Pastor on Call
For an emergency over the weekend, please contact our Pastoral Assistant Warren Bock.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007
Jody Welker, preacher

Scripture:
Luke 5:1-11
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon:
"What Makes Them So Strong?"

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Attendance Sunday, January 21:
9:00 a.m.: 160
11:00 a.m.: 361

Attendance Sunday, January 28:
9:00 a.m.: 202
11:00 a.m.: 359

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Monthly Food Offering
Please bring your food donation to church this Sunday. Suggested donations include crackers/snacks, soup, pasta, cereal, peanut butter, and macaroni and cheese. Please leave your offering in the basket located in the narthex.

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Fellowship Time
On Sunday we will begin our after-church socials. Please plan to stay for fellowship with refreshments provided by the Mission Committee following the 11:00 a.m. worship. We will hear about the recent Mission Trip to New Orleans and enjoy "King Cake."

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Warren's Wanderings/Wonderings

In his book, "The Place Of Fierce Landscapes", author Belden Lane writes "Work is paying attention to what matters most."

What matters most, for Christians, is honoring God as we know God in Jesus Christ.

When we come to worship together on a Sunday, we pay attention to what matters most. We sing, we pray, we listen to the Word read and preached, we confess our faith, we offer ourselves in thanksgiving. These are all ways of paying attention to what matters most. The very term "liturgy" that we use to describe the form of our Sunday worship means "work." We come together to do the joyful "work" of praise! That seems pretty clear; we understand it.

But how do we "pay attention to what matters most" in our jobs, in our families, in the community? How do we honor God in our daily living?

In the book "Spiritual Literacy", Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin tells of a conversation he had with a taxi driver who picked him up to take him to the airport. The driver asks the rabbi what he would say to a Jew who had not been inside a synagogue for decades. The rabbi recalled that in Hasidic lore, the wagon driver is an honored profession. So, he responds. "We could talk about your work." "What does my work have to do with religion?" "Well, we choose how to look at the world and at life. You are a taxi driver. But you are also a piece of the tissue that connects all humanity."

The rabbi then tells the taxi driver that he has a part to play in the rabbi's trip to give a lecture that might inspire his hearers. He tells the taxi driver that he might be the first non-medical contact with a person riding home from the hospital, or be bringing a man to the home where he is going to propose marriage. The rabbi says to him, "You are a bridge builder, a connector. One of the unseen people that makes the world work the way it does."

In our jobs, in our homes, in the community, in the Kirk, we work to make the world work the way it does. We work for the benefit of others. When we do our jobs, parent, exercise our citizenship, we surely are paying attention to what matters most, and in so doing, honoring God.

Warren

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Souper Bowl

Each year on Super Bowl Sunday, church youth groups across the country collect donations for the Souper Bowl of Caring. Each group donates their collections to a local charity that helps the poor and/or hungry and then reports the total collected to a national registry. Since 1990 youth have collected over $33 million.

Look for Kirk youth with soup pots as you leave worship this Sunday, February 4. Drop in a dollar or two or even more to go directly to the Food Bank of North Carolina. Thank you!

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Circles

Ruth Semi Circle
The next meeting will be on Thursday, February 8, 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Martha Circle
Will meet at the home of Anne Shambley on Monday, February 12.

Joy Circle
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 13, 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Lydia Circle
Will meet next on Tuesday, February 13, 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Glenaire Circle
Will meet next on Wednesday, February 14, 10:30 a.m. at Glenaire.

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Darfur
Nicholas Kristof will give a public lecture titled "The First Genocide of the 21st Century: Report on Darfur" on Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. at NCSU. Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the New York Times, has probably done more than anyone in this country to raise awareness of the tragedy unfolding in Darfur. There is no charge to attend the lecture. If you would like a ride to it, please contact Chris Mazzara by Monday. We will meet in the Kirk parking lot and leave at 6:30 Tuesday. For information about NCSU's Darfur Awareness Week, of which the lecture is one event among many, see http://www.news.ncsu.edu/releases/2007/jan/014.html.

