A Note From Your Stewardship Team

 Dear friends and fellow members, 

In these days of challenging circumstances being faced individually, as families, as a community and beyond, we also face them as a congregation. As you are aware, Pastor Derek and the Joint Board are working with intention and focus to make certain the vital services East Hills provides each and every day will continue. Christ will be preached. Christ will be extended to all in need. In these days of Lent and Easter, Christ will again be proclaimed as our Risen Lord and God. 

In these days of challenging circumstances, the Church needs to be a strong and visible expression of Christ with us. We write to ask for your continuing and faithful financial support of East Hills Moravian Church. 

  • If you place a check in the offering plate, please use the postal service to mail in your regular contribution. 
  • If you use E-giving (Electronic Funds Transfer) from your financial institution to East Hills, please continue that regular way to contribute. 
  • If you are interested in using E-giving, we invite you to visit the East Hills web site (www.easthillsmc.org) to learn how simple it is to contribute weekly or monthly using this tool. 
  • If you are able to contribute additional support realizing some of our fellow members may not be able to at this time, prayerfully consider what you may be able to offer. 
  • If you have not been providing regular financial support of our shared ministries in the past, we urge you to begin making a weekly or monthly gift to your church. 

Most importantly, we ask you to actively use the worship, study and prayer tools that Pastor Derek will make certain are provided to us all. Be mindful that God is far larger than COVID-19. God will provide the wisdom and discernment needed by us all to travel through these challenging circumstances. We will one day be together again in our wonderful place of worship, fellowship, learning, and service. Until that day comes, may we each be faithful disciples and stewards in ways needed and possible. 

Thanks, peace and blessings, 
Your East Hills Moravian Stewardship Team
March 23, 2020

March 29th Worship News

East Hills Moravian has canceled all in-person worship and fellowship gatherings, effective immediately, until April 30th or until we receive further guidance from government sources. Please join us online if you are able. The office is closed.

The following events have been canceled as well:

  • Bunny Breakfast Buffet – April 4th.
  • Northeast Community Center Annual Italian Buffet fundraiser for the Summer Camp Program – April 4th.
  • Spring Preschool Lovefeast – April 15th
  • Senior Girl Scout Troop Easter Candy Sale (month of March and first week of April)

Missed Sunday Worship?

If you missed this week’s worship service, check out the recording on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/o7sq3_NpNHE. We ran into some technical difficulties streaming it live, so do please, bookmark our YouTube channel as we will post the service there if live streaming is unstable like it was this morning.

Have a Prayer Request or Pastoral Concern?

Have a prayer request? Please email the church office at office@easthillsmc.org. We will not be mentioning persons by other than first name during worship or delving too deeply into individual circumstances since the YouTube broadcast is literally available to the world. We soon will have a new prayer list which will contain the information normally present in the Sunday morning bulletin insert.

For pastoral concerns, contact Pastor Derek via email at pastorfrench@easthillsmc.org, via text message or through Facebook messenger. His personal and cell number are available to members in the East Hills Moravian Church directory. If you do not have one, please contact the office and we will send you a .pdf copy.

TREX Plastic Challenge Update

Our joint TREX Plastics Challenge has taken on a whole new dimension in the past few weeks, as we practice social distancing and worship from home. We encourage you to continue to gather your plastic bags and wrap for the TREX Plastics Challenge, so that, when we can return safely to church services, events, and committee meetings, we can bring in the accumulated plastic and continue toward our goal. By the way, when we suspended collection in mid-March, we had a total of 281 lbs. toward our first 500 lb. goal!! Excellent work! Thanks to all BAM church members for your participation!

Women’s Fellowship Goes Online!

Women’s Fellowship will be meeting virtually (via Zoom) on March 31st at 7:00 pm. All women are invited. To join this meeting you need a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone with a speaker, webcam and internet connectivity. To use Zoom, use this link https://zoom.us/j/608780222 prior to the meeting and download the Zoom app if you do not have it. To sign into the meeting, you click on the link https://zoom.us/j/608780222 and you will be connected. If you have used Zoom before you should not have to download the app again. If you have questions or problems signing in, you can contact Lucy Thompson.

In addition, everyone should have their study book Sitting at Table in the Kingdom of God and a Bible. If you don’t have a study book, don’t worry, we will be reading the lesson together. The lesson is Session 6 “The Table in John’s Upper Room” John 13:1-20. So, make yourself a hot beverage and please join us.

