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First Presbyterian Church oOrlandoDecember 2009
Seeking. Sharing. Serving...All to the Glory of God 
 
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COLUMNS
ON THE WAY
M
arkers. In lie, we need markers. They help us nd our way.They keep us on God’s path. They remind us o God’s aith-ulness. It’s why I love the text rom 1 Samuel 7. Israel had beenghting the Philistines, and it appeared they were headed ordeeat. However, the Lord intervened, turned the battle around,and gave them a great victory. It was a victory clearly rom Hishand. So, Samuel set up a stone—an Ebenezer— to mark theplace where God had acted on their behal. It was a marker—areminder—o God’s activity and aithulness. And yes, it’s wherewe get the line rom the amous hymn, Come Thou Fount o Every Blessing.Sunday, October 25, was a day I will remember or a longtime. It was a day in which I wanted to set up a stone so thattogether, we might remember it. Part o the reason I am writingabout it now is to remind you and help you remember. I supposethis letter is my stone. I preached on James 5:16 that day, callingus as a community to conession. It was not an easy message togive. It was one I had prayed about and anguished over. It’s nev-er easy to remind a group o people that they have issues andfaws, even when you know it may lead to healing and growth.“Conession,” I said, “is the true ground o Christian com-munity.” It is what allows us to break down all the barriers and allthe social dividers. It is what unites us at the oot o the cross. Weall mess up and we all need Jesus.At the end o the service, I invited people to come orward,not to me, but to the cross, that they might coness whateverGod had laid on their hearts that morning. What happened nextcould only be the work o the Holy Spirit. I have given invitationsbeore and meaningul moments have been shared, but this wasdierent. People just started coming. In all our services, it wasthe same. People came. Weeping, bowing, smiling, hugging,they came. Let me share an email I got rom Barbara describingher experience that morning:“Dear David,My name is Barbara and I am a sinner.Thank you or that powerul message today. I needed thatmessage, desperately. What a powerul time o prayer andsharing at the close o the service. I wanted to share with youwhat may seem like an insignicant event but was really avery powerul moment or me. As we stood at the ront o thechurch, my eyes lling with tears, I heard a snife next to me.I reached out and put my arm around the woman that stoodnext to me and she did the same. Ater the prayer we stoodand held hands. I have never met this woman beore, I do notknow her name but I do know that God brought us togetherthis morning to put an arm around each other and supporteach other as we admit-ted we were sinners andloved each other anyway. Tears arelling my eyes again as I rememberthat moment. My husband on oneside and a loving sister in Christ onthe other, while I was conessing my horrible sins, God wasshowing me unconditional love. I don’t know what else to saybesides God is good.”That moment and many others like it played out through themorning. It was holy, sacred ground. I cannot ever rememberactually sobbing—heaving—in a service beore, but I did thatmorning as I was conronted by my own sin and the joy o thecommunity that stood beore me as one. It was a marker momentin the lie o this church, and so I write to remind you o it yetagain—the commitments you made that day, the way in whichGod drew us together as a body, the way in which he shaped ourchurch.It has been my prayer or many months that God would knockdown the walls that have kept us rom true community. I haveprayed that God would allow us to be known in this communitynot as the “movers and shakers” as one person said, or the “rich,white church” as another said, but instead as a humble body o Christ-ollowers, a grace-lled community united around God’sredeeming love. We were moving and shaking that day, but itwas the Spirit who was moving, and the walls that were shakingand alling. What a joy it was to be there that day.I pray that in this Advent Season, we will
remember the gift
o that day, the git o Christ coming. May we rejoice in God’sgoodness, the blessing o His coming, and His relentless gracethat constantly does abundantly more than we could ever hopeor or imagine. In thanksgiving to God, I borrow rom the classichymn to close:“Here I raise my Ebenezer;Here by Thy great help I’ve come;And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,Saely to arrive at home.”May God continue to bring us home, shaping us as a true com-munity o aith. With humble thanks and praise to God, I remainUnder His Mercy,David D. Swanson
WITH
DR. DAVID D. SWANSON
...Remember The Gift
“
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.
”
1 Samuel 7:12-14
 
CONTACT US
407.423.3441
To arrange a baptism
Contact Worship x1451
To arrange a wedding
Contact Weddings x1453
To arrange a uneral ormemorial service
Contact Pastoral Care x1455
To donate fowers orworship services
Contact Worship x1451
With questions about yourpledge, donation, or budget
Contact Finance x1479
With a change o address
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To purchase a sermon CD or DVD
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To join the Chancel Choir
Contact x1273
For child care reservations -Early Childhood
Contact x2250
To reach the Security Oce
Contact 407.415.9793
For Weekday School
Contact 407.996.5864
To nd out about SundaySchool classes
Contact Spiritual Formationx 1463
With questions about the FPCOwebsite or its Columns publication
Contact Communications x1467
To reserve a meeting space
Contact Special Services x1469
HOSPITAL CALLS:
Hospitals are no longer able tonotiy us when our members arehospitalized. I you know someonewho is in the hospital, pleasenotiy the
Pastoral Care
oce at
x1455
.
PASTORAL EMERGENCIES:
For pastoral emergencies outsideo the 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. churchoce hours, please leave a voice-mail message at the main churchnumber. The message center willpage the minister on call, who willreply as soon as possible.
NEED HELP?
Dependency assistance, cancersupport group, grie support,divorce care, inertility group,please contact
CongregationalLie x 1159
www.twitter.com/pcorlandoGroup: First Presbyterian Churcho Orlando
ON THE COVER:
TRUST THE SIGN
:
 
“Thereore the Lord Himsel willgive you a sign: Behold, a virginwill be with child and bear ason, and she will call His nameImmanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 NIV
This Beautiul Nativity was created by Nancy Hannah, Marian Phalin and Pepper Ausley and has been dis-played in the Edington Lobby every Christmas season since 2002. Photoby Todd McLennan.
12WALK WITH ME:
Following Jesus throughthe Scriptures.
12
224
7
MUSIK4Lie
8
ECM - Seeking, Sharing &Serving
9
ECM - Wanted: LovingHands
10
Stephen Ministry
12
Walk With Me
15
Heart Beat
16
ECM: Smith Family
18
Musik Garten FAQs
21
Christ Over Clothes:Spiritual Fashion
21
Sick Sisters: A Ministry orWomen’s Hearts o All Ages
23
News & Notices
24
IMOG: In the Image o God
IN THIS ISSUE:
12
224
4 LIFE Community
 
Moving rom “going to church” to “
being
the church.”
22 Wanted: Singing Men
 
Real men can fnd ellowship and deeper meaning in anunexpected place.
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