F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H N A M P A, I D A H O

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1 F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H N A M P A, I D A H O J A N U A R Y Inside this issue: Financial News 2 Session /Deacon Highlights Birthdays & Anniversaries 2 3 Directory Update 3 Sunday School 3 For Kids 5 Thank you to Jean Stansbury for your help in getting this issue ready to mail. Let s Back It Up Dear Friends, I am excited for the next sermon series. I m going to read the Bible backwards for you. About mid-january we will begin reading Revelation in January. After Revelation, we then will move forward while going backward with Jude, 3 John, 2 John, 1 John and so on. If it comes out well, we will go on to Matthew. I almost ended the Psalm series because I felt I wasn t getