June 1, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Marcus McFaul, Senior Pastor, preaches at 11am
"Water, Word, and Table"

Scripture:
The First Lesson: Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28
The Gospel Lesson: Matthew 7:24-29

Hymns:
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
Glory Be to the Father
I Come With Joy to Meet My Lord
Jesus, at Your Holy Table
In Christ There Is No East or West
O Come to Me, the Master Said

Special Music:
In Thee Is Gladness
Lord, Take My Life
The Lord Bless you and Keep you

Marcus' Mid-Week Missive

Amy and Griff arrive in Austin on Saturday! They will be present for worship this Sunday for the first time and look forward to getting to know you. Mitchell is already in Indiana visiting family there but will come to Austin in mid-June in time for Youth Camp.  We are all grateful for your prayers and steadfast support during this time of transition.

About worship this Sunday: we will celebrate Christian baptism for Alyssa and Will Glazener. Their commitment to Christian discipleship allows us to reflect more deeply on our own baptism and faithful following of Jesus. Martin Luther’s advice is still good: every morning he would rise and tell himself, “remember your baptism.”

We will celebrate communion of the Lord’s supper too. It will be my first occasion as senior pastor to share the supper with you. Intinction (pulling a chunk of bread from the loaf and dipping it into the cup) will be the means of remembering God’s love in Christ.

During communion we’ll sing hymns as pew rows move up to the chancel to receive the visible symbols of incarnated and sacrificial love. A word of instruction: we will begin with the back pews exiting to the center aisle (two lanes toward two stations) for communion, returning to your pew row by the side aisles.

And our graduates from both local high schools and colleges/universities will be recognized during the worship service. Many of you will remember when those grads were running around the church as small children and later when like Alyssa and Will, they were baptized! It will be a joy to celebrate their academic accomplishment within the family of faith.

Sunday will be exciting and filled with beauty and reflection.  My welcome and invocation begins our service at approximately 10:55 am, so try as much as possible to enter the sanctuary and a spirit of worship prior to the spoken word. My family arrives (minus Mitch) into our new larger family, just like a family reunion, which of course, is what it is.

One additional word: continue, please, to extend a warm welcome to guests that find their way to Highland Park Baptist church. I received a note this week from an old friend (UT BSU Bible prof, Rich Spencer) who noted the friendliness of our people as he worshipped with us, good job.

With Affection,

Rev. Dr. Marcus W. McFaul