« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Pastoral devotion for July

Posted July 1, 2019 By admin

Beautiful Feet

Read Romans 10:1-15

It goes without saying, our feet are not our most attractive attribute. Yet, the human foot is wonderfully designed by our creator. Our feet carry us places; hold us up on sure footing. Feet can be graceful and athletic; they can be sturdy and agile. But the most wonderful thing about our feet is that, because of Christ, they can stand in the presence of God as we worship him in his temple, and then carry us in mission for the sake of God’s people.

Consider the feet of Christ, those once wounded by the nail. They are the same feet once anointed with Mary’s tears and dried in a devotional act of love with her hair. Even as the nail pierced his feet and affixed them to the cross, Jesus continued to speak words of love and forgiveness. Even as his feet could no longer take him to places where people were in need of healing, Jesus provided ultimate healing for a broken humanity. And even though life giving blood ceased to flow through the wounded feet of our Lord Jesus, death could not hold them in the grave; our Savior would walk again in the glory of the resurrection.

Consider your own feet, once wounded by the nail of sin, yet forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Christ Jesus. Consider your feet, made strong and sure by the power of the Holy Spirit and empowered to take you to those places God would have you go. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, God calls us to take to our feet and proclaim his gospel to a fallen broken world. God calls us to bear witness to his grace, proclaiming the lifesaving power of Jesus’ victory at the cross.

Prayer: Guide me, O Christ, as I walk in your ways to share your gospel. Amen.

Filed in Bible Study, Other Happenings, Outreach, Pastor

New Church Directory

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

Please continue to watch your worship folders to find out more information in regards to updating our church directory. On July 29th and 30th, Lifetouch will be here taking pictures for our directory. Go ahead and mark the dates on your calendar and continue to watch your worship folders for more information as it gets closer.

Filed in Other Happenings

Handbells 101 Class

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

Handbells 101 is not only for people who know how to read music. No, Handbells 101 is for anyone who is interested in learning anything about handbells. Sure, the ultimate goal is to develop future ringers to keep our handbell choir full and active, but that’s not my only goal with this class. I want to share my knowledge and my skill set with others. I want people to know that you really don’t have to know how to read music in order to play bells. Does it help? Of course, it helps. But it’s not necessary.

What’s necessary is a willingness to learn, a desire to be part of a team and the ability to commit to being there for the other people in the group. See, a handbell choir isn’t about just one person, it’s truly a team effort and takes everyone’s presence to make it work smoothly.

As I said in my June newsletter article, this class is for anyone who wants to learn to play handbells OR anyone who simply wants to know more about handbells.

It’s also for current or past ringers who would like a little extra time to refresh, relearn or improve their ringing technique. So please come join me any Monday evenings in July and/or August from 6:45 PM to 7:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall.

I hope to see you there.

Laurie

Filed in Fellowship, Other Happenings, Worship and Music

In the Wild, Vacation Bible School

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

Our 2019 VBS, “In the Wild”, was held Monday, June 17th through Thursday, June 20th. We started each night with a delicious meal and then off to our encounters in the wild and with Jesus. We studied animal habitat, sounds, camouflage and learned some animal facts. Most importantly….we experienced Amazing Encounters with Jesus.

Our class rotations included lessons, music, crafts and games. Games included dodge ball, kick ball, golf, baseball, anything with a ball and running. Everyone played including the teachers.

On Monday night, we encountered Jesus in the Temple. We made traveling tic-tac-toe boards and in music, we started learning the song – “Why He Came”. Our younger children started to learn “Jesus Knows My Name” and “I Hear Stories of Jesus”.

On Tuesday night, we continued to travel with Jesus. This time we met him at the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus. In music, we started a new song, “What God Has Done” as we continued to work on “Why He Came” and the younger children continued learning their two songs. During crafts, we tie dyed our animal shirts – tiger, zebra and giraffe.

On Wednesday night, we met Jesus on the water again. But this time during a storm he walked on the water to his disciples in the boat. We made balancing butterflies in crafts and continued to learn our songs in music.

On Thursday night, we encountered Jesus at the empty tomb as he spoke to Mary and she ran to tell the disciples – “I have seen Jesus! He is alive!” In crafts, we made happy, trumpeting elephants as we celebrated and rejoiced that Jesus is Risen!

We celebrated our 2019 VBS on Thursday night, with family and friends as we presented our songs, stories, and crafts and closed with ice cream and cookies.

A very special thank you to our teachers and cooks. Without them, VBS would not have been possible for our 71 attendees who were ready and willing to experience some amazing encounters. Thank you to our parents and grandparents for sharing your children with us. We had some amazing adventures on the Wild Side! See you at VBS 2020!

Filed in Bible Study, Fellowship, LCY, Other Happenings, Outreach, Pastor, Worship and Music, Worship Service

Come Watch the Fireflies

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

St. Jacob’s Families and Youth are invited to a night of fellowship to watch the Columbia Fireflies take on the Georgia Rome Braves Sunday August 18th at 5:05 PM. Tickets are $9 per person/child (children 2 and under are granted free admission.) We will announce a meeting time at a later date to coordinate ticket pickup at Segra Park, 1640 Freed Street, Columbia SC, and parking is an additional $4 cash per car. There will be a sign-up sheet on the Youth Bulletin Board in the hallway next to the Fellowship Hall if you would like to attend this event.