Mid-Week Lenten Program: Encounters with Jesus

This coming Wednesday is the last of our mid-week Lenten series: Encounters with Jesus. On April 1st, join us for “On to Jerusalem.” Resources will be mailed out during the day on Wednesday. These will include scripture references, questions for reflection, and links to online videos. If you wish, you are invited to join us for an online discussion through the Zoom application. SPECIAL THANKS: to Peter Diehl for coming up with the idea for the program.

Book Club

All are invited to join the East Hills Moravian Church book club on Monday, April 27th at 7 pm in the parlor where we will discuss The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Questions? Contact: Amy Frantz Gross at bartlet4pres@yahoo.com for details about how this will be done if we are still operating remotely.

Ongoing Ministry Opportunities

A Can a Week

Please hold those with food shortages in your thoughts and prayers as changes at both the Northeast Community Center Foodbank and Second Harvest take place. We will not be collecting canned foods at this time, but if you’d like to continue to help with this effort, please mail a check in any amount to the church at 1830 Butztown Rd, Bethlehem, PA 18017. Please note “A Can a Week” on the memo line. Cash cards will be purchased to help meet the needs of the hungry at this time of stress and uncertainty.

Victory House

Interested in helping to feed the hungry? Contact Rob Greenawald at 610-438-2626 or rgreenawald@rcn.com for more information or to volunteer. 

Online Giving

Please note that we have online giving established for any donations you wish to make to East Hills Moravian Church. Check out our Online Giving page for more details. Help us to maintain our ministry, our facilities, but most importantly, our mission: “To Know Christ and Make Him Known.”

How are we doing that?

  • Through making meals for Moravian House 1 and 2 in downtown Bethlehem
  • Through feeding those in the Single Sisters House who can’t get out to purchase groceries and have very limited funds.
  • Through our online outreach.
  • Through our Freezer Ministry.
  • Through our sponsorship of “Jesus Saves” ministry.
  • Through our worship and fellowship opportunities.

All Moravian congregations and fellowships in the Northern and Southern Provinces in the United States have online giving enabled through the Giving Portal at https://mmfa.info/givingportal/. The Moravian Ministries Foundation in America is happy to do its part to help Moravians support the ministries of their local churches and worship God with their tithes and offerings from the safety of home. Answers to frequently asked questions are available at: https://files.constantcontact.com/4979844f601/4ee20b1b-d3a0-4f5a-ac32-c1846e2e30f4.pdf

Following Jesus Faithfully

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you”.

Matthew 28:18

These words come at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel just verses after the account of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter morning and mark the handoff of the Savior’s earthly ministry to the disciples he has taught and trained. Jesus’ words embody both the church’s purpose and its marching orders. They are the inspiration behind our congregation’s mission statement:

“To Know Christ and Make Him Known.”

Beginning October 13, we will start a six-week worship series exploring how each of us can better fulfill our role as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Hymns, special sharing, selection of scriptures, and the sermon will all focus on a sequence of six words which we believe can help guide our spiritual growth in practical, tangible ways.

• We believe that Christ wants each of us to live a richly fulfilling life, transformed and constantly renewed by the inflowing of God’s grace. On the first Sunday, we will explore how that is possible in these busy, fractured times and find inspiration for how to receive and share God’s blessings.

• We will then explore the importance of gathering together with other committed Christians in an age of growing unbelief, loneliness, and social isolation. Themes of gathering and connecting will occupy the second two Sundays. We will learn how other members of the congregation have drawn strength and insight from their interaction with each other.

• As we move into the latter half of our series, our focus will shift from ourselves to the important work which Jesus asks us to continue on his behalf. We will see how serving in Christ’s name changes the world and provides hope for a better future and learn how our financial giving not only makes the work of the church possible but also holds its own intrinsic blessing as it teaches us to trust God.

• Finally, we will embrace the task of sharing the good news with others through invitation and example.

Highlights of the series include a service of Holy Communion on November 10 and a Cup of Covenant service on November 17. The latter will provide each of us the occasion to renew our baptismal vows “to participate actively in Christ’s church, serving God all the days of our lives.”

Every Member, Every Month

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Being faithful followers of Jesus Christ is a shared endeavor. We best grow in our faith, our understanding of Jesus’ teaching, and our attempts to follow his example when we do so in community.

That is why, since the beginning of the church, those responsible for the spiritual care of its members have stressed the importance of regularly gathering with other Christians. The author of Hebrews writes: “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering… and…consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some…” (10:23-25)

Being the church is a matter of mutual care, encouragement, and accountability. The Joint Board and I have prayerfully considered how to elicit spiritual growth, “love, and good deeds” among members of East Hills Moravian Church.

We believe that encouraging all who are physically able to attend worship each month is a natural starting point. This fulfills promises made during the liturgy for Confirmation and Affirmation of Baptism used whenever persons choose to become part of our congregation. We take seriously the liturgy’s statement of our “obligation to love and nurture” each member “in Christ” and take you at your word when you affirmed your desire to “participate actively in Christ’s church, serving God all the days of your life.” We have covenanted to be intentional about encouraging you to take full advantage of the benefits of your church membership and will be reaching out if we have not seen you in a while.

We are aware that life together is complicated. As frail humans, we all have flaws and “fall short of the glory of God.” If you have been disappointed by unmet expectations or wounded by fellow church members or leaders we pray that God will bring healing to you and spiritual growth as you extend God’s grace to others in the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

I will close with Paul’s words to the Colossians: “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” (NLT)

Resolve not to let excuses and the call of the world stand between you and the blessings Godintends to provide through gathering together with God’s people.

Faith and Finance

jesus moneylenders

Christ driving the money-changers from the Temple Cecco del Caravaggio (1588–1620)

North Americans live in the most highly individualistic society the world has ever seen. Here, personal liberty and self-determination reign supreme; so it quite likely rankles when others presume to tell us how to live our lives.

That’s a challenge for those of us who wish to follow Jesus, for authentic Christianity consists of a comprehensive way of life rather than an à la carte menu of beliefs, behaviors, and practices. Christian faith should inform all aspects of our lives, from how we interact with others to how we spend our time, energy, and yes – money. While many 21st century North American believers are uncomfortable with that last topic, the Bible does not shy away from it. In fact, by some counts, there are 2000+ verses of scripture in the Old and New Testaments that specifically focus on the relationship of faith to personal finance.

Perhaps discussion of finances in the context of faith is a stumbling block for so many because of our familiarity with stories like the one of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple, or warnings against greed. For many, the take-away is that finances are unspiritual and that money itself is evil. This is not true.

Money is only a tool, a convenient way to preserve the fruits of our labors or access one’s resources. What troubles Jesus, Paul, and others in the Bible is not money itself, but what happens when our relationship with money compromises our relationships with God and others.

Christ turned over the tables of the money changers not because they were making money, but because the money exchange fees they were charging represented a significant barrier for poor persons who came to purchase doves and other animals for sacrifice. In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul’s concern is not to condemn the use of money, but rather the spiritual well-being of believers who have embraced an idolatry of wealth.[1] Again, the problem is not money itself, but the danger of placing more effort into gaining, preserving, or enjoying wealth than in following Christ.

Like it or not, where and how we spend our money is a reflection of our faith and personal values. This is especially true of discretionary income.

When I was growing up and stores first began opening on Sunday, I knew persons who refused to patronize these stores because they believed that by doing so they would be making it difficult for workers at those stores to observe the Sabbath. They feared that this was the start of a trend that would decrease family time and hurt the church in the long run. In hindsight, I believe they were correct. Similarly, when I served at Lititz Moravian Church in Lancaster County, I was surrounded by Old Order Amish who refused to run electricity into their homes because it meant that someone would have to manage the power plant on a Sunday. Though they failed to influence the larger society, both groups of Christians were faithful in thinking about finances through the lens of faith. I might not come to the same conclusions as they did, but their witness challenged me to be more spiritually mindful of money.

The Apostle Paul writes of those whose “… destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”  In other words, they are ruled by their desires and appetites. As I write this, I am drinking a latte I picked up on the way to work. Many of you know that I have quite the appetite for coffee of any kind. This latte was a rare treat and cost about four times the single dollar I used to put in the church offering plate as a child (ouch!). Were I still contributing at my childhood level and consistently chose lattes over an offering, Paul’s words would give me significant pause and I would have to ask: “Is coffee really more important to me than the work of Christ?” Where the cup meets my lips, the world of faith and finance intersect.

[1] (For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.)

 

First Fruits, Gratitude, and Giving

“You shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.” Deuteronomy 26:2

Offering of the First Fruits. Illustration from a Bible card published between 1896 and 1913.

Most early Israelites made their living as farmers or shepherds. It was their practice to offer God a portion of the first harvest of the season or one of the first born from among their flocks rather than securing the food for themselves in the larder or pantry. Such worship demonstrated profound trust in God’s ability to care for them and provide for future needs. This Biblical practice seems to me a particularly sincere declaration of faith. In our own income and market based economy in which offerings are measured in dollars rather than bushels, lambs, or calves, we would say, when it came to faith, these ancestors in faith really “put their money where their mouths were.”

Offerings are an act of worship, a tangible way of expressing gratitude to the Creator for blessings that make continued human existence possible. They are also an act of stewardship through which faithful persons employ resources God has placed in their care to promote the mission of Christ’s church.

I find it humbling to consider that Christ entrusted the continuation of his work to persons like us but that is what scripture teaches. Faith is a powerful force for renewal, reconciliation, righteousness and justice when translated into action. But that action depends on individual and collective commitment. Dedications of time, ability, and financial backing are all necessary for the church to carry out its mission. Each of us must decide how we can best express to God our gratitude and make a sincere, tangible declaration of faith.

“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”2 Corinthians 9:6-7

-Pastor Derek French

Now Thank We All Our God?

The primary goal of the Christian life is to serve as a disciple of Christ. Those who are sincere about partnering with Christ in proclaiming and promoting the Kingdom of God do so by following the two great commandments (Love God; love your neighbor) and by ordering their life in such a way that their faith in God and relationship with Christ is self-evident. Does your life bear witness to your faith in Christ “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you?” (2 Thessalonians. 2:12)

Both gratitude and generosity are essential traits for those who seek to follow Christ. They are expressions of our faith and trust in God. The apostle Paul addressed this in a letter to the congregation at Corinth.

“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

  • Like anything else in life, the impact of faith on one’s life is determined by the level of personal commitment.

“Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance …”

  • Everything comes from God. The dedication of our time, money, and abilities should be motivated by gratitude and a desire to make the world a better place rather than a sense of reluctant duty.

“You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.”

  • Christians not only expresses gratitude to God, but become a cause for thanksgiving and gratitude through their generosity and service.

“Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.”

  • Our action or lack thereof, speaks more eloquently than any confession of faith.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

The “indescribable gift” is the chance to partner with God in the transformation and salvation of the world. God invites believers to unite in this task. You can bear witness to your faith in Christ “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you” and resolving to:

  • Attend worship regularly throughout the year
  • Receive Holy Communion at least once a year
  • Contribute financially to the ministry of the congregation
  • Make every effort to be involved in one area of the church’s ministry. (From Bylaws of EHMC)

Making Ministry Happen

In the hallway between the narthex and my office are a couple of bulletin boards filled with Jim Knerr’s pictures of church activities. Together with our congregation’s mission statement, “To Know Christ, and Make Him Known,” these images help remind me of what East Hills Moravian Church is all about – nurturing faith, building community, and reaching out to serve the world for our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I see pictures of children and adults learning together about Jesus, or pictures of Confirmation and think of all whose faith has been nurtured within these walls. I see pictures of Rally Day, Adult Fellowship activities, and church fundraising dinners for mission trips and remember that our congregation is a place of face to face community in an age of virtual relationships. I see the pictures of hundreds of persons joining us to assemble food packages for Haiti, or members working to feed those who are hungry in our own community, and I rejoice that Christ is still reaching out to the world in love through his church.

Jesus saves us: he doesn’t mow the grass, take out the trash, fix the roof, or make the coffee.

Caught up as we often are in our own hectic lives, it’s easy to take the church for granted. When you think about it, the very fact that we can take the church for granted speaks to its grounding, stabilizing influence in our lives, and the blessings of religious freedom we enjoy in this country. The church was here before us and – we pray – will be here for us. The truth is none of the programming, fellowship, or outreach would happen without persons’ generous donation of time, effort, and money. I am reminded of words I heard years ago, growing up in my home congregation: “Jesus saves us: he doesn’t mow the grass, take out the trash, fix the roof, or make the coffee.”

As we anticipate another year of nurturing faith, building community, and reaching out to our
community and world to make Christ known, I invite you to join my family and others in our
congregation who …

  • are grateful to God for what we have and have resolved to bless others out of a sense of
    gratitude, and
  • believe that nurturing faith, building community, and serving others out of love for Christ
    through his church is worth supporting with our efforts and our money.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  – 1 Corinthians 15:58.