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Men Of The Kirk Breakfast Meeting
All men (16 years and older) are invited on Saturday, February 10, at 7:30 a.m. for a scrumptious $2 breakfast followed by our program of the day. Kirk member Ben Hynson, the golf pro at MacGregor Country Club, will speak on "Golf - The Professional Way." Come join in the fun! Please RSVP to the church office (467-4944) no later than Thursday, February 8 if you plan to attend.

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50+ Group
The 50+ Group will hold a Potluck Dinner/Game Night on Thursday, February 15, at 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Anyone who enjoys good food, fun and fellowship is welcome even if not quite 50. Various games (Mexican Train, dominoes, Bingo, checkers, etc.) will be available.
Get questions answered and make reservations with Kae and Dick Meyer so we can set up for the amount planning to come.

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Join the Conversation How will you serve?

Conversations begin February 22. Look for small group meeting sign up sheet in next week's bulletin or download the form from http://www.kirkofkildaire.org/com/lrp.html. Become part of the vision.
-Long Range Planning Taskforce

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Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network
WIHN is a community response for homeless families, whose mission is to provide shelter, meals, case management and educational services to homeless families in addition to promoting action and awareness in the community regarding homelessness. The Kirk supports this program by providing temporary housing to homeless families three or four weeks of the year.

Our next host week is April 15– 22. Please consider volunteering to setup, transport the families, cook meals, greet our guests, spend the night, clean up, or provide food.

“Signup” and “Information” sheets will be in the narthex starting March 18.

(Note: Mark your calendars for the other two weeks in 2007 … the Kirk will also host WIHN families July 15-22, and December 30–January 6, 2008.)

Sandra Clark, Kirk WIHN Director

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New FAT Class Study
The Faith and Theology (FAT) Adult Sunday School Class will begin this Sunday a study of Francis Collins’ "The Language of God." The author was the director of the international Human Genome Project. The central thesis of this challenging book is that, in the modern era of cosmology, evolution, and the human genome, there is certainly the possibility of a richly satisfying harmony between the scientific and spiritual worldviews. Come and join us in the Session Room. Books are $17.50. Contact Cader Howard with questions.

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Faith Foundations Adult Class
The Faith Foundations adult Sunday school class that meets in Room S-16 of the middle building is studying what the Bible says about getting along with those in authority. After each study section we enjoy a break at Caribou Coffee so join us there on February 18. On February 25 the class will begin studying how to get along with other believers. No preparation is necessary and the class is very informal, so come and enjoy it.

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Refugee Needs
Our new family from Ethiopia will be moving into an apartment on February 6 in the Misty Woods complex. They are excited to be living near other Ethiopians the church has resettled. We still need the following items: microwave, dish drainer, coffee table, dining table, side tables, gift certificates to Target are always appreciated also. A car is needed too. Contact Wendy Segreti or Endy Kidanewold for donating items. All are tax- deductible.

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New KOALA Liaison Needed
The Kirk Outreach Afterschool Learning Academy (KOALA), which provides one-on-one tutoring to children in grades K-2 who live in the Wrenn Drive area and attend Briarcliff Elementary School, is seeking a new liaison for the 2007-2008 academic year. The position requires a time commitment of two to five hours per week during the academic year. For more information please contact Stephanie Horman. Thanks!

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Thanks to all at the Kirk for your continued support of the Kirk’s Coffee Mission. Your labor, donations, and purchases are helping to support this growing mission with our fellow Presbyterians in Mexico.

Just Trade Development Center:

• Give thanks for the success of Just Coffee who bought over 45 tons of coffee from their growers in 2006, who continues to add growers to its cooperative, who is seeing children return to their community from the United States and whose sales continue to sore bringing hope not only to their community but to many others;

• Pray for the Center as it works with three other communities to begin their cooperatives: El Aguila, Chiapas, Mexico, Coyutla Veracuz Mexico, and Baranderes, Haiti.

