Cairn University Chorale Concert
Saturday, March 8 at 4pm
Cairn University (Pastor Martin's alma mater and inspired to be here by Dr. Dave Shockey, former music director here) will be offering a free concert in our sanctuary. As with our Sunday worship services, free and accessible parking is available in the jurors' lot. We will have more details soon, but please spread the word!
Join us for the 52nd Annual Women’s Inter-Church Retreat
March 21-23, 2025
at The Flanders Hotel, Ocean City, NJ
711 E. 11th Street, Ocean City, NJ 08226
Topic: Walking in Jesus’ Footsteps
The retreat is sponsored by The Women of the First Presbyterian Church, Norristown. Please join us as we welcome our retreat speaker: Ellen Marino. Ellen Marino has been teaching God’s Word since 2007. Her passion is for people to have an encounter with Jesus and for them to understand Life’s instruction book - the Bible. Just as Adam & Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden, so too, we can walk triumphantly with Jesus in the Garden of Life and all we encounter in this world. Ellen shares from her own life triumphs and tragedies to give first-hand understanding and practical application to God’s Word.
Ellen was born and raised in Maine, moved to New Jersey to become a police officer and after twenty years of service, retired as a Patrol Lieutenant Commander. A few years after retiring, she moved to Pennsylvania where God called her into ministry to teach His Word.
Ellen is actively involved in her church. In addition to teaching two weekly Bible Study classes, she serves on her church’s Administrative Board and chairs the Mission’s Committee. She has facilitated and co-led two mission teams to Namibia, Africa and two teams to Puerto Rico.
We are excited to return to the location of the first retreat in 1970. Check out the Flanders Hotel. Hotel check-in begins at 3:00 pm on Friday, March 21st . The get-acquainted session begins at 8:00 pm Friday in the Map Room. The retreat ends at noon on Sunday, March 23rd. The Hotel Front Desk can be reached at 609-399-1000.
The sign up form is available below. We hope you can join us!
To the First Presbyterian Church family,
“For such a time as this” God has called us to be His people and His church. While not worded as such, this was the calling for Jesus and then His disciples. And it is said here for Esther and her purpose as a daughter of God. If you look at your Bibles, you will see the book of Esther ending the section known as “the Historical Books.” This is the conclusion of chronological Old Testament history, until it picks up again over 400 years later with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus in the New Testament. This five-week series in Esther marks the end of our own long journey of going through the Old Testament narrative during the Ordinary Time seasons of summer, fall, and sometimes January/February (which is where we are right now.) Here’s a quick recap of the Biblical books series we’ve done in my nine years here:
2015 – Gospel of Mark
2016 – Genesis
2017 – Romans
2018 – Exodus
2019 – Leviticus & Numbers
2020 – Deuteronomy & Joshua
2021 – Judges & Ruth
2022 – I & II Samuel
2023 – I & II Kings
2024 – Ezra & Nehemiah
We had to skip a lot of material along the way and not just the genealogies (“so and so begat”) and legal matters (eating kosher, etc.) but also books like I & II Chronicles, which covers much of the same ground as I & II Kings. But whether you just started worshipping with us last year or have been a part of this church long before, the journey of God’s people through these books should teach us all about the journey of this congregation and our individual lives as disciples of Christ.
Last fall we ended the books of Ezra and Nehemiah with the people of God partially returning from exile and living under a more favorable foreign government. Nevertheless, not all had returned. While most still living abroad had retained their heritage and faith, for various economic reasons they stayed with their current life. This was actually the beginning of what is known as the “Jewish Diaspora,” a status that exists to this day. Furthermore, whether they were in Palestine or still dispersed abroad, they were under the rule of the Persian empire. And much like the Roman Empire of Jesus and the Apostles’ time, this looked like a tolerant regime . . . until it wasn’t.
This is the situation where we find ourselves in the Biblical book of Esther. God’s people participate in the culture and government they find themselves in – Mordecai and Esther willingly enter the government as an official and part of the King’s harem, respectively. But they recognize that ultimately God and God alone is their salvation. This sets the stage well for the mission of the New Testament. God’s people recognize they are earthly citizens with the responsibilities and duties that may entail, but they also recognize that mankind may turn against them. In that case and in all trials, salvation alone comes from God. Who knows when such a thing will happen? Who knows when that time will come? And what will God call us to do at such a time? These were the questions that came to Mordecai and Esther.
Now I hope none of us are confronted with the kind of choices Mordecai and Esther had to make. But we all find ourselves in different places in life, some of which we probably didn’t anticipate or even want. But has God put us there for such a time as this? We have already begun this series and by the time many of you are reading this we’ll be engaged in our Annual Meeting. That too is also a big part of ascertaining what is this time and to what has God called us. Though I’m looking forward to digging into this remarkable book with all of you, I won’t pretend to know everyone’s situations and opportunities. But God knows, and let’s see what He’s called this church, and all of you, to do in these times.
Esther 4:14
~Pastor Peter Martin