COMMUNITY CHURCH OF DOUGLASTON

“ANCHOR”

Rev. Dr. Linden DeBie

Senior Minister

June 2015

Dearly Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ:

Déjà vu—defined as that feeling you have been there before. Strangely and

farcically recast by Yogi Berra—―it‘s déjà vu all over again.‖

I had the feeling of déjà vu in the most delightful way as the Christian Board of

Education met to consider Sunday School curriculum for 2015-16. One

thoughtful and energetic teacher said, ―What I‘ve been experimenting with in

my classroom this past year is a return to the good old Bible stories: those classic

stories that are the bedrock of Christianity and that shaped my faith.‖ We all

know the stories, David and Goliath, the crossing of the Red Sea, Daniel in the

Lion‘s Den and the visit of the Wise Men. Several others chimed in immediately

saying, ―Of course, that‘s what‘s behind our idea of bringing the kids together

every so often in a group setting, like in Fellowship Hall, just to rehearse the

classic stories of our Christian faith.

The excited response was pretty unanimous. But now questions arose! Where

can we find such a curriculum? One that tells the essential stories of the Bible

according to the Church year, so that what we are doing in worship directly

corresponds to what the children are learning in Sunday School? Where can we

find materials that create both an atmosphere of learning and inspire a

worshipful experience that parallels our holy Sunday service?

It was then the feeling hit me that I had in some sense come full circle. It was a

time long ago, when I preached that very Gospel to my first churches. I

encouraged ―back to the biblical basics.‖ Since then much slicker offerings

became popular, and here now again today, bedrock is preferred to the

shifting sands of the recently hip.

My suggestion was to use a curriculum I had developed and revised over the

years to accomplish the very things they seemed to reverently desire for their

children, and all the children of our believed church. It‘s called Celebrating Life

With God: A Year of a Child’s Growing in Grace and Love. Please let me share

with you what Celebrate Life is all about from the Introduction.

"Hope is like an anchor for our lives,

an anchor safe and sure" - Heb. 6:19

Welcome to Community Church of

Douglaston’s “Celebrating Life With

God” curriculum for our Sunday

School children. “Celebrating Life

With God” was inspired by the

“Children In Worship” program

developed by the Reformed Church

in America and redeveloped and

adapted to the special needs of

CCD by our current pastor, the

Reverend Dr. Linden DeBie. Its focus

is three-fold. We focus on the

“Christian Essentials” that have

given direction and inspiration to

Christians for 2000 years.

“Celebrating Life With God”

places the children directly in the

worship atmosphere of our church.

OUR THREE GOALS!

We celebrate the

Church’s calendar focusing on

the holidays and the holy and

historic events of the church’s

year knowing that this will

provide direction, security and

continuity for the children all

their lives long.

We celebrate the Bible,

focusing on those classic

stories that gave rise to our

faith and to this day sustain it.

It is in telling the biblical stories

that we emulate our Lord

Jesus Christ in the very same

way that He brought the

Gospel to the people.

We celebrate the family,

focusing on the parents/

guardians knowing full-well

that they play the central role

in providing the model of faith

and devotion that will shape

their children’s character.

The unique quality of this

curriculum is the meld of Christian

worship with Christian education in

anticipation of providing our children

a foundation of faith that will lead

them in a lifetime of Christian worship

and devotion. It allows our children a

full experience of living and learning

in the presence of God each

Sunday, regardless of the regularity

of their attendance.

Each week the children will

receive a message of faith that does

not depend on the previous

Sunday’s lesson, so all our children

receive from the church that

overflowing of grace that will allow

them to “seek His face” as they are

led by the Holy Spirit.

“Celebrating Life With God”

recognizes the creative spark

needed to excite children in the

faith, knowing that the classic tales

of Scripture contain all the energy

necessary to ignite that spark

as long as the children are

inspirationally engaged. Children

must feel secure in their

relationships. Parents play the

essential role in establishing the

child’s sense of self-worth.

Teachers play a secondary, vital role

in building on the parents’ work.

Each week a new Bible story

of faith and inspiration will be told.

The story will highlight the way God is

a living presence in the child’s life!

The stories themselves span all ages,

and simply require the teacher to

engage the students at their level of

maturity.