Filed in Fellowship, LCY, Other Happenings, Outreach

Up and Going

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

Fourteen members and guests gathered on Thursday, June 13th in the Fellowship Hall for the monthly Up and Going Meeting. Devotions were given by Helen Lindler on Pentecost. An interesting note from the devotions was information on the Holy Ghost Hole. In the Middle Ages, many Catholic churches had what was called a “Holy Ghost Hole”. This was an opening in the ceiling, which allowed a dove and red rose petals to be dramatically released on Pentecost Sunday, during the Gospel about the first Pentecost. We enjoyed a bountiful and delicious meal of salads and such. Thank you to all that provided such tasty food. The program was provided by Mrs. Amanda. She and her husband have a small farm in Prosperity with an emerging goat farm business. They have 5 Nubriun milk goats. From the milk gathered each day, Amanda is making goat milk soap, cheeses, yogurt and other products. She brought cinnamon, lavender and black raspberry soaps for us to admire and purchase. We enjoyed hearing about her farm and the many facts about her goats and the many process steps and facts about cheese and soap making. We sincerely appreciate Amanda sharing with us. We came away knowing more than we did before and that is always a good thing. The July Meeting will be a trip to the SC State Farmers Market on July 11th (2nd Thursday). Gerald will drive the bus and a car will also go for those who can’t ride the bus. We will leave St. Jacob’s at 9 AM and return between 2-3 PM. Hope to see you then.

Filed in Fellowship, Outreach, Up and Going

Church Council

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

The St. Jacob’s Church Council met June 4th for its regular meeting.

Good things noted for the month of May:

  • Congo Meal went very well
  • Children’s Choir musical was fantastic and raised over $1,500 for new choir robes and music
  • Start of Wednesday evening services
  • Hiring of Rachel Shelton to fill position of Youth & Family Services Director
  • Thanks to Walt Shealy for volunteering to be Church Treasurer
  • Thanks to all the volunteers for the upcoming VBS for your eagerness and willingness to serve
  • Wrap-up of Pastor’s first Confirmation; Public exam was well received

Important Notes and Dates:

  • Vision Workshop and info meeting for election of new bishop to be held June 30th @ 4pm
  • Pastor to be in Congo from July 8th – 24th for mission work
  • New pictorial picture days are July 29th & 30th, keep a look out for sign up sheet
  • TV in Nursery is operational for viewing of service
  • Next council meeting is scheduled for July 2, 2019 @ 6:30 PM in the Church Office

Ongoing Project Updates:

  • DIGITAL SIGN: Pending arrival, has been delayed to the end of June for completion of electrical work and scope of parking lot discussions
  • PARKING LOT: Building Team has made recommendations for implementation of a new parking lot with an added covered Portico and elimination of roadside parking to address safety concerns. Council has approved for funds earmarked for the Parking Lot Restoration given by SCE&G to be used to have a Topographical Improvement Survey, Construction Renderings and Civil Engineering Scope completed to comply with all county, DHEC and DOT guidelines and regulations.
    Development of construction plans and estimates to be made as they become available. Expected expenditures of initial document process are well below current level of earmarked funds.
  • DIRECTOR OF YOUTH/FAMILY SVCS: Position has been filled by the hiring of Rachel Shelton. Rachel started officially on June 3rd.

Respectfully submitted, Andrew, Secretary, St. Jacob’s Church Council

Filed in Council Reports, Fellowship, Other Happenings, Outreach

Youth Director & Family Ministries

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

As my first few weeks have come to an end, I am overwhelmed with joy because of how great it has been to meet everyone and start getting to know the families of St. Jacob’s. I am grateful for your opening arms that already make me feel like family too. Thanks be to God. I look forward to rebooting the youth program and strengthening cross generational relationships within the congregation.

For the summer, the Youth and I are hosting a Commissioning for Congo Celebration to rally around Pastor David’s Congo Mission and send him out in prayer. I would love to invite the congregation to join us immediately following the service on Sunday, July 7th for fellowship and a meal including bread, rice, and beans. We will create our own version of the country.

The youth (grades 7th and above) will continue to meet the first and third Sunday of each month, as they have done in the past. Therefore, on the 21st of July we will be spending the afternoon at Frankie’s Fun Park in Columbia. We will meet there at 5:00 PM and leave at 6:30 PM. I look forward to a fun afternoon getting to know you all and spending time together becoming empowered as a community of Christ while growing together as a group.

In Christ,

Rachel Shelton

Filed in Fellowship, LCY, Other Happenings

Worship and Music News

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

The first half of 2019 sure has flown by. We’ve had a busy year so far in the music department.

We started the year by presenting an Epiphany mini-cantata with the combined choirs of St. Jacob’s and New Hope. Angela and I have continued working with the Children’s Choir to develop not only their musical abilities, but also to foster their desire to serve the Lord with their gifts and talents. We have had illnesses and surgeries within the Handbell Choir membership and have had to make adjustments to cover the vacancies. We began a Wednesday evening service to offer another opportunity for worship; a time in the middle of the week to take a deep breath and remember that God has us in the palm of His hand.

As we enter into the Sundays after Pentecost (affectionately known by some as ‘the long green season’), we are looking ahead to the fall and exploring possibilities that will enhance our worship. For the immediate future, our summer anthems will be some of the favorite hymns that were submitted last summer (we ran out of summer Sundays before we ran out of favorite hymns!) and the Handbell 101 class will continue through the month of August for anyone interested in the history of handbells, anyone who would like to learn to play handbells or anyone who would like to refresh their ringing skills.

As always, many thanks to the congregation for your amazing support of the music ministry.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Laurie Lackey

Filed in Fellowship, Other Happenings, Worship and Music

Pastor David in Congo

Posted June 26, 2019 By admin

Pastor David will be in Congo on a mission trip beginning Monday, July 8th through Wednesday, July 24th. Should you need pastoral support during this time, please contact Sherry in the Church Office Monday-Thursday from 9AM – 2PM at 803-345-2309 or Danny, Council President, at 803-422-6824.

Filed in Missions, Other Happenings, Pastor
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »