September 20

Welcome to Back to Church Weekend! This is a time of rejoicing in the life of Eastminster. God has blessed us and it is great to come and return our praise and have fun in community. Welcome to all! My hope is that what you find here is connection with God. Life is busy, confusing and stressful. We need God to guide us. We need to lift up prayers and know they are heard and answered. We need others around us to support us. And we need to give of ourselves to a ministry greater than ourselves to be complete. So today is a day of new beginnings. The Bible says, “Great is God’s faithfulness, God’s mercies are new every morning.” We will talk about new beginnings today and live into new beginnings in the weeks ahead through worship, friendship, and service to others. Saturday after worship the congregation will celebrate with a good old fashioned ice cream social. I find it hard to find anything wrong with ice cream! Sunday after worship, we will enjoy the sounds of bluegrass during a Ministry Fair. Over twenty different ministries of the church will have information tables with members present to help us understand some of the avenues of enrichment and service that Eastminster offers. It is a great way to get a glance of many of the “parts of this body” that offer support, healing, enrichment and joy at Eastminster. Lunch will be served in Fellowship Hall, where there will also be a magic show. Later Sunday, at 3 p.m., there will be a Festival of Hymns which will be a highlight of the fall musical season. Hope to see you there! Finally, this is “Joining Weekend.” Those that desire to become a member of Eastminster may meet up front by the pulpit after the service to be received as members. To become a member of Eastminster one professes that Jesus is Lord and that you intend to live for in community with other believers. Whether you are here for the first time or have been here for a long time… My prayer is that you experience closeness to God and others here. Welcome! Let’s celebrate! Blessings, Tim