Mike Furlong will be teaching from the book of Job.

Ricky and Marjean Brooks will be teaching The Marriage Builder by Larry Crabbe.

Eric Williamson will be leading a men’s group.

Cathy Martin will be leading a women’s group.

Glandion Carney will be leading spiritual formation.

A meal is provided beginning at 5:45 and classes will begin at 6:30. Please plan on attending this program.

Mark your calendar the next date night will be August 26th.

Every night we would spend time together intentionally discussing the lives we were called to and how God makes them happen. I have been in youth ministry for over 15 years and have rarely heard the conviction and depth that came from these discussions. Each person seemed hand picked to share an experience that brought them to this trip. The Holy Spirit had prepared us all to share something special.

One person, someone newer to our group, summed up the idea that we were trying so hard to articulate.

Fraternity.

What we were experiencing was a brotherhood that goes beyond personal likes and dislikes, beyond our preferences of fellowship, and beyond so many of our expectations. God had called each of us into a special bond that recognizes faults and differences and yet accepts and gives grace.

The last night we spent our time together acknowledging what we saw that was admirable in each other. There was an air of transcendence among us. God was there, and he was using each of us to affirm and encourage each other in the path we have been called into.

There are many more stories than what is hinted at in this short post. God made amazing things happen with 10 people who came for mostly different purposes. I left thinking of Ephesians 2:10 which says,

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We left knowing that we were made into something new that was infinitely better than we could imagine for ourselves. And if we were just faithful with what we were called to do, then we would live up to the best situation we could dream of. Thanks be to God.

• 4:30 PM Family Friendly Celebration
  (Come as you are with kids.   Nursery available)
• 8:00 PM Classic Candlelight Service
  (Caroling and string quartet from the Alabama Symphony)

3207 MONTEVALLO RD
(between Mountain Brook Village and Crestline Village)
205 879-7173
www.stpetersbhm.org

For more than 1500 years the Church has set aside the 4 Sundays before Christmas as a special time of reflection and preparation for the coming of Christ, both remembering his birth and awaiting his return. We cry together:

“O come, O come Emmanuel” (God with us)

Advent is almost by definition counter-cultural, but this year we are excited to become part of a group of churches that form The Advent Conspiracy.

Together we will intentionally seek to turn away from some of the worldly trappings of Christmas, and really look for Jesus.

Our fourfold refrain will be to: Worship Fully – Spend Less – Give More – Love All.

Come worship, learn and grow with us, as we enter into this special time together.

Please have a look at the Advent Conspiracy video to help get a feel for what this thing is all about, and also check out the links to find out more about the groups we are focusing on for these next weeks.

Also, we do have plans to follow up with his teaching and process the application of those at a later date. Check back soon for more information about unpacking John Rosemond.

John Rosemond Pt. 1

John Rosemond Pt. 2

John Rosemond Pt. 3

“Lord, I want to know you more.”

If that is the cry of your heart, come and be encouraged! If not, come and be challenged to grow!

This retreat will focus on living in love as Jesus defines it by his words and deeds is the sure way to know Christ in the modern world. On the other hand, if you are not reconciled to living in love as the center of your life, and actually living that way, any knowledge you may have of Christ will be shallow and shaky at best.

Eff and Patty Martin will be the keynote speakers for St. Peter’s Fall Conference! The Martins will be presenting two sessions on the conference theme:

“Lord, I Want to Know You More”

They will also share reflections from Dallas Willard’s book, “Knowing Christ Today, Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge.”

This conference will be led by Rev. Glandion Carney and his wife Marion. Also speaking will be Eff and Patty Martin, teachers of Spiritual Formation, have taught at weekend retreats, church conferences, and in a variety of settings on this popular topic throughout the country.

Program

Friday night November 20  7 – 9 pm
Sandwiches and Refreshments offered at 6:30

Saturday morning November 21  9 – 12 am
including Music and Time of Worship
Continental breakfast offered at 8:30

Child care available for both sessions
(Please contact Mary Elizabeth Jenkins at 879-7173 to request)

We hope to fill the church at 5:00 this Sunday evening, October 4. 2009. As a member of the wider ministry of prayer, give much prayer before missing this event. Together let us honor John and be obedient to our church to gather when people are in need of prayer. If you attend two services on one day this year, let this be the day.

