Newsletter
|
|
CCYPRESS CHURCH NEWSLETTER The mission of Cypress Presbyterian Church is to share the Good News of God’s love through joyful worship; teaching and abiding by God’s Word; Christ-centered fellowship; and witnessing to and caring for those in the community, nation and world. |
*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
***
March, April & May 2009
To the Saints in a time of growth:
Back on January 9th and 10th, we held out a joint Session/Congregation retreat to work out our guiding principles. On the first night of the retreat, I laid out the biblical rationale for Cypress Church to develop guiding principles. I said that Jesus followed His guiding principles. As His followers, we should live a principled life as well. Jesus’ main guiding principle was to seek and follow God’s Will. Jesus pitted God’s will and His guiding principles against all worldly and evil pressure.
In the face of Satan’s temptation for self satisfaction, Jesus responds with the guiding principle Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. In the face of Satan’s temptation to show off God’s power, Jesus responds with the guiding principle You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test. In the face of the temptation to replace God with Satan, Jesus responds with the guiding principle You shall worship the Lord God and Him alone shall you serve.
What was the effect of Jesus living a principled life? Jesus was not controlled by anxiety or fear. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was not looking forward to His sacrifice for us, but he prayed to God with His number one principle, not my will, but thy will be done. Jesus was so committed to God’s will that I don’t recall his ever compromising principle to serve a selfish need.
Does living a principled life mean we don’t become emotional about things? Of course not! Jesus gets emotional. But while Jesus is compassionate toward the needy and hurting, weeps for his friend Lazarus and is angered by the arrogance of the Pharisees, his guiding principles rule his emotions and not the other way around.
Often, Jesus decides when to get emotional. When Jesus turns over tables and tosses out the money changers from the Temple, he does so as a prophetic act based on the principle that My Father’s house is intended to be a house of prayer and he uses this emotional tirade to makes his principled point. Jesus uses principle to guide emotion. And when Jesus encounters emotional immaturity as He does throughout the gospels: be it the crowd about to stone the woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan Women with five husbands, the enthusiastic Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus repeatedly responds to emotional immaturity with thoughtful, helpful and appropriate behavior. Guiding principles give us balance as we navigate our way through the emotionally tense seas of life.
With this as background and the help of John Goodman, our Elders and some of our members who cared about Cypress Church, we developed the following 10 principles for Cypress Church during our Session/Congregation retreat. The Session decided not to publish these principles right away, but to think about them for a couple of months in order to make sure they fit us. After 3 months of reflection and discussion the principles developed on the Session/Congregational retreat remain intact. They are:
1. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church.
2. We seek to preserve our heritage while being open to new ideas.
3. We seek to preserve Cypress tradition in all areas of worship.
4. We pray for God’s direction, for strong faith, for understanding of God’s will,
and for the humility to follow Him.
5. Relying on God’s grace, we seek to share God’s love and to love one another through worship and fellowship.
6. Ignited by the Spirit, we look to BOLDLY witness, minister, and care for those in the community, nation, and world in promoting our faith.
7. We seek to understand, before being understood.
8. God’s Word is paramount to our life together.
9. We seek to provide quality Christian Education for children and adults.
10.We aim to live our lives in godly fashion by studying and teaching God’s Word and reaching out to others in
kindness.
(continued on next page)
In comparing our principles with our already existing mission statement that was developed shortly before my arrival, it seems like the two flow together and echo one another nicely. What is Cypress mission statement?
The Mission of Cypress Presbyterian Church is to share the Good News of God’s love through joyful worship; teaching and abiding by God’s Word; Christ-centered fellowship; and witnessing to and caring for those in the community, nation and world.
I would like to thank those who did the hard work of praying and thinking these things through. Let us follow Christ’s example and live according to our principles as we seek to live out our God given mission.
In Christ,
Bob Whitehouse
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
The Session approved 4 new signs to be placed at key intersections in the community. Keep an eye out for them. Thank you to Tod Reid, Mike Blue and others on the Communications and Building and Grounds Committees for their work in getting this done.
New Cypress brochures have been developed and printed. We hope to mail them out to residents in the community in the near future.
Art Munguia and the Discipleship Committe are working on a visitation plan. This was one of the goals from the retreat in January.
