Piping Along News of Interest

MARCH 2020

THE PIPER

Dear Covenant Partners, The season of Lent is a hidden gem, and it is upon us. In our increasingly post-Christian world, where even many Christian traditions don’t celebrate Lent, I want to commend it to you as a way of growing in your faith. It won’t earn you any brownie points with God, but it can help you draw closer to Him. Lent is a 40 day period, excluding Sundays, of repentance, prayer, and fasting that prepares us to really celebrate Easter and the amazing news it represents. Lent is 40 days because Jesus spent 40 days fasting and being tempted in the wilderness before he started his public ministry. Lent excludes Sundays because every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection. Lent starts with Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on February 26th. On Ash Wednesday, Christians have ashes “imposed” on either their forehead or the back of their hand. In the Bible, ashes remind us of our mortality. We are but dust and ashes, and to dust and ashes we will return. The Bible also associates ashes with repentance and mourning as there are a number of Biblical references to people dressing in sack cloth and sprinkling themselves with ashes as a public witness to their grief over sin and its consequences. Repentance is the real theme of Lent. We repent of the sin that necessitated Jesus’ death on the cross, allowing us to be forgiven and saved from punishment. In addition to the ashes of Ash Wednesday, the other major Biblical activity associated with repentance is fasting. During Lent many people choose to fast from something, and so it is traditional to “give something up” for Lent. I’ve personally fasted from things as diverse as a few meals a week, the use of a salt shaker, caffeine, speeding, and so-cial media. The point of fasting is to create space, time, and reminders of Jesus. Thus, if you gave up lunches for Lent you would also take the time you normally use for lunch and spend it in prayer. You would take the money you saved and give it to the poor, and you would use the hunger to remind you of all Jesus gave up for your salvation. Again, many people will set aside their fast on Sundays, but all this is building toward the joy of Easter when we cele-brate that Jesus didn’t just die for our sins but that He also rose! Having spent 40 days repenting, we shift into the season of Easter and a celebration that is all the more meaningful because we passed through the season of Lent.

Jesus promises that those who seek will find, and so I commend the season and practices of Lent as a way of seek-ing Him. I’m with you in the journey to Easter!

In Christ,

Pastor Jon

Upcoming Mission Trip to Vietnam Are you a business leader, or know of others, who would like to

see how God is working and changing lives in a growing company overseas? Join us on a trip in March 2021 to visit one of our missionaries, James Price, as he leads his company doing

“business as mission” in Vietnam. Contact Pastor Scott (sthayer@firstpreshbg.org; 540-820-1880)

Tour of Israel with Jon Heeringa, Dennis and Tina Karp APRIL 11-23, 2021

Flyers are available at the Welcome Desk Registration deadline is March 15th.

Reflections on the ECO National Gathering In ECO, one of our core values is Our Mutual Spurring, meaning that the strength of our covenant community is how we chal-lenge one another to constantly transform. In the midst of that transformation is where we make the very biggest impact for Christ. Our prayer is that we would always remember that we are not alone on our ministry journey. We are interconnected in relationship with churches and covenant partners across the country who want you and your congregation to flourish in order that God’s kingdom may be made known throughout our communities and the world. We are so excited to have you join us in Dallas to catalyze and strengthen connections with friends, colleagues, and most im-portantly, the God who created you to love and serve Him. Whether your church is big or small, rural or urban, thriving or strug-gling, God is calling us all to flourish – and we were not created to do that on our own. We are created to be interconnected! This was the description on ECO’s website of the 2020 National Gathering held February 3-6th near Dallas, Texas. Thirteen covenant partners from First Pres were in attendance. Here’s what they had to say about their time there: “It’s always good to be with our brothers and sisters who are like minded. I came away encouraged to help equip us, as a

congregation, to tell others about Jesus in winsome ways. Also, to help equip parents to disciple their youth and help them navigate the rapids of adolescence.” Pastor Billy Craig

“ECO is flourishing! I loved the reminder to care for my soul because the whole world isn’t worth more. It was also great to catch up with so many friends.” Pastor Jon Heeringa

“A great opportunity to catch-up with so many wonderful believers, to worship together, and hear incredible stories of faith.” Garry Nichols

“The ECO movement is alive and well. The fellowship was wonderful, but having watched the genesis of the denomination and the efforts for so many years, to actually see the result was great! We enjoyed hearing 1,500 voices united in praise to our sovereign God. Other highlights of the conference included the emphasis on soul health, the simple and effective ways of weaving faith into conversations, ideas for potential uses of the court yard to show hospitality to downtown, the business meeting that was decent and in order yet coupled with joy and humor, having the confessional standards finally approved, and impassioned ac-counts of what our amazing God is doing in the world to grow His Kingdom.” Doug and Lila Gardner

“It was terrific to be amongst a gathering of 1500 participants who were unified in their core beliefs and purpose.” George Pace

“There were so many important lessons to be learned, but one that really struck home was the emphasis on unleashing the laity. Eu-gene Cho gave a powerful talk on Luke 5:17-20, the familiar story of the paralytic lowered to Jesus by his caring friends. He remarked, ‘God’s ability to use you is not dependent on your ability; it is your availability.’” Ann Pace

