Please join us for our 2019 Annual Meeting, followed by lunch in the Fellowship Hall, on Sunday, February 10. We look forward to seeing you there!
 Weddings Interested in having your wedding at First Presbyterian Church? Please see our updated guidelines here. Sunday Worship Adult Sunday School 10:00-10:45 am (now meeting in church parlor) Youth Sunday School 10:00-10:45 am Elementary Sunday School 10:00-10:45 Church Nursery: 10:30 am-12:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal: 10:30 am Morning Worship: 11:00 am
Youth Group 12-2 pm (alternates with Youth Sunday School, please call to check times)
Wednesdays Bible Study: Wednesdays at 10:00 am in the Library Chancel Choir Rehearsal: 7:30 pm Visit the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic Website - > http://www.synatlantic.org/ | Pastor's Letter January 2019 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, There seems to be a great deal of cynicism about the potential of the New Year in our country as we exit out of the holiday season and into 2019. We have seen the memes that compared 2018 to a dumpster fire. You can even buy that t-shirt on Amazon! And you hipsters are undoubtedly aware of this Verge cartoon that makes light of those who would rather ignore “the troubles.”  Karl Barth is credited with saying one should “always preach with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” These days, we should make sure that we have the Bible in hand when we’re handed yet another dose of the seemingly endless bad news cycle – lest we become either cynical or are tempted to stick our heads in the sand. Or worst for Christians – that we might cause scandal to the Gospel by sinking into hopelessness. Allison Carmen, author of “The Gift of Maybe” wrote in a Psychology Today article published December 31st, 2017, speaking of some friends who felt hopeless, “I feel hopeful because the FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN and that means MAYBE what is happening can lead to something good, MAYBE things can get better or MAYBE we can find a way to accept what is happening and still be okay. Even during difficult times, MAYBE there is something special to experience in the moment. I told them that I have a Maybe mindset and there is no reason to abandon hope.” How much more so for us who not only have the gift of maybe, but the promise of God in Jesus Christ! Romans 5:3-5 reminds us, “We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Hope does not disappoint. Hope is not a maybe, hope is the eager expectation that all things will work together for good, and we are simply waiting for the unfolding of God’s plan for good. “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11 Your sister in our journey of hope – Pastor Karen  |