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This Sunday...
Sermon:
"Is Your God the god of an Atheist?"
If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.
Isaiah 7:9b
Isaiah 7: 1-16 Romans 1:1-7
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Matthew 1:18-25
Lay Assistant:
Scott McClintock
Advent Readers:
Justin, Meghan, Elsie, George, & Tim Wright
Beedle/Crucifer:
Landen Crosier and Brooke Johnson
Ushers:
Robert Blackford, Bill Lee, Dominick Reading,
Barb Byrne, Ed Melvin
Greeters:
George & Liz Nieman and Les & Jo Ellen Dollinger
Coffee Hour:
Buster & Jane Kellogg and Joyce Patterson
Nursery:
Kathy Lewis & Megan Byrne
Children's Church:
Erika Solberg
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Christian Education
Children 3yrs - 6th grade: Meet in the theater upstairs. Parents are welcome.
Youth 7th - 12th grade: Meet in the senior high room in the youth wing.
Adult Bible Study: Meet in the lounge by the youth wing to discuss our faith and The Christmas Story.
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"An Invitation to Read the Bible"
Your weekly Scripture readings are:
Sunday (12/19) - Exodus 7:25 - 10:11 Monday - Exodus 10:-12:51
Tuesday - Exodus 13:1-16:12
Wednesday - Exodus 16:13-19:24
Thursday - Exodus 19:25-22:16
Friday - Exodus 22:17-25:19
Saturday - Exodus 25:20-27:21
Sunday (12/26) - Exodus 28:1-29:46
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Start the New Year as a Volunteer!
The Wash Day Ministry is seeking volunteers to commit to a weekly or twice-a-month time slot during regular church office hours. Volunteers will assist participants in doing their laundry and provide caring fellowship. No special skills are required: all you need is a willingness to reach out and help others. We will work with you to accommodate your schedule. The ministry will kick off with a training session and dinner on Wednesday, January 5, from 6-8 p.m. to inform volunteers about their duties, how scheduling will work, and other service organizations to which they can refer participants. If interested, please sign up outside the church office or call the office. If you have any questions, contact Erika Solberg at 734-5145 or esolberg@monm.edu. If you cannot attend the training session, we still want you! -- just let us know when you sign up.
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'Tis the Season to be Thankful
Look for a sign our WNL children have made. They want to help you remember to bring food each week for the Jamieson Center box. You may bring anything non-perishable and place it in the shopping cart or a box at the door. To make it easier, you could go with a schedule such as this: Dec. 19 - rice & beans Dec. 26 - Peanut Butter & Jelly Jan. 2 - Hamburger/Tuna Helper & tuna or Mac & Cheese Let's fill the boxes each week! Thank you!!
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Christmas Eve Pageant Rehearsals
All children in preschool through 6th grade are invited to participate in the Pageant.
December 15 - We will pick children up at their schools and serve a snack at the church. We will finish at 4:45 p.m. sharp that day. December 22 - Please bring your children at 3:00 p.m. Preschoolers are welcome to join us for this practice. We will finish at 5:00. December 24 - Meet at the church at 3:30 p.m. for a final run through. At 5:00p.m. - we will offer our pageant to God. All are welcome.
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A Christmas Time for Refreshment
Come and enjoy fresh, hot tea and shortbread; your favorite Christmas music; and, the fellowship of your friends. Pastor Myers will host A Christmas Time for Refreshment on Thursday afternoon, December 16, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
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Deacon Caroling
The deacon's have scheduled their caroling for December 19, from 4:00 - 5:30, and you are all invited! Join them, afterward, for soup and finger food in the church social hall.
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Christmas Pageant
This Christmas the children of our church will be offering their Annual Christmas Pageant to you and God on Christmas Eve at 5:00 p.m. This celebration of Christ's birth is not meant only for the children and their parents. Please join us as we travel, with our children leading the way, to the manger of our Savior's birth.
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Alternative Christmas Gifts
If you are interested in giving a different kind of gift this year, please consider at gift in the recipients name to one of the following places. You will make at least two people happy with one gift. Information will be on a table in the social hall.
The Menaul School - (Ask Alice Lawson for more information)
301 Menaul Boulevard, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Ethiopia Reads - (Jane Kurtz went to MC & spoke at Faith)
1700 Humboldt St.
Denver, CO 80218
Heifer Project International
P.O. Box 8058
Little Rock, AR 72203-8058
Habitat for Humanity - (Local or...)
