HFPC's Christian Education:
Adult

Adult Education Lessons for February 3rd – April 13th
10:30-11:30 AM each Sunday following 9:00 AM Worship Serviceprior to 11:30 AM DsTny Service

What’s So Amazing About Grace?
A Ten-Session Investigation of Grace
Adult Education Topic


Experience the Impact of Grace.

“It’s one thing to talk about grace; it’s another to taste its power. The series What’s So Amazing About Grace? takes people through gut-level
encounters with radical, life-changing grace. Through candid video interviews, Philip Yancey integrates true-life faces and experiences with ten powerful sessions that will rock your preconceptions, get you thinking and talking, and help you discover together why grace is more amazing than you’ve ever dreamed.

“The Participant’s Guide will help you not only gain a better understanding of what grace is and why it is so precious, but also integrate it into your life. Engaging questions, provocative Bible studies, and lively discussions are just part of the package. You’ll also be challenged to look for grace where it counts most: in your character and personal life. “If you’re ready to discover grace as more than just a fluffy concept, buckle your seat belt. You’re about to take a journey to the heart and soul of Christianity. The next life grace changes could be yours.”

The above is copied from the back book jacket for the series What’s So Amazing About Grace? Each Sunday we will be studying grace:

February 3 The Missing Ingredient: A Beautiful Word, a Powerful Concept
February 10 Letting Grace Soak In: God’s Love for the Undeserving
February 17 An Unnatural Act: Extending Grace When You’ve Been Wronged
February 24 The Art of Forgiving: Responding with Grace When It Seems Impossible
March 2 Skin-Deep: The Power of Grace to Penetrate Racism
March 9 Grace Put to the Test: Grace in the Face of Disagreement
March 16 Grace Abuse: Cheapening Grace and Robbing Its Power
March 23 Easter Sunday. No Adult Education Class
March 30 The Church Backslides: How Legalism Corrupts Grace
April 6 Dispensing Grace: How Can We Do It?
April 13 Counterforce: Grace Set Loose in the World
Youth
Youth information is on the way
Children

Worship and Wonder

Children and Historic First Presbyterian Church:

At Historic First Presbyterian Church, we affirm that God lovingly created all children, and faithfully abides in them.  We want our church to be a place where children experience in special ways the God who is with them every day, in every place.  We also want Historic First Presbyterian Church to be a place where children discover what it means for them, as children, to live in God’s way of compassion and justice as Jesus did. 

Worshiping Together:

All ages worship together at HFPC.  At our 9:15 a.m. worship service, we invite children to worship God, just as we invite youth and adults to worship God.  And we believe that children worship God as children, not as “little adults!”  Whether they are coloring a piece of paper, leafing through a songbook, counting the number of flowers in the sanctuary, or standing in the aisle to get a better view of the bread being broken, children are indeed taking it all in, and they have profound gifts to share with the adults in the congregation.  May we continue to grow into a worshiping body that receives and honors the gifts of all children, no matter how messy or unpredictable or unruly those gifts may be!  

Growing in Faith:

On Sunday mornings, from 10:30-11:15 A.M., children ages 3 years through 4th grade are invited to grow in their Christian faith through our children’s educational program. 

Encountering the Resurrected One: I wonder where a child might see herself in the story of Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb?  I wonder where a child might see himself along the road to Emmaus? 

The Good Shepherd: The Good Shepherd leads us, and invites us to feast at the table of life.  Surely Jesus experienced God as a good shepherd, and invites us into the same relationship with God. 

The Ascension: I wonder why the early followers of Jesus told a story about Jesus ascending into the clouds?  I wonder what the story means for us today?  I wonder what the story means for the children in our midst? 

Pentecost: Pentecost is about power!  The symbols of Pentecost are wind and fire.  As adults, we tend to want to “tame” the Holy.  May the children remind us that God is a Pentecost God, a God who empowers and who turns things upside down.

Baptism:  We belong to God, the God whose loving power we describe as “resurrection.”  Through baptism, we are reminded that we belong to God.  Through baptism, we say NO to everything that gets in the way of our life with God.  Through baptism, we say YES to God’s ways of compassion and justice.

Jesus Loves Me!

A Prayer for Children by Ina Hughes

[The prayer was written following the Oklahoma City bombing by Ina Hughes, columnist for the Knoxville News-Sentinel.]

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