Tonight at seven o’clock, Church of the Messiah will start its first Bible Study series of the new year “According to the Scriptures”: The Biblical Basis for Our Worship. The series will run from next Wednesday, January 15th, through February 26th, and will explain why we worship the way we do according to what the Bible teaches. This is not going to be a newcomers’ class nor will it be a church history class. This Bible Study will look how we at Church of the Messiah worship the Lord and find in the Holy Scriptures why we do it that way rather than like anybody or everybody else. Since 2014 is a year dedicated to Evangelism, we all need to able explain what goes on in our Church worship services. This Bible study will enable you to answer the questions your friends have when you bring them with you to Church and give you the resources to explain–according to the Bible–why we do what we do! This Bible Study is vital to fulfilling our call in the new year.

Each service will begin at 7 o’clock with a time of praise and worship, followed by the time of Bible study, and concluding with a time of corporate prayer. Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group meets at the same time as this service and child-care is provided as well. The services dismiss prior to 8:30 so that everyone can be home in time to prepare for work and school on the next day.

We encourage everyone to begin planning to make this Bible Study a part of their schedule for the next seven weeks. It will change the way you talk about your church with your friends!

Last night at the Epiphany Eucharist, Fr. Looker announced the topic for the new, upcoming Bible study!  The title of the series will be “According to the Scriptures”: The Biblical Basis for Our Worship.  The series will run from next Wednesday, January 15th, through February 26th, and will explain why we worship the way we do according to what the Bible teaches.  This is not going to be a newcomers’ class nor will it be a church history class.  This Bible Study will look how we at Church of the Messiah worship the Lord and find in the Holy Scriptures why we do it that way rather than like anybody or everybody else.  Since 2014 is a year dedicated to Evangelism, we all need to able explain what goes on in our Church worship services.  This Bible study will enable you to answer the questions your friends have when you bring them with you to Church and give you the resources to explain–according to the Bible–why we do what we do!  This Bible Study is vital to fulfilling our call in the new year.

Each service will begin at 7 o’clock with a time of praise and worship, followed by the time of Bible study, and concluding with a time of corporate prayer.  Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group meets at the same time as this service and child-care is provided as well.  The services dismiss prior to 8:30 so that everyone can be home in time to prepare for work and school on the next day.

We encourage everyone to begin planning to make this Bible Study a part of their schedule for the next seven weeks.  It will change the way you talk about your church with your friends!

Tonight, Wednesday, January 8th, Church of the Messiah will observe the Feast of the Epiphany, the revelation of the Light of the Messiah to the Gentiles.  It is on this night that we commemorate the Three Wise Men travelling from afar, bearing gifts to worship the newborn king.  As the Magi brought gifts to honor the King of Kings, we will bring gifts to support our local crisis pregnancy center, Emergency Pregnancy Services.  This will be a special Eucharistic service that begins at seven o’clock.  Youth Group will join us for this service and child-care will be provided.

After a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, Church of the Messiah’s Mid-Week Service Bible Study returns this Wednesday Night at 7 o’clock.  In the first two weeks we studies the causes of the Exile and surviving the Exile, but now, as we head into Part 2 of the study, Fr. Looker will be examining the prophets who helped rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem after the Exile.  This Wednesday night the focus will be on the Prophet Haggai.  If you missed any of the previous sessions, you can visit Church of the Messiah’s Sermon Archive and visit the “Wednesday Night Bible Study” section to download both the audio recording of the teaching and the entire PowerPoint Presentations for each night’s teaching!

The service begins at seven o’clock with praise and worship and includes intercessory prayer following our time of study.  Childcare is provided and Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group meets on Wednesday Nights at the same time.  The service dismisses prior to 8:30 so everyone can be home in time for work and school the next day.

As the whole nation prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, do not forget that you cannot gives thanks without giving thanks to someone! Since St. James tells us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,” (1:17) it is entirely appropriate to come together and give thanks to Almighty God for all the many blessing in our life at the very beginning of this annual national feast. Church of the Messiah will hold its annual Thanksgiving Eve Eucharist tonight starting at seven o’clock. We will be sure that our Thanksgiving is directed towards the one from whom all of our good gift originate. Childcare will be provided and Youth Group will be a part of the service. We hope to see you there.

This Wednesday night Church of the Messiah continues our Mid-Week service with the second week of Fr. Looker’s teaching series “Coming Out of Exile: Returning to the Promised Land.”  The service begins at 7pm and includes praise & worship, Bible study, and intercessory prayer and we have everyone out by 8:30 for work and school the next day.  Our Youth Group meets during the same time and childcare is provided for our little ones as well.  For anyone who is interested, we have created a new page on our web-site under the Sermon Library called Wednesday Night Bible Studies.  You can either click on “Sermon Library” in the upper left and then click on “Wednesday Night Bible Studies” or you can simply click HERE.  Once you are there you can listen to the teaching from each night as well as download the PowerPoint slideshow that was on the screens during the teachings.  Admit it!  There is nothing really good on Wednesday night TV you can’t DVR anyway.  We will see you Wednesday night at 7pm because Wednesday night is Church Night at Church of the Messiah!

Church of the Messiah’s Rector’s Council meets tonight, November 14, starting at 7 o’clock.  Fr. David Paysinger, as the Rector of the parish, serves as the chair of the council, which includes all of the priests in the parish as well as Earl Shimp and Craig Stafford.  The Rector’s Council currently meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month to pray over key issues in the governance and future of Church of the Messiah.  Operating via the rules of Government by Consensus, issues are not dealt with by majority rules but rather by asking each member “What do you believe The Lord is saying?” When the group comes to consensus as to what The Lord is saying, the we have our decision.  Each and every member covets your prayers during these meetings.  Pray for your leadership and for the Church of the Messiah.

This Wednesday Night begins a new work for Church of the Messiah!  We have not had a church-wide Mid-Week Service in several years and starting this Wednesday night at seven o’clock that all changes!  We will open up with praise and worship, thanking God for, first and foremost, who He is and all that He has done in our lives, and then we will go in to a time of Bible study.  The first topic of the Bible study will be “Coming Out of Exile: Returning to the Promised Land” and will focus on the period of time after the Jews were released from their seventy years of exile in Babylon but before they were able to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.  As Church of the Messiah sets out from Jacksonville University and begins planning to build on our property on St. Johns’ Bluff, this time in the life of the Children of Israel is especially relevant to where we are as a Church community.  Look for Biblical history and well as pertinent life application.  We will conclude with a time of intercessory prayer and dismiss by 8:30 so that everyone can be home in time for work and school the next morning!

So set your DVR’s to record your favorite shows from now on because Wednesday nights are Church Nights at Church of the Messiah!  We’ll see you starting November 13th at 7 o’clock!