Holy Cross Hiram

12/24/2019

Rejoice in the Lord......

Jesus taught about self-sacrifice. Referring to his impending death, he told his disciples,
"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24. He also reminded his followers that they were each to take up their cross and follow him. Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34. This was a requirement, to leave anything behind, even family, property or prestige. To follow Christ is to adopt his mission of care for all in need. It is to make Jesus' agenda your own.

Our society lives eternally distracted. We aren't focused on what God wants us to do or be. So the above is foreign to us. We live for ourselves, and not for others. To live for others proclaims that we trust in God's mercy and provision. The widow at the temple gave all that she had! Jesus saw her and praised her for her faith. Mark 12: 41-44. In this, he taught us that trust in God will show itself in faithful action.

As Holy Cross prepares to close ministry here, we have an opportunity to help other churches and ministries to thrive. This will be the legacy of all the faithful leaders and parishioners who sacrificed and built up this ministry. In this way, we honor their work. The cycle of life continues!

Pray that Holy Cross may be an example of self-sacrifice and trust in God, this season and always! Amen

11/23/2019

Dear Holy Cross Family:

We have three Mid Week services this year and they begin Wednesday, December 4. This year we will have afternoon services following Bible Studies. There will be no evening worship.

Worship Committee

11/03/2019

LutheranRanch Open House November 23rd. Hope to see you there.

11/03/2019

HOLY WOMEN WILL MEET NOVEMBER 9TH, 10:00 AM
At this meeting we will make preparations for our New Years Celebration in January and we will plan our the new year party.
We could use your help. Some of our quilters ladies are on the mend. Barbara Livingston has a new knee and this will keep her out for a while and Nancy Wendt has also been having some issues as well. Keep both of them in your prayers.
The Prayer Shawl group is meeting on the first Friday of the month. Come and enjoy the fellowship.

11/03/2019

Bible study has resumed and we are doing Corinthians at this time. Wednesday mornings at 1000 AM

11/03/2019

A Mississippi woman who was lost in a forest in California was found by rescue workers, after she wrote out the distress signal SOS on the ground with rocks.

I can't help but think of the church as a rescue community. (Jesus himself said that he had come to seek and to save the lost, Luke 19:10). We (the followers of Jesus Christ) are to be attentive to what is happening in the lives of those around us. What do we see and hear? Are there cries for assistance? How can we help?

The truth is that we as human beings think that we are limited in the ways we can help. But listening to the cries of pain and hurt are a rare gift these days. Everyone is too busy to listen to anyone else. We are "curved inward" as Martin Luther said. Our own hurt and pain are the only ones that we care about.

But Jesus taught us to be different. Jesus taught us to love others and to look out for them. This, of course, was not a new teaching. It went back to the earliest teachings that God gave the Hebrew people. According to Hillel, great Hebrew scholar and authority from the first century before the Christian era, the Torah in a nutshell is: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!"

Now, are we willing to be loving to our neighbors, to the point of doing nothing to offend them? (Nowadays we hardly even know our neighbors. Sometimes, we want nothing to do with them!) Are we willing to go beyond Hillel's words and actually seek out people in danger and distress? People with addictions or who live with emotional pain, people in poverty or to whom life has become a burden? People who are persecuted by others? Ordinarily, we avoid looking at anyone who might need something from us. We exercise our “right” to not get involved. We ignore our neighbor’s “SOS”.

Well, the truth of the matter is that we are followers of Christ, and so we have different marching orders. On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus reminded his followers that they were to love one another, as a sign of who they were and whose they were. This is the "salutary" (life-giving) "command" that he gave to his disciples: "Love one another, even as I have loved you!" (at John 13:34). You the body of Christ, a community of servants that serve the world, with eyes, ears, arms and hearts open to all. May God bless you!

09/24/2019

We had a very successful Paulding Meadows event and many thanks to our cooks.

09/08/2019

Another great year at Paulding Meadows thanks to our cooks.

09/01/2019

07/20/2019

You are invited. Installation of Pastor Julie Crosby, August 18, 2019 at 4:00 pm. Holy Cross Hiram, 76 Seaboard, Hiram, GA 30141. Thanks be to God!