New Teaching Series Begins This Wednesday Night

all-messiah-clergyThis Wednesday night, October 26th, Church of the Messiah will begin its new teaching series called “The Testimony of the Priests”.  This series will provide each of the active pastors of the parish with an opportunity to share their own personal testimony with the congregation.  While each of the priests at Church of the Messiah has been with the parish for over a decade, they have never had an opportunity to share their own story of how God moved in their lives.  Over the next four week, each of the clergy will have an opportunity to do so and satisfy 1 Peter 3:15 where the Apostle calls us to “give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”  This will both help the congregation get to know their pastors better and encourage all of us by sharing stories of how God has moved in the lives of our own people.

“The Testimony of the Priests” is part of Church of the Messiah’s regular Wednesday Night Worship Service.  The evening begins with a soup supper at 6:00-6:45 and the service itself begins at seven o’clock.  In order for everyone to be home at a reasonable hour in order to prepare for work and school the next day, the service ends by 8:30 each night.  Childcare is provided during the service portion of the evening.  This is an excellent opportunity to introduce new people to our parish by introducing them to our clergy in an open worship setting.  Everyone is welcome and we would love for you to join us.

Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund Created

hermes2andfamilyAt Church on Sunday morning many people asked about taking up an offering to aid victims of Hurricane Matthew.  Fr. Looker intentionally delayed such a collection in anticipation of receiving word from Bishop Simpson on how the Diocese of Florida as a whole would respond to the catastrophe.  Today we heard from Bp. Simpson.  We already knew that the Bahamas were particularly hard hit, but we have learned that the home of one of our own clergy, Deacon Hermes Laing II, was practically destroyed and that they have lost most of their belongings.  Bp. Simpson is creating Hurricane Relief Fund to assist the people of the Bahamas, Haiti, and Cuba in rebuilding their lives and homes.  If you would like to donate to the Hurricane Relief Fund, you may do so in two ways: you may put a check in the offering basket earmarked “Hurricane Relief” or you can visit our donate page, choose “Other” from the drop-down menu and enter “Hurricane Relief.”  All donations are tax-deductible and will be sent to the Cathedral and distributed to those in the affected area.  Thank you for your generosity.

Wednesday Night Service Canceled to Prepare for Hurricane Matthew

hurricane-matthewIn order to provide everyone with ample time to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, Church of the Messiah is cancelling service for Wednesday night, October 5th.  While we do not anticipate that weather would disrupt our service tonight, we want to give all of our members plenty of time to exercise all due prudence in making all necessary preparations before the storm’s arrival late Thursday night.  This cancellation will affect our Wednesday night service on October 5th, the Intercessors’ Meeting on Friday morning, October 7th, and Fusion on Saturday, October 8th.  It will not affect our Sunday morning service which will continue as normal at 10 o’clock on Sunday, October 9th.   Please be in prayer for all those who are in the path of Hurricane Matthew and those who have already been affected by this storm.

Second Update from Carla in Uganda

carla-in-uganda-2

This afternoon Fr. Looker received another update from Len Showalter and the Len Ministries Team in Uganda.  Here is their most recent update:

    Monday morning Pastor Robert picked the team up at 7:30am and took them to his church, Lifehouse Community Church here in Mityana, Uganda.  During registration, a hard rain came and lasted for a few hours.  It was very noisy on the tin roof.  The power seems to be off more than it is on here.  Because it is the rainy season, they turn off the power during rain, thunder, or lightning storms.  This is a difficult concept for us Americans as we are used to our power companies fixing such a problem quickly.
     During the lecture time, Pastor’s Len, and Guy; and Danielle taught the students.  By the end of the day, there were 28 students.  Out of these students, 14 of them had either a profession or assurance of their salvation! The class finished up around 7:00pm.
     Tuesday morning Carla shared the devotion from Isaiah 43 – about being a witness.  The students then broke into groups to pray for the harvest.  They then took a test to see how much of the Gospel part of the outline they knew and were then on to working on their testimonies.
     While the students were learning, Pastor Guy, Danielle, Carla, and Marcia went to the school and shared about the USA, Cameroon, and Russia as well as the Gospel.  They first shared with the older children where there were 96 children.  25-30 children raised their hands to pray the prayer of Salvation.  All 96 children prayed the prayer.  The team then went and met with the younger children.  They shared about themselves and then shared the Gospel with them.  There were 105 children and most all of them prayed to receive Jesus into their hearts.
     During the street witnessing time, (OJT – On Job Training) there were 7 trainers with 3-5 students in each group. The teams went out into the neighboring streets to Share the Gospel.  The students shared their testimonies and did very well.  Unfortunately, there isn’t this evangelism material in Ugandan, only English.  This has been a challenge, but the students are pressing in and overcoming the obstacles.  Although English is spoken here in Mityana, many do not know how to speak it because they don’t use it.
Tonight there were:  39 people contacted
The Gospel was shared 27 times to 37 people
There were 18 professions of faith
and 2 assurances of salvation!

First Update from Carla in Uganda

carla-in-ugandaOn Sunday night, Fr. Looker received an e-mail from Len Showalter of Len Ministries updating everyone on their safe arrival and progress thus far.  Here is the email in its entirety.

   Our team arrived safely in Mityana after traveling for 32 hours.  We were greeted by Elisha who then drove us for about a two-hour drive to the hotel we are staying at.  It is very clean and we feel safe which is important here.  We arrived at the hotel a little after 2:00 AM and didn’t get to sleep until after 3:30. We were very tired.
     We all rested off and on most of Saturday.  We saw our first wedding celebration here at the hotel, Enro Hotel. Since it is the rainy season, the power is turned off when it rains or there is thunder and lightning. It was off most of Saturday. Pastor Robert and Esther Mponye joined us for dinner. It was wonderful getting to visit with them and we are looking forward to being with them this coming week.
     Sunday morning, we were united with Pastor Guy and Danielle Yetna at breakfast. They arrived around 2:00 AM. It was wonderful seeing the again.  Pastor Guy came from Ivanovo, Russia to help teach this training and his travel was 42 hours to Mityana.  Danielle came from Cameroon, so her travel wasn’t as long.  Next year we will be doing this same training in an English speaking church in Cameroon.
     Pastor Robert picked us up for church.  When we arrived at the church, praise and worship began and it was lively and anointed, (led by Esther).  Pastor Len preached a powerful word about the importance of Christians to plant “spiritual” seed (Matthew 13).  While Len was sharing, Pastor Robert interpreted English into Ugandan.  When Len did an alter call, there were over 60 people that came forward for salvation or assurance of their salvation.  He did another alter call for people that wanted to be led by the Holy Spirit to go out into the world and share the Gospel. There were over a hundred that came forward for that alter call. It was a powerful time!While we were at Robert’s church, Pastor Guy preached at a church out in the bush, about a half hour away.
     Please continue to pray for the pastors and leaders that will be taking this training this week.  Pray that God will give them the mind of Christ and that the people we come in contact with will be open to the Gospel.
     May you be blessed abundantly for going on this journey with us.
With our love,
Pastor Len, Marcia, and Carla
Please continue to pray for Carla, and the entire mission team.

Topic of Newest Bible Study Announced

biblical-church-advertLast night, during the amazing night of worship and intercession, Fr. Scott Looker announced the title and topic of the new, upcoming Bible study series for Church of the Messiah’s Wednesday night services.  The title of the study will be “The History of the Biblical Church.”  It will be a five-week series beginning September 14th and concluding October 12th.  Fr. Looker was quick to point out that this would not be a “Church History 101” class but rather,

We are going to look at The Acts of the Apostles in combination with the various Letters of St. Paul to put pieces together and get a more complete picture of what was going on in the Church during Biblical times.  We are going to see things that are in the Bible.  You’ve just probably never noticed them before.

