I’m currently reading through the book of Nehemiah with my kids. If you haven’t read it yet, or perhaps if you forgot, I’ll give the background. Following the monarchies of ancient Israel, foreign empires conquered the people of God as a judgment upon their wickedness. In those days, when a country was defeated, the ruling empire would take multiple measures to ensure that they would maintain control beyond just simply wiping people out. Many people would be taken back to the victorious country to be taught the customs of their new overlords (e.g. Daniel and his friends), some would be left behind to work the land and pay tribute to their new rulers, and there would most certainly be intermarrying to inculcate the values of the empire into the conquered.
And that’s where this account starts. Nehemiah was one of the fortunate ones. Not only was he kept alive and carried off, but he held one of the most trustworthy positions in the kingdom: he was the king’s cupbearer (or butler). This individual would typically be the official taste-tester for the king, particularly to make sure that the king’s beverage wasn’t poisoned. Therefore, the king placed incredible trust in this person. Nehemiah was saddened to hear of the desolate state of Jerusalem, to which even the king noticed his fallen countenance and asked why he was sad. Nehemiah was then granted favor to lead a rebuilding party in Jerusalem, specifically to rebuild the walls of the city. This task was not without issues: rival governors and leaders in the land were threatening the Jews while they worked, to the point that the Jews were working with only one hand, as their other hand was constantly on a weapon.
In chapter 6, Nehemiah received multiple messages from his rivals to come out and talk with them. Wisely, Nehemiah refused four requests to go out and meet, because he knew they were seeking to lure him out to do him harm. A fifth message to him was an open threat, saying they were going to tell the reigning Persian king that Nehemiah only wanted to rebuild the walls in order to set himself up as a a king, to supplant the real king! Again, Nehemiah saw through their tactic, as it says in verse 9, “For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” Nehemiah continues by adding his own little prayer, as if writing in the margin, at this point in the story: “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”
We who seek to follow Jesus with our hearts and honor Him with how we live our lives understand the formidable task before us. It’s disheartening how in the last couple years we’ve been hearing of steady decline in religiosity in the US since the 1970s. The media consistently tries to gin up suspicion of anyone living as a Christian these days, often tying them to an “-ism” like nationalism, and I don’t believe this is an accident. Further, in the last election cycle, no major party or candidate stood for the rights of the not-yet-born, as being pro-life was considered a “losing issue.” How many of us are afraid to speak up at work when someone says something offensive, or speak up boldly about our faith in public? Our enemy the devil seeks to frighten us, thinking “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.”
In spite of this news, I do believe there is a change in the tides. We’re starting to see cracks. I think people are smarter than we give ourselves credit for: that we can see the rates of unhappiness, depression, dissatisfaction, despair, and loneliness in the midst of the most hedonistically and self-indulgently “free” society. We have everything that we could want and we’re more miserable than ever. To quote the late Freddie Mercury, “There must be more to life than this.” The world is starving for authenticity, joy, truth, and hope. And how fortunate are we, who are entrusted with all of these through the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the embodiment of our completeness and satisfaction.
At Leidy’s, we find ourselves in an exciting place. A lot of work has been done in the last few years, and a lot of work is ahead. Those of us in leadership are actively planning not just to help us all grow in our relationships with Christ, but we pray we can grow our relationships with our friends, families, neighbors and community, too. We are working through the structures to best support our folks, especially as we prayerfully scale up in size and can better support going out into our community. But the one thing I’m always encouraged by is the tireless and joyful service of all the teachers, the helpers, musicians and the outreaches we all share in as a church body. These are the kinds of things we need to continue to do, in order to gather every generation together to pursue the fullness of Christ. Like Nehemiah, we recognize our need to remain faithful in our work to build the body of Christ, but also to be prepared spiritually to stand against the enemy that seeks to stop our work. Now, O God, strengthen our hands.
Tim Leidy
The week of May 5th is when our Gym will be transformed with all the donated items we have received, and our community is invited to shop for their family wardrobes, linens, jewelry, books, toys, household items, and much more!
The Big R actually takes place on Wednesday & Thursday, the 7th and 8th, but much work is done before then as well. Here’s when workers are needed:
On Monday and Tuesday from 9am to 8pm items are unpacked and arranged.
