In the 700-800 year span between Isaiah and Jesus, the world saw the rise and fall of several empires: Assyria, Babylon, Medes/Persians, Macedonians (Greeks), and Rome. Each of these kingdoms lasted a hundred or so years, and then either out of inability to lead or assassination, each of these empires would fall. Judah, like her sister Israel, failed to follow the Lord and eventually fell under God's judgement. However, they were promised a Savior, a Messiah, and many prophecies foretold of His coming. Isaiah 7:14-16, Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 33:14-18, Daniel 7 . . . Just to name a few. I wonder how many people in the centuries between the Old and New Testaments felt hopeful that they would see a restoration of Israel. How many Jews today still await a Messiah? I think it's lost on us Americans how long that gap was, when our own country isn’t 250 years old yet. Each passing year, each passing empire... the Jewish people of old probably felt very much like Jewish people today: uncertain, fearful, despairing.
Then one day, in a tiny town in the Galilee region of Palestine, a young unmarried woman was told by an angel that everything was about to change. She was going to conceive a Child by supernatural means (Luke 1:35 describes how Mary was the center of the miracle through a convergence of the 3-in-1 God). But I'm sure that the news from Gabriel made no sense in a lot of ways: virgins don't have babies, the angel said this Baby would be an everlasting King but is going to be born to a peasant girl, and all of that is couched in the fact that Israel had been kicked around for hundreds of years and was currently under the thumb of Rome. This Child, of course, is who we know as Jesus. He came to earth not only to teach us a better way to live here on earth, but He died and rose again to show us His incredible love for us by once-and-for-all removing our sins. After appearing not just to His disciples but to over 500 eyewitnesses to His risen self (1 Cor 15:6), He ascended to heaven and is preparing a place for us (John 14:3). And He's coming back in the same way He was seen leaving (Acts 1:11)
Nearly 2000 years have elapsed since those events took place, and it's really hard for us to comprehend time in that scale. 2000 years is a long time. Like the Jews of old, we have promises to cling to, but especially given what's happening today, it's easy to forget or despair. Every day goes by that I don't feel saddened by something bad in the news. But I wanted to offer an encouragement and an exhortation as we close 2023 and start 2024:
1) Take Courage. When Joshua spoke to Israel after Moses died (Joshua 1), there was one command repeated three times to Israel: be strong and courageous. I have to imagine this was the kind of speech given during a pep talk before the big game, or like a general before a battle. This repeated refrain was attached to another command, to carefully follow the laws of Moses (which were ultimately of God). Joshua hoped to convey an intensity and seriousness of study and focus on God's laws (This book . . . shall not depart from your mouth . . . meditate on it day and night . . . carefully do all that is written in it). Joshua knew the preparation necessary to remain a committed and holy people was rooted in regular study and careful interpretation of God's word. Let's complement that with 1 Peter 3:14-15. "Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you..." Note the parallel themes of not just courage, but the necessary preparation! As a church, we will have "read through the Bible in a year" bookmarks. Alternatively, for a New Years' Resolution, pick up a new devotional to supplement your time reading God's word. Commit new verses to memory. I used to think that being prepared to give an answer meant praying really hard that God will drop words right in my mouth to say. Instead, I think God prefers if we read from His word, and the frequent engagement with it will help our mental preparation. As any athlete knows, you have to stretch your muscles to help them grow. By flexing these spiritual muscles, it'll help your soul to grow. Not just in wisdom, but also in discernment and hopefully in courage.
2) Stay alert. Go read Matthew 24. I'm not an expert on eschatology, or end-of-days, pre/post/amillennial perspectives. I generally think of myself as a "pan-millennial", as in, it'll all pan out in the end. I'm also not saying that we're in the end times. I have no idea; only God knows. And feel free to disagree with me; in fact, I welcome the dialogue so hit me with your perspectives. Now that I have the disclaimers aside . . . I tend to think that Christians will not be exempt from the period of tribulation (Matt 24:9). I think that the tribulation is what will be used to separate those who truly believe from those who nominally or altogether do not believe (Matt 24:10-13). All that to be said, better buckle up for a bumpy ride. We need to remain alert (Matt 24:42-44). What does alert look like? Well, the parables in Matthew 25 give us an idea. In the parable of the ten virgins, five were prudent and took extra oil for their lamps, five were foolish and did not. Note that each of these subgroups (prudent vs foolish) were a part of the same group, waiting for the same thing (the arrival of the Bridegroom). But only one group was prepared. Likewise, the binary shows again in the latter part of the chapter, where Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep demonstrated their faith and did God’s will (James 2:14-26), whereas the goats did not. I heard the phrase “Hezekiah Christians” earlier this week and it’s stuck with me. Hezekiah was one of the good and faithful kings of Judah, but at the end of his life, he gave the up-and-coming nation Babylon a tour of all the treasures and things that he had. Isaiah told him that was a bad idea, and as a result some of his descendants will be taken away into Babylon. Instead of repenting of this misstep, Hezekiah thought to himself “O well, at least it’ll be peaceful during my lifetime.” (See 2 Kings 20:12-21) What a shortsighted view! Don’t be a Hezekiah Christian! We are not called to coast through life, we are not called to pay someone else to do the work for us, and worst of all, we should not expect the government to feed the hungry or care for the poor. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. In the New Year, there will be some exciting things in store. The new teams are positioning our congregation to deploy new missions and new opportunities to reach the community. Are you alert and ready?
