a potluck supper and have chosen and started supporting three areas of mission work - Presbyterian Children's Home, House of Faith, and Presbytery. God's presence is so strong at each service that we all leave with hearts full of love and joy. We are so thankful for God's blessing in our worshipping community and look forward to whatever God has planned for us.
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Synod of the Sun Leadership Convocation |
WESTMINSTER PRSBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ODESSA IS MOVING FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE La Iglesia Presbiteriana Westminster en Odessa se mueve hacia el futuro By Annette McDermett, clerk of the Session Greetings from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Odessa! As many of you are aware, our church is currently without a pastor; however, we are already in the process of searching for an Interim pastor. Although we know this can take a while, we fully believe God is calling a wonderful servant to lead us. Our hearts are full with blessings of kindness, love and faithfulness! We have had so many people come forward to serve as elder and deacon and new ideas are abundant! Our attendance has risen steadily over the last 2 months and on Palm Sunday, we had 128! The enthusiasm is contagious and we feel it in every worship service with the inspirational sermons each week. We know that we have a long way to go and continued prayers are needed and appreciated. We believe that we will come out on the other side stronger, more committed and more faithful. After all, when God is for us, who can be against us? Yes, indeed, God is good! |
FISH FRY NIGHT AT FIRST FORT STOCKTON, MORE THAN 25 YEARS SHARING WITH THE COMMUNITY
La Noche del Pescado Frito en la Primera Iglesia de Fort Stockton, m?s de 25 a?os compartiendo con la comunidad
By Rev. Jose Luis Casal First Fort Stockton has a Holy Week tradition that began more than 25 years ago called Fish Fry Wednesday night and I have been attending for the last 8 years. They have organized the community to offer a free fish and schrimp meal to everybody who show up. Several families of the town join efforts with First church to cover the cost of the meal and also to cook the food. A big industrial kitchen is installed in the ally on the back of the church and an enthusiastic group of men are the volunteer chefs to fry the fish and the schrimps. There is no message, no worship service just the announce of the activities of the churches and an open invitation to everybody to attend their churches and if they don't have any church the invitation is to find a place where they can worship God. The goal of this activity is to provide fellowship and relations. In a time when we see so many divisions, discussions and awful controversies, this event of fellowship is a blessings for this community. Thanks be to God for this testimony of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Stockton. |
MORNING BY MORNING. D?a tras D?a By Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia, 221 Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly - This is a reflection of our Vice-Moderator after was diagnosed with breast cancer "Certainly the faithful love of the LORD has not ended; certainly God's compassion isn't through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3: 22-23) I've always been moved by the chorus of the hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," where we are reminded of the gift of each new day, "Morning by morning, new mercies I see. ..." I have always found myself wondering if that's truly possible; if I am actually capable of seeing each day full of newness unfolding right before my eyes. What a blessing! What a joy! What a divinely challenging way to see Creation around us! I am struck even more so by these verses and hymn as I face my diagnosis with breast cancer. The prognosis is good and I have already started chemotherapy as the first measure in this healing process. There is also surgery and treatments to face in the future as well. But I find myself taking things one step at a time, getting more attune to the needs of my body and the surprises that each new day may bring. It is my hope that this series will be a way to share the stories that become a part of this journey and the gifts that come with the rising of every morning sun. I'll try to write as regularly as I can, post photos, and welcome the comments/prayers that you may add. The most powerful part of the experience thus far has been the outpouring of thoughts and prayers from people all across the country. Thank you for lifting me up. |
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