On Wednesday (9am to 8pm) we need friendly workers to bag items, serve as cashiers, and straighten items as many shoppers come to make their purchases.
On Thursday (9am to 6pm) we need the same sorts of workers as Wednesday, plus more! It’s the sales day featuring bags of goods for only $3, quite an attractive deal.
On Thursday at 6pm we need willing hands and strong backs to transform our facilities back for ministry before Sunday.
Mary Beth Musselman has a schedule she needs to fill, so be sure to speak with her if you can be plugged in at any time to help.
The funds raised at the Big R are disbursed where needed at Leidy’s Church and in our community by Ladies of Leidy’s. It’s a big undertaking, and with your help we can make it another great event.
Throughout the years, many at Leidy’s Church have prepared and delivered a meal or two to those in need. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of the Meal Ministry, when asked, will tell you what a blessing it was to receive a meal or two. Sometimes it’s a hardship for someone to prepare a meal for whatever their circumstances. Do you love to cook? Is this one of the gifts the Lord has bestowed on you? If so, YOU can be hands and feet of Christ, sharing the love you have for the Lord with others in need by using your very special gifts in this worthwhile way.
When there is a need within our church family, you would be called to see what fits your schedule. The more individuals who sign up, the less you’d be called upon. Please prayerfully consider using your culinary gifts in this way. Meals do not need to be anything elaborate. Just some down-home cooking prepared with love. Please notify the church office if you would be willing to be a part of the Meal Ministry. Thank you for sharing the love of the Lord in this tastefully delicious way!
Congratulations to Alex and Ally Doran at the birth of a daughter, Tirzah Ryan. May God be with them as their family grows in Him.
Congratulations to Andrew and Reagan (Hostelley) Wetzel at their marriage. May God be with them as they grow in Him.
Our sincere Christian sympathy to Mike Hughes and family and Allison Walbrandt and family at the death of their mother, Marilee Hughes. May God be with them at difficult this time.
We’re all aware of the devastation wreaked on various parts of our country over the past year or so by significant natural disasters. One area that was hardest hit was western North Carolina. Many of our members have expressed a desire to help out in a tangible, practical way.
To that end, the Mission Committee is planning a trip to that area in October. The work would be in conjunction with Samaritan’s Purse, the organization headed by Franklin Graham. Our targets are set on October 11-18, though we cannot make application until about three months out. When that time is reached, we want to act quickly.
An informational meeting will be held in the near future, though we don’t have a date set in stone at this point. What you can do, however, is let us know if this is of interest to you. You can register your interest on Church Center, speak with the church office, or contact someone on the Mission Committee.
Yes, the Ace Helpful Hardware Man is the fellow we’re talking about. His name if Don Hoff, and he owns the Harleysville Ace Hardware store. His dad owned it before him, and it is a thriving concern. You really will find helpful hardware folk there.
Here’s why we mention all this: Don Hoff will be the special speaker at the Spring BMCE Business & Professional Breakfast on Thursday, May 22nd. You and others in attendance will find his Christian testimony a genuine help to you in your Christian walk. Don is a local guy, so he will be speaking in terms you can understand and using illustrations that resonate with you.
There will be a full-scale breakfast buffet with something to satisfy the taste of each one. Served by the friendly and competent staff of the Franconia Heritage restaurant, the event begins at 6:30am and you’ll be on your way by 8. Tickets are $25 p/person, but if you purchase them from Leidy’s Church, you can get them for $15. Tickets may be gotten from the smiling church secretaries, or John Niederhaus.
Date & Time: Friday, May 16th - 6pm-8pm
Location: Church Fields Next to the Ponds
What to Expect: A night of worshipping our Lord together as the sun is setting. Following the Worship Service, there will be
a free BBQ dinner, also an Egg Hunt for kids up to 5th grade.
Bring enough lawn chairs for you & your family
& the friends that you are inviting.
Parking: Please park in either the gym parking lot or
the lower lots at the church and walk over.
There will be friendly parking people to help direct you.
Limited parking along the driveway for those who will
need it will also be available.
Throughout the month of May we will be having a fund-raiser on behalf of North Care Women’s Clinic. Bottles may be found on a table in the narthex, just pick up a baby bottle and take it home with you.