WOMEN OF THE CHURCH…
The Annual Spring Gathering for Presbyterian Women will be at Barbecue Presbyterian Church on Saturday, April 4th. All women are encouraged to attend. Please contact Mary Smith if you would like to go. If there is enough interest the van will be used. Plans are to leave from the church at 8:45 and return by 2:00. The speaker is Dr. Catrelia Hunter - Moderator of the 2008-09 Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women. In addition to the keynote speech, the Bible Study for the coming year will be introduced.
The Daytime Women’s Circle (1) will meet on April 6th at 2:00 in the fellowship hall. The Gospel Girls will also meet on the 6th in the fellowship hall but at 7:00 pm.
Several Presbyterian Women officer positions need to be filled for the upcoming two-year term (installation in September). These are the offices of Vice-Moderator, Secretary and Treasurer. Two volunteers under missions will also be needed. Ladies, please prayerfully consider serving or continuing to serve in one of these positions.
The Presbyterian Women’s Birthday Meeting will be on Monday May 4th at 7:00 in the fellowship. All ladies are invited. The focus of the evening is on missions. The new slate of officers will be presented for election and approval.
PRESBYTERIAN CONNECTIONS…
Rev. Whitehouse, Pat McFadyen and Art Munguia attended the “Equipping The Saints” workshops in Fayetteville on February 14th.
Rev. Whitehouse, Art Munguia and Donna Boughton attended the Fear Free Evangelism Workshop at First Presbyterian Church in Sanford on March 9th. The workshop enabled those interested
in evangelism to understand and develop their own skills and abilities in reaching others in everyday conversations.
If you are interested in the activities of our presbytery and have access to the internet, please visit the website www.presbycc.org. The website for the Presbyterian Church – USA is www.pcusa.org.
YOUTH GROUP…
The Cypress and Vass Presbyterian Youth continue to meet together on the first and third Sundays of each month at 5:45. Attendance has been ranging from around 15 to around 25. On the first Sundays, we meet at Cypress and the game room, playground and open space behind the fellowship hall are all put to good use. On the third Sundays, we meet at Vass where we are enjoying meals in the new fellowship hall and praise music led by one of the Vass adult members on the guitar. Each meeting usually features a topic of discussion chosen by a youth who also leads the discussion. “Talk Sheets” related to various real-life topics are used to organize the discussion and help in finding out what the Bible has to say about the subject. All middle school and high school youth are invited.
The Youth are planning another mission trip to Charlotte the week of July 20th. We look forward to serving in local relief organizations. Much like the trip we took two years ago, we will be staying at a large Presbyterian Church (Avondale) that has organized the service activities for the week. As time draws nearer, we will probably have a fund-raising event to assist participants in meeting the $25 per night cost. If you would like to contribute to the mission trip, please see Rev. Whitehouse or Chris Stewart.
TRAIN UP A CHILD…
Recently, the children attending our rotational Sunday School learned about some of the parables of Jesus. In Creation Station they decorated flower pots to remind them of the parable of the sower and the seeds.
Please bring your children to Sunday School and invite your neighbors. We have a great program in place and just need the kids to take advantage of it.
|
|
BIRTHDAYS…
The birthday chart for the entire year is posted on the bulletin board near the secretary’s desk. Please review it and contact Chris Stewart if your name, birthdate and anniversary are not on it. Contact him by email at ccstewart@mindspring.com or by phone at 245-7397. |
PRAYER LIST…
Those facing surgery or having tests madeAll who are sick and lonely – Caregivers -The Pastor - The Session – Other church leadersOur Military Personnel and their familiesThe early worship service & Sunday School Teachers, administrators and students
Remember to contact Chris Stewart by Thursday evening if you would like to put a name on the prayer list in our bulletin.
CONDOLENCES…
Sincerest sympathy is expressed to Wayne Parker and his family in the loss of his sister. |
|||||
|
MEMBERS IN TRAINING…
Our communicants class has gone very well under the leadership of Joanna Whitehouse and our Elders. Members of the class are Peter and Ross Whitehouse, LeAnn Pope and Micaela Wilkinson. Our Elders have been taking turns attending the class with our young people. Classes started on March 1st and will go for 8 sessions. We plan to receive our new members on Mother’s Day, May 10th.
