Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-02-26
Friday, February 26th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
Dear Friends,
We’ve gotten a taste of spring these last few days, yes? Temps in the low fifties. Sunshine. I hardly know what to make of it.
The Psalms end with these words: Let everything that breathes, praise the Lord.
Join us for worship on Sunday.
PEACE and much love,
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
matt@firstpres.church
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CYF will be hosting a Spirituality Center in the church chapel for the season of Lent beginning this Sunday. Open House hours will be Sundays 11am-2:30pm. Come for some quiet reflection time by walking the labyrinth, contemplating scripture, and creating at your own pace. One household will be admitted at a time. Check in and temperature recordings will be necessary as well as face masks while in the building and chapel. Sanitizing wipes will be at each station for further protection between visitors. We hope you will find it a blessing for this season of inward contemplation and examination. Sunday School continues. Follow this link for a virtual version of the Lenten Spirituality Center Lenten Spirituality Center
* * *
A spring concert:
Here Comes The Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
April She Will Come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
What A Wonderful World….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Mr. Blue Sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Higher Ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Lenten Daily Devotions from ‘The Presbyterian Outlook’
Friday, FEBRUARY 26, 2021
MATTHEW 6:7-13
Today’s text is Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer — familiar to every Christian around the world. You probably know it by heart, but you are encouraged to read it slowly and prayerfully, pausing over each line, in order to see and hear it anew.
Practice: Pray this passage slowly several times in the manner we have been practicing. Note phrases and images that shimmer for you, asking how God might be speaking to you through them.
Journal: Note in your journal movements away from God or toward God
that surfaced in your awareness as you prayed this Scripture.
Saturday, FEBRUARY 27, 2021
PSALM 42:1-8
This psalm is rich with imagery for prayer, especially in times of difficulty, distress or even in the midst of aridity — dry spells in our spiritual lives. The
psalm may be especially poignant in the midst of the isolation, social distancing and loneliness we experience in a pandemic stricken world. God, too, may seem distant from us.
Practice: Pray the psalm slowly at least three times, then set your Bible aside and meditate on the images that come to mind, trusting that the images or words that you are most in need of will be present to you.
Journal: Record in your journal what happened in this prayer time. Note especially any images that stood out for you, and what you think they may
convey with respect to movement toward God or away from God in your present experience.
Week 2…
HYMN OF THE WEEK: “Amazing Grace”
PRAYER FOCUS: Confession — In what ways have I done those things that I ought not to have done, and left undone those things I ought to have done?
ACTION: Each day, pray “God, send someone into my life whom I can encourage.” Pay attention to how God responds, and how you are called to encourage that person.
“REJOICE WITH ME, FOR I HAVE FOUND MY SHEEP THAT WAS LOST.”
Sunday, FEBRUARY 28, 2021
LUKE 15:1-8
The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin are powerful stories in and of themselves, but the context in which they appear is also important. Jesus tells these parables in response to grumbling about his hospitality to sinners! How might these parables prompt reflection on our own perception
and reception of sinners? How might they bring to our awareness that within each of us that is lost?
Practice: Read one or both of the parables slowly, and using your imagination, place yourself in the story. Where are you in these scenes?
How do you feel about what is happening? Are there questions you
would like to ask of the shepherd or the woman?
Journal: Record in your journal what happened during this prayer time.
Describe movements toward God or away from God that came into view.