We want to support North Care’s efforts to provide sound, reliable, Godly, and compassionate help and advice to women and families who struggle with the reality of a difficult or unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. We want a clear alternative to abortion explained and available.
The bottles are designed to be used by individuals and families to collect change or checks or twenty-dollar bills. It could be that a family will put all their loose change each day in the bottle. Another person might include putting some money in the bottle as part of their devotional time.
Our thanks and prayers go out to the faithful folk ministering at the North Care Women’s Center.
Tuesday, May 20th, is the date for Primary Elections in PA this year. Leidy’s Church serves as a polling place for two precincts. Both precincts vote in the Fellowship Hall, so it will not be available for our use on that day or from mid-afternoon the day before.
If you would like information on the candidates, a good site to visit is www.pafamily.org. They will have info regarding where the candidates stand on particular issues and questions you might want to ask some local candidates as well.
If you want only information on who’s on the respective ballots, a good site to visit is www.ballotpedia.org. Just enter your address and follow the links as they come up. It will show both the Democratic and Republican ballots or only the party you’re registered in if you prefer that.
Get some exercise on May 20th by exercising your right to vote.
Present: Dave Doran, Francis Weiss, Jerry Kulp, Jim Foote, Jim Kinney, Josh Heebner, Ken Merritt, Kendall Musselman, Shaun Permar, Tony Kapusta, Brian Radcliff, Brian Shoemaker, Darren DePaul
Absent- N/A
Meeting was called to order at 7:05 by Consistory President, Josh Heebner
Devotions: Jim Foote asked if anyone heard of James Montgomery Boice? Boice was a strong reformed Center City preacher for 35 years. Jim picked up a book called I Believe, So What by Boice, about the book of James. Martin Luther would have had a hard time with the book of James and wanted to move it in his Bible. Jim shared that James shows how to live out the Gospel practically.
Evangelist Greg Laurie once asked a question…If we don't share the gospel when we feel like we should, is that a sin.
Jim shared that he had a unique talk with his Barber. There was a bad incident they were discussing and asked about the person who was involved in it, are they bad people.
He shared the two EE questions with the barber and the barber said he thought he would go to Heaven. He shared the omelet illustration where you are cracking 4-5 eggs and when you add the 6th egg it's bad. Do you try to get the bad egg out or do you add more to hide it.
He asked him about taking 70,000 bad eggs, 2 sins a day over a 70 year life span. Christ can plead your case on your behalf and you don't need to defend the 70,000 bad things you did.
By the end of the talk, he really had the barber thinking about everything they discussed.
When Jim was walking out, he thought…”I’m glad I’m a 5 point Calvinist so I don't need to pressure him…God will have him in his Hand till the next haircut if that's in his plan”. He acknowledged reading missionaries' emails about sharing the gospel with random people, and it was humbling to read how it seems so easy and natural.
March Minutes Motions for Approval
First: Brian S Second: Francis W Unanimously Carried
March Budget Report
Fund Non-designated giving Spend Ending Fund Balance
& other income
General $79,032.42 $93,103.96 $72,323.77
Renovation $13,600 $25,731.43 $207,178.31
Financial Report Motions for Approved
First: Jerry K Second: Kendall M Unanimously Carried
General Identify/Discuss/Solve
a. Auxano Update: Most of the consistory had come to the joint meeting with Spiritual Council and Auxano, but Pastor Darren did a brief-ish recap of that meeting for those who had not. He went over where we are headed and how we plan on getting there. Brian Rose (Auxano) has been really good at fostering conversations and getting the group to flesh out a lot of things that will help lead us in the direction of “Gathering all Generations to Pursue the Fullness of Christ -Together”.
b. Missions Committee: JHCN is stepping down as the chairman of the Mission Committee in June after many years of faithful service. Brian Shoemaker is going to work on either finding a single replacement or multiple to help carry the load.
c. Investment Policy Review: Jim Kinney put a lot of work into making an endowment & endowment investment policy for the church. Should someone choose to leave a sum of money to ILC in their will, it would be handled by this policy. The money would be invested and only the dividends would be potentially pulled for church use. Copies are going to be available in the office for people who want more information.
d. Parsonage discussion: There was plenty of discussion about the work that needs to be completed at the parsonage. Brian Radcliff is working with Rich Kapusta to get drawings together hopefully in the next few months. Once the drawings are completed, which is being done pro-bono, estimates will be able to be received. Last July there was a $250k-$350K number mentioned at the congregational meeting and preliminary estimates put us north of that, but to what extent is unclear. That led to further discussion about the best plan moving forward, and it was decided to get the drawings completed so we could clearly explain what the work is at hopefully the July 13 Congregational Meeting.
