Worship News 7/3

From Jay

EVERYTHING
We are doing a song this week in church by Tim Hughes called Everything.

God in my living, There in my breathing, God in my waking, God in my sleeping,
God in my resting, There in my working, God in my thinking God in my speaking.

I can’t honestly say that right now God is not my Everything, He’s just part of my life. As you continue to read these lyrics, ask yourself where your day to day life fits in with what’s written here:

God in my hoping, There in my dreaming, God in my watching, God in my waiting,
God in my laughing, There in my weeping, God in my hurting, God in my healing


Am I alone in the realization that there are many times I can’t say that?


The truth is, more often than not for me, many things on that list don’t include God in the equation. So for me, when I hear a song with the lyrics like this one, it comes with a sense of longing… it comes with a sense of regret… longing and regret for the things in my life that I know I’m allowing that make him not my Everything. They’re not horrible things or things I couldn’t justify to anyone effectively. But there are things that have taken His place… things I know on a heart level, a level that’s down in the places of my soul that only Christ can truly read accurately.

But this song also gives me a tremendous sense of hope. I am still sucking oxygen, I’m not dead yet, I can still make Christ my Everything, because His Spirit is in me. I could still go there with my life.

Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me, the Hope of Glory
You are everything, Christ in me, Christ in me


Sometimes I get stuck in Romans 7 and forget about Romans 8 :)
Romans 7 says -
14b“The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15aI don’t really understand
myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is
right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong,
but I do it anyway.” (NLT)

There are some days I cry out to God saying “I don’t even know what that would really look like Lord, for You to be my everything.” What I do know is that I want it before Heaven; I want to be able to look into His eyes through the eyes of my soul, and know that He has truly become my Everything.


Romans 8 tells me it’s possible. I believe it’s possible; otherwise, we should just all go home, forget the battle, and settle for a loss till Christ returns.
1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2And because you
belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads
to death. 3The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful
nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies
we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his
Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
5Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are
controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6So letting your sinful
nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life
and peace. 7For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it
never will. 8That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never
please God.
9But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have
the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ
living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10And Christ lives within you, so even though your
body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with
God. 11The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.


Christ in me, the Hope of Glory, Be my everything
Be my everything, Be my everything, Be my everything, Be my everything


Here is a link to the song if you want to listen to it: Everything

News & Views by Pastor Ron
Dear Congregation:


It is with regret that I report Eric Venable's final day of employment as Minister of Students & Families was Tuesday, June 30. We had high hopes for Eric when he began August 18, 2008, which makes his departure disappointing.

So, what's next? In our effort to closely manage our expenses we have no plans at this time to fill this position. Mike Giering will take leadership of the College Ministry and will help us hire a part-time person to work with this ministry. Mike will continue to be the Director of High School. Kurt Brandemihl will continue as our Director of Middle School. We have complete confidence in Mike and Kurt. Both will report directly to me. Beth Werner will assume the responsibility for Family Ministry. John Franklin and Mike Matousek, current members of the preaching team, will assume Eric's vacated preaching assignments.

As difficult as staff changes are, I believe God is sovereign. I believe God is in control and leading us in the way that he knows is best. Jesus Christ is Lord of Sunset Presbyterian Church and will continue to fulfill his promise to build his church.

Last Sunday I talked about the importance of prayer. We need your prayers now. Satan loves to take difficult situations and stir up dissension in the church. Pray for our church, our leadership, Eric and his future, and for me. And, this would be a great time for you to step forward to volunteer to help with middle school, high school, or college ministries.


This Sunday Barbara Feil will be speaking about living out our faith with a message from the book of Ezra. I'll see you there. And don't forget our new time for the Sunday evening service is 6:00 pm.

Pastor Ron

Christmas In July
It’s finally summer in Oregon, but it’s Christmastime at Sunset! In order to keep our costs down for our annual Food and Toy Drive in December we are celebrating Christmas in July!


Everyone can play a part in this amazing ministry by bringing either/or canned food (see list below) or toys and gift cards (see list below) to church any Sunday in July and drop them off at the Food and Toy collection points (Courtyard and just outside the East Entrance).


Christmas in July begins this Sunday, July 5th. If you are out of town this weekend, please plan now to bring your donations on July 12th, 19th or 26th.

Food Donations
Spaghetti Sauce (26oz)
Peanut Butter (16oz)
Canned Fruit (15oz)
Cranberries – Sauce or Jelly (15oz)

Toy Donations
Approx. $15 retail value
No Stuffed Animals Please
Gift Cards (Target, Fred Meyer, Kohl’s…)
Applesauce (2#) Movie Tickets
Art Kits

Our Cup of Joy ministry serves a delicious and nutritious meal to homeless in our community once a month. On Saturday, July 11th, Cup of Joy is hosting a barbecue for homeless men and women and families from JOIN, a county agency that helps homeless men, women and families into permanent housing. It will be held at Colonel Summers Park on SE 17th Ave and Taylor at 12 noon. Volunteers are needed to grill, bring side dishes, and to visit and love on our guests. You can sign up at the Seasons of Service counter on Sunday. Also, if you have a special talent such as juggling or magic tricks please let us know.


Opportunities To Serve

Worship Choir
We are looking for people who enjoy expressing their love for God through singing. Worship choir will sing again on July 26th and August 23rd. If you plan to sing on those dates, please attend rehearsal at 8pm in the Sanctuary on the Thursday before the Sunday’s listed. Interested but aren’t sure yet? Then contact Jill at jillhofer@sunsetpres.org for more information. All ages welcome.


SEASONS OF SERVICE
At Sunset we meet in a building on Cornell Road. But perhaps the truest expression of the church is when it goes outside the walls and becomes knee deep in community involvement. Seasons of Service is a cohesive strategy of community outreach that allows individuals, care groups, small groups, ministry teams and families to serve.


Sunset’s strategy of outreach focus’s our efforts in three areas:
· Serving our schools
· Serving the hungry and poor
· Ministering to the multi-ethnic


Seasons of Service is divided into spring, summer, and Fall/Winter serving opportunities. We are in the middle of our Summer Season of Service. Click here for more information about opportunities to serve. Click here to volunteer for a Seasons of Service event.


Production/Tech Team Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for people to fill the following roles:
Service Director
Lighting
Graphics
FOH Camera Op Week
Message Slide Designer

In addition we have a new volunteer role: Video production. We'd like to find some video editors in our midst. Are you or do you know someone who could do simple projects for us? (i.e. this week, we have white text (provided) on black screen and need someone to edit.) The level of the projects will depend on who we discover. The content is generally available a couple weeks in advance of the deadline. If you have this skill or know someone at Sunset who does, please email me janetfraser@sunsetpres.org.