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Vol. 67 No. 42 ✥ October 21, 2026

October 25, 2026 ❖ Reformation Sunday

Lessons: Psalm 46; Psalm 150

Sermon: "My Life Flows On"

On a day we recognize the enduring nature of the church and the ways the church has adapted for many centuries to witness to the love of Christ, we end our series by singing to God, our Rock and fortress. With a hymn tune like “How can I keep from singing” and lyrics to match, we recognize that the gift of faith in Christ inspires our song and our souls.

This Sunday is Reformation Sunday, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of October, commemorating the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. Semper Reformanda is Latin for “always reforming,” a mantra of many churches that seek to be God’s people in every time and place. The liturgical color of the day is red, which represents the Holy Spirit and the Martyrs of the Christian Church. Red is also the liturgical color for anniversaries and festival days of the churches.

Our First Sermon Series this Fall is “Hymns of Joy,” where for four weeks, we are exploring the hymns we sing and the scriptures they invoke. We are finding joy anew as we sing and share these important parts of our shared worship!

Anthem:

"We Are the Lord's" - arr. Martin

Worship is live on our homepage and YouTube channel at 11:00 a.m.,

but we love having you with us in the sanctuary!

BOOK GIVEAWAY

Please visit the table in Sugg Foyer to find free books. Take some for yourself or to share with others. After this Sunday, October 25, remaining books will be donated to the Little Free Libraries.

Lakeside Involved Registration Form

MEAL TRAIN FOR LELA & SHELTON CHESSON

Lela and Shelton Chesson are both back home and recovering. They could use some meals 2-3 days per week. If you would like to sign up for a slot, please do so using the link below.

Meal Train Link for Chessons

MEAL TRAIN FOR ANDREA & COLLINS CUTHRELL

Andrea is home recovering from surgery while the family enjoys new baby Jay. They could use some meals 2-3 days per week. If you would like to sign up for a slot, please do so using the link below.

Meal Train Link for Cuthrells

Please remember the following persons who need our prayers and support:

The Lodge at Rocky Mount, 3322 Village Road (04)

Connie Griffin, Room 202

At Home:

Janice Bobbitt (Chuck Taylor's sister), 4204 Whitehurst Drive, Wilmington, NC 28409

Marie Butner (Angie Hunter's mother), Priddy Manor, 1294 Priddy Road, King, NC 27021

Robyn Edwards Chapman (Jeannette Pittman's cousin), 1481 Richardson Road, Apt. C406, Apex, NC 27523

Lela Chesson, 53 Whispering Pines Drive (04)

Wayne Cotton, 112 Sherwood Drive (04)

Andrea Cuthrell, 3517 Mansfield Drive (03)

Doug Edwards, 4699 Moreland Drive, Battleboro, NC 27809

Mike Evans, 1151 Falls Road, Apt. 218 (04)

Michele Costa Foster, 105 Gloucester Court (03)

Charlotte Gilliam, 3794 Loblolly Drive (04)

Leland Goslen (Linda and Cameron Graham's great-nephew), 1021 Oakgate Court, Apex, NC 27502

Kathy Graves-Price (Sister of Jim Graves), Durham, NC

Bill Haley (Will Haley's father), Gainesville, GA

Katie Hand, 4752 Honeysuckle Lane (04)

Bill Jones (Dorrie Wright’s brother)

Brian Lassiter, 104 Killian Court (04)

Caroline Martin (Ginny and Ricky Cobb's granddaughter), PO Box 253, Jackson, NC 27845

C. B. Morris, 1930 Northern Boulevard (04)

Grady Pittman, 313 Englewood Drive (04)

Jeannette Pittman, 313 Englewood Drive (04)

Billie Stallings, 404 Wildwood Avenue (03)

Kate Thomas (Jaye and James Biggs' granddaughter), 904 Shepard Street, Morehead City, NC 28557

Ziggy Zalzneck, 324 Piedmont Avenue (03)

Our Members at Home:

Jackie Allsbrook, 113 Old Colony Way (04)

Ann Bishop, 2600 Croasdaile Farm Parkway, Apt. S210, Durham, NC 27705

Sallie Ray Wilkerson, HeartFields at Cary, 1050 Crescent Green Drive, Cary, NC 27518

We rejoice with Angie Hunter and Jim Graves who were married on October 10 in Roxboro.

We rejoice with Howard Phykitt on his marriage to Peggy Ross Phykitt on October 19.

Give Now

YOUTH NEWS

A couple of weeks ago, as we began our Bible study during Sunday night Youth Fellowship, I gave each of the youth a puzzle piece and asked them to imagine that the piece represented their perspective on the world, everything they could see, experience, feel, or understand. Then I asked them to imagine that every person in the world had a piece of the puzzle but that no one could see the picture on the box, enabling them to see the the whole picture. They took turns guessing, based on their piece alone, what the whole picture might be, and no one was even close.

We discussed that the only way to get a clearer perspective on the entire image was to include other people's perspectives. The true picture emerges when I put my puzzle piece next to yours, a neighbor adds their piece of the puzzle, and so on. Each person can see only to the edge of their perspective, but when we include the perspectives of others, a more complete picture emergences. If we consider this metaphor on the scale of the entire world, God is the only One who has a view of the whole picture, that is, of the whole truth. But as people of faith, we are called to a humility that acknowledges the limits of our own perspective and a love that reaches out to consider the perspectives of others with respect and dignity.

Then, as I was reading for this week's study group, I came across these words from Jodi Garbison, writing about living generously and sacrificially in community with others, "To do this, we needed something besides our own perspective and limited vision." It occurred to me that it really doesn't matter what "this" is. Her words are true in nearly every aspect of life.

As the youth and I move through the remaining Bible studies for this semester, we will be adding more pieces to our puzzle. A beautiful image will begin to emerge as we include pieces that represent the neighbors we are called to love. When we open ourselves to loving our neighbors as Christ loves us--both the neighbors who live next door with whom we share much in common and those with whom we disagree and do not understand--we are able to move beyond our own limited vision to see a wider perspective of God's world. In times when hurtful words, suspicious attitudes, and narrow perspectives are filling too many of our newsfeeds and personal interactions, let us approach our neighbors with enough humility to be open to learning from their perspective and enough love to welcome them in the name of Christ whose example we follow.

Won't you be my neighbor?

Elizabeth

MUSIC NOTES

The fall semester of our 2026-2027 Music Ministry year has been an exciting one so far. The Chancel Choir has enjoyed preparing a variety of anthems for our Sunday worship services and the Lakeside Ringers are preparing to further enrich our worship with their musical offerings on Christ the King Sunday and during the season of Advent. We are overjoyed to have welcomed the members of our Junior Children’s Choir to the choir loft on Sunday, October 11, where they joined our adults in offering Sir John Rutter’s Look at the World. We look forward to welcoming our Primary Children’s Choir to worship on Sunday, November 8.

We are still in need of adult volunteers to assist with the rehearsals for our children’s choirs on Sunday evenings. Having two children’s choirs enables us to better serve the musical development of our children by giving them the opportunity to work on music that is appropriate to their individual ages and skill levels. These rehearsals are separate events that occur simultaneously with the children’s bible and craft activities on Sunday evenings and are only possible with dedicated volunteers to assist with rehearsal activities and honor our security policies. We will not be able to continue without more help. Please let me know if you can volunteer.

In anticipation of the celebration of Reformation Sunday on October 25, I want to present you with some excerpts from Paul Westermeyer’s book “Te Deum: The Church and Music”, that I feel provide some valuable insight into the impact of the Reformation on church music and the thoughts of Martin Luther on music. May we answer Luther’s call to “gladly and willingly sing” our joy in Christ at every opportunity. To view the excerpts click on the button below.

Zack

View the excerpts

CHILDREN'S CORNER

Using Our Gifts...

All of us were created in God’s image, but we all have different gifts which God gave us. It is our job to figure out what our gifts are and use them to bring love to the world. There is no gift that is lesser than any other. Your gift might be the consistent kindness you show to others, your creativity, your ability to teach others, your willingness to help others who are sick and hurting, or any number of other gifts of blessing.

Using our gifts to serve others builds community. It shows our neighbors that we care about them through our service and love. Then after receiving our care, perhaps our neighbors will want to give back to the community with their own gifts and talents. It is easy not to feel good enough when we struggle or compare ourselves to others. We each must do our part in lifting each other up and recognizing each other’s gifts. Telling someone else how great they are at something can be the spark that person needs to do more in the world.

We must not let our gifts go to waste because we do not recognize how much our gifts can help others. Also, not sharing the gifts that God gave us means we are not honoring what God asked of us. Although God has given us these amazing gifts, we must hone them in regular practice so we are honoring God's call on our lives in the best way possible.

Jacob

TOPNOTCHERS NEWS

Calling All Cooks and Delivery folks! We will be collecting containers of soup to freeze and deliver to our homebound members. Please call the office or contact me and let us know if you're able to make or deliver soup. We have containers available for the soup that will be in the church office. Delivery will be mid-to-late November.

We would love for anyone interested in Dove Notes to join us! We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 10:00 a.m. in Godwin Library. We hope you can also join us for the next Continue the Communion lunch on November 1 at El Jimador Mexican Restaurant, 218 Lawrence Circle.

Sue

HELP US KEEP OUR BUILDINGS SECURE!

As we update our security policies and training, we would like to get an accurate accounting of who has keys to our buildings. If you have a key that you need to keep for regular use, please let Liz in the church office know. If you have a key that you no longer need, please return it to the church office at your earliest convenience. Thank you for helping us to keep our church campus safe and our buildings secure.