Youth News

TEACHERS AND CHAPERONES NEEDED: The Youth Committee is working on putting the Fall Calendar and Curriculum together, and we need folks who would like to teach either Middle School or Senior High. Please email and let me know and we will plug you in!

MIDDLE SCHOOL FELLOWSHIP: We will meet on Wednesdays from 6-7:30 p.m. beginning September 6. We will look at how we can bring God’s peace into our world.


CONFIRMATION 2017-2018: This year St. Mark has 13 students going through the confirmation process. Please join us in praying for these students throughout the program year!

Owl You Need is Love

Each year, Presbyterian Women at St. Mark Presbyterian call all of the women in the church to invite them to a brunch to celebrate the beginning of the programming year.  This year's theme was "Owl You Need is Love" with our own Marie Holt as the featured speaker.

 After some socializing, we sat down to a beautiful breakfast prepared by our members:  Pineapple Tea, Ham and Swiss quiche, Classic Fruit Salad and Better Than Almost Anything Cake.  Then, the featured speaker (and one of the chefs) Marie Holt spoke to us about her new book She Shall Be Called Woman (published by Axiom Press).

 Marie told us this was actually her third attempt to write a book.  This book was inspired by a devotion she prepared for our Christmas Table Top Tea, one year.  "For the devotion I did a first person narrative telling the Christmas story from the innkeeper's wife point of view.  I concluded my narrative by relating how women of today can and do experience the same feelings as she did.  She is not mentioned in the Bible but she had to have been there right beside her husband doing her part to help.  And she had a strong message to share."

 She went on to explain how this devotion lead her to think about other women in the Bible: " I have taken that reference and tried to slip into the persona of that woman by telling the story as I imagine it could have happened.  Second, I have used the stories of these women, both named and unnamed, to offer encouragement and peace to women of today who might find themselves in similar circumstances."

Although the books will soon be available on Amazon, they can be purchased from Marie.

Worship Prayer Sept. 3

CENTERING PRAYER - God who is, God who has been, God who will be; faithful God, journeying God, God with us; You are our God, beyond us in mystery, with us in struggle, and guiding us onwards.  Your faithfulness we praise.  Your name we call upon.  Your presence we worship.  We are here, on this holy ground, in this time, offering our lives and ourselves to You.  We come open to Your Spirit, and trusting in the love of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.  (Church of Scotland)

CALL TO WORSHIP

The God of our ancestors calls us to worship.

         Praise the Lord!

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

         Let us worship God!

   PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of mercy, we confess that, like the disciples, we set our minds not on divine things but on human things.  Doubting your loving care, we grab for more than we need.  Doubting your loving purposes, we shrink from living as your followers.  Doubting your loving plan, we become stumbling blocks in your creation.  Forgive us that we may gain new life in you, for it is in Jesus’ forgiving name we pray.  (Silent prayer)

                 

† AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Question One from the Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q.     What is the chief end of man?

A.     Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

   SCRIPTURE                                                                                                                                Exodus 3:1-15

For the sermon "Finding Holy Ground", Click here.

Daily Prayer Sept. 9

SATURDAY

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

1 Kings 12:1-20; James 5:7-20; Mark 15:33-39

God, our creator, you have given us work to do and call us to use our talents for the good of all. Guide us as we work, and teach us to live in the Spirit who made us your sons and daughters, in the love that made us sisters and brothers. Remember, O God, your church. Unite it in the truth of your Word and empower it in ministry to the world. Remember the world of nations. By your Spirit renew the face of the earth; let peace and justice prevail. Remember our family and friends. Bless them and watch over them; be gracious to them and give them peace. Remember the sick and the suffering, the aged and the dying. Encourage them and give them hope. Rejoicing in the communion of saints, we remember with thanksgiving all your faithful servants, whom you have called from this life. We are grateful that for them death is no more, nor is there sorrow, crying, or pain, for the former things have passed away. (Add your prayers.) Amen.

Go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Opening sentences, prayers, and blessings are from the Book of Common Worship. Readings are from the daily lectionary in Daily Prayer. Both are published by Westminster/John Knox Press.)

Children's Fellowship Begins Tonight!

Children's Wednesday Night Fellowship commences September 6, 6:30-7:30pm. (For children under 5th grade) 

We will continue with the Holy Moly Series studying 12 Old Testament Stores (Downstairs). The hour will include working on mission projects, fellowship and games (in Gleason Hall). 

The first mission project is to assemble Hygiene Kits through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Requested Items: Washcloths, hand towels, wide tooth comb, band-aids, bar of soap, nail clippers and toothbrush (in original packaging). There will be a barrel in the Narthex to accept items.

Mound Ridge Retreat Part 2

 Several carloads of St. Mark Presbyterian members drove to Mound Ridge on Saturday for fellowship, meditation, celebration and exploration.  On Sunday they were joined by more who drove down for worship and baptism in the Meramec River.

For more photos, click here.

Deacons Doings

Isaiah 58 is another local organization that receives a monetary donation from the ABC sale.

Established in 1970, Isaiah 58 Ministries was created to meet the needs of low-income individuals in our community through direct services including a food pantry, thrift store, healthy lifestyles programming, and women's group.

Their Mission Statement: Claiming our unity in Christ, in partnership with other churches, and in celebration of the human community, and in common service with other faiths and secular organizations, we intend to:

• Provide programs and services to meet the physical and spiritual needs of persons in our neighborhood and in our churches 
• Promote opportunities for an ecumenical witness to Christ in the inner city and to exist as a sign of unity in a fragmented church and society 

Learn more at: http://www.i58ministries.org/index.html

In addition to the monetary donation, St. Mark donates the clothing shed items and unsold ABC sale items to Isaiah 58 Ministries.

Worship Prayers for August 27

CENTERING PRAYER - It is when we are still that we know.  It is when we listen that we hear.  It is when we remember that we see your light, O God.  From your Stillness we come.  With your Sound all life quivers with being.  From You the light of this moment shines.  Grant us to remember you at the heart of each moment.  Grant us to remember.  John Philip Newell, Praying With the Earth (Eerdmans: Michigan) 44.

CALL TO WORSHIP ()

Remember, our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Our help is in the One who teaches us that without love all our doings are worth nothing.Send your Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace and of all virtues;

         Let us worship the Lord!

   PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Forgiving God, we confess we are conformed to this world.  We conform to this world’s frantic pace, too hectic to notice all the blessings you provide.  We conform to this world’s reckless waste, exploiting what you entrust to our care.  We conform to this world’s shallow values, oblivious to the giftedness of people different from us.  We conform to this world’s impatient attitudes, preferring the latest instead of the lasting.  Forgive our conformity and transform us, O God.  We continue to pray in Jesus’ name.  (Silent Confession)

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Apostles’ Creed)

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

   SCRIPTURE                                                                                                                            Exodus 1:8-2:10

For Pastor Dave's sermon "Forgetting Ourselves", click here.

Daily Prayer for Sept. 2

SATURDAY

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

1 Kings 7:51-8:21; Acts 28:17-31; Mark 14:43-52

God, our creator, you have given us work to do and call us to use our talents for the good of all. Guide us as we work, and teach us to live in the Spirit who made us your sons and daughters, in the love that made us sisters and brothers. Remember, O God, your church. Unite it in the truth of your Word and empower it in ministry to the world. Remember the world of nations. By your Spirit renew the face of the earth; let peace and justice prevail. Remember our family and friends. Bless them and watch over them; be gracious to them and give them peace. Remember the sick and the suffering, the aged and the dying. Encourage them and give them hope. Rejoicing in the communion of saints, we remember with thanksgiving all your faithful servants, whom you have called from this life. We are grateful that for them death is no more, nor is there sorrow, crying, or pain, for the former things have passed away. (Add your prayers.) Amen.

Go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Opening sentences, prayers, and blessings are from the Book of Common Worship. Readings are from the daily lectionary in Daily Prayer. Both are published by Westminster/John Knox Press.)

St. Mark Middle School Calendar

We will meet Wednesdays 6-7:30p.m. at St. Mark Presbyterian (601 Claymont, Ballwin) unless

Katie Sternhagen

otherwise noted.

• Sept 6: Peace: Truce with God
• Sept 10: Cardinals Baseball Game 1:15p.m. Start (Busch Stadium)
• Sept 13 Peace: Prince of Peace
• Sept 20 Meet the Pastor Potluck
• Sept 24 PCHAS MISSION 11:30-1:30
• Sept 27 Peace: Companion to Christ
• Oct 1 First Families: Operation Christmas Child 11:30-1:30p.m. (Gleason Hall)
• Oct 8 Fall Festival
• Oct 11 Peace: Holy Spirit & College Care Packages
• Oct 18 Operation Christmas Child Potluck
• Oct 22 Greet @ Worship
• Oct 27-28 Presbytery Wide Middle School Retreat
• Oct 29 Trick or Treat for Cans/Circle of Concern Mission
• Nov 1 All Saints Day/Day of the Dead Party
• Nov 5 First Families: Operation Christmas Child 11:30-1:30 p.m.
• Nov 8 Operation Christmas Child Potluck
• Nov17-19: Mound Ridge Retreat
• Nov 29 Advent Prayer Stations
• Dec 2nd: Table Top Tea
• Dec 6: Shop for Angel Tree
• Dec 10: Tacky Sweater Party & Wrapping Angel Tree
• Dec 13/20st/27th: NO FELLOWSHIP Merry Christmas
• Dec 24th Christmas Eve Services 5,7,9 p.m.
• Dec 29th: How is Break going Lunch

Questions?  Contact Katie Sternhagen 636-394-2233