“The national gathering was full of the challenge to show Christ in every interaction out of the deepness of our faith, time spent with the Lord, and knowing and being known by Him. There were many tools and helpful information about how to live in such a way. I was blessed to attend, reconnect with old friends and make new ones too.” Jessica Long

Does your small group have a vision? By Carl Larsson If you’re anything like me, the vision statement for your small group is probably nothing more than a simple, “We meet Friday mornings at Mr. J’s Bagels.” What more could you possibly need? Turns out, you need a lot more! I was recently convicted by the words of Marshall Segal that, “Your small group is destined to die a slow, complacent, even cordial death without direction.” He’s right – good relationships have direction. Friendships (“we catch big fish together”), work relationships (“we work towards common goals together”), and marriages (check your wedding vows!) all thrive on a common sense of direction. Why would our relationships in small groups be any different? Segal’s article, “Every Small Group Needs a Vision,” provides some great ideas on how to create a vision statement for your small group. He gives an example vision statement, discusses the value of vision, and provides a simple, three-step process for designing a vision statement for your small group. It’s a valuable read for leaders seeking to build thriving, Christ-centered small groups. Check it out at desiringgod.org/articles/every-small-group-needs-a-vision

From the First Pres Facebook page: Our @ecopresbyterian National Gathering team from First Pres has arrived in Dallas. On the eve of today’s start, they did what any visitor to Texas has to do: eat some Texas bbq. #econg2020

Disciple Now Weekend By Pastor Billy Craig Disciple Now is an in-town youth retreat where the youth are split into groups, along with mentors, and hosted in church members’ homes for the weekend. This year we saw God at work throughout the weekend of Disciple Now. We learned what it means to find our Gospel identity in Christ. We had opportunities to be served and to serve. We dug into God’s word, times of fellowship, and sharing within our small groups. Our youth led us in some amazing times of worship. We acknowledged our brokenness but thank God for providing for our rescue. We have been set free!

March 20—Robin and Alice Keesee celebrate 49 years March 21—Rich and Trish Ours celebrate 19 years March 26—Charles and Greta Evick celebrate 60 years March 31—Matt and Krystal Muterspaugh celebrate 13 years April 1—Brad and Melissa Jenkins celebrate 20 years

A big thank you to First Pres from the Harper Wylie family, for all of the prayers, gifts, cards, and support. We are so grate-ful to each and every one of you. Thank you for your contin-ued prayers for our little girl, Harper. Danny and Cassidy Wylie How special it was to receive the beautiful bouquet and all the lovely cards! It was like Christmas morning opening each one to discover the good wishes, blessings, and prayers. My sincerest thanks to each one of you for making me the TLC Person of the Week. Lee Watson

March 1 – Dee Huffman March 2 – Lila Gorby March 3 – Robyn Ludwig, Debbie Price, Madelyn Hart, William Lenhart, Parker Langridge March 4 – Ruby Callahan March 5 – Sybil McCrory March 6 – Steve Maguigan March 7 – Charlotte Landes, HW Welcher, Anna Hendricksen March 8 – Robert Augst, Hannah Bryant March 9 – Joan Byrd, Karen Lindberg, Patrick Evick, Dan Hylton March 11 – Neva Melhorne, Marnie Godfrey, Heidi Berkey March 12 – Ed Price, Karen Thayer, Eric Heeringa March 14 – Nancy Logan March 15 – Kathy Bowman, Dawn Glick, John Hart, Jessica Long, Erin Layman, Madison Floyd, Wren Larson March 16 – Bertha Davis, Amy Birdsong, Makenzie Clifford, Abby Campillo March 17 – Patrick Sweet, Adam Miller March 18 – Frank Sprinkel, Melissa Stoltzfus, Lauren McKenzie, Nathan Henderson March 19 – Eleanor Price, Bob Hill March 20 – Debbie Logan, Caitlyn Fendley, Jack Larson March 21 – Betty Lee Young, Susan Bradford, Emma Pence March 22 – Christy Kiser March 23 – Dan Kennedy, Ruth Lorson March 26 – Tim Cassel, Tyler Sweet, Ryan Phillips March 27 – Susan Cale March 29 – Lynn Svonavec, Caroline Shull March 30 – Jake Harrison, Roger von Seldeneck, Molly Campillo, Greta Godfrey March 31 – Robin Keesee, Anne Turner, Kristina Callender April 2 – Ginny Stevens April 3 – Alma Shoemaker, Steve Heitz, Greg Harper April 4 – Lil Miller, Mariela Formiconi, Todd Litten, Kelsey Rockey April 5 – Barbara Vought, Linda Ramquist, Ben Moomaw

We Express our Sympathy to: The Coppock family in the loss Charlotte Coppock on January 28th.

Dan and Anne Callahan in the recent loss of Anne’s mother.

Greg and Kim Harper in the loss of Greg’s mother, Christine Harper, on February 5th.

Kathleen Cross in the loss of her mother-in-law, Myrtle (Marty) Cross McKay, on January 31, at age 102.

Donna Miller in the loss of her aunt, Helen Frye, on February 12th.

Gary and Crystal Blosser in the loss of their son-in-law, Sean Land, on February 5th.