The Third Sunday of Advent - December 13, 2015
PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS 
Bob & Donna Weber, Mickey Federico, Yasso Herath, Peter Lubeck, Catherine Lubeck, Shirley Federico, Miranda Pinckert, Clinton Taplin, Betty Mettler, Jeannie, Joanne Carter, Janine Carter, Mike Maslanek, Dr. John Finn, Anita Sevier-Berg, Jean, Jeff Adams, Bill Weber, Sylvia Manley, Dr. Roufa, Michael Maslanek, Hubert Connoly, Noreen, Steve Fanning, Peter Foley, Sandy, Ian,  Jean, Harper Grant, Constance Thompson

Please note: Names will generally remain on the prayer list for one month. If you would like to add or return a name to the list, please be in touch with the office.
Readings  [We are using Track 2 of the indicated readings.]
 
CLICK HERE to listen to sermons from previous weeks
CLICK HERE for Bible study resources.   

Collect of the Day
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
Reflection
The most significant religious events recounted in the Bible do not occur in 'temples made with hands.' The most important religion in that book is unorganized and is sometimes profoundly disruptive of organization. From Abraham to Jesus, the most important people are not priests but shepherds, soldiers, property owners, workers, housewives, queens and kings, manservants and maidservants, fishermen, prisoners, whores, even bureaucrats. The great visionary encounters did not take place in temples but in sheep pastures, in the desert, in the wilderness, on mountains, on the shores of rivers and the sea, in the middle of the sea, in prisons.... Religion, according to this view, is less to be celebrated in rituals than practiced in the world.
Wendell Berry in The Art of the Commonplace   

Coming This Week
Are you on the worship ministry schedule for this weekend?  Check here.
 
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11
5:00pm Pizza with a Purpose (Memorial Hall)
 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
10:00am Midnight Run (Memorial Hall)
 
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
8:00/9:30 /11:00am Holy Eucharist
10:10am Church School Pageant rehearsal/Confirmation Class/Fair Trade Gifts and Alternative Giving materials available at Coffee Hour
1:30pm Church School Service Sunday at Nyack Manor Nursing Home
6:30pm SYG summer Mission Trip Info meeting
 
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15
7:00pm Boy Scouts (Memorial Hall)
7:30pm Vestry (Patterson Hall)
 
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16
7:00pm Advent Home Gathering (Rectory)
 
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17
12:00pm Brown Bag & A Bible (Patterson Hall)
3:00pm Graceful Yoga (Memorial Hall)
7:30pm Choir (Choir Room)
 
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18
5:30pm Pageant rehearsal
 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 
Private rental (Memorial Hall)
 
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20
8:00/9:30 /11:00am Holy Eucharist
3:00-7:30pm Christmas Pageant & Parish Party

CHURCH SCHOOL SCHEDULE
 
SUNDAY
 
Rehearsal for Pageant after 9:30 Service
Confirmands should go to their Confirmation class as it will end early so that students who are in the pageant can rehearse. All kids in the pageant should go to their Church School classroom to rehearse. If your child would like to be in the pageant but currently does not have a part, please contact Annie. The more the merrier!
 
Service Sunday at Nyack Manor Nursing Home at 1:30pm.  
We will be decorating a tree (thank you Nittoli family for donating the tree) in the cafeteria at the Nursing Home and we will then Christmas Carol in the cafeteria and possibly around the home. We will be giving out presents and decorations that the kids have made to the residents. ALL ARE WELCOMED! The Nursing Home is at 476 Christian Herald Road in Valley Cottage.
 
There is a pageant rehearsal on Friday, Dec. 18 at 6:00pm - Parent volunteers are needed.

Information Session for Summer Service trip to Dominican Republic
If you know a young person who might be interested in participating in the Church Youth Service Mission trip, there is an information session for kids and parents this Sunday evening the 13th at 6:30pm in Memorial Hall.

CHECK OUT THE GRACE CHURCH SCHOOL WEBSITE FOR MORE! 
Announcements
WORSHIP MINISTERS
Have you given us your availability for December & Christmas?  If not, please
CLICK HERE.
HOLIDAY RAFFLE FUN! December 6-20
Here's your chance to win several beautiful and unique items, including a variety of baskets made with care by our Grace Church Commissions and parishioners.
Raffle tickets cost $5 each, or 3 for $10, and will be on sale after each service and for one hour during the Parish Party that follows the Christmas Pageant on the 20th. Winners will be drawn at the party. You get a wonderful and effortless Christmas gift and Grace Church gets very welcome end of year revenue.
OUR ADVENT HOME GATHERINGS CONTINUE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16 at 7:00PM
The Rectory 
 
Look for signup sheets at church, or  send us a message to let us know you're coming, how many will attend, and what you'll bring - we'll give you the address & directions then.   
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
Each year as we gather to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, our worship is enhanced by poinsettias, trees and greens. Your generosity makes this possible.   Please join in the time-honored tradition of making a donation for our Christmas Flowers in memory of loved ones and/or in thanksgiving for God's blessings. Offering envelopes are available at the church entry, and need to be returned by Sunday, December 20 for inclusion in the Christmas bulletins
GIVING TREE
 Return your UNWRAPPED gifts to church by December 20 to allow time for sorting, wrapping, and distribution. Your gifts will help make Christmas special for families involved in programs at the Nyack Center. 
DROP OFF FOR NYACK HOMELESS PROJECT COAT DRIVE 
Through December we'll be collecting coats and other warm clothing for distribution by  
Bring your New and gently used winter coats, hats, gloves, new socks and underwear, blankets, new toiletries, canned/boxed foods as well as financial donations to purchase additional warm coats and food, especially for children, to church on Sunday or to the office during the week.
BROWN BAG AND A BIBLE NOW ON THURSDAYS
Our noontime Bible study group has returned to Thursdays -- newcomers always welcome.  Bring a bag lunch and come join in discussing the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday.
WE'RE GETTING THERE.... BUT WE'RE NOT THERE YET.   HAVE YOU PLEDGED ?
Grace Church touches the lives of hundreds of people every week of the year.  Because of people like you, Grace Church is able to provide a creative church school and meaningful programs for our youth and young families; to welcome twelve-step and other community groups into our parish hall for meetings every day of the week; to support outreach programs like Helping Hands and People to People and to offer pastoral care, beautiful music, and  a variety of worship opportunities within our beautiful sanctuary. It's not too late to pledge!   Please think and pray about how you can be part of God's generosity in your pledging.
If you're currently enrolled in the Diocesan e-pledge program or pledge via a credit card,
we need you to complete a new pledge card for 2016.



CLICK ON THE LINK TO MAKE YOUR PLEDGE ONLINE.

Parting Thought
"That Lives in Us" by Jalaludin Rumi

If you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.

If you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land--
that sacred earth that is
your body.

If you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.

Exuberant is existence, time a husk.
When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with blessings, like my words give.
Why lay yourself on the torturer's rack of the past and future?
The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.

Be kind to yourself, dear--to your innocent follies.
Forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.
You will come to see that all evolves us.

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving
every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm
and we will be, we will be
so happy.

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GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH  130 First Avenue, Nyack, New York 10960
845-358-1297   
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