This Bible study is going to be a fascinating look at the ministry and missionary work of the very first Christians.

“The History of the Biblical Church” will be part of Church of the Messiah’s regular Wednesday night services which begin with a soup supper from 6:00-6:45.  The service itself is a Eucharistic service which begins at seven o’clock.  Childcare is provided throughout the service which ends by 8:30 so that those who need to prepare for work or school the next day can be home early enough to do so promptly.  We invite everyone to join us and learn more about what happened in the earliest days of Christianity.

Volunteers Needed for School Supply Give Away

School-Supplies-DonationsChurch of the Messiah has been so generous.  We already have enough school supplies to equip dozens of children for the first day of school and many of you have given financially so that we are sending a team out this afternoon to buy hundreds of dollars more!  Now what we need is people to show up on Saturday to help give out supplies.  Not only will will be handing out school supplies, but we will also be giving away hot dogs, chips and a drink as well so we need plenty of volunteers to show up.  Volunteers will need to be here by 11 am and we expect to be cleaning up by 1 o’clock.  Please contact Darla Shiell for more information.

Last Weekend to Donate to School Supply Give Away

School-Supplies-DonationsChurch of the Messiah’s Second Annual School Supply Give Away is just over a week away on August 6th.  This means that this is your last weekend to go shopping to get supplies!  We have had great turn out so far but there are still a lot of supplies that we still need.  We gave away supplies for over a hundred students last year and we expect more this year.  Last Saturday, our Men’s Ministry went out after their breakfast and canvassed the neighborhood, so we could have a huge turnout on August 6th and we do not want people to leave empty handed.  If you still want to purchase supplies, here is a list of what we need:

  • Pencil Boxes
  • Scissors (Elementary and High School)
  • Crayons
  • Pencil Pouches
  • WIDE-RULED Notebook Paper
  • Three-Ring Binders (2 or 2 1/2 inch)
  • Notebook Dividers
  • USB Thumb Drives

If you want to help but do not have time to shop this weekend, you may donate money either this Sunday or on-line (mark it “school supplies) and we will have a group go out next week and purchase supplies.  Also, do not forget that we will need volunteers on August 6th to help distribute supplies and food to the people who show up!

Men’s Breakfast This Saturday at Church of the Messiah

Men's BreakfastThis Saturday morning, beginning at 8 o’clock, the men of Church of the Messiah will gather for fellowship and breakfast.  There is sure to be a ton of bacony goodness along with our good, uplifting conversations.  After our time of food and fellowship is over, we will be heading into the neighborhood to hand out information regarding the church’s School Supply Give Away on August 6th so the breakfast is not just a time of fun.  For more information, please contact John Cunningham.

Fr. Alan Melanson to Preach at Church of the Messiah

Alan at BaptismFr. Alan Melanson of Church of the Intercessor, Malverne, NY, will be preaching the Word of God at Church of the Messiah this Sunday, July 17th, at the ten o’clock service.  Although born and raised in Jacksonville, Alan Melanson transferred from Church of the Messiah to Church of the Intercessor in 2004, when he began serving as the Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries.  Having been ordained to the priesthood in 2012, Fr. Alan now oversees every ministry in the church that ministers to children from infants to college-age.  In addition to his parish ministries, Fr. Alan is extremely active in both local and international pro-life ministries.  Fr. Alan married his beautiful wife Katie in 2002 and together they have three lovely daughters.  Of course, in spite of his substantial achievements and impressive ministry, many at Church of Messiah will know Fr. Alan as “Fr. Scott Melanson’s son”.  Church of the Messiah is delighted to receive one of its own back into the pulpit and excited to hear the powerful message this mighty man of God has for our congregation.  Be sure to invite your friends because this is sure to be a message that you will not want to miss!