The most blessed and merry of Christmases, and the happiest of New Years!
From my family to yours,
Tim Leidy
Congratulations to Jennifer Weinberg at her baptism. May God be with her as she grows in Him.
On Sunday night, December 24th at 7 pm, Leidy’s Church will have its Christmas Eve worship service. Pre-service special music on the theme of the joys of Christ’s birth on Christmas will begin at 6:30 pm. The corporate singing of our favorite Christmas songs will convey our gratefulness to God for sending us the greatest Gift of His Son, Jesus. We will listen to the Christmas story recounting the promise of the Christ child, who through miraculous conception was born into this sinful world as a baby swaddled and lying in a manger and imagine the portrait of shepherds hearing the heavenly angelic host. God became man to live among us and to behold His glory as the one unique Son of the Father full of grace and truth. We will close our worship service by the lighting of our candles and the singing of Silent Night.
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Isaiah 11:1 During the Sundays of Advent, beginning December 3, ALL our Sunday School children are invited up front during the Service of Worship to participate in the Advent portion of the service. “There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a Baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers His name…” -Jesus Storybook Bible.
We will have some of our older children read through each week’s Advent readings, and some of the younger children will have an opportunity to put a corresponding ornament on the “Jesse Tree”. There are copies of the readings and corresponding ornaments in your church mailbox for all our Sunday School students to enjoy at home. You can each have your own Jesse Tree! Additional copies can be found in the Narthex.
Have you heard about The House of Jésus Project? No? Well, here’s your opportunity to get informed.
Pastor Jésus Ramon is the Pastor of Christ the King of Kings Church in San Cristobal, Venezuela. He is our missionary to Venezuela’s poor and indigent folk. Through the In This Time of Need fund, we allot him some $500 a month to deliver food, medicine, and other necessities to those who could never get them on their own. Along with those provisions, he also gives them hearty and cheerful greetings in Jesus’ name and a presentation of the Gospel.
Pastor Jésus lives in a ground level house where the second floor is the church worship facility. His wife Caroline and their three daughters live there as well. They have a variety of nagging health issues, most related to respiratory problems. There’s a reason for that!
The house of Pastor Jésus is covered with heavy, black mold. So is the church facility on the upper floor. Given such is the case, is it any wonder that their two year-old daughter has breathing issues!
The Mission Committee has decided to take on the project of mold remediation – that’s not just cleaning the mold away, but getting at the microscopic root causes and hiding places and removing them – for Pastor Jésus’ house during the year 2024. The estimated cost of doing the mold remediation $30,000 or more. Whew! That’s a lot of money to raise.
That’s why throughout 2024 there will be a variety of fund (and fun) raising activities taking place for The House of Jésus Project. The base project will be the Dollar-A-Day initiative. We’ve done this a couple of other times. Congregational members will be challenged to set aside one dollar each day to give to The House of Jésus Project. As that daily dollar is put aside, folk should also pray for Pastor Jésus and his family. We can pray for the ministry God has given them, for their health concerns, and for our mold remediation project.
But there will be other opportunities to give and have a good time. For instance, the Mission Committee is planning a Wings & Trivia night sometime in February. The month of May will feature a Spanish Feast with Paella, cup of broth with cilantro, plantains with salsa Pico de Gallo, and empanadas. Oh yes, there will be some Colombian desserts as well! Martha Wolgemuth and friends will be preparing all this and there is no cost for you – just give an offering if you like, or don’t give an offering if you don’t like. Also, it seems there is a Family Fun & Games Night being planned. It will include a Corn Hole Tournament where Josh Heebner will have to defend his crown of Corn Hole Champion of Leidy’s Church.
Now, there you have it. An explanation of what The House of Jésus Project is, why it is a worthy project, and how you can participate in it. More information is forthcoming, but at least now you’ll know what folk are talking about.
Calling all ladies to join us for our monthly LOL meeting on Tuesday, December 5th @ 7pm in the Fellowship Hall. We will have some light refreshments and a brief business meeting so we can wrap gifts and enjoy each other in fellowship. Please contact Karen Mirabella with any questions.
Mick and Cathy Sander visited Leidy’s Church on November 5th. Serving with Comfort for Africa in the country of eSwatini, their ministry is directed to the deaf community. Part of that ministry is teaching at a primary school and also a secondary school. Combined, the two schools have about 200 students.
All of the students are boarding students, that is, they live at the school. When the students come to the school, they’re supposed to bring their supply of toiletries with them. For many that is not feasible. Hence, Mick and Cathy dig into their own pockets to provide them the necessary toothbrushes, wash cloths, soap, toothpaste, etc. It can take a toll on the Sanders’ out-of-pocket expenses.
In order to help alleviate that un-budgeted expense, the Mission Committee has purposed to send Mick and Cathy $2,000 to provide funding for those essential toiletries for students who cannot afford to bring their own. To that end, during the month of December the Committee invites members of the congregation to give an extra offering to help meet that $2,000 figure. Just use a Second Mile offering envelope and mark it Hygiene Help and put it in one of the pillars at the back of the sanctuary.
Thanks for your help!
Present: Brian Shoemaker, Jerry Kulp, Shaun Permar, Bob Ott, Aaron Vogelzang, Jim Kinney, Ken Merritt, Brian Radcliff, Jim Foote, Tony Kapusta, Josh Heebner, Kendall Musselman, Francis Weiss, and Tim Leidy
The meeting was called to order at 8:11 PM. Jerry Kulp opened with prayer.
Minutes from the Consistory Meeting of October 4th were reviewed. On motion of Jerry Kulp, seconded by Tony Kapusta, the Minutes were approved.
General Fund giving for October, a five Sunday month, totaled $69,776, while budgeted expenses totaled $43,801, resulting in a Total Fund balance of $38,905. Renovation Fund contributions for October were $1,575. There were no disbursements, resulting in a balance of $134,390. There is about $220,000 in the bank for General Fund and it was decided that the $100,000 borrowed from the Renovation Fund will be paid back by the end of the year. Our bottom line is projected to be $85,000 better than the June forecast, primarily because we didn’t hire an interim pastor and salary had been projected for an interim. Our yearly Benevolence payment to Every Good Gift was paid and decisions regarding other benevolence payments will be made at the December Consistory meeting. The October Financial report was approved.
The 2024 proposed budget was presented and feedback given. The final preliminary budget proposal will be presented at the December Consistory meeting and eventually the January Congregational Meeting for final approval.
The Pulpit Committee had a very positive meeting over a week ago. Another meeting, with previous pulpit committee members and Eugene Miller (Pastor at Living Hope Community Church), is scheduled. The purpose of this meeting is to get feedback regarding what worked or didn’t work well during the last pastoral search process. The newly revised Pastor of Leidy’s Church Job description, previously distributed via e-mail for review, was discussed and approved.
Our new Office Manager, Jenny Ernst, officially started and is getting acclimated. A discussion was had regarding the need to form an administration team to meet with and support the office staff on a regular basis. We are still actively seeking applicants for the Worship Leader Position.
A hot water system will be installed on the youth room faucet so hot water will be available there. Most of the areas of the building do not have hot water. Work is being done to determine the root cause of the problem. The fence around the playground should be fixed by Christmas. Flooring in the parsonage apartment has been replaced, as well as the carpet in the master bedroom of the parsonage. A very detailed and prioritized list of all work to be done in each section of the parsonage and parsonage apartment was presented. Several windows will be purchased and installed by the end of spring.
Ahead of the December Consistory meeting, a meeting will be held for the purpose of making final revisions to the ministry teams and their budgets.
Josh closed the meeting in prayer. The meeting adjourned at 11:03 PM.
Come share some Christmas joy by singing in the choir! The Leidy’s Church choir will sing O Holy Night on Sunday, December 24th during the morning worship service. Rehearsals are Wednesday, December 6th and Wednesday, December 13th from 6-7pm. For questions, contact the church office.
Question 36: What do we believe about the Holy Spirit?
That he is God, coeternal with the Father and the Son, and that God grants him irrevocably to all who believe.
John 14:16–17: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Commentary - Augustine of Hippo
Wherefore, when our Lord breathed on His disciples, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” He certainly wished it to be understood that the Holy Ghost was not only the Spirit of the Father, but of the only begotten Son Himself. For the same Spirit is, indeed, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, making with them the trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit, not a creature, but the Creator.
