Back to School

I love the “back to school” time of year. I remember getting new clothes, a new pencil box (Do they even have them anymore?), and a new notebook with classy, colored subject dividers. School used to start the Wednesday after Labor Day. I feel sorry for the young people today who go back sometime in August. Regardless, with the close of the summer holidays, we get back into our routines.

This Fall I will be offering a Bible/book study opportunity on Wednesdays at 11AM in the Pastor’s office at the church. We will start with a “Faith Questions” sessions where we discuss issues that concern us, which will help determine what book we would like to examine. I love doing groups like this. My late start in the spring and the coming of the summer schedule did not lend itself to a weekly study. Our first one will be on September 10th.

Occasionally I also like doing a sermon series, based on a popular prayer, Bible passage, or topic. With this in mind, I will be preaching a series on the Serenity Prayer. Most people know the first four lines. And yet, there is a substantial amount spiritual riches in the lines that follow. I’ve included a copy of it here as a road map, so to speak.

I look forward to the weeks to come, our “back to school” time, where we jump in and embrace mutual learning opportunities.

Faithfully,
Jarv

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.
Trusting that God will make all things right
If I surrender to God’s will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with YOU forever in the next. Amen

Reinhold Neibuhr- 1926

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