Dear Middletown Reformed Church Family and Friends,
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
This Sunday begins our summer sermon series Sermons of the People. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who sent in their suggestions for sermon topics for July and August — a lot of good ideas! For the beginning of the series I have chosen the topic of empathy and compassion, or what I like to call “listening for the soul,” a phrase I borrowed from Jean Stairs’s book by the same name. To be sure, empathy and compassion are similar, but they are also different in their focus. If you would like to read some Scripture that speaks to empathy and compassion before you come to church, I invite you to go to this website: https://marisadamore.com/verses/32-bible-verses-about-being-empathetic
So, come and worship with your church family and learn what Jesus teaches us about empathy and compassion this Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Tom will lead us in our hymns and sing the Anthem “By the Spirit.” I am preaching from Matthew 14.13-21 and my sermon title is Listening for the Soul. As it is the first Sunday of the month, we will come to God’s table of amazing grace and celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. After worship, come downstairs to the Lower Auditorium for coffee and conversation with your church family before heading out to enjoy your summer fun.
First Note: July is our month to contribute to the Calico Cat Pantry for household items. All they need is laundry detergent. I would be grateful if you would bring to church this Sunday 2 small or medium containers of detergent (not the large ones) to help people in our community through our partners at the Calico Cat. Thank you!
Second note: Jamie and I will be away July 8 - 14 to rest and rejuvenate. If you should have a pastoral emergency please contact Vice President of Consistory Lisa Leidecker who will then coordinate with Minister Grace Modla, who is on call for me. All other concerns, please contact Lisa.
See you Sunday!
In gratitude for the privilege of being your pastor and the holy call of loving you,
Pastor Trish