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Blood Alert
The American Red Cross and thousands of patients need you and other blood donors to give blood right away!

Severe weather in many states has forced the cancellation of blood drives, resulting in dangerous blood shortages. Plus, widespread problems with cold and flu have kept donors away and further increased problems meeting hospital demand for blood.

The Red Cross is working to supply hard-hit areas so that all hospital patients will have the blood they need to survive. Currently, though, there is less than a one-day supply of type B negative, A negative and of type O blood, which is used extensively in emergency rooms -- and the number of patients who need blood is as high as ever.

Please make a difference for someone.
Give blood. Give Life.

Cary Blood Donation Center Hours
Monday 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Thursday 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
2nd /4th Saturday's 7:30 am - 1:30 pm

Call 1-800-GIVE LIFE (448-3543) for an appointment.

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Faith Challenge Needs You!
Faith Challenge has lots of openings in the spring schedule. See below.

These are 5-week units and we need people to teach the same lesson twice-two weeks to the 6th graders and then two weeks to the 7th graders. The last week is a combined lesson and teaching duties are shared. Please consider helping in this vital area of youth ministry.

Contact Dewey Cassell for questions and to volunteer Thank you!

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Volunteers Needed
The Carying Place Transitional Housing Program is in need of volunteers to assist in the facilitation of the Children’s Program on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. For information or to volunteer, please contact Karen (462-1800).

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Habitat For Humanity
Thanks to Mike Taylor, Angela Farthing and Jim Farthing for volunteering their time this past Saturday for Habitat for Humanity. These volunteers worked framing a new house. Our next work date is February 24. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Jim Farthing.

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Stephen Ministry, a Christian lay caring ministry for those in need, is a vital part of our congregation's mission. On February 18, we will commission Kathy White as a Stephen Leader, and Mai Wickelgren and Page Ott to begin service as Stephen Ministers in our congregation. Come pray for and show your support for this caring ministry and these gifted people whom God has called and equipped for these important roles in our congregation.

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Prayer Request of the Week: Please include in your prayers this week our Stephen Ministry program.

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Our sympathies to Janet and Andy Barclay and their family on the death of Janet's sister.

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Prayers: We pray for Margaret Snow, Tom Eskew, Mai Wickelgren, Joe Long, Jerry Palmer, Pat Fennell, T. J. Guyton, Rebecca Slack, Sara Saunders, Alan MacIlroy, Colleen Calwell

If you would like more information regarding any of our concerns, please contact the church office.

Glenaire Healthcare Unit: Ruth Wagnon, Nedra Chesnutt, Martha Haake, Louise Harter, Mary Frances Webb, Lillian Soo-Hoo.

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On Sunday, January 21, Hal Jordan and Virginia Anthony, left for a whirlwind five day mission trip to Guatemala. Many members of the group that traveled to Guatemala last July have been meeting and communicating with the church leaders in Guatemala for the last six months. An initial proposal for an ongoing partnership was received from the church in Pala' in mid-December. The purpose of this trip was to meet with all parties involved and understand what is needed and being requested.

Pala' is extremely poor and has many needs. However, the people there have a deep and abiding faith, and the community is a tight-knit one. We came home saddened by these desperate needs yet hopeful that the Kirk can enter into a productive and meaningful partnership with the Ray of Light Church in Pala'. Please keep us in your prayers as we finalize the partnership details which will include scholarships so the young people can continue their education and support for increased economic opportunities for men and women in the community through a mini loan program and a vocational training program. Thank you for the opportunity to represent the Kirk and for your prayers while we were away.

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Ten Kirk members returned from a successful expedition to New Orleans, working through RHINO (Rebuilding Hope In New Orleans), an outreach ministry of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. They were fortunate to work on a Habitat For Humanity house the whole week with a group from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. The future owner of the HFH house also pitched in all week and was extremely grateful for all the help. The accommodations provided by SCAPC were wonderful, and the food was plentiful and delicious. This is an ongoing and worthwhile mission that all Kirk members should consider participating in.

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