Pastor's Page
Contact me at phandlson@frontiernet.net Call me on my cell phone at 931-284-8818
Visit the church's website at: www.firstprescookeville.org
Check me out on Facebook and keep in touch.
Friday, December 19
Finals are completely over and most everyone is safely where they plan to be for Christmas. I pray for a safe and wonderful season for everyone, wherever you are. For those who are staying in the Cookeville area, we will hold two Christmas Eve services at First Presbyterian. The first will be at 7pm and will be a communion and candle light service. Erin will preach. The late service will be at 11pm and will be a candle light service of hymns and carols, I will have a meditation and worship will end at midnight, so we can welcome our Savior's birth.
Debbie and I are planning a brief trip to San Antonio, TX after Christmas, while Helping Hands is closed. We have never been there before and we are looking forward to the adventure.
In early January, several of us will be at Montreat for the College Conference. It should be a great experience, with nearly 1000 Presbyterian college students there tocelebrate the theme of Extravagant Generosity. I look forward to reporting backon this annual event.
Of course,the next semester will be upon us shortly. There is the new Elevation worship tolook forward to, as well as the spring break work trip to Houma, LA.
Check me out on Facebook and keep intouch.
Peace, Pat H.
Monday, December 1
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Today is a crazy day for me. The church is planning to serve coffee and hot cocoa during the Christmas Parade. Unfortuntaely, the parade was just postponed until tomorrow, Tuesday, which conflicts with our PSA party at our house. The PSA party will go on as planned, thoughI may have to leave a bit early in order to be part of the Christmas parade servingas well. Anyone who was planning to come to church tonight, take notice of the change of plans.
Peace, Pat H.
Thursday, November 27
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and remember to give thanks always, not just on special occasions.
Also, remember the Christmas Parade on Monday, December 1. First Pres will be serving coffee and cocoa from the parking lot, beginning at 7pm.
On Tuesday, December 2, we will have our Christmas meal and party at the Handlson house (315 E. 14th Street). Dinner will be served at 5:30, with dirty Santa following. To participate in dirty Santa, buy a $10 gift (nice or funny but not nasty) and get your place in the fun.
Tuesday, the 2nd, will also be our last look at the Book of Isaiah. Lunch at 11, study to follow.
Peace, Pat H.
Monday, November 17
The weather has taken a definite turn toward the cool. Hopefully, everyone will apprexciate hot lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will continue our study of Isaiah on Tuesdays. Only a couple of weeks left and we are in the thick of what it means to be the servant of God.
We will meet as usual on Tuesday night. Perryn Rice will be with us. Following our regular meeting, we will have an open discussion about the possibility of a new worship opportunity. There has been some misunderstanding about this idea so I hope that everyone will plan to attend and share their thoughts and feelings.
Peace, Pat H.
Wednesday, November 12
Wednesday, November 5
Well, the national election is over and Barack Obama will be the new President. Hopefully, we will see a reduction in the partisan fighting and a return to civility by everyone in the country. There is a lot of work for our politicians to do. For Christians, we know that God is in charge regardless of who holds earthly power and we also believe that God can use anyone to serve his divine plan. As I have said before, my hope is that those who voted for Obama will not gloat and those who voted for McCain will not despair. Neither man is the Messiah, nor is either of the them the anti-Christ. I hope that everyone got a good night's rest. The sun is up on a brand new day and God has work for us all to do.
We played pretty well in our first volleyball match and we'll probably improve after we get our new t-shirts.
Regular meetings this week, with the homecoming game on Saturday and barbque following the game.
I hope to see you soon. Peace, Pat H.
Monday, October 13
I have just gotten off the phone with our contact at the Presebyterian Disaster Assistance center and we got the go ahead for our spring break trip to Houma LA. Houmja took a direct hit from Hurricane Ike this summer and there will be plenty of work for us next spring. We need to do some recruiting to make sure that we have a good work crew for that trip. The cost for participants will be $50 dollars.
Because of Tech's fall break, we will not have Bible study tomorrow during dead hour but we will have supper together tomorrow night since most everyone will be back by then. Also, I have a Presbytery meeting in Nashville on Thursday so I will not be around for lunch but there will be food at the house.
Don't forget that the deadline for registration for the college conference at Montreat (January 2-5) is Tuesday, October 21.
Tuesday, September 30
Monday, September 8
Happy Monday. What a great weekend we had. The fun fest pancake breakfast at the church was a big success and we will definitely be doing it again next year. The work day at the PSA house was fantastic. I can't believe how much was accomplished. Thanks and congratulations to all of the workers. We also had our first back to school council meeting and discussed a lot of business. I will be working on getting information for a spring break work trip to Louisiana as soon as possible. They have had so much damage already this year and it looks like more is on the way.
Activities this week are back to our normal routine. Lunch and Bible study on Tuesday morning (Isaiah 2-5), dinner and worship Tuesday night, lunch and general fellowship on Thursday.
Don't forget about the hot dog party at my house on Saturday (2-5pm). We live at 315 E. 14th street. Most of you have been there before so you know the way. For those who need directions, turn right on 12th street and go toward the President's house. When you get to Mississippi street, turn left. Turn right again on 14th Street and we are the second house on the right. It is the only big white stucco house on the block. You can't miss it.
See you all soon. Peace, Pat H.
Monday, September 1
It's Labor Day, a time to celebrate the work that God has given us to do, to rejoice in our abilities and to remember that God wants us to be busy, just as he was busy during the days of creation and beyond.
We will start our new Bible study tomorrow, September 2. It will be a look at the Book of Isaiah. We can decide within a couple of weeks whether we want this to be an in depth study, which may take several months, or, a more focused study, which may take several weeks. Be thinking about it. We will also resume our Tuesday night suppers and worship, with the meal beginning at 5:30 and worship at 6pm. Invite a friend to come along and join us.
As we go about our busy week, let's not forget the refugees and victims of Hurricane Gustaf, which is hitting southern Louisiana as I write this note. Certainly, there will be plenty of clean up and repair work to be done in the coming months. Last spring, we worked on several houses in southern Mississippi. We should probably start planning our spring work trip soon.
Peace, Pat H.
Contact me at phandlson@frontiernet.net
Reach me on my cell phone 931-284-8818.
Upcoming Events
February 17, 2009
Elevation will start Feb 17, 2009 in the Prescott Hall Auditoriam. Check out the... more