ASHES TO ASHES…
On Wednesday, February 25th we once again celebrated Ash Wednesday with a covered-dish supper and special worship service. The handbell group SUCCEED from Sandhills Community College presented several hymns to begin the service. This group of special needs adults did a great job and touched the hearts of all present. The service included the imposition of ashes reminding us that “we are dust and to dust we shall return” (from Genesis 3:19). As part of the service we also included a unison prayer of confession and we have continued to do this each Sunday during Lent. This helps us remember how much we needed Jesus to come to earth to sacrifice Himself for our sins and how much His love and forgiveness means to us.
CYPRESS ONLINE…
Thank you to Rich and Dee Kirschke and Walter Smith for all their efforts in keeping our Cypress website (www.cypresspres.org) current with new pictures, bulletin announcements and newsletter information. If you have pictures, announcements or other items you would like included on the website, please contact Dee or Mary Lawrie.
‘TIS THE SEASON…
The Fellowship Committee is now decorating the fellowship hall for the holidays and seasons. Use the building as you need it but please leave it as you found it. If you have questions contact Mary Smith. Thank you.
CYPRESS HOUSE GOLF TOURNAMENT…
The Cypress House Golf Tournament on Saturday March 7th was a great success again raising around $8800. Overall winners were Gary and Jason Briggs, Steve Clark and Cass Tart. Congratulations to them! |
ON THE GO…
A van-load of Cypress members made the trip to the Billy Graham Library and Museum in Charlotte on Friday, February 27th. Rev. Whitehouse was again a good driver and everyone had a great time. The library does a great job utilizing new technology, great physical settings and impressive displays to share Billy Graham’s mission and his focus on Jesus Christ.
On May 2nd the van will make the trip to a Durham Bulls Game. As of the printing of the newsletter there are 9 tickets left. Plans are to leave from the church at 3:30 pm for the 5:15 game and return when it is over. The cost of the tickets is $8 for reserved seats that are under the roof directly overlooking 3rd base (section 217). We are grouped in back to back rows of 7 folks. First come, first serve. Please see Pastor Bob to buy your ticket (make checks out to Cypress Presbyterian Church: memo Durham Bulls).
SOUP WAS ON…
On March 15th, the entire congregation enjoyed a lunch of soup, sandwiches and desserts. There were eight kinds of soup including vegetable, taco, chili, chicken noodle, chicken and rice, potato, and broccoli-cheese. Thanks to all who provided the food or contributed money. Thanks also to the fellowship committee for getting it all organized.
COMMUNITY SERVICE…
Daniel Brooks, Bob Whitehouse and Caleb Gibson all participated in the St. Baldrick’s event in Pinehurst. It was a dreary, rainy day in Pinehurst but spirits were bright in the town fire station where the event took place. The event raised money by people sponsoring others to shave their heads. Daniel was one of the barbers shaving heads and had his head shaved as well. Money raised is used to help children and young people in their fight against cancer. Thank you to all who made contributions and thanks to these three for their participation.
Pat Blake will be walking in the Fayetteville area MS Walkathon this Saturday, April 4th. Cypress members have been very supportive in the past and any amount is appreciated. Please see Pat or sign up on the sheet in the vestibule to make a donation. |
||||||
|
MUSIC AT CYPRESS…
After Homecoming in 1967 members of the McMillan family decided to purchase an organ for the church. It was presented in December 1967 “In loving memory of Annie McNeill McMillan and John M. McMillan and Edna Rawls Parker and Julian E. Parker by Mary McMillan Parker and J. E. Parker, Jr.” The organ served Cypress very well for many years but, as all aging things do, it had problems recently. The organ will soon move to its new home – back to a member of the family who donated it. Vivian Blackburn and Sandra Stephens are part of the McMillan family who still attend Cypress regularly. Bill Kirby, of the Fayetteville Observer, Sara Dykstra (Sandra’s sister who lives in California) and several others in the family often visit at the Harvest Sale and Homecoming. We are very appreciative of the gift so many years ago and of their graciousness in receiving it back again now.
