In this third and final message in the "Forgotten Paths" series, Pastor Chris Green talks to us about the subject of renewal.

This is the second message in the series, "Forgotten Paths" where Pastor Chris Green talks to us about the Bible as a book, not to be kissed, but to be...eaten. You'll have to watch the message to understand.

I have always been drawn to the bible. As a child my parents drew lines from every important decision, lesson or principle back to that book. It was canon for our family; the measuring stick by which we judged a thing to be true or not. Yet we never learned to treat it as a magic book that held every answer we could ever need. My parents taught us, mostly implicitly, that congruency with the word was the measure of a thing’s truthfulness. They taught us not only to see the word, but to see through it. It was holy, but not in an untouchable way. It was holy in a way that required touching, feeling, tasting.

In 5th grade, I went to a Christian school operated by the church my dad pastored in the suburbs of central New Jersey. One day I stood up from my desk to go to the restroom and knocked my bible on the ground. Upon picking it up my teacher told me I had to kiss it. I thought she was joking so I laughingly placed it on my desk and made my way for the door. I should’ve known better. She wasn’t a very funny teacher. She stopped me and would not let me go until I kissed the holy book I had so carelessly let touch the ground. I didn’t know what to say so I simply did as she asked and left the room. I heard her mumble as I left, “a pastor’s son should know better.”

This pastor’s son did know better. I knew the bible wasn’t a book to be kissed. It was a book to be eaten, consumed in all its holiness. Holiness doesn’t mean fragility. Holiness means it requires one to approach it in a specific way. What is the bible’s prescribed way of coming to it? Hungry.

​That was the first and last time I ever kissed my bible. Consequently, after relaying the events of that day to my father, that was the first and last time my teacher ever required other kids to do the same.

Pastor Chris started a new 3-week series called, "the Forgotten Paths". This first message in the series was on Psalm 111 and how "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Click on the button below to watch the whole service now.

A special  Ash Wednesday Service will be held via zoom at 7:30 AM on Wednesday Feb. 17--sign up on the home page for the zoom info and to find links to daily Lenten devotionals.

Souper Bowl Success!  We collected nearly 200 cans of soup for the the Lebanon Soup Kitchen.  Thanks to Norma Pelton for organizing and all who donated for a great cause!

Annual Meetings:  The Etna church’s annual meeting will be on March 7.  Hanover Center’s annual meeting date is March 14.  The Etna Church Annual report was emailed electronically and hard copies will be available before the meeting. Submissions for the Hanover Center Church Annual report should be made to Jane Rice this week.

Annual Stewardship form:   With the annual meeting(s) coming up, now is a good time to pray and reflect on not just financial commitments, but also on the roles that the Holy Spirit may be nudging you towards in 2021.  You can download the Stewardship Form here. Please give some thought and prayerful consideration, fill out the form if you are moved to do so, and mail it back to the church (Etna address).  Thank you for your consideration and for your support of God's church on earth, our outreach and our missions!

Parsonage furniture:  There are still some some “surplus” furnishings that were loaned by members and friends of the congregation at the parsonage garage.   Please check with Susan Johnson (or with Pastor Chris directly) to arrange to reclaim your items so the Greens can use their garage for their cars in these winter storms!

This past Sunday was Pastor Chris' first Sunday as pastor and he talked to us from Joshua 4. The title of his sermon was "After We've Gone Through It". Click the button below to watch the entire service now.