January 12

 

I hope you have had a great week! I want to thank everyone who helped us have such a wonderful Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. We thank those who assisted with our worship services: our greeters, ushers, musicians, liturgists, technicians, and especially the dedicated members of our choir, who massage our souls through music every week. We thank those who nurture our children through Godly Play and those who care for them in the nursery. I also want to thank again those who helped put up and take down the decorations that mean so much to us each Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. We thank Saint Nicholas for visiting us on Christmas Eve and La Befana for visiting on Epiphany. Finally, we thank our Kitchen-Hospitality Team who helped us with our Christmas Party and our Big Coffee Hours. 

So now we transition to a time that is known in the Liturgical Calendar as Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time bridges us from Epiphany to Lent - which starts on Ash Wednesday. We will only have five Sundays in Ordinary Time because Ash Wednesday falls on February 14th this year. Since the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter revolve around the life of Christ, I'm going to use these five Sundays of Ordinary Time as an opportunity to focus on stories and individuals in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The first story we'll be visiting on Sunday is about young Samuel hearing a mysterious voice at night when he is going to bed. It, of course, ends up being the voice of God that Samuel is hearing. This is the story that inspired the hymn, Here I Am Lord, that we sing at the end of every service. If you are wondering how you might hear and discern God's voice in your life, then this story is for you.

Justice Unites Savannah Together (JUST) is an organization that unites people of different faiths to help with systemic change regarding core issues in our community - like education and affordable housing. On Saturday, the 20th, from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m., JUST will be sponsoring a workshop featuring Bishop La Fayette Scales, pastor of Rhema Christian Center in Columbus, Ohio. Bishop Scales is a dynamic speaker and is on the board of DART, the parent organization of JUST. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce the concept of JUST and its importance to people not familiar with it. It also is a good way for those of us who are already involved with JUST to be reminded of the impact it can have on people and society. The event will be held at St. Paul CME Church, 1601 Barnard Street All are welcomed, so please invite others to participate.

Candace Jenkins and I are looking forward to meeting with the participants in our next New Member Class. We have New Member Classes three times a year and the next time is soon....real soon! We'll have our first class next Sunday after the worship service. Lunch is provided. If you are looking for a church home and would like to know more about Asbury and Wesley Oak and would like to participate in the classes on the 21st and 28th, please email Candace Jenkins at: cjenkins@asburymemorial.org or call the church office at 912-233-4351.

About 14 people from Asbury and Wesley Oak will be heading down to St. Simon's Island today for the Southern Lights Conference this weekend at Epworth By The Sea The event is hosted by Brian McLaren and Diana Butler Bass. Please be in prayer for us as we experience this time of education and fellowship. 

Love,
Billy

PS - Please be sure to read the January Newsletter. Just click here to view it.