March 6, 2018

Dear LABC,
Karen, Ethan and I spent the first weekend of March with Kristen, DP and boys in Oregon. It was a most pleasant visit although we encountered some wintry weather on the drive north. It is good to see them settling into “life on the farm.”
This Sunday The Reverend Dr. LeAnn Flesher, Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament at the American Baptist Seminary of the West, will be our preacher as our “A Woman”s Place Is In the Pulpit” sermon series continues. If ever a sermon title alone would be incentive to come to church her’s certainly is – #What the *#% is a Helpmate.”
In our Bible studies we continue to read the accounts of the feminine characters of Genesis and Exodus. Our guest leader at Soup and Study this Tuesday will be longtime friend of Lakeshore, Rabbi Steve Chester. He will lead us in a study of Rebekah, wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau. Professor Carol Myers of Duke University writes,  Rebekah is far more dynamic and proactive than Isaac, for whom no independent episode is reported. The very fact that the verb to go is used of Rebekah seven times (a number used in the Bible for emphasis) in the courtship narrative of chap. 24 highlights her active character. In addition, Rebekah’s behavior in Genesis 24 is depicted by a series of action verbs—she runs, draws water, fills jars, and rides a camel—that contribute to a sense of her individuality and vitality, in contrast to Isaac’s passivity. Also noteworthy is the way the language used in reference to Rebekah’s journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and in anticipation of her role as progenitor of countless offspring, echoes that found in the Abraham narratives (compare Gen 24:4, 38, 60 with Gen 12:1 and 22:17). Furthermore, Rebekah is said to have had a nurse (Gen 35:8), a highly unusual circumstance in the Hebrew Bible and one that thus signifies her unusual stature.
Our Moderator asked me to include this note in this edition of the Midweek Message.  “There will be a baby shower for Cameron and Phillip Martin during Coffee Hour this Sunday.  They are registered at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby (sp?). If people have questions, they can call or email me. Thanks. Paige ”
Roehl Cinco asked me to include this notice – Seafarers Ministry of the Golden Gate (SMGG):
You are invited to the Annual Swedish Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, March 17th at 10 AM at the International Maritime Center (IMC), 4001 – 7th St, Berth 40, Oakland, CA 94607. (Suggested donation of $10 for the meal we are serving for our donors, friends, supporters.) Join Chaplain Jamieson Prevoznak in honoring Chef Extraordinaire Gloria Meads, Phil Meads and Alodia Corpuz. Please RSVP to chaplain@smgg.org or call 510-839-2226 or contact Roehl Cinco (rcinco@mac.com).
Forever Young meets for a St. Patrick’s Luncheon this Saturday at 12:30. Contact George Lee or Alodia Corpuz to RSVP
Saving the best news for last – Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday so I urge you to set your clocks forward one hour before you go to bed lest you arrive at church just in time for the Postlude.
Peace,
Jim H.

Prayers of the Congregation

• Rick McKillop and family as they mourn the death of Rick’s dad, Ted
• Margaret Alexander and family
• Thanksgiving with Al Johnson on a new job
• Jesse Lucas and the Evergreen Baptist Association Mission Team in Haiti
• The LABC members who offer leadership within Human Good (formerly the American Baptist Homes of the West)
• Kay Baxter for her family
• Sandra Dunn
• Dayle Scott
• Marian Ott
• The striking teachers of West Virginia
• The immigrants, refugees and displaced persons of the globe
• The Wilkinson family for Gloria Joseph
• Tess Benin and those she cares for
• LCC Teachers Joni and Terecita
• Camille Parker for her daughter, Carolyn as she continues to recuperate at home
• The elected officials of Oakland and Alameda County as they organize the response to the needs of the homeless members of our community
• Helen Harrison for those who are grieving and those who are healing
• The people of Puerto Rico