Yoga at Fourth United Presbyterian Church

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN IN OUR YOGA CLASSES TAUGHT BY A LOCAL YOGA INSTRUCTOR WHO TEACHES YOGA AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR CHRISTIANS. YOGA IS A COMBINATION OF EXERCISES AND MEDITATION THAT HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED SINCE ANCIENT TIMES TO RELAX AND RENEW BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT.

CLASSES WILL BE HELD EACH TUESDAY EVENING FOR FOUR WEEKS, BEGINNING THIS TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE GATHERING HALL OF THE CHURCH. FOR DETAILS (WHAT DO I WEAR? WHAT DO I BRING? WHAT IF I BEND OVER AND CAN'T GET BACK UP?), CALL REV. ELIZABETH PETERSON (405-5983).

Emmanuel, Shiloh and Fourth United Presbyterian Church Together At Fourth United Pres. on June 26, 11:00 a.m.

We will have a joint worship service to celebrate with Shiloh and Emmanuel Presbyterian Churches as we conclude our Vacation Bible School week. Our service will start at 11:00 a.m. and after service we will enjoy a meal together in the downstairs fellowship hall.

Community Forum: Hospice Care and Working as a Hospice Volunteer

OUR COMMUNITY FORUM THIS MONTH IS ON THURSDAY, JUNE 30, AND WILL BE ON HOSPICE CARE. OUR SPEAKER WILL BE MALCOLM KING, III, A HOSPICE CARE CHAPLAIN FOR AVALON HOSPICE CARE. OUR FORUM WILL CONVENE AT 6 P.M. IN THE DOWNSTAIRS FELLOWSHIP HALL, AND A MEAL WILL BE SERVED.

HOSPICE CARE IS SOMETHING THAT HAS TOUCHED MANY OF OUR LIVES AS WE HAVE BEEN WITH OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS IN THEIR LAST DAYS, WHETHER THOSE DAYS BE MANY OR FEW. OUR CARE FOR THOSE WHO ARE FACING DEATH IS A CRITICAL MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH, AND A MORAL DUTY FOR OUR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE. IT BRINGS TO MIND MATTHEW 25:31-46.

Joint Vacation Bible School at Fourth United Presbyterian

Fourth United, Shiloh and Emmanuel Presbyterian Churches will join together for Vacation Bible School on June 20-24, 5:30-8:30 p.m. each evening at Fourth United Presbyterian Church on the corner of Glenwood and Broadway in Knoxville.

There will be classes for all ages as well as a nursery.

We will have a kick-off picnic and registration for this Vacation Bible School on June 18, from 4-6 p.m. at the front of the church building along Broadway. So, stop by, find out about next week's Bible School and have a free hotdog or hamburger with us.

Welcome to Rev. Elizabeth Peterson!

On June 1, 2011, the Reverend Elizabeth A. Peterson began her work with our church as a parish associate pastor for new church development. Rev. Peterson (aka "Liz)," comes to us with a wealth of experience, an appreciate for what our church is, and a heart full of hope for what our church can be.

Rev. Peterson will be preaching this Sunday, June 19. Come and join us and invite your friends.

Rev. George H. Waters

COMMUNITY FORUM WITH MAYOR CANDIDATES MAY 26, 6 P.M.

COME JOIN US AT FOURTH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (THE SIGN OUTSIDE STILL SAYS FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH) TOMMORROW EVENING AS WE HOST A FORUM FOR CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR OF KNOXVILLE. WE ARE ON THE CORNER OF GLENWOOD AND N. BROADWAY. WE WILL MEET IN THE CHURCH SANCTUARY, ENTER OFF OF BROADWAY.

Deuteronomy, Idolatry and Judgment

Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and is Moses' final teaching given to the Israelites as they are on the verge of entering into the good land that was promised them. The theme of Deuteronomy is clear: God has freed them from bondage and chosen the Hebrews as a special people who are to honor and serve him and to never worship or serve any other god. If they honor God, they will be blessed. If they dishonor God by worshipping other gods or violating the holy laws, then they will be cursed.

In the books that follow Deuteronomy, a history is told about how the Israelites obeyed God at times but so often fell away into idolatry and violation of the holy law. And, the history beginning with Joshua and ending with Ezra and Nehemiah shows the blessings and curses that follow from obedience and disobedience. Of course, not all things work out that way in human life and history. Sometimes, a person obeys and follows the ways of God but suffers terribly. Since life doesn't always fit the pattern of history previewed in Deuteronomy, the Bible also contains wisdom literature like Ecclesiastes and Job and the Psalms as well other books and certainly portions of the prophetic books that acknowledge that there is a good bit of injustice that is just a part of life, even and sometimes especially affecting the lives of those who are devoted to God.

In the next post I will review the harsh judgments that are reported around the formation of Israel after the Exodus, and I will reflect on what we are to make of passages where God is presented as wiping out thousands in an outbreaking of wrath against the Israelites for their idolatry.

A Poem by Anne Porter

A Short Testament

Whatever harm I may have done
In all my life in all your wide creation
If I cannot repair it
I beg you to repair it,

And then there are all the wounded
The poor the deaf the lonely and the old
Whom I have roughly dismissed
As if I were not one of them.
Where I have wronged them by it
And cannot make amends
I ask you
To comfort them to overflowing,

And where there are lives I may have withered around me,
Or lives of strangers far or near
That I've destroyed in blind complicity,
And if I cannot find them
Or have no way to serve them,

Remember them. I beg you to remember them

When winter is over
And all your unimaginable promises
Burst into song on death's bare branches.
"A Short Testament" by Anne Porter, from Living Things. (Zoland Books).