Sam Storms
Rarely does a Christian struggle to think of God as Father. And to envision God as Son is not a problem for many. These personal names come easily to us because our lives and relationships are inescapably intertwined with fathers and sons here on earth. But God as Holy Spirit is often a different matter. Gordon Fee tells of one of his students who remarked, “God the Father makes perfectly good sense to me, and God the Son I can quite understand; but the Holy Spirit is a gray, oblong blur.”
How different this is from what we actually read in Scripture. There we see that the Spirit is not third in rank in the Godhead but is coequal and coeternal with the Father and Son, sharing with them all the glory and honor due unto our triune God. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal power or an ethereal, abstract energy. The Spirit is personal in every sense of the term. He has a mind and thinks (Isa. 11:2; Rom. 8:27). He is capable of experiencing deep affections and feelings (Rom. 8:26; 15:30). The Spirit has a will and makes choices regarding what is best for God’s people and what will most glorify the Son (Acts 16:7; 1 Cor. 2:11).
We see even more of the Spirit’s personality when he is described as being grieved when we sin (Eph. 4:30). The Spirit, no less so than the Father and the Son, enters into a vibrant and intimate relationship with all whom he indwells (2 Cor. 13:14). The Spirit talks (Mark 13:11; Rev. 2:7), testifies (John 15:26; 16:13) encourages (Acts 9:31), strengthens (Eph. 3:16), and teaches us, especially in times of spiritual emergency (Luke 12:12). That the Spirit is personal is seen in that he can be lied to (Acts 5:3), insulted (Heb. 10:29), and even blasphemed (Matt. 12:31–32).
Above all else, though, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9). His primary role in us, the temple of God in whom he dwells (Eph. 2:21–22), is other-directed or other-oriented as he ministers to direct our attention to the person of Christ and to awaken in us heartfelt affection for and devotion to the Savior (John 14:26; 16:12–15). The Holy Spirit delights above all else in serving as a spotlight, standing behind us (although certainly dwelling within us) to focus our thoughts and meditation on the beauty of Christ and all that God is for us in and through him.
As we prayerfully meditate on the person and wok of the Spirit and give thanks for his powerful presence in our lives, we would do well to consider the words of Thomas Torrance, who reminds us that “the spirit is not just something divine or something akin to God emanating from him, not some sort of action at a distance or some kind of gift detachable from himself, for in the Holy Spirit God acts directly upon us himself, and in giving us his Holy Spirit God gives us nothing less than himself.”
Thank you to all whom God called to give donations for the Kensington Street Ministry. Most of the people we minister to are addicts. Most live on the street, and are in poor physical condition. What is being put in the heroin now, is literally eating away at their flesh from inside out. We see many open infections and large raw areas of flesh. They continue in their drug use as this is their only hope, even though they know this hope is deadly, physically and spiritually. One man who went with us located his daughter who had been living on the street for some time.
We go, along with many others to offer a smile, a sandwich, kind words, a sweatshirt, and most of all the love of Christ. It is easy to judge even though we are not supposed to.
Occasionally I see one receive healing through prayer, or salvation through prayer. Most of the time I am left wondering how God is using this ministry for His glory.
I do know this: Jesus, said: What you do for the least of these, you do for Me. Matt. 25:40. I believe all people are redeemable, not throw aways. I believe God’s Word never returns empty, that it accomplishes its purpose. Isaiah 55:11.
We pray that God’s light will shine in this dark area in ways that He would want. Thank you all again for your part in this ministry.
Ways to be a part are: donations of clothes, prayer (we go the fourth Saturday of every month) and salvation for those who don’t know the love of Christ, and blessing for those who proclaim it.
Humble our hearts Lord that we may do Thy will.
1 JoAnn Elliott
2 Phoenix Lepping
3 Riley Peck, Brent Talbot, Sr.
4 Cheryl Hall, Mary Beth Musselman
5 Jonas Leidy, Nelda Metzler, Francis Weiss
6 Denise Kulp, Karen Mirabella, Steve Myers
12 Brent Talbot, Jr.
13 Noah Kulp
14 Carol Kretschmer
15 Audrey Niederhaus
16 Rich Kapusta
17 Betty Weber
18 Peg Mower
19 Genie Smedberg
20 Alison Grater, Lori Maxwell
21 Steve Bandura, Ally Hager
22 Debbie Bandura
23 Walt Gehman, Sue Lindner
24 Carol Godshall
25 Yvonne Shoemaker
26 Karen Parry
7 Mark & Sharon Kostishion
8 Ken & Wanda Ritter
9 Ken & Nicole Peck
10 Jeff & Lori Maxwell
31 Robert & Elaine Frank