LUCKY SEVERSON: The dormant volcanoes that loom over the hazy Rwandan countryside can erupt as suddenly and violently as the country itself did 15 years ago. Over a million Rwandans, about an eighth of the population, were massacred in one of the worst cases of genocide in recent history. Then the volcanoes were silent, and it seemed that only the gorillas that live alongside of them were safe from slaughter.

Today Rwanda is a much different place thanks, in part, to this man—Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana

Bishop JOHN RUCYAHANA (Chairman, Prison Fellowship Rwanda): People are smiling because they have the hope, but the wounds and the healing is a process that we’ll continue to engage deliberately to tell people that they just can’t cover it up. We need to be able to unearth it and deal with it head on.

More here.

Dinner starts at 5:30 pm and all end promptly at 7:45 pm. and classes start at 6:15 pm. This term ends November 18. So come alone or come and bring friends, whatever is best for you. Please register you and your spouse and/or your children (where applicable) for programs especially tailored to them at stpeters@bellsouth.net.

As always, a nursery for infant-4K is provided, and special programming for kids in kindergarten through 6th grade begins at 6:30 in room 100.

Speakers include Thomas Oden, our own AMIA Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda, Beeson’s Dean Timothy George, Elizabeth Newman, Matt Pinson, Curtis Freeman, and David P. Nelson, along with Beeson faculty members Steve Harmon, Mark DeVine, Carl Beckwith, Frank Thielman, and Mark Gignilliat.

The conference is open to theologians, pastors, and all Christians concerned with how to present “faith once delivered to the saints” in an age of increasing syncretism and radical pluralism. The conference will deal with a variety of topics including the significance of the Nicene faith for pastoral work, evangelical worship, the emerging churches, biblical exegesis and vital expressions of orthodox Christian faith around the globe.

Cost is $95 and includes program fee and two meals (Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch).

Conference begins Monday, September 28 at 1:00pm and ends Wednesday, September 30 at 12:00noon.

For more information, click here.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, God is up to some extraordinary things here at St. Peter’s, unparalleled in my experience of Kingdom life. One would necessarily have his eyes closed to things of the Spirit not to share my personal enthusiasm. You have my thanks and abiding gratitude for seeing where He is at work and coming alongside Him and each other to advance His cause, the cause of His son Jesus.

No surprise but it’s always amazing. God’s grace that is!

The last two weeks we have looked at the early church, what Jesus started and what the Holy Spirit empowered. We’ve looked at how the first gift was one of proclamation and how the Holy Spirit enabled the first disciples to declare “the wonders of God” in languages that the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual crowd could understand. In response the people asked “what does this mean?” The story continues with Peter explaining precisely what this means. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” They repented and believed. “Three thousand were added to their number that day.”

In the last two weeks, you, the people of St. Peter’s, stood before the crowd and declared the wonders of God. Some of you talked about how you have been healed. One of you talked of being touched by this assembly that so reflects the Kingdom of God. One of you confessed a bitter root and thanked God for both unearthing it and the mercy shown to you while the root endured.

Faithfully, one after another you declared the wonders of God. And the response? A woman visiting for her second time asked “what does this mean?” Then she declared “I’m going to be saved today.” During communion, she made her way to the prayer team and there she asked Jesus to dwell in her heart.

In that moment God redeemed one of His own and gave us, the people of St. Peter’s a sign. “If you build it, I will come.” Led by the same Holy Spirit we endeavored to be Kingdom people (as described in Acts) and it provoked a Kingdom sized response. We built it. He came.

This may surprise us. It shouldn’t but sometimes we are so engrossed in church life we have forgotten what Kingdom life looks like. Surprised or not, we should be amazed. His grace is always amazing.

To Him be all honor, glory and praise.

Under His Grace,

Senior Pastor John

Our Wednesday night programs are set to start back on January 21. We will have three offerings to reach the needs of our community.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction - Lead by Gordon Bals

As a society, we are no less obsessed with the immediate than when Eugene Peterson first wrote this Christian classic. If anything, email and the Internet may have intensified our quest for the quick fix. But Peterson’s time-tested prescription for discipleship remains the same - a long obedience in the same direction. Tucked away in the Hebrew Psalter, Peterson discovered “an old dog-eared songbook,” the Songs of Ascents that were sung by pilgrims on their way up to worship in Jerusalem. In these songs (Psalms 120-134) Peterson finds encouragement for modern pilgrims as we learn to grow in worship, service, joy, work, happiness, humility, community and blessing. This 20th anniversary edition of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction features these Psalms in Peterson’s widely acclaimed paraphrase, The Message. He also includes an epilogue in which he reflects on the themes of this book and his ministry during the twenty years since its original publication. Get the book at Amazon.

