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Stability and Consistency

Lamplighter
Articles are due by
4/24/16 for
MAY/JUNE

Lamplighter

First Congregational Church, Rochester, Massachusetts

March and April 2016

What a difference from the

winter of 2015.!! As I
wrote the March/April newsletter article last year we
were neck deep in snow with
more on the way. However,
as I write this in 2016 it is 53
degrees outside and what little snow there is being
washed away by the rain.
How life changes from year
to year. For that matter, day
to day and hour by hour.

by Pastor Bob Ripley

change at all. It is about stability and consistency within

our faith. It is at this time of
year that I want to call us all
back to the stability and consistency found in our faith.

The most important place we

find stability is in the passion
story of the Bible. How
Christ could die for a people
who not only did not ask, but
really did not want His intervention is beyond our underOur world seems to be ruled standing. Romans 5:8 tells us
that before we even knew
by change, which in many
In
This
Issue
cases is necessarily and help- how to call on God He had
ful. Change can be fun, inter- already sent His Son to die.
esting, inviting and scary all The foundation, the footing
at the same time. Change can and the basis for any stability
in our lives, both physical
bring new adventures or
and spiritual, starts there.
heaps of anxiety all within
the same situation. But as
much as I have led off with
the concept of change, this
article is not really about

tomb separating God from

man in the physical realm
and the spiritual, is also a
stabilizing part of our faith.
If Christ had not taken the
time behind the stone, the
redemption price for our sins
would not have been completely paid. The cross was
the sacrifice, but the tombtime was the payment for sin.
Sin requires separation from
In This Issue

Stability and Consistency

by Pastor Bob Ripley
Financial/Church Leaders
Womens Guild
Ladies Luncheon
ATOMIC Updates
A View From the Pew by
And yet the story goes on
George Smith
from there. The stone, that
Calendar
earthen object that sealed the Youth Praise Team

ANNUAL LADIES
FRIENDSHIP
LUNCHEON
MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Saturday, May 14, 2016

12:00 PM
Come and invite others to a wonderful,
blessed time of fellowship, music, and food.
This years theme is Anchored in Christ
Speaker: Akuot Leek, who will share her
familys trials in Sudan during the Sudanese
Civil war and their amazing journey to the
USA, through their faith and under the
guidance of our Lord.
Please call the church office for
reservations.

WOMENS GUILD UPDATE

The Womens Guild would like to ask people in the
church for help in making a quilt for the 2016 Christmas Fair. We would like you to make a finished 12 inch
square and in earth tone colors. You can either embroider, applique, piece or patchwork your square. You can
make one or more squares.
Meetings will start up again in March.
We thought this would be a good project for all of us to
work on this winter.

Old Sayings

by George Smith (cont.)

Birds of a feather flock together
This saying is not just for the birds, it
mostly involves people. We teach
our children to pal around with good
company because to associate with
bad ones will soon make them become like them. God didnt want the
Israelites to inter-marry with the nations around them and this lead them
astray. All the wisdom that God bestowed on King Solomon, and what
did he do? He did a very, very,
wrong thing. He had many pagan
wives and concubines who convinced him to bring in their statues
of pagan gods to worship. Even Solomon with all his wisdom turned to
some of those god. (1 Kings Ch. 11)
People who live in glass houses
shouldnt throw stones
Sometimes its easy to be critical of
another when they did something
wrong, and then God suddenly reminds us that sometime during our
lives, we did the same thing or something similar. Its like a wake-up call
that we arent perfect yet. Jesus said

Judge not, lest ye be judged. (Matt

7:1)
You can lead a horse to water, but
you cant make him drink
Every Christian has the obligation to
tell others the good news about Jesus
as the opportunity arises. Its like
leading someone to the water Jesus
spoke about in John:4 when he told
the woman at the well, Whoever
drinks the water I give him will never thirst. The water I give him will
become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life. When a
person drinks in Jesus as his Lord
and Savior, eternal life begins right
there. Certainly we cant force people to drink, only they can make that
decision, and only God knows if it
was made with the heart.
Wouldnt it be nice to meet someone
in heaven who is there because we
had a part in telling them about Jesus?

Easter Flowers Order Form

Palm Sunday Services on

March 20, 2016 at 10:30 AM!

Orders due by Sunday, March 20, 2016.