121 Habitat St.
Americus, GA 31709
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A Service of Lessons and Carols
The ancient Service of Nine Lessons & Carols - from King's College Chapel, Cambridge - recounts the prophecy and birth of Christ in the words of Holy Scripture and in songs of devotion and praise. Join us at 8:00 p.m. as we hear again the message of the angels and go even unto Bethlehem!
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Candlelight Communion
Following the order of service for evening prayer, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus by celebrating the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at 11:00 p.m. If you have been looking for a moment of peace during this hectic holiday season, this is a good place to find it.
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Christmas-tide Breakfast
Join us on December 26, for our Annual Christmas-tide breakfast potluck at 9:30 a.m. in the social hall. Bring a dish to pass and your own table service.
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Annual Reports
It's that time of year again for the Annual Report! If you are the moderator of a committee or group, please turn in your annual report by December 28. If you are in need of assistance, please let Heather know so she can assist you.
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Please Pray
The Willett family, Phil Painter, George Green, Kathy Yates, Kylie Logsdon, Carol Olsen, Joan Steis, Jack McBride, Eilleen Spoerl, and Frank Sorensen.
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Sympathy
To Larry, Lisa, Bryce, Dalton, and Rhett Willett, on the death of Lisa's sister, Kimberly S. Nees, who died on December 12, 2010.
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Thank You
Members of Faith:
As fast as my health declined, thanks to your prayers, modern medicine, Pastor Bill's visits, and lovely rose vases, my recovery was just as rapid. So, please take me off your prayer list while I resume working on my bucket list.
Gratefully,
Armond Akey
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What Do You Think?
Are We the Ones
Being Consumed?
About a week or so ago, Margie and I were in an elementary school, in a district about an hour from here, to watch Will play in a basketball tournament. Though in good shape, the building was an older building, I'm guessing 1940's era. In any case, it was similar to one of the grade schools I attended as a child.
Small, cramped and old, the gym in this school reminded me of something out of the movie "Hoosiers". The teams actually sat on the stage, rather than courtside. In fact, I said to Will before the game, "Isn't this cool, your playing in a gym just like the ones in 'Hoosiers'!"
Setting an historical context for this school is important to the point I hope to make. When Margie and I arrived, we wound our way through the hallways and up a couple of flights of stairs to find our way to the gym.
The walls of this stairwell and many of the hallways were awash in red paper - hundreds of pictures of Santa with his white cotton ball beard. Across the top, in large letters were the words: "I Want..." Below, each child had filled in his or her Christmas list.
Back in the day, when boys and girls (at least in Iowa) played basketball in small, cramped, old gymnasiums, where they had to sit on the stage, because there was no room at courtside, this was a simple question. "What do you want for Christmas?"
In those days, it was a simple question because, in many ways, life was simpler. The disparity between rich and poor may have been great, but it was not as great and there seemed to be a lot of people in between. If I had a nickel for everyone, who grew up in that era, who has told me: "We were poor, but we didn't know it." I would be rich!
Whether they knew they were poor or not, it seems most people, children and adults were a little more satisfied. A doll and a dress, a wagon or a bicycle, would have been a great Christmas.
Today, life is a little more complicated. "What do you want for Christmas?" is no longer a simple question. For too many, no matter how much they get, it won't be enough. Which makes me wonder. Are we the ones being consumed?
As I was thinking about this question, I came across the words of the Dalai Lama. "I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed."
People of faith, rather than asking our children, "What do you want for Christmas?", perhaps the time has come to ask, "What will you give?"
See you in church!
Pastor Myers
revhaggis1@hotmail.com
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December Birthdays
1 Andrea Spainhour
2 Beverly Davis
5 Rodney Lemon
6 Gary Pullen
Karen Angotti
11 Jo Ellen Dollinger
12 Stephanie Reading
13 Noah Clark
15 Mark McVey
16 John Sorensen
Alexis Crosier
17 Job Runge
18 Dorothy Hutchinsson
Jarrett Baber
19 Jason Haynes
Evelyn Blackford
21 William Allison
23 Joyce Allison
25 Robert Whiteman
George Nieman
26 Samantha Fisher
27 Kristin Sorensen
29 William Davis
30 Merle Brown
Zachary Turnbull
Bette Vance
31 Charles Hallam
Dawn Brown
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