Welcome to our Church

It's a pleasure to welcome you to the Buford Presbyterian Church website. Whether member, friend, or visitor - we hope that this site reflects the friendly and open nature of our congregation. If you are searching for a church home, we'd like you to know that there's a special place here just for you.   Our Church is...


Worship

A Place for Worship. The primary reason we meet together is to focus our attention on God, giving Him our worship and receiving His blessing and inspiration. Each of these occasions is a special time of spiritual refreshment.

 Learning

A Place for Learning. To us, studying the Bible is vital because it not only instructs us intellectually, but also guides us spiritually. We believe it and accept it as God's Word to us, a Book that is alive and relevant to life today. Learning its truths is a thrilling adventure.
Enrichment

A Place for Enrichment. For every person at every age level we offer a wealth of opportunities - special programs and ministries for children, youth, and adults which fill the church calendar. You can be sure that in this kaleidoscope of activities there's more than one place where you can be personally enriched.

 Friendship

A Place for Friendship. Nothing quite compares to the joy of Christian friendship. That's why we make it a priority to build lasting bonds between the members of our church family - bonds of concern and genuine commitment to one another.

Service

A Place for Service. Just as Jesus Christ came "not to be ministered unto, but to minister..." we accept our responsibility to reach out in service to others. This applies both within the church family and outside our fellowship.

 Best of all, this circle of care is ever-widening. We'd love it to include you too.

Inspiration for the Week

Inspiration for the week
 

Several months ago when I gathered with some of my friends from college, we talked about the most famous person who had graduated from our respective high schools.  Some listed professional athletes, one said a politician, and one even mentioned Dwight Schultz, the man who played the character H.M. Murdock on the 1980s television show, The A-Team.  Even though my friend had never actually met the man, the rest of us were amazed by someone we thought was so cool coming from his hometown.  I think we even began to wonder if anyone in the future would list us as the most famous person.

Our culture is obsessed with celebrities.  Paparazzi pursue them, take pictures of them, and write stories about them (whether true or not).  We make people famous (or infamous) just by putting them on some "reality" television show and then follow their trials and tribulations through the print, internet, and television media.  Somehow, their lives seem important to us.  Maybe we think some of that limelight will shine upon us as well. 

The people of Nazareth have heard about Jesus' great deeds in distant lands.  And now, the hometown boy has returned, and the people all expect the same greatness (if not more) now that he is here.  Yet, Jesus tells them that his ministry is not just about them.  At that point, the entourage chases him away. 

Let us come together and worship to hear what Good News that Jesus says to us, knowing that sometimes, like those hometown folks, the words we hear may be difficult.

Grace and Peace,
Rix

Quote for the week:
It is impossible to love Christ without loving others, and it is impossible to love others without moving nearer to Christ.
  - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Prayer for the Week:
Lord Jesus, your word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path.  But sometimes it is a hard word for us to hear.  Sometimes your word cuts us in order to heal us.  Lord, open our ears.  Make us eager to hear your truth, even when it hurts.  Make us bold to hear your word, your life giving, challenging, wonderful, and difficult word.  Amen.
  - William Willimon
 



From the minister's desk...

Over this past month we have gritted out teeth as we collected the final pledges and whittled and carved out the 2010 budget. The recession has pulled the rug out from a number of our families, and yet, those who are able have shown a generosity that is worth celebrating. I told you in a sermon that we need to celebrate! We need to party! And we are going to suspend the Lent season and have a skit night and celebration on February 28th (we did not have time to plan it for a Mardi Gras celebration so we will just break our fast for Lent and have a feast day).

 

Yet, in the midst of celebrating our “success,” we are struck with the horrifying images of the victims in Haiti. After we have pledged to the church, now we are asked to give more for those in such a desperate situation. So far, we have given over $3200 that was sent to our Presbytery to go either to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance or to our partner-hospital and missionaries in Haiti. All this makes it so difficult to celebrate. And yet, did you hear about the Haitian man who left Atlanta to go back and find his family? Flying into the Dominican Republic and hiring a taxi to take him into his home village in Haiti, he finally discovered his family all alive. Their homes were completely destroyed; however, on Sunday morning they joined in worship to give thanks and praise God for bringing them through this valley of the shadow of death. In the midst of despair, they celebrated.

 

Our lives are series of celebrations and struggles. Some of you are ecstatic with the birth of a new baby, good news from the doctor, or having a secure job; while others of you are grieving the loss of a cherished family member, fearful of declining health, or worried about the loss of your job. On any particular Sunday, I am keenly aware that some of you are celebrating and others of you are struggling. And we need to be reminded that we all gather together around the Lord’s table to proclaim that God is in our midst. We praise God in the good times and cling to God in the trying times.

 

So, February is the precise image of this celebration and struggle. We will meet on Ash Wednesday, February 17th to begin the Lenten Season and focus on the struggles and celebrations of Jesus, ultimately seen in his death and then his resurrection. The season is not just a somber season as we continue to pray for Haiti and other mission concerns. In its midst we will also celebrate life and give thanks to God who came into this world to show us how to live and even how to die.

 

So, join us in worship, in class, in social gatherings, and in service as we reclaim what it means to be the sons and daughters of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer. And you will talk to some who long to celebrate or are troubled with questions. Why not invite them to gather with us? Someone here will know what they are going through.

 

We’ll see you all here, rain or shine!

 

In Christ,

Richard

Copyright ©2010 Buford Presbyterian Church

A congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA)