This Week - Recording, Newsletter, Upper Room

Happy Friday, FPCE Family!

Several announcements for you this morning:

1. We will record Sunday's worship service this afternoon at 4:00PM.  If you would like to join, please use the East Swissvale Avenue entrance, wear a mask, and sit socially distanced in the back half of the sanctuary.  We will have a bulletin available with all parts of worship included so that you don't need to touch a bible or hymnal (and we won't have to wipe them down!).  The Rev. Carol Divens Roth joins us again this week and next week as our guest pastor. 
2. We're going to test out our Facebook Live connection this afternoon.  While we record, I'm going to connect the camera to our Facebook page to see how well it broadcasts.  So, if you happen to be at home around 4:00pm and on Facebook, you may get a notification that FPCE has "gone live" and you can watch the video in real time as we record.  Baby steps, but we're slowly getting to being able to do a live stream of the service! We also hope to have news about moving to Sunday mornings in the very near future.
3. Monday is the deadline for the September issue of the newsletter.  If you have something you would like to include -- and if you have news you'd like to share about yourself or your family -- please send it to Judy at [email protected] so that she can compile it for when she and I work on the file together.
4. Those of you who are subscribers and fans of The Upper Room devotional will recall hearing an announcement about online access.  The September/October issue became available to us as a PDF, and that file is attached to this email for you to save to your device and read at your leisure.
5. Speaking of The Upper Room, while I was online last night downloading the file, I pulled up the daily devotion and thought I would share yesterday's inspiration with you.  Enjoy!

Peace,
Shaun

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THUR, AUG 20, 2020

Thought for the Day 
God can make me new every morning.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
— John 10:10 (NIV)

By late winter most of us have had enough of seeing bare, lifeless branches. Judging by the bigger picture, the color, warmth, and vibrance of spring seem far off. But if we go out into the garden and look at the smaller picture, we can see the beginnings of tiny shoots and the earliest signs of new life. Something is happening after all.

Sometimes our lives are a bit like that. We feel much the same and look the same from a distance, but up close God is at work in us — creating small changes. Little by little, God clothes us in more gifts and more love. We may summon up the courage to try something new. Often when we take that risk, we are surprised by the gifts that God has placed within us. We find that we are better at doing something than we thought we might be.

As we accept and enjoy these small changes, we sense God’s love flourishing within us. Just as the first signs of spring are beginning to show in the garden, so God’s spiritual gifts are taking root deep within us.

Prayer: 
Living Lord, thank you for the new growth within us. Help us to trust your presence within us as we risk doing new things for you. Amen.

Meg Mangan (New South Wales, Australia)

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