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Church Chimes A Congregation of The Evangelical Presbyterian ChurchA Congregation of The Evangelical Presbyterian ChurchA Congregation of The Evangelical Presbyterian ChurchA Congregation of The Evangelical Presbyterian Church

Our Mission

Glorifying God by joyfully following Christ according to Scripture!

Our Vision To be a vibrant community of Reformed believers creating a refuge of peace in Jesus Christ through the study of God’s Word, worship, service and evangelism.

Peters Creek Presbyterian Church ▪ 250 Brookwood Road ▪ Venetia, PA 15367 May 2013

This Month at Peters Creek...

Sundays at Peters Creek Worship 8:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Worship 11:00 a.m.

Family Promise April 28 - May 5

Light of Life Walk May 11

Men’s Breakfast May 11

Friend Sunday/Mothers Day May 12

Walk for Life May 18

Strawberry Festival May 31

West Virginia Mission Trip June 23 - 29

Vacation Bible School July 8 - 12

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T his week we heard the news that Margaret Thatcher died. When I heard the news, the

waning days of the Cold War were revived in my memory. Her candor during those days was Churchillian! Her courage rock solid! For this she is ranked 16th among the 100 greatest Britons of all time. Love her or hate her – there was no middle ground of opinion about her, because she was not shy in stating her opinions about matters of great importance nor was

she interested in consensus building.

One of the things I find very attractive about Margaret Thatcher is her ability to get to the nub of an issue. For example about truth she said: “Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.” Her sense of courage: “When I'm out of politics I'm going to run a business. It'll be called Rent-a-Spine.” You can see why no one is neutral about her; she could be like that irritating pea in the princess’s mattress or the sharp grain of sand in the oyster. What no one can deny is that Thatcher was a person of high expectations and she called for her fellow countrymen to aim at the lofty peaks of self-reliance and patriotism. I dare say this is what she will be remembered for – her integrity and her courage – which helped reestablish her nation’s pride

and worldwide esteem.

This is precisely the effect Christianity should have on the world. Its mission is to declare the same “old story” that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. When it declares this truth, the Church becomes an irritant like the sand in the oyster. God uses this irritation to bring about his life and redemption; just as the sand in the

oyster produces a pearl!

When you think about it, Jesus had these very same expectations for the Church: “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8). Paul compared the Christian life to a race: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Cor 9:24) “The prize” of course is eternal life that is obtained and nurtured in this life. The Church is responsible to both declare and live the truth. John Calvin said that “the church is the faithful keeper of God's truth in order that it may not per i sh in the wor ld . ” H igh e x p e c t a t i o n s ! Y e s , i n d e e d ! Nonetheless, a church that stands squarely on this foundation is a long way down the road toward Church

health and God’s blessings.

There are three words that describe the weakness of the American Church today: Superficiality, Uncertainty, and

Complacency. How do we overcome these things? First, we reclaim the magnitude of what we profess. We learn and know what we believe. By focusing on the content of our faith more than sentiment we will find the cure for the trivial. Second, we exercise our faith in the time tested truths of Scripture. That means we wrestle with the promises of the Bible in our prayers. This will bring a new reality to our praying and our faith. Strong faith will keep us from the twilight of ambiguity and uncertainty. Third, our witness, our lives, and our preaching should sound with the compassionate urgency of God’s call for repentance and the certainty of Grace in Jesus Christ. This will be an antidote to complacency and self-

satisfaction.

These are high expectations! Jesus has called Peter’s Creek to meet these expectations so that His Kingdom will grow through us. You know what I believe? Peters Creek will be found faithful! So let’s move onward and upward! Your Pastor and Friend, Doug Brandt

The Death of the Iron Lady, A Call to High Expectations and Moving Onward and Upward:

Thoughts on How to Combat Superficiality, Uncertainty and Self-Satisfaction.

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Be A Friend - Bring A Friend!!

On May 12th we will not only be celebrating Mother’s Day - we will also be celebrating Friend Day here at Peter’s Creek Church. It’s the perfect time to invite your neighbors and acquaintances to church and start to build better relationships! This special service is dedi-cated to welcoming friends to our church, celebrating friendships, and discovering what it means to be a true friend. We will be taking time to learn about various kinds of friendships that can help carry us through life’s trials, celebrate life’s joys, and make life’s journey more meaningful. Remember - even Jesus had 12 friends that He did life together with. So invite someone to come with you – it’s the friendly thing to do!

Strawberry Festival May 31

The Annual Strawberry Festival will be held on May 31 at Peters Creek from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold before and after services beginning May 12. $10 Adults, $8 Seniors, $5 Kids, $4 Dessert. Menu: Roast Beef, Chicken and sides. This will be a great time of Fellowship with your Peters Creek family! Bring a friend!

COMING SOON! Family Promise

April 28 - May 5 Peters Creek will be hosting Family Promise the week of April 28. This is a great opportunity to reach out to the community and show God’s love to those in need. Please sign up in the Narthex to help out.

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Girls Bible Study Girls’ Bible Study will be starting on April 18. Girls in 6th-12th grade are invited. It will meet the same nights and times as Man Cave but at the church. Beverly Cwalina is leading this study.

Family Promise The Youth Group will be serving Family Promise din-ner on Sunday, April 28. We’ll meet at 4:30 p.m. in the Youth Hall to cook dinner.

SHIBS Retreat

Last summer our Youth Group went on a mission trip to the Wade Center in West Virginia. It was an incredible week of helping serve the children of the Bluefield community. It was such a great experience that we want to be able to do even more this sum-mer! That means we need your

help! We have opened this trip to the en-tire congregation because we want all the help we can get to serve a worthy

ministry in a community that needs the love of Jesus. Any adults, college stu-

dents, and teenagers are invited to join us the week of June 23-29. The trip is $150 for students and $200 for adults. We will be doing a variety of service work on the trip including teaching an afternoon Vacation Bible School, doing home repairs in the community, serving local food pantries, leading worship, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others. For more informa-tion on this trip please contact Eric Toohey (eric@peterscreekchurch.org) or Carl Maronde (cnmaronde@comcast.net).

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Children’s Ministry

This summer VBS will be a rip-roaring good time with Jesus at the SonWest Roundup! Trim your mustache, sharpen your spurs, and grab your cowboy hat for a week of wild west fun learning about how God saved his people from slavery in Egypt. This year our VBS program is scheduled for July 8-12 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. There is no charge for our VBS program as we offer it as a service to the community. Children who have just completed Kindergarten through 5th grade are welcome to sign up as partici-pants. We also accept a limited number of preschool students. In order for preschool student to participate he/she must be at least 3 years old, potty-trained, and have attended at least some form of preschool prior to VBS. To register your child for VBS please use the form on our new website. If you are interested in being a volunteer at VBS, p l e a s e c o n t a c t E r i c T o o h e y (eric@peterscreekchurch.org) or Katie Brandt (blondbrandt@gmail.com) for information about how you can help. If you have any additional questions, please contact the church office.

Easter at Peters CreekEaster at Peters CreekEaster at Peters CreekEaster at Peters Creek

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Christian Essentials: Denny Hutchinson leads a class for all ages studying the basics of Christianity, the Confessions of the Reformed Faith and other key topics. Meets in Hinman Hall. Sharing the Word: The "Sharing the Word" Adult Sunday Class has migrated to Youth Hall for our Sun-day morning get together. We have also completed our study of Hebrews and have moved on to explore the book of James. We would love to have additional persons come and add to our sometimes lively discus-sions. “Questors”: We are a group of believers meeting every Sunday in Hinman Hall, focused on building up our Spiritual skills to meet the challenges of “every day” of the week. We meet to study God’s word through the Bible and other Christian writings. There is great discussion and we all learn from each other. Please join us. Terry Toohey and Jay Mininger lead this class.

Sunday Mornings 9:45 AM

A BIG thank you goes out to the men of our Men’s Ministry who spent their morning this past Saturday helping members of our congregation with spring clean-up! All men are invited to join this great ministry. We meet for breakfast every month on the second Saturday and then head out to do a service project together showing God’s love to members of our congregation and the community. Our next breakfast will be May 11 at 9:00 in Hinman Hall. If you would be interested in assisting with the cooking contact Carl Maronde (cnmaronde@comcast.net).

Come dance your way to fitness with certified Zumba Instructor Joyce Main. Burn up to 500 calories in one hour! Classes are Mondays at 6:00 p.m. and cost $6 for each class. All are welcome and invited! Email zumbafit724@gmail.com for more information! Hope to see you there!

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April The April Working Miracles Mission Offering will be Family Promise. Family Promise of the South Hills (formerly IHN) is an interdenominational program that links local congregations to offer around-the-clock shelter, social services, housing, and a Life Skills-self study program, which includes budgeting, home organizations, nutrition, and parenting. Thank you for your support.

May The May Working Miracles Mission Offering will be given to the City Mission in Washington, PA. This wonderful outreach is a nondenominational Christian organization founded in 1941. To quote their mission statement, "the City Mission exists to share Christ, to shelter, to heal and to restore the homeless to inde-pendent living - without discrimination". They provide critically needed meals, goods and services to the homeless, poor and needy. Let's open our hearts and give generously to this wonderful ministry.

Walk for Life The Pregnancy Resource Center will be holding their Walk for Life at Kennywood Park on May 18 at 9:30 a.m. Registration fee is $26, which will in-clude park ticket, T-shirt, bag and water. Extra tick-ets are available to walkers for $23 each. Start col-lecting your sponsors today by registering on-line at www.prcsh.org or www.walkforlife@weebly.com! Can’t make it on May 18? Simply walk the 2 miles on your own and mail-in your completed sponsor form(s). Thank you for standing with us in support of LIFE!

Join Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley on a fun, family-friendly event which begins with a 10K walk along the beautiful North Shore trail and ends with delicious food from local vendors. For more information call the church office or go to www.lightoflife.org.

Peters Creek Presbyterian Church peterscreekchurch@verizon.net ▪ 724-941-6210

www.peterscreekchurch.org

Publication Deadlines Articles for the Church Chimes and announcements for the bulletin should be submitted in electronic format. Submissions for the Chimes are due no later than noon on the 15th of each month for the following month’s edition. Sunday Bulletin Submissions are due no later than noon each Wednesday.

Church StaffChurch StaffChurch StaffChurch Staff

Doug Brandt Senior Pastor doug@peterscreekchurch.org Doris Sawhill Visitation Pastor doris@peterscreekchurch.org Brian Pappal Music & Worship Pastor brian@peterscreekchurch.org Eric Toohey Youth and Children’s Pastor eric@peterscreekchurch.org Eileen Dellorso Accounting eileen@peterscreekchurch.org Barb DeJohn Administrative Assistant barb@peterscreekchurch.org Jennifer Such Communications jenn@peterscreekchurch.org Paul Eiben Facilities Manager paul@peterscreekchurch.org

April 21 8:30 Sandi Myatich 11:00 Moran Family April 28 8:30 Kathy & Rich Smith 11:00 Linda & Don McCaig May 5 8:30 Bob Elmes 11:00 Prosser Family

A Note from your Visitation Pastor Thank you so much for your kind expressions of concern, the many beautiful cards, e-cards, delicious casseroles from the deacons and especially for all your prayers. I am back in the office. Give me a call if you need me. God Bless, Doris