Pastor Rayburn interviews Dr. Jack Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary during the Sunday School hour.

During the funeral service of the Rev. George Andrew Allen, Jr., Pastor Rayburn preached “Defining Death” from John 11:17-27. Audio and video of the complete funeral service is available on the church website.

The Rev. Ian Hamilton, retired pastor of Cambridge Presbyterian Church, shared “A Reflection on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit: Mortifying Sin, Witnessing to Our Spirit; Helping Us in Prayer” with the men of the congregation during the annual Men’s Breakfast on May 11, 2019.

Featuring “Chiaroscuro” (a study of light and shadow) by elder Dick Hannula, “The Rector Robert S Rayburn,” a ballad “sung” by Feign Glory, “Letter to the Saints in Tacoma” written by the Rayburn Kids and read by Evangeline Wykoff, and the presentation of Gifts by the Rev. Dr. Max Rogland, Dr. Andrew Milton, and elders Don Mellot, Steve O’Ban, and Steve Jack. Pastor Rayburn gets “The Last Word” before his daughter Courtney completes the inclusio, singing “The Tree of Life My Soul Hath Seen.”

Featuring reflections on the ministry of Rev. Dr. Robert S. Rayburn and of his wife Florence, given during the Rayburn Celebration on May 10, 2019 by Bonnie Payne, Sen. Steve O’Ban, the Rev. Ian Hamilton, Prof. Jack Collins, Hilary Kvale, Elsie Dye, the Rev Michael Kelly, and the Rev. Khen Tombing. Also featuring music performed by Courtney Dey and Melissa McMillan, Evangeline Wykoff, the Faith Presbyterian Church Choir as well as music arranged by John Wycoff.

Temptation to sin becomes more attractive when we can see what obedience will cost us. Saul exaggerated the implications of obedience, abandoned the Lord’s command, and instead of asking for forgiveness, rationalized his disobedience. Saul chose to trust his own wisdom over God’s. Where do we do this in our own lives?

Our cultural trend is to see religion as a “metaphysical multivitamin,” something that merely supplements who we are. Pastor Nicoletti uses the story of Nicodemus to show that following Jesus requires more. It requires a complete transformation.

Bob Case begins a two-part series on the life and times of the most significant black Presbyterian minister in America before the Civil War, Samuel Eli Cornish. Ordained the same day in the same presbytery as the great Princeton theologian Charles Hodge, the Rev. Cornish’s life has application to us at Faith Presbyterian Church today.

At the Women’s Ministry of Faith Spring Tea 2019, Alicia Gutierrez, daughter of this congregation and MTW missionary to Peru, shared her message entitled “Manna in the Desert.”

The full audio, including Dawn Darby’s introduction, and Isaac and Elsie Dye’s duet, is available on the church website here

Download Text

Women’s Spring Tea

Intro:

I have known many of you for most of my life, but for those of you who do not know me or my story, my name is Alicia (Skrivan) Gutierrez. Many of you know my parents Tim and Laureen and my brother and sister in law Adam and Erika, and my husband’s brother Caleb and our sister in law Kelly Gutierrez. My husband Nathaniel was just called as the new assistant pastor here and we have three children, Jeremiah who is 9, Gabriella is 7 and Simeon is 5. The older two attend Springfield and Simeon will hopefully join them in the fall as he starts kindergarten.

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t attending this church. My parents started coming to Faith when I was around 1, and one of my first memories is being baptized with my baby brother Adam when I was three. I often tell people that I have the most boring, and therefore wonderful, testimony because I don’t remember a day without knowing God as my Savior.

A huge part of that is because of you all. You, who stood up and vowed with the church that you would help raise me as a covenant child the day I was baptized. You were the church that molded and shaped me, that taught me in Sunday school and watched me grow. You were there when I graduated from Covenant Highschool and when I got married in this building in 2005. You have always been the church that we considered home, and you have supported us financially and in prayer for the last 13 years as we worked with Mission to the World. Thank you for being such an important part of my life.

I want to take a minute to thank you all for supporting our ministry for the last 13 years as we have worked with Mission to the World and for supporting us during our time overseas. We think of you as our home church and the way you have prayed for us, supported us financially and always welcomed us home has meant so much to us and we truly feel loved by you all.

Story:

My story of missions is Manna in the desert.

When I was asked to give this talk a few months ago, I wasn’t sure how to process what we had just been through in Peru. We had made the painful decision to come back and didn’t know if we would be returning to another field or if our time in missions was on an indefinite pause. I was nervous about what I would say. As I prepared this talk, I was able to look at our story in missions with a magnifying glass and was able to listen to what the Lord has taught me through this last year. I also want to say that this is not meant to present my story in a tidy little package

Pastor Rayburn’s sermon during the funeral of the Rev. George Andrew Allen Jr. on May 11, 2019 was “Defining Death” taken from John 11:17-27.

The full service audio, as well as video, can be found on the church website.