ALL ABOUT LOVE
As we begin another month in the life of the Church, we think of those activities that are special, that stand out and are worthy of discussion. This month we think of the subject of love, both romantic and sacrificial love. Romantic love is celebrated on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, which is also a Sunday. To be sure, there would be no romance if it were not for God’s love which we all receive without merit.
I remember as a child, Valentine’s Day was a huge event in the schools. We would buy, or make, very simple cards and give them to each member of the class. It was special to receive them in return. The activity appeared to have something to do with our value and worth, perhaps our popularity. Most often, we were missing the point. A Valentine is simply a way to say, “ I love you, I appreciate you, you are special to me.” The truth is that God is saying that to us every day, and affirming us as we gather to hear His work and promise of forgiveness.
Of course, God’s love is much deeper, more patient and more abiding than that communicated on those little Valentines, sent along with red and pink hearts and flowers. And that truth is communicated during the season of Christ’s Passion, that begins with Ash Wednesday on February 17th. We will be joining the other churches for mid-week services, but we will have our own Ash Wednesday Service @ 7:00 p.m. that evening. The theme is from the Sermon on the Mount, and includes the subjects of prayer, fasting and benevolence.
We have a program in the Church, crossing all denominations, which is called the Way of the Cross. It is an intensive four-day retreat, resulting in a new commitment of heart, mind and soul to love and serve Christ as Lord and Savior. At the end of the retreat, everyone has learned to say, without judgment, “God loves you, and so do I.” Perhaps we might try this as we remember the admonitions of our Lord, knowing that there is only one commandment, after all. And that is the command to LOVE. Words from the “Love Chapter” read on the last Sunday of January, are so appropriate in conclusion: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious and boastful or arrogant or rude. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
Pastor Bob Matthias

May I remember
A friend I am
When coming to another’s place of unrest
With affection and warmth of caring.
A friend I am
When listening openly, non-judgmentally
When judgment would be easy.
A friend I am
When taking extra time
To lend a helping hand, though busy.
A friend I am
When feeling your need
I act for you
As I would for myself.
Anonymous

What is Cents-Ability?
It is a small first step in the battle against hunger and poverty. Next Sunday, the Children’s Choir and Bible Study Group are inviting us – all of us – to contribute a can of soup that will be donated to the Solid Rock Food Closet. This project of these young folk help’s us celebrate Super Bowl Sunday by helping others in our community to have a Souperbowl of Caring and a hot meal. Please remember to help them with this project. Collection boxes will be placed for the soup at the church entrance from the back parking lot and also at the Sanctuary entrance.
Cents-Ability began in 1976 as “Two-Cents-A-Meal,” a project begun by Presbyterian Women to involve more people in a corporate response to world hunger. This simple act is an expression of thanks for what we have received and it is also a commitment to share with others in response to Jesus’ command “You give them something to eat.” This act of faithfulness adds up: 100 persons in a congregation will contribute $180 a month at two cents a meal. That’s $2,160 per year.
Our Children’s Choir and Bible Study Group are making “collection jars” for the tables in the Fellowship Hall. Beginning with our “Fellowship Lunch” this month, please remember to contribute 2 cents or more when we have the opportunity to join for meals we share together as a congregation.
Our heartfelt “Thank You” to Debbie Brady, Carolyn Young and all those who are working with this wonderful mission for the younger folk in our church.