Our “new” organ was donated to us by an elderly gentleman who lives at Seven Lakes and was downsizing his household. He said he had played the organ for many years and was glad that it came to our church. We had just begun the process of setting up a committee to look into purchasing a new organ, when we got the call about his organ from our organ repairman – Divine Providence?
As a result of replacing something that has been a part of our church for so many years, we will be purchasing a perpetual plaque that will permanently document gifts and memorials of this nature.
MORE ABOUT MUSIC…
The choir has been working on several new pieces during Lent. One piece, “Bread of Angels” will include a special liturgical dance offered by Micaela Wilkinson. Another piece “Clap Your Hands” will be sung on Palm Sunday. It was one of the songs introduced to Joanna Whitehouse and Chris Stewart when they attended the Massanetta Bible and Music Conference last summer.
If you love to sing please consider joining the choir. We practice on Wednesdays at 7:00 and we all have a good time.
The next 5th Saturday night supper and singing by the Gospel Boys is tentatively planned for Memorial Day weekend. Stay tuned for details. |
STUDY, STUDY…
Recently we included a survey in the bulletin asking about the interest in attending a second Bible Study. There were 12 positive responses – more than enough to start a second Bible Study. For Monday night there was 1 response, for Tuesday there were 7 and for Friday there were 4. The new Bible Study will start on Tuesday, April 21st at 7:30. Diane and David Mead have agreed to host the meetings and others responded on the survey that they would also be willing to host. The first meeting will mostly consist of deciding which book of the Bible or Bible topic to study. Please plan to attend.
UPCOMING EVENTS…
April 9th – Maundy Thursday – Cypress will celebrate its first Seder meal at 6:30 PM. The Seder meal is how Jewish people have celebrated the start of Passover for centuries. The meal is rich in symbolism, humor and tradition. It is the meal Jesus and His disciples celebrated on the night of His arrest. We’ll be serving chicken, green beans, and soup with macaroons for desert to supplement the traditional elements of the Seder meal [Charoseth (dates, nuts, raisins) Maror (horseradish), Matzah bread, hardboiled egg, and parsley]. The meal and Communion will be served in the fellowship hall. A slightly abbreviated Tenebrae service will follow our Seder meal at 7:30 PM. in the sanctuary ending with the Shrouding of the Cross in the churchyard.
April 10th – Community Good Friday Service at 12 noon at the Vass United Methodist Church.
April 11th – 2:00 – Cypress Easter Egg Hunt
April 12th – Easter Sunrise Service 6:30 A.M. at the Oates House with special music from Sook Shin. We hope to celebrate this service outdoors, but will go indoors if needed.
April 17th – 7:00 – Session meeting
May 3rd – Cypress Memorial Sunday with Rev. Richard Rodda as the guest minister. The day features a 7:30 service in the cemetery (weather permitting), breakfast, special music, historical displays, remembrances of Cypress members and the placing of flowers in the cemetery.
May 10th – Mother’s Day – Reception of Confirmation Class
June 22-26 – Vacation Bible School at Cypress Church
Everyone is invited to a lunch of soup and sandwiches today after our 11 AM worship service. Please stay and join us. |
||||||
From our Presbytery website…
Green Living— means practicing our faith through caring for the creation. Scripture and our Reformed faith tradition calls humans to be stewards of the earth and to participate in God’s call to justice. There is a guide titled Green Living designed by the PC(USA) to prompt individual lifestyle changes and offer resources
and ideas to assist in greening our lives and sharing God’s love with the world.
The guide which you can fine at www.pcusa.org/justliving is divided into five sections:
1) Green Consumption
2) Greening Transportation
3) The Green House Effect
4) Resources for Further Study
5) Enough for Everyone
From Mary Lawrie – useful information…
Ladies, here is a website to check the dates on your McCormick spices.
http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices.aspx
Many of our spices can be out-of-date big time and it’s good to check.
A few pastor funnies and bulletin bloopers (hopefully not here)…
- The pastor asks the ladies of the church for the use of their electric girdles for the pancake supper.
- Experience is that marvelous thing that allows you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
- Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.
- The pastor addressed the youth concerning the new dress code which includes no navels. They must
be left at home, please.
Cypress Presbyterian Church
PO Box 7
Cameron, NC 28326 - 0007