Jim Foote took prayer requests and after an intercessory time of prayer, and saying the Lord’s Prayer together, the meeting was adjourned at 9:57 pm.
Submitted
Tony Kapusta, Consistory Secretary
Question 52: What hope does everlasting life hold for us?
It reminds us that this present fallen world is not all there is; soon we will live with and enjoy God forever in the new city, in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be fully and forever freed from all sin and will inhabit renewed, resurrection bodies in a renewed,
restored creation.
Revelation 21:1–4: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Commentary - J. C. Ryle
Let us settle it then in our minds, for one thing, that the future happiness of those who are saved is eternal. However little we may understand it, it is something which will have no end: it will never cease, never grow old, never decay, never die. At God’s “right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11). Once landed in paradise, the saints of God shall go out no more. The inheritance is “incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away.” They shall “receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Pet. 1:4; 5:4). Their warfare is accomplished; their fight is over; their work is done. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. They are travelling on towards an “eternal weight of glory,” towards a home which shall never be broken up, a meeting without a parting, a family gathering without a separation, a day without night. Faith shall be swallowed up in sight, and hope in certainty. They shall see as they have been seen, and know as they have been known, and “be for ever with the Lord.” I do not wonder that the apostle Paul adds, “Comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:17–18).67
Timothy Keller
The catechism answer tells us two things about the glorious future that the gospel assures us is coming.
First, we are going to enjoy God forever. Because God is triune within himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been glorifying each other, delighting in each other, adoring each other, loving each other. Therefore, God within himself has infinite joy. And we were created to share in that joy. We were created to glorify him and to participate in that glory and joy. But none of us, even the strongest Christians today, have ever experienced what that joy is— perfect, cosmic, infinite, endlessly growing— because all of us worship and adore other things. Someday we will be freed from sin, and then we will know and experience that glory and joy. We will enjoy him forever.
Second, we will enjoy him forever in the new city, in the New Jerusalem, in the new heavens and new earth. We will experience this cosmic joy not in a purely immaterial condition. But, rather, we will be in a restored material creation. We will have resurrection bodies like Jesus’s body— physical bodies. And what that means is, as Christianity envisions, the body and the soul, the physical and the spiritual, are together in perfect harmony forever. No other religion envisions that. We will not float about as disembodied spirits, but we will dance. We will march. We will hug. We will be embraced. We will eat, and we will drink in the kingdom of God. It means all of our deepest longings will be fulfilled. All of our greatest sorrows will be swallowed up.
What could be better than that? And that’s what we’re in for.
Nothing less.
Birthdays
3 Bob Ott
4 Alex Hager, Janelle Rittenhouse
8 Olivia Vogelzang
9 Chandler Camuso, Ashley Merritt
10 Alicia Niederhaus
11 Brian Shoemaker
12 Jenny Ernst, Aiden Kehs, Ken Ritter
13 Judah Kehs
14 Mabel Neal, Donna Weiss
17 Stan Radcliff
18 Jim Kulp, Janice Kulp
21 Steve Paine
23 Bailey Kinney
25 Shaun Permar
27 Donna Frueh
29 Anna Heebner, Linda Stretch
30 Adine Doran, Kevin Godshall, Skip Smith
Anniversaries
2 Mike & Shannon Kehs
4 Joe & Karen Sciacca
6 Ron & Diane Miller
7 Gus & Sunhwa Niederhaus
11 Charlie & Carol Kretschmer
15 T. Dale & Jane Leidy,
Tom & Susan Merritt
16 Jerry & BJ Kulp
18 LeRoy & Diane Gehman
19 Mike & Deb Hughes,
Dave & Marcy Kirkpatrick
20 Levi & Morgan Slack
21 Jim & Janice Kulp
25 Dave & Vicki Freed
26 Jim & Ginna Foote
30 Aaron & Alisha Vogelzang