Please write how you would like the listing to appear in the
bulletin on Easter Sunday. Flowers may be picked up following the Easter Service.
Payment must accompany order.
Lily_#__________@$10.00_=_________________
Tulip_#_________@$10.00_=_________________
Daffodils#_______@$10.00_=__________________
Total=

$____________

Given by: __________________________________________

In loving memory/honor of:______________________________
______________________________________________________

Please give your order to any member of the flower committee, our church secretary or mail to the First Congregational
Church, P.O. Box 98, Rochester, Ma 02770

Easter Sunday Services at the

First Congregational Church on the
Green
7 :00 AM Sunrise Service

7:30 AM~ Breakfast- Tickets are available from

any deacon or at the office. 508.763.4314 to
reserve
10:30 AM ~Easter Sunday Service
March 27, 2016

Stability and Consistency by Pastor Bob Ripley

dation that is Christ, we are then afforded the opportunity to display a

time behind the stone.
consistent faith to everyone around
The final part that brings stability for us. Since Christ is the same yesterus is the resurrection. Many sacrific- day, today and tomorrow (Hebrews
es had been made throughout the
13:8), we can be the same as well.
Jewish generations, but one thing
We can love people because Gods
was always the same. Whether a
bull, a goat, a sheep or a dove, once love surrounds us every day. We can
the sacrifice was killed, it remained reach out to the needy, because
Christ has promised to meet our
that way. For us, though, in our
faith, we have something totally dif- every need. We can ser ve other s
ferent. Our final sacrifice came back who will probably never serve us in
return, because the Lord did that
to tell us all about it!!! He
did not languish, but became victori- very thing for all of us simply by
ous. He did not remain a slaughtered coming to earth. We can fellowship
sacrifice but instead showed us how together with other believers even
every week..! because Christ felto be overcomers. So in this ever
changing world in which we live, let lowships with us every day.
us rest our faith in Christ. The stabil- The stability of faith that Christ has
ity we seek, the stability we desire
brought TO us should produce a
and the stability that allows us to
consistency of faith IN us. As we
function knowing there is nothing
celebrate this Lenten season and the
that we cannot do when Christ is
upcoming Easter services, let us be
supporting us.
thankful in our hearts for the stability of faith Christ gifted to us and
I know you think I forgot about
consistency. I did not. I started with then let us be consistent in sharing
the fact that this was about stability that faith with others.
and consistency. So here comes part
two. When we have the solid founGod and Christ paid that during His

Church Officers

Moderator
Chuck Kantner
Clerk
Yvette Beaumont
Treasurer
Kr is Stoltenber g
Financial Secretary Natalie Smith
Historian
Betty Beaulieu
Head Usher
Dor een DeCosta
Sunday School
Superintendent Lynda Par ker

2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017

Board of Trustees
Ron Stafford
Gini Cutler
Steve Johnson
Jim Sullivan
Michael Costa
Board of Christian Education
Amanda Costa
Jackie Demers
Noelle Johnson
Cheryl Stafford
Gini Cutler

2019
2018
2018
2017
2017
2019
2018
2018
2017
2017

Fellowship Hall
Mortgage Balance:

$29,789

Board of Deacons
Joe Dawicki
2019
508-995-2828
jomedic3@aol.com
Roxanne Costa
2019
508-763-3792
costafamily@comcast.net
Diane Sullivan
2019
508-789-9304
dsullivan1102@yahoo.com
Dana Johnson
2018
508-291-6163
DCJCranberry@gmail.com
Eleanor Bootsie Ashley
2018
508-763-2883
Bootsieash@aol.com
Linda Faulkner
2017
508-763-8858
lfaulk47@verizon.net
Roger Deschamps
2017
508-763-2181 roger.deschamps@atimetals.com
Missions Committee
Nancy Sutcliffe
Ellen Hardy
Noelle Johnson
Pat Tate
Chuck Kantner
Nominating Committee
Chuck Kantner
Kirby Gilmore
(member at large)