Why: Church Traditions - Led by John Richardson and Mary Elizabeth Jenkins.

A class for the whole family, answering questions like, ‘why do we do communion?’, ‘why do we have baptism?’, and ‘why are we so connected to africa?’. Kids and parents will explore these questions and others like them together in an interactive setting. Meets in the worship center.

Lord, Teach me to Pray - Lead by Marjean Brooks

In this rerelease of Kay’s best-selling 28-day study you’ll experience the instructions Jesus gave to His disciples and all His children to help them know how to pray, what to pray, and what to expect when they pray. This look at biblical prayer is refreshingly simple and exceedingly powerful - and it can transform the way you live and pray. Get the book.

Dinner starts @ 5:45, classes start at 6:30 and ends at 7:30
Infant through 4k Nursery is provided.

In recent weeks we have thoroughly explored the many ways in which we hear the voice of God beginning with the Scriptures. We have also laid the biblical foundations for the “transformation” and “intimate counsel” that Voice intends to achieve.

And yet the power of His voice does not end there. It leads, as well, to the deep restoration of our broken hearts that we might become free to enjoy the abundant life we have in Christ Jesus.

In week one we address “Fruit to Root: Patterns in Life Have a Beginning.” In week two we begin Unearthing Bitter Roots beginning with The Heart of Stone, and we unearth more in weeks three and four, “Saving Private Ryan and the Need to Earn It” and “Vowing Out,” respectively. Finally, in week five we explore Breaking Loose and Cutting Free by laying the unearth roots at the foot of the cross.

Have you heard people talking the blessings that come with faith in Christ Jesus and wondered what they meant? Well, they are there and few will impact your life on earth more than the deep restoration and healing found in His voice.

Unburdened  “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” Matt. 11:28:

A special prayer and praise service with singing, teaching, prayer time, and a community ritual of release! The Worship time is 6:30 following a 5:45 dinner (Homemade Barbeque and fixins!) This is instead of the regular Wednesday night programs and there is Nursery available through 2nd grade.

All are welcome. Don’t miss out.

The Wednesday “Fellowship, Ministry and Bible Study” for Women and the Thursday Men’s study resume on September 17 and 18, respectively.

Senior Pastor John Richardson will lead a study on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and he will explore “Living Nobly in a World at War.” This letter highlights the high bar set for the people of God such that the community of faith becomes a microcosm of God’s design for all his people. God’s plan is writ small in us that it might be writ large in the world. Ephesians will be led in a way that provides information leading to transformation. Come with an expectation that you will be changed.

The Women will gather at 9:30 am for coffee and fellowship. Teaching will begin at 10:00. As always, there will be a time for prayers and ministry before we close at 11:00. Childcare is provided.

The Men will gather at 6:45 for anything but nutritional breakfast that married men aren’t allowed at home. The Study will begin at 7:00 and end promptly at 7:45 for those who need to be off to work.

The Friday morning ladies’ bible study began a new study on September 19.  The start time is 9:30am in the church library.  We will be reading and discussing “Having a Mary Spirit:  Allowing God to Change Us From the Inside Out,” by Joanna Weaver, author of “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.”  Please call the church office if you will need childcare during this time.

Join one of these studies and hear God speak with goal of changing your life, that is what you believe and how you live.

Dinner starts @ 5:45, Becoming Fully Alive starts at 6:30. Programs
are available for people of all ages.

Hear last week’s teaching here. notes

“Just wanted to say, kudos on taking a chance that many churches may not take. It was a truly fabulous week and those little faces will be pressed in my mind forever.  I look forward to the day that I will see their faces in our eternal kingdom. . .I feel blessed to be a part.” Tiffany Denson

Some words from the kids of St. Peter’s:
Today at VBS I met a girl named Star. she was really amazing. I loved that at the end of the day when I told her that if she needed anything that she could tell me. She then asked me if I would pray for her tomorrow. I then said sure. -Madison, age 9
I loved the music and I think the kids did too. they were so cheerful by the end of the day every kid always had a smile on their face. I just wanted to buy them new basketball nets. They all had such amazing names. -Caroline, age 10