This Week: August 17, 2019

COUNSELING & CARE TACKLING FEAR & WORRY

Do you struggle with fear and worry, or have a friend or family member who does? The Counseling and Care ministry at PCPC will be addressing these issues by offering a twelve-week class this fall. The class will walk through Ed Welch’s book, Running Scared - Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest, on Mondays, September 16–December 2, 7:00 – 8:45 p.m. Join in on this great opportunity to tackle two great robbers of our freedom and joy, and let's tackle them together. Childcare available. Find more information at pcpc.org/events. pat.hobin@pcpc.org or 214-224-2541

EVERYONE FALL MIDWEEK

Midweek is an opportunity to rest from your usual weeknight routine and join our church family for a refreshing evening of worship, fellowship, and learning on Wednesdays, September 11–November 13, 5:00–8:45 p.m. Join us for our Vespers worship service in the Chapel, a delicious dinner in the Fellowship Hall, and classes, choirs, and activities for all ages. pcpc.org/midweek

MEN Join us for our Tuesday Morning Men’s Bible Study focusing on the Supremacy of Christ. This study is open to men of all ages, in all places of their spiritual journey on Tuesdays, September 10-December 3, 7:00–8:30 a.m., Fellowship Hall. Join us for great teaching, table fellowship, coffee, and donuts. pcpc.org/men

VOL. XXX, NO .15 | AUGUST 17, 2019 PARK CITIES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH TRICIA COTHRAN, EDITOR 4124 OAK LAWN AVENUE DALLAS, TX 75219-3152

WOMEN WOMEN'S FALL BIBLE STUDIES

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." –Acts 2:42 Women of all ages, we long for you to be a part of the women’s Bible studies this year, beginning September 10-12. Come get connected with other women seeking to know Christ through His Word. To register and for details on classes and childcare visit pcpc.org/women. leslie.newman@pcpc.org or 214-224-2722

MARRIAGE MINISTRY UNION

214-224-2500 pcpc.org facebook.com/parkcitiespca twitter.com/parkcitiespca

THISWEEK@PCPC

TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY

Our goal at PCPC is to guide you into a marriage as God intended it, so we encourage engaged, seriously dating, or newlywed couples to enroll in UNION on Wednesdays, September 11–November 6, 6:45–8:30 p.m., Oak Lawn West.

Please go to pcpc.org/marriage for more information and to register. union@pcpc.org or 214-224-2679

RE|ENGAGE

THISWEEK@PCPC

VOL. XXX, NO. 15 | AUGUST 17, 2019

Re|engage is a powerful marriage enrichment course that uses the transforming truths of the Gospel to guide couples toward growth in their relationship. Join us Mondays, September 9–December 9, 7:00 – 8:45 p.m. Childcare provided for 4th grade and under. Please go to pcpc.org/marriage for more information and to register. melissa.hecht@pcpc.org or 214-224-2679

OUR FAMILY

Living Stones

births • Emery Joy Bradshaw, daughter of Brett & Andrea Bradshaw (CC#14) on July 30, 2019.

by Tricia Cothran

As you come to him [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. -1 Peter 2:4-5 As summer winds down, I look forward to the routines that the fall brings. But every time I approach “The Pit” at PCPC, I’m reminded how routines I’ve taken for granted for years have been knocked down. I'm forced to ask, “Where is my place?”

I was asking myself this when I came across a C.S. Lewis quote and Ray Ortlund’s simple, one-paragraph response to it.

“We have in our day started by getting the whole picture upside down. Starting with the doctrine that every individual is ‘of infinite value,’ we then picture God as a kind of employment committee whose business it is to find suitable careers for souls, square holes for square pegs. In fact, however, the value of the individual does not lie in him. He is capable of receiving value. He receives it by union with Christ. There is no question of finding for the individual a place in the living temple which will do justice to his inherent value and give scope to his natural idiosyncrasy. The place was there first. The individual was created for it. He will not be himself until he is there.”

— C. S. Lewis, “Membership,” in The Weight of Glory (Grand Rapids, 1974), pages 41-42.

No wonder, then, that when we join a healthy church, we feel refreshed, reinvigorated, more alive. We may have looked for our church as if we were shopping, like consumers. But God is better than that and was up to something deeper. He was fitting us into his temple as living stones. It is in discovering the larger reality for which we were created that we come alive. Not by getting our own way, but by fitting into something sacred, ancient and massive.

Church membership is glorious.

— Ray Ortlund I think the temptation toward frustration at the upheaval of demolition and construction stems from viewing myself as a square peg determined to find my perfect square hole. I keep looking at my church to fit me. I need to remind myself that the church building under construction is not the Church. I’m not a member of a building. Those broken rocks scattered around “The Pit” are nowhere near alive. The Church is the body of believers diving deep into fellowship, service, and the Word.

I think there’s a reason Peter used the metaphor of stones versus other building materials such as bricks. First of all, bricks are man-made while stones are not. And any mason will tell you that stones are the stronger material, weathering time and environments for thousands of years in some cases. There’s also the wide variety of stones, with no two stones absolutely identical, and each region has its own geological flavor.

And isn’t that the church? No two people are identical and not every person fits perfectly together. No two church bodies are the same, each one having its own distinct personality based on its place in the world. It would be much simpler if people were like bricks; uniform, quality-controlled, and interchangeable. Square pegs for square holes. But it’s just not true.

Now if Peter had left the metaphor as “you yourselves like stones are being built up as a spiritual house”, then I believe we could only hope for strife. But he beautifully adds in one word: living. Living implies growth, adaptation, and maturity.

Alive means something is dynamic versus static, that change is not only possible but necessary! Square pegs and rectangular bricks have neither give nor grace.

As a living stone, there is a constant inhale and exhale that allows us to make room or fill space as needed. If you don’t fit perfectly now, just give it time. Everyone has a place in the body of Christ. And what we are building through fellowship, service, and study is truly “sacred, ancient and massive."

• Davis Hamilton Ganier, son of Matt & Sarah Ganier (CC#06) on August 1, 2019.

deaths • Gideon "Walter" Knight (CC#22), father of Laura Knight (CC#17) on July 29, 2019.

sympathies • Blake & Anne Pogue (CC#11) on the loss of his brother; Brittaney, Mack, Bryson, Bailey, Jake, & Tucker Pogue (CC#11) on the loss of their uncle, David "Brent" Pogue, on July 28, 2019.

• Mike & Victoria Steindorf (CC#02) on the loss of his mother; Ellie Steinforf (CC#02) on the loss of her grandmother, Marianne Steindorf, on July 30, 2019.

Care Clusters – pcpc.org/care/care-clusters/

GENERAL FUND

budget

2019/2020 operating budget

$13,500,000

July 1—August 4, 2019 budget

$944,570

July 1—August 4, 2019 giving

$859,203

Budget Deficit

–$85,367

SAVE THE DATE CHILDREN AND YOUTH CHOIRS BEGIN Wednesday, September 11 | Room 301

FALL MUSIKGARTEN

Mondays, September 9–January 13 | 9:45-11:00 a.m. | Room 122

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT WELCOME PARTY

Thursday, September 12 | 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Burleson Park

SENIOR ADULT OVERNIGHT TRIP

Friday, September 13-Saturday, September 14 | Glen Rose, TX

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL SMALL GROUPS BEGIN September 16-20 | Times and Location Vary

CHURCH IN THE CITY LUNCHEON: FOSTER CARE

Sunday, September 22 | 12:15–1:30 p.m. | Fellowship Hall