Messiah hosts two Community Bible Study classes on Thursdays during the school year. The 2023-24 term begins on September 7. Both classes will be studying "A King is Coming," in the books of Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, and Ephesians. The LADIES’ DAY CLASS takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings. Nursery care is provided for infants and toddlers, as well as age-appropriate curriculum for older kids. An online class is also available. The CO-ED EVENING CLASS runs from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.This group offers men’s, women’s and co-ed classes, as well as online classes. Virtual online classes are also available; please ask for details. Annual registration is $35 for adults and $10 per child (day class only). The registration fee includes the cost of study materials. Scholarships are available, so please don't let financial concerns keep you from learning more about God's Word. To learn more and to register for one of these questions, visit: www.chesapeake.cbsclass.org . You can learn more about the Community Bible Study organization at: www.communitybiblestudy.org.

Sunday, April 16 Sermon: Intimacy or Isolation? Pastor Ken Shomo Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Handout: Loneliness & Intimacy in the Wisdom of Proverbs ____________________________________ Wednesday, April 18 Webinar: Intimacy vs. Technology Pastor Ken Shomo & Pastor Marty O'Rourke Zoom Meeting ID# 928 2372 1136 or zoom.us/s/92823721136 Watch ____________________________________ Sunday, April 23 Serm o n: " Put On Love" Creating Connection & Fostering Relationship Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides ____________________________________ Sunday, April 30 Sermon: Five Forms of Intimacy Pastor Ken Shomo Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Luncheon: Marriage Tools & Tune-Up Pastor Ken Shomo Handouts: Safe Place Chart | Types of Intimacy | Speaking Your Mate's Love Language | You do not have to be alone to be lonely. Loneliness means we do not feel truly known, seen, or understood. An epidemic of loneliness was reported years ago and has only been exacerbated by social media, political division, and the pandemic. Apart from Christ, we all experience deep loneliness; and even as believers we can fail to experience the richness of relationship God intends for us. The great news is that God’s word speaks to the issue of loneliness! We can grow healthy relationships and find true intimacy in our friendships, families, and the church. Three-Week Series Beginning April 16, 2023

CONTACT US Church of the Messiah 816 Kempsville Road Chesapeake, Virginia 23320 Tel: 757-436-2545 PRAYER REQUESTS Let us pray for you! Use the form below to send a confidential prayer request to our prayer chain team. Email our church office: Your details were sent successfully! Send Email Pastor Marty O'Rourke: Your details were sent successfully! Send Your details were sent successfully! Send Anchor 1 We want to get to know you! Click here to fill out our Digital Connection Card!

Bishop Chris Warner Church of the Messiah is blessed to have Bishop Chris Warner as our bishop. Bishop Warner was elected to be the Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America on October 15, 2022, and was invested by Archbishop Foley Beach on February 18, 2023. To listen to the sermons of Bishop Warner, and former Bishop Guernsey, click any of the links below: Grace and Gratitude - Bishop Chris Warner October 26, 2025 Listen Watch Dare to Share - Bishop Chris Warner October 27, 2024 Listen Watch Teaching on "Conversion" - Bishop Chris Warner October 26, 2024 Listen God's Love, Our Assurance - Bishop Chris Warner October 29, 2023 Listen Watch Good Friday - Bishop Chris Warner April 7, 2023 Listen Watch Zacchaeus: The Unlikely Convert - Bishop John Guernsey October 30, 2022 Listen Watch Rewards in Heaven: Misunderstood Blessing for God’s People - Bishop John Guernsey October 29, 2022 Listen Our Perfect Father - Bishop John Guernsey October 31, 2021 Listen Watch Our Calling in a Polarized Culture - Bishop John Guernsey October 25, 2020 Listen Watch Our Mission with Jesus - Bishop John Guernsey November 10, 2019 Listen Return of the Seventy-Two - Bishop John Guernsey October 21, 2018 Listen Sharing the Bread of Life - Bishop John Guernsey February 25, 2018 Listen The Gift of Light - Bishop John Guernsey December 11, 2016 Listen Joel's Vision of Advent - Bishop John Guernsey December 6, 2015 Listen Who Are You Writing Off? - Bishop John Guernsey October 26, 2014 Listen A Taste of Heaven - Bishop John Guernsey November 10, 2013 Listen I Am a Member of Christ's Body - Bishop John Guernsey October 7, 2012 Listen