2019
2019
2018
2017
2017
2017
2017

continued p.2

Old Sayings

by George Smith
It has been said that time changes
everything. Many of the things we
older folks remember from the
past, the younger folks of today
have never even heard of before.
An example would be some of the
old sayings we were told by our
parents and grandparents. So here
are a few of these old sayings and
how the Bible ties in with the
meanings.
Loose lips sink ships
It has been said that this saying
originated during World War II
When it was very important to
maintain radio silence at sea so
that the enemy wouldnt discover
our positions. It can also mean
that loose lips can sink relationships too. All it takes is a few unkind words to cause someone to
leave the church or even cause division there. In James Chap. 2,
James compares the tongue as a

rudder or a ship causing the ship

to be steered in the direction a pilot wants it to go. Since we arent
perfect and do make slips of the
tongue, a heartfelt apology can
make amends for sure.
Never judge a book by its
cover
Sometimes people will judge others by their outward appearance,
like the way they look or dress.
Some will even vote for politicians because they are tall or
handsome. The Israelites werent
satisfied to have God as their
King and judges as their leaders.
They wanted a king just as their
pagan neighbors all had kings. So
then, tall handsome Saul was
made their first king and turned
out one of their worst (1 Sam.
Chap 8 and 9).

ATOMIC youth group had a fun and faith-filled weekend at Monadnock Encounter Winter Retreat. For us, this weekend transformed the negative teenage
slang of being Lit and redefined it as a word to describe the positive representation of Gods unconditional love in our lives. We are Lit for Jesus: allowing his light in when we encounter darkness and sharing his light with people who come into our lives. We cannot thank you all enough for all of your
support and sponsorship for this experience.
Love,

ATOMIC Youth Group

Sun

6
9:00 AM
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
13
9:00 AM
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
Happy Birthday
Phoebe Butler!
20 Palm Sunday
9:00 AM
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
27 Easter Sunday
7:00 AM Sunrise Service
7:45 AM Easter
Breakfast
10:30 AM
Sunday Service

Mon

7
6:30 PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

14
6:30PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

21
6:30 PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

28
6:30PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

Tue

Wed
2

1
7PM
Deacons
Meeting

8
Happy
Birthday
Chelsey
Stafford and
Nate Peck!!

30

23

16

Hosting the
Mayflower
Minister
Meeting

7PM
Trustees
Meeting
15
7PM
BOCE
Meeting

22

29

Thu
Happy
Birthday
Chris Peck!

Fri
5

12

Sat
Happy
Birthday
Lucas Parker!

11

7PM
Choir
10
6:30 PM
Choir

19

26

Happy
Birthday Ian
Friedrichs!

18

25
Good
Friday

17
Happy St.
Patricks
Day!

6:30PM
Choir
24
Sippican
N.H. Visit
10:30 AM

6:30PM
Choir
31
7PM
Choir

First Congregational Church of Rochester

rochestercongregational.org
PO Box 98 11 Constitution Way
rochestercongregational@comcast.net
Rochester, Ma 02770
508.763.4314
Www.facebook.com/FirstCongregationalChurchofRochester

Sun

3
9:00 AM
Sunday School

Mon

9:30 AM
Womens Guild
Business mtg.

6:30-8:30
PM Atomic
Youth

9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service

11

6:30 ATOMIC
Youth Group

Tue

Wed

27

20

13

5
6
7PM
Deacons
Meeting

12
7PM Trustees
Meeting

19

26

Happy Birthday 7PM BOCE

Meeting
Isabel Friedrichs!

18

6:30 PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

10
9:00 AM
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
Happy Birthday
Doreen DeCosta!

17
9:00 AM
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
24 8:00 AM
25
Mens Breakfast Happy Anniver9:00 AM
sary Tom and
Ann Soares!
Sunday School
9:15 AM Adult
Bible Study
10:30 AM
Sunday Service
6:30 PM
ATOMIC
Youth
Group

Thu

7
7 PM
Choir

14
7PM Choir

21

Fri

9
Hosting
the
MACCC
Annual
Meeting

Sat

16

15

23

Happy
Birthday
Sabrina
Sheldon!

22

29

7PM Choir

28

Happy
Birthday
Tom Parker!

30

Happy Birth- Happy

day Lucy
Birthday
Zhang!
Hannah and
Geneva
Smith!

Sippican
N.H. Visit
10:30 AM
7PM Choir

First Congregational Church of Rochester

rochestercongregational.org
PO Box 98 11 Constitution Way
rochestercongregational@comcast.net
Rochester, Ma 02770
508.763.4314
Www.facebook.com/FirstCongregationalChurchofRochester