And I don‘t suppose you will be

surprised at the section headings

given all that I have reported. The

Sunday School season actually

begins with the period after

Pentecost when festivals and holy

days are rare. Still the kids are

gearing up big-time for another year

of school, activities, friends, church

and on it goes. This is held together

for them by their families, and so we

begin with the section, Celebrating

the Family—with the classic family

stories of the Bible, Abraham and

Sarah, Ruth and Naomi, Jonathan

and David and of course—the story

of Noah and his family‘s rescue from

the flood!

It makes perfect sense that from

there we move to the season of

Thanksgiving, with stories of rescue

and thanksgiving such as the

escape from Egypt, Jonah and the

Whale and of course, the ultimate

story of feeding to match our Brown

Bag Sunday food collection, The

Feeding of 5000!

Christmas follows and along with it

the classic Christmas narratives. We

follow Christmas with a long section

depicting Christ‘s life in his parables

and miracles. It is here that we hear

the story of the Prodigal Son and the

Lost Sheep, and we read of Jesus

walking on water and healing lepers.

Easter stories likewise reflect the

season and the stories of the passion

are told from the parade of Palm

Sunday to the glorious resurrection of

Christ from the dead. And all of it

concludes late in the season with

reflections on what it means to have

new life in Christ! These are the

stories of Jesus‘ appearances and of

Pentecost and Ascension. Each

lesson includes an engaging craft to

solidify the morning message and of

course throughout the year, the

young people get involved in service

and charity work to live out St.

James‘ challenge to ―be doers of

the word and not hearers only!‖

I must confess I am thrilled with this

coming year‘s offering to our

children and if I gage the enthusiasm

of our teachers and Board leaders—

we can expect a year of great

celebration of life with God as our

children truly grow in grace and

love.

Yours in joy of life in Christ,

Linden

CONGRATULATIONS

Confirmation of Nicholas DiScala

May 24, 2015

Nicholas Restivo with Nicholas

DiScala

Photo courtesy of Cailyn DeBie

THANK YOU

To

THE BOARD OF

CHRISTAIN EDUCATION

for their hard work and

dedication this year.

For full details about the program

visit:

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2a314

96d78108bbcba9078add/files/FINAL_

SEA_Reg_Packet_2015_6_.pdf

or email Darlene of the

Summer Enrichment Academy at

ccdsummer@gmail.com

The Elders’ Corner

What is the cost of discipleship?

Last fall I joined the new Discipleship

Group at Manhasset‘s Community

Reformed Church (CRC). Not a small

commitment. It was held almost

every Wednesday evening for over

nine months. As Pastor Steve Pierce

warned everyone upfront,

participation would require not only

consistent attendance, but also

homework that included reading

and often writing assignments.

I must admit it was a struggle

keeping up in the beginning, and

rest assured there were many

Wednesday nights when the last

thing I wanted to do was drive to

Manhasset for a ―church meeting.‖

That being said, I must share with you

that over time these gatherings

became, for me, transformative. In

fact, I went from being reluctant, to

mildly interested to almost needy of

these Wednesday night sessions of

worship, study, and fellowship. There

were 11 of us in the group. Much to

my amazement, few people ever

cut class.

The following is one of my homework

assignments. The task was to read

Luke 14:25 – 35 (please read for

yourself) and write a few paragraphs

about the cost of discipleship.

If you want to be my

follower you must love

me more than your own

father and mother, wife

and children, brothers

and sisters, … yes, more

than your own life.

Otherwise you cannot

be my disciple. And you

cannot be my disciple if

you do not carry your

own cross and follow

me.

Luke 14:25 – 27 NLT

―The Gospel of Luke pulls no

punches when it comes to defining

discipleship. Although we hate to

read the words, discipleship is,

without a doubt, a complete denial

of one's self. "Death to Selfie" as a

young pastor recently shared with

me.

The cost is undeniably high. It means

His work, Kingdom work, must

become the preeminent priority in

your life ... over possessions, family,

your wife, and all your personal

aspirations. That is no small

commitment.

That being said, discipleship is not a

vocation without its benefits. The

Bible clearly states that, "But seek ye

first the Kingdom of God, and His

righteousness, and all these things

shall be added unto you." Is that a

contradiction to what it implies in

Luke? Perhaps not.

As we read in Romans 12:1, 2,

discipleship and sanctification are

the result of a renewing of our minds.

That means a change in our

perspective and aspirations.

Therefore the more appropriate

question may be, "What are the

benefits of discipleship?" The answer

includes peace, wisdom,

redemption, purpose, maturity,

forgiveness, unconditional love …

and so, so much more.

