Would you like to go with a group which wants to grow in understanding the Bible and have an encounter with the Living Lord in His Land?

Tour coordinator/lecturer, Dr. Larry Selig,  is planning to return to the Holy Land for 10 days of Biblical discovery (with the option of a two day Jerusalem extended stay), scheduled to depart from Newark on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 and return the following Thursday, April 19.  Total cost for the trip – including trip insurance, all transportation from the Orlando airport and within Israel, lodging with two buffet meals a day, gratuities, taxes, fees, etc. – comes to around $3,300/$3,500, based on the 10 day or 12 day trip option.

Brochures will soon be available at the information station to review the details but in the meantime, please check with Pastor Bryan if you have further questions.  He would love to see another group from IRPC plan to become “Holy Land Pilgrims” as 14 of us did in 2009 and as 7 others did in 2011!!!

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on God Questions by looking at “Why Do Bad Things Happen? – Part 2″. Rev. Dr. Dana Allin last week looked at the question of why bad things happen by understanding that we live in a fallen world.  This week we will explore the bad things that happen as a result of human action.  This will allow us to have a deeper understanding of both our own sinful nature as well as why humans can do such horrible things to other humans. CLICK HERE to download the Sermon Outline and Sermon Reflection Questions.

REMINDER: Town Hall Meeting this Sunday, February 19th at 1:30pm in the Sanctuary. Childcare will be provided. Hear from the Tropical Florida Presbytery Response Team and our IRPC Discernment Committee as you continue to pray and discern God’s will for IRPC’s future relationship with the PC(USA).

This Sunday Rev. Dr. Dana Allin discusses the question “Why Do Bad Things Happen? – Part 1″ as a part of our continuing sermon series “God Questions: Real Questions–Authentic Faith”. One of the toughest questions to wrestle with is, “Why do bad things happen?” It is a tough question because in answering it we don’t want to minimize people’s pain and we don’t want to pretend to know the complete mind of God. We will look at this question in three parts. This first week we will look at how, because of the fall, the world is not the way God had originally created it to be. This will begin to give us a theological explanation that we want to use as an understanding so that we can begin to engage with this question. CLICK HERE to download the Sermon Outline and Sermon Reflection Questions.

Coffee with the Pastors in Room 201 – Sunday, Feb. 12th at 9:00am & 10:30am. This is an informal time to chat and learn about IRPC mission & ministry.
opportunities!!!

1. 80% or more request dismissal. In this case we keep all of our property and pay the negotiated amount for dismissal to the Presbytery.* (see note below)
2. Between 67% & 80% request dismissal. We would be dismissed with our main campus, but likely lose the Hartman Road property to the Presbytery.
3. Less than 67% vote for dismissal. We will not be dismissed and remain with the PC(USA). The process now stops.

It is important to note that there is no opportunity to abstain from the vote if you show up and sign in. Any member who shows up and does not vote, that lack of a vote is counted as a vote against dismissal. So it is extremely important that every member who attends casts a vote. We are working it out so that this meeting will be at the most one hour!

If the congregation officially votes to request dismissal it is up to the Presbytery to officially dismiss us. On Tuesday, May 15th our Presbytery will vote on our request for dismissal. People have asked “could the Presbytery not dismiss us?” They could vote not to dismiss us. However, I don’t believe this will become an issue. Almost 40% of the membership in our Presbytery is going through this process (and we still get to vote on our own dismissal and the dismissal of other churches); those who are staying have promised to uphold the decision of a congregation.

There is then a 30 day transitional period between the vote of the Presbytery and the dismissal into the new denomination, which means that if dismissal were to occur we would be dismissed from the PC(USA) and received into the ECO on June 15th.

I appreciate your prayers and faithfulness as we go through this rather lengthy yet very important process. My prayer is that God would continue to use this time to prepare our hearts and souls as a congregation.

In Christ,

Pastor Dana

* We will be negotiating with the Presbytery Response Team on the terms of dismissal. The main area of negotiation is on the issue of paying the Presbytery 10% of the value of the Hartman Road Property. Our merger agreement says, “If you sell the property to a disinterested 3rd party we will pay the Presbytery 10% of the sale price or the fair market value which ever is higher.” This statement was made in case the church didn’t use the property for outreach. However, the Presbytery views leaving the denomination as the same thing as selling the property. I disagree, but they control the cards in this situation. We are actually glad the 10% clause was in the agreement as there had been some chatter that they might just “take back the Hartman Road property.” So at least at this point all we are negotiating over is the 10% value and not whether we keep the property. However, if we fail to reach the 80% threshold then those negotiations are off the table and we could lose the Hartman Road property.

Rev. Dr. Dana Allin presents his sermon “Why Does the Trinity Matter?” as a part of the continuing series sermon series “God Questions: Real Questions–Authentic Faith”. Last week we began taking a look at the difficult but important doctrine of the Trinity. It is a difficult doctrine and yet God chose to reveal it to us so there must be a reason for Him to share this with us. This week we will look at why the Trinity matters, what difference does it or should it make in our lives and church.  CLICK HERE to download the Sermon Outline and Sermon Reflection Questions.

SOUPer Bowl Of Caring 2012…as you leave worship today, the youth are available to collect your $1 donation to benefit hunger programs in Saint Lucie County.

Coffee with the Pastors in Room 201 – NEXT Sunday at 9:00am & 10:30am. This is an informal time to chat and learn about IRPC mission & ministry.
opportunities!!!