This week, Pastor Eric Palmquist will be preaching from Mark 1:1-8. Following our series "Now it's Personal," we'll look at John the Baptist and his role in the curious story of Advent. It will be a great opportunity for us to think through what Advent means in relationship to Christmas. Along the way, we'll talk about: angels, Iphones, the ancient language of Koine Greek, and especially the coming of Jesus. Eric is looking forward to seeing you all and sharing a wonderful morning together.

Next week, we'll be blessed with our Christmas production. While most Christmas pageants feature nervous murbling kids, cotton ball clouds and foil-and-hanger halos... it should be no surprise that we step things up a notch or three here at Newport Covenant.

I had the pleasure of witnessing Sue Banks work her miracles as she rehearsed her 30+ crew for next week's Angel Alert! musical. There are showboaty tunes, sassy angels ("we have to tell shepherds? why can't we go to the big city instead?") and sunglasses that make perfect sense. There will be two performances: 10am on Sunday 14 Dec. The 10am performance -- in the Family Center -- will be in lieu of our regular service and will also include songs from the younger set. After the performance, we'll have a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cake, of course.

The second Angel Alert will be Sunday 14 Dec at 4pm. No birthday cake at this performance ... bring all those friends who say they enjoy sleeping in on Sunday! As usual, admission is free, donations welcome.

Events Coming Up

For more details about each event, please visit our website.

Sun 6 Dec: Women's Christmas Luncheon

Sun 6 Dec 4.00pm: Seattle Chinese Orchestra

Sun 7 Dec 11.30am: Camelot Auditions

Tue 9 Dec 7.00pm Camelot Auditions

Wed 9 Dec 7.00pm Camelot Auditions

Sun 14 Dec 10.00am: Angel Alert Musical

Sun 14 Dec 4.00pm: Angel Alert Musical

Tue 16 Dec 7.00pm Preschool Christmas Program

Wed 17 Dec 7.00pm Preschool Christmas Program

Sat 20 Dec 7.30pm: CarolFest with

Bellevue Chamber Choir

Wed 24 4.00pm Christmas Eve Service

Wed 24 10.00pm Christmas Eve Service

Preschool: Time For Twos

The Newport Covenant Preschool now has its registration for the Time For Twos co-op style class on Friday mornings. To learn more and to download the registration form, click here.

An Advent Primer by Pastor Eric

The historical color for Advent has been purple, which was symbolic of royalty since the purple dye used for fabrics cost so much to produce that only kings could afford it. The color was deemed fitting to represent Christ as our king.

However, purple is used to celebrate Lent, which is a more somber season than Advent. The contemporary church now uses blue, also a royal color, to differentiate between the two seasons and to

better reflect hope and joy.

Advent as a liturgical season began roughly in the 6th century. The word "advent" actually means "to come," because Advent is a time of waiting. We wait with the expectation that something will happen. As we wait for the light of the world, we light candles each week to mark our time of anticipation.

Advent is also a time of preparation. How do we wait and prepare at the same time? I believe it's like getting ready for company. We know company is coming, so we set the table, prepare food, and clear the driveway. We are getting ready while we wait, we are active in our waiting.

Advent is a season where we actively wait for the coming of Jesus. Just as prepare our home for company, during Advent we prepare our hearts for Jesus.

Lives Transformed By You

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" Matthew 25:21

As we bring a close to 2014, we can see clearly that at Newport Covenant Church we have been blessed to see lives transformed and faith journeys blossom through our worship, fellowship and programming.

What a remarkable opportunity we have to partner with God's calling to invite, disciple and nurture others in this fruitful ministry. Being called to support and resource our incredible and wide-reaching ministries is a challenge, a challenge given to each member of our church.

Each June, our church votes on a budget, which is a blueprint for ministry. We navigate the needs of our unique ministries to determine our individual and collective roles in resourcing them for success. Once we have a plan in place, it is our responsibility to fully support this plan through participation, leadership and of course through our tithes and offering.

This is a great time of the year to celebrate with one another that the seeds planted have been harvested, that lives are experiencing a spiritual metamorphosis to our hard work. As we review our gains, it is also necessary to acknowledge where we have fallen short. Please take time to consider how you can give towards our blueprint for ministry in the coming year.

In Christ, Pastor Eric Palmquist