Open Arms Walk for Life

Open Arms Crisis Pregnancy Center’s Walk for Life is September 25. Sponsor Pledge forms are available at any of Open Arms's four locations. You may also call 874-3561 to have a Sponsor Pledge Form sent to you in time for you to contact sponsors. You will be helping Open Arms to continue providing compassionate care and practical assistance in Christian love to women and men facing unplanned pregnancies.

Open Arms has been providing service in the Columbia area since 1991, and they now have Centers in Fulton, Jefferson City and Moberly as well.

Liturgical Banner

This Sunday, September 12, we dedicate a new liturgical banner, carefully crafted by the love and skill of Gail Sallee. From the beginning of time, God’s children have expressed their faith in works of art. Our faith is more than a mere notion in the head or a feeling in the heart. It is embodied and tactile. It is expressed in robes and handshakes, banners and baptism, in the common bread and wine.

We learn in the Holy Scriptures that God commissions the artist to aspire after “glory and beauty.” Whether designing a tabernacle, writing a piece of music, weaving a piece of fabric, painting the Gospel Story on the ancient catacombs or arranging a sumptuous table spread for guests in our home, we aim to express our faith in a way that is “fit for a King”. This banner symbolically conveys our confession of faith. We believe in one God who lives eternally as three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The center symbol expresses our Trinitarian confession, the rings showing eternity in their continuous form, indivisibility in their interweaving. The white in the cross represents purity, holiness and faith, the green background the color of growth and hope in the Christian life. The red Trinity showcases the fire of the Spirit and the intensity of God’s holy love. The cross stands at the center of it all, reminding us that we live by the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ.

Our love and thanks to Gail for her gift to the church!

Psalm 20:5: "May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners!"

Exodus 35:35: "He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver -- by any sort of workman or skilled designer."

COKPC Fifth Anniversary

An open letter from Pastor Tamerius:

September 9, 2004

Dear Church Family,

Though each Lord’s Day is a special day for us as we gather near to God in corporate worship, this Sunday is especially so. It marks the 5th anniversary of our fellowship. On September 12, 1999, I called us to worship for the first time. Since that time, we have walked together in this pilgrimage of faith, striving to be faithful to God and to each other. We have sung our faith, prayed together, heard God’s Word, shared our trials, shared our joys, dreamed dreams and labored together for the cause of the gospel.

I want you to know that I am profoundly grateful to you for the privilege of serving as your pastor. In pursuing God’s call upon my life, I have never wanted merely to do a job or manage some abstract thing called "the church". Rather, I have always desired to pastor a community of friends whose names I know, whose burdens I share, and whose stories and confessions I hear. You have made that possible. You have shared your life with me. You have shown me God’s favor, forgiving my faults and encouraging me when I was tired and discouraged. You have been gracious to me and my family. Thank you!

At this milestone, take a look back in gratitude to God for what He has done. We have faced difficulties and weathered storms. Our faith has been tested. But God has been with us. He has blessed us, kept us, shined His faced upon us and given us His grace (Numbers 6:24-26).

Take a look ahead to the future, confident in what God will do in and through our church. In view of these next five years, pray that God will give us a courageous faith, a sacrificial love and a daring hope. Pray that God will lengthen our reach in sharing the good news of God in Jesus Christ.

Love to you in Christ,
Pastor Travis