Peace be with you all.

In His Service,

Ed Palafox

ANNUAL CHURCH PICNIC

SUNDAY, JUNE 21st

Please

plan

to attend

our

ANNUAL

CHURCH

PICNIC

on

Sunday,

June 21st

on the

front

lawn

9:30 AM

Beginning Sunday, June 28 at 9:30

am the Community Reformed

Church of Manhasset will be joining

CCD for summer worship through the

end of July.

Then beginning on August 2nd thru

Labor Day Weekend, September 6th,

CCD will be joining CRC in

Manhasset for summer worship.

CCD YARD SALE CANCELLED

We are only accepting on the bench

downstairs by the back door

food and clothing

for The Church on the Hill‘s

Food Pantry and Thrift Store.

We are no longer collecting other

types of items.

THANK YOU The 2014-2015 Confirmation

Class wishes to thank Ruth

and Matthew Harrigan for

hosting their May 3rd

Confirmation Class in their

bee yard.

Photos courtesy of

Cailyn DeBie

43rd ANNUAL GALILEAN SERVICE

SUNDAY, JULY 26th

9:30 AM

At the Douglaston Dock

(Shore Road at the West End of Beverly Rd.)

Worshipping with Community Reformed Church at Manhasset

Brookville Reformed Church

Reformed Church of Locust Valley

Fellowship afterwards with watermelon and iced tea

Directions: Heading north on Douglaston Pkwy, turn left onto Beverly Road, at the end of Beverly Road at Shore Road is the dock entrance (for GPS use 7 Beverly Road, Douglaston)

ALL ARE WELCOME

Please support this organization; they

donate a % of their proceeds each year to

CCD!

CONTINUED

PRAYERS

CHARLIE STONE,

COLLEEN, NOBREGA,

PATRICK, SUSAN ROSE

TRUSSUX.

THANK YOU TO CCD

Thank you so much to the CCD

Congregation for their support of the

Caritas Creators' fundraiser for a trip to

Bounce (a local trampoline amusement

park). As many may already know, the

middle school girls came together on

Friday, May 29th and personally baked

each delicious item sold. By using scripture

passages such as Matthew 5:13

and Matthew 13:33, the girls discovered

the ingredients necessary to bake cookies

are actually written in the bible! After

baking and decorating, they engaged in

fellowship over some dessert and watched

a faith based movie. The following Sunday,

the girls set up coffee hour and sold their

delectable treats!

Thank you again for your support.

GALILEAN SERVICE

The Guest Preacher for the 43rd Annual Galilean Service will be Rev. Samuel T. Clover, the

Assistant Minister at The Reformed Church of Bronxville, NY

Rev. Clover was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in

America in April 2014; joining The Reformed Church of Bronxville, after graduating from

Union Theological Seminary (M.Div.). His call to ministry came after working for more than 10

years as an arts and culture journalist at a number of small magazines and newspapers in

NYC.

A graduate of Lafayette College (B.A., English and History), Rev. Clover also holds an MFA in

creative nonfiction writing from The New School, and earned a diploma in spiritual direction

from San Francisco Theological Seminary. An avid singer (and sometime trombonist), Rev.

Clover has sung with a variety of choirs, including Marble Collegiate Church‘s Festival of

Voices and gospel choirs, which performed at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall,

Newark‘s Prudential Center and Harlem‘s Apollo Theater, among other venues.

At The Reformed Church in Bronxville, Rev. Clover oversees their website and newsletter, and

organizes their Sunday afternoon service and participates in their morning services.

Mark your calendar for the Galilean Service, Sunday, July 26, at 9:30 am at the Douglaston

Dock.

Sunday School Sunday Sunday, June 21, 2015 – 10:30AM

Join the children of CCD for a super

celebration of God‘s love filled with

scripture, songs, and spirit!

‖Jesus said, ‗Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder

them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.‘‖

Matthew 19:14

COMMUNITY CHURCH OF DOUGLASTON

39-50 Douglaston Parkway

Douglaston, New York 11363

(718)229-2169

www.ccdouglaston.org

June 2015

Community Church

of Douglaston’s

Early Childhood Center

Free UPK Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK)

Registration

is on going until

classes are filled

First come, first served. Questions? Contact us:

Anna or Susan UPK: 718-767-1961

or UPKofDouglaston@gmail.com