O Christ, we rejoice that you come into our lives with God’s salvation. May we who are baptized in your
Spirit raise our voices on behalf of those who
hunger in our world. Amen
Lent and Easter
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are at the heart of the Christian gospel, and Good Friday and Easter are two of the most significant celebrations of the Christian year. Lent is a season of preparation and repentance during which we anticipate Good Friday and Easter. Just as we carefully prepare for big events in our personal lives, such as a wedding or commencement, Lent invites us to make our hearts ready for remembering Jesus’ passion and celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. The practice of a forty-day preparation period began in the Christian church during the third and fourth centuries. The number forty carries biblical significance based on the forty years Israel spent in the wilderness and Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness. The forty days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday and continue through holy week, not counting Sundays (which are reserved for celebratory worship). In practice, many congregations choose to focus Sunday worship on the themes of repentance and renewal. As a period of preparation, Lent has historically included the instruction of persons for baptism and profession of faith on Easter Sunday; the calling back of those who have become estranged from the church; and efforts by all Christians to deepen their piety, devotion, and readiness to mark the death and resurrection of their Savior. As such, the primary focus of the season is to explore and deepen a “baptismal spirituality” that centers on our union with Christ rather than to function only as an extended meditation on Christ’s suffering and death. The traditional color for the season is purple. Some congregations choose to highlight the contrast between Lent and Eastertide (the period from Easter to Ascension Day or Pentecost or Trinity Sunday) by omitting the singing of “Alleluia” during the Lenten season, and yet other congregations stress that all the Sundays of Lent are “little Easters” and thus may appropriately feature Easter-like praise.
Celebrate the Gifts of Women
Sunday February 28th
The Worship Service for Sunday, February 28th will be presented by the women in the congregation.
This is an opportunity to honor women who contribute their gifts to the church and community. From Eve, the mother of all living, through the tears of Esther, through an angel to Mary, through Mary and Martha at their brother’s death, through the women who came to the tomb, through Priscilla during the time of Pentecost, through women in the church today, God’s word is kept alive. From sermons preached to lessons taught, from emails sent to text messages received, from inscriptions on papyrus to internet blogs, the message is still being sent and received by women. We rejoice in and celebrate God’s message to women, along with the way women continue to keep God’s word alive.
Contact Carolyn Young for additional information regarding plans for Worship Service on 2/28.
The women in the congregation extend early “Thank Yous” to the men in the congregation who are responsible for setting up the Fellowship Hall, providing drinks and food (this can be a covered dish) and cleaning up after-wards (this includes laundering the table linens as needed and removing the trash).
Contact Pastor Bob and/or George White for additional information regarding the plans for the Fellowship Lunch on 2/28.

Women of the Church
The Birthday Book
By Patricia Houck Sprinkle
1972
In the beginning there was gratitude, For being unique creatures of God. For fellowship with Him, and with others of His daughters. For opportunities to study and share insight. For various ways to serve. For the Woman’s Auxiliary which meant all these things to women of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. In a day when women justly cast off stereotyped images of themselves, perhaps we should not point out that the Women of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. were ten years old before they began celebrating birthdays. But it is a historical fact. In 1922, ten years after the Woman’s Auxiliary was formed, the women sought an appropriate way to celebrate what the Auxiliary had meant to them. That spring the Superintendent of Woman’s Work, Mrs. Hallie Paxson Winsborough, toured mission stations in the Orient. And there she found a perfect way to observe the upcoming birthday; giving the gift away! During her visit to Miss Dowd’s school for girls in Kochi, Japan, Mrs. Winsborough saw inadequate facilities and crowded rooms. She recognized a need which could be met by Presbyterian women in the United States – a special chance for Christian women in location to give of themselves for women in another location. Returning home she challenged all women of the Church to give only one penny for each year of their lives (or a dollar, if they didn’t want to tell) as a “Birthday Gift” to those school girls in Japan. Then began a tradition of annual Women of the Church Birthday Celebrations. In those first fifty years, over $7,302,283 was contributed to over 60 different missions.

Sometimes it’s hard to ask for help
We are brought up to be strong, self-sufficient, independent people. We tend to think that if we ask for help, it is a sign of weakness. So we try to keep our struggles hidden, stuffed deep inside. However, that’s not God’s plan. Galatians 6:2 says “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” God wants us to care for others and allow others to care for us in our times of need. We are a congregation ready to listen, care, encourage, pray and help through tough times. Contact Pastor Bob Matthias and/or Clerk of Session, George White for help and comfort with life’s stress – day-to-day or one-at-a-time.
Our Prayer List
Amon Edwards Jess & Vila Gentry
Art & Barbara Phillips Steve Sprinkle
Birthdays
2/3 Mary Jane Ciraco
2/19 Debbie White
2/7 Alan Wyatt
Wedding Anniversaries
2/11 Art & Barbara Phillips

To activate the Sparta Presbyterian Church Prayer Chain contact Anne Mackey @ 657-8205.
Session News
Join us in welcoming Art Ebright and Marion Leys as member of Session. Both Art and Marion bring a wealth of talent and enthusiasm as well as loyalty, dedication and Christian care to the government of Sparta Presbyterian Church.
Elder Teresa Stolt has begun the work of the 2010 Relay for Life – she will have additional information for the congregation soon.
Walt Bennett, Art Ebright and Marion Leys continue the work for facilities maintenance – this has certainly been a busy year for the building & grounds committee.
Clerk of Session, George White is working on a survey that will be presented to the congregation in the next few weeks. Your answers to this survey will assist the Pastor nominating committee in the search (when?) for a full time minister. More information from George on this issue in the near future.
Our sincere thanks are given to outgoing Elder Charles Joines and Elder Jeff Jolly for their dedicated service on Session.

Sparta Presbyterian Church
POB 474
Sparta, NC 28675

Lenten and Easter Worship Services Calendar information to follow.