The early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This 4-week series will inspire you to live an empowered life of deep devotion. The early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This 4-week series will inspire you to live an empowered life of deep devotion. Church, Devote Yourselves June 4 Vivian Hayes Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides | Sermon Notes Fellowship June 11 Pastor Nile Gomez Watch | Listen Devoted to Prayer June 18 Pastor Ken Shomo Watc h | Listen | Sermon Slides The Eucharist - Remembering, Receiving, and Renewing June 25 Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watc h | Listen | Sermon Slides June 2023 Sermon Series DEVOTED

WAYS TO GIVE Your gifts and tithes are very much appreciated! Paypal : Log in to your Paypal account or sign up for Paypal using one of the links below. Your Bank : Use your bank’s online bill-pay system to set up a one-time or recurring gift payable to Church of the Messiah. Gifts should be sent to 816 Kempsville Road, Chesapeake, Virginia 23320. Church of the Messiah (General Funds) Foreign Missions Inreach/Outreach

Advent with Luke Sermon Series “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!” Luke described those responding to the message of John the Baptist as people “waiting expectantly” for the Messiah. The purpose of Advent is to stir us up to be “waiting expectantly” for His Coming. A young woman, not married, expecting? A stable? A manger? Shepherds? All for the birth of the long-awaited Messiah? When it comes to Our Lord, “Expect the Unexpected!” We know life brings the unexpected as well. There is much we can learn about handling the unexpected by walking through Advent with the Gospel of Luke. December 2, 2018 Expecting His Return at a Time We Do Not Expect Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 9, 2018 How Not to Handle the Unexpected Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 16, 2018 How to Handle the Unexpected Rev. Mark Cartledge Slideshow Presentation December 23, 2018 Expect the Unexpected to Be Lifted Up Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 24, 2018 Christmas: When the Unexpected Exceeds Our Expectations Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 30, 2018 Simeon and Anna Expecting the Unexpected Deacon Nile Gomez January 6, 2019 Epiphany: The Journey of the Expecting, Finding the Unexpected Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation Please reload

PRINTABLE VERSION Liturgy for the Ritual of Morning Coffee Meet me, O Christ in this stillness of morning. Move me, O Spirit, to quiet my heart. Mend me, O Father, from yesterday’s harms. From the discords of yesterday, resurrect my peace. From the discouragement of yesterday, resurrect my hope. From the weariness of yesterday, resurrect my strength. From the doubts of yesterday, resurrect my faith. From the wounds of yesterday, resurrect my love. Let me enter this new day, aware of my need and awake to your grace, O Lord. Amen From Every Moment Holy by Doug Mckelvey PRINTABLE VERSION

FOREIGN MISSIONS The Foreign Missions Committee oversees the financial and spiritual support we provide to missionaries and organizations outside the United States, as well as to individuals from our congregation who go on short-term mission trips to other countries. The list here describes some of the areas we support. If you feel led to donate to any of our foreign missions, please click here . If you would like more information about any of these missions, please contact the church office . GET INVOLVED Eastern Europe: Aaron & Winnie Aaron and Winnie have been working with teens in Eastern Europe since 2009. Their youth center ministers to middle- and high-schoolers through music, drama and the arts. They have also been active with supplying humanitarian aid and witnessing to many refugees fleeing from Syria. Middle East: Betsy & David David and Betsy have ministered for over 20 years to a small but growing Christian community. They have also responded to the desperate needs of refugees from Syria by seeking out ways to welcome in and care for these refugees and provide medical aid. Central America: Carmen & His Love in Action School for the Deaf Since 1989, Carmen and His Love in Action School and Vocational Training Institute have been educating and training hearing impaired children. FELLOWSHIP CHRISTIAN EDUCATION SERVING THE COMMUNITY CHURCH MINISTRIES

The Rev. Dr. Martin K. O'Rourke Rector If the alumni of my graduating high school class gave an award to the person who ended up in the least likely job, I believe I would win. As a teen, I was constantly trying to prove myself through sports and by being accepted by others. It is alarming to consider where I would be today if the Lord Jesus Christ had not changed my life. I am still amazed that the Lord called me to be a pastor, and my passion is to see lives transformed by Jesus Christ. My first call in ministry is to trust and love the Lord with all my heart. I am also called to love my wonderful wife as Christ loved the church, and to be a godly father to my four children and two grandchildren. I am very thankful for God’s call on me to be a pastor, serving the people of Messiah. We seek to make disciples who in turn make disciples by emphasizing mentoring relationships. I am very encouraged by the growing diversity in our church as people connect across generations, ethnicities, economic and social backgrounds, and with those who have disabilities. We also serve our community by providing Joyful Noise Club, an outreach to young people with disabilities; having a companion relationship with a church in Portsmouth that has a ministry to the poor; and participating with other ministries, including CAST, a ministry to the homeless, Heart of Compassion, and Serve the City. I have a heart for building fellowship and unity among local church pastors, so Messiah holds a monthly gathering for ministers from various denominations. God used my heart for local church pastors to develop a training titled Guard Your Heart , designed to equip Christian leaders to walk in purity. For fun and exercise, I ride my bike five days a week with my wife, and two days a week I play racquetball. Before coming to Church of the Messiah in 1995, I served as Rector at Church of the Resurrection near Akron, Ohio; as Associate Rector at St. Martin's in Monroeville, Pa.; and as Youth Advisor to the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

About Our Speakers: THE REV DR. JIM BROWN served as Executive Pastor at Church of the Messiah for over 20 years, and has been involved in ministry and pastoral counseling for more than 30 years. He has served the Body of Christ in many ways in various roles in teaching, counseling and coaching. THE REV. DAVID JOHNDROW, ordained with World Harvest Ministries, is currently a member of the Big House ministry team. In the past, he was involved in the Charismatic Renewal in the Episcopal Church. He has been part of missions teams in Brazil, Korea, and Norway, was a prayer ambassador with The Call, and has written five books. VIVIAN HAYES , wife and mother of three, is a Bible teacher, postulant, and seminarian at Trinity School for Ministry. THE REV. DAVID PETERSON is Senior Pastor at Apostles Lutheran Church in Chesapeake, VA, and has over 30 years of experience in ministry and chaplaincy. He is the author of Journey to Forgiveness: 21 Milestones to Freedom. FR. NIGEL MUMFORD is an author and international speaker, and founder of “By His Wounds” healing ministry. He served in the UK’s Royal Marine Commandos and ministers with the Welcome Home Initiative for veterans suffering from PTSD or moral injury. February 21 Deny Ourselves The Rev. Dr. Jim Brown Listen | Worksheet February 28 Tak ing Up Our Cross The Rev. David Johndrow Watch | Listen March 6 Following Him Vivian Hayes Listen | Slides | Worksheet March 13 Following Him by Forgiving the Way H e Forgave The Rev. David Peterson Watch | Listen March 20 Following Him by Becoming an Instrument of God's Healing Fr. Nigel Mumford Listen Our 2024 Lent Lecture Series is based on the passage from Mark 8:34: And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. The words of Augustine describe the purpose of Lent: "We must empty ourselves of all that fills us so that we may be filled with what we are empty of." The 40 days of Lent serve as a time of emptying ourselves of things of the world, to be filled with a deeper appreciation of the profound significance of Christ's life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Resurrection Sunday is much more meaningful and joyous when we walk with Jesus through Good Friday. In the same way, participation in the 40 days of Lent enables us to receive the fullness of all that Christ did for us on Palm Sunday, at the Passover Meal, the washing of the disciples' feet, His betrayal and arrest, the mockery of His trial, the tremendous beating He took, then finally, being nailed to a cross and laid in a tomb. Then on the third day He rose from the de ad, proving the truth of His earlier declaration: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. By walking with Christ through these final days of His ear thly life, we can embrace the extent of His sacrifice for us and the depth of God's love for us. The theme for our 2024 Lenten lecture series is based on the passage from Mark 8:34: And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” The Words of Augustine describe the purpose of Lent: We must empty ourselves of all that fills us so that we may be filled with what we are empty of. The 40 days of Lent serve as a time of emptying ourselves of things of the world, to be filled with a deeper appreciation of the profound significance of Christ's life, suffering, death, and resurrection. By walking with Christ through the final days of His earthly life, we can embrace the extent of His sacrifice for us and the depth of God's love for us.

Worshiping In Spirit and In Truth "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24) September 25, 2016 Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth Pastor Jim Brown October 2, 2016 How to Engage in Worshiping God Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation October 16, 2016 Why the Eucharist in Worship? Pastor Marty O'Rourke & Pastor Jim Brown Slideshow Presentation October 23, 2016 Why the Spirit in Worship Rev. Mark Cartledge October 30, 2016 Why the Arts in Worship? Marsha Staples November 6, 2016 Worship and Right Relationships Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation November 13, 2016 The Sacrifice of Worship Pastor Marty O'Rourke Rev. John Dooley Vivian Hayes November 20, 2016 Continual Worship Pastor Jim Brown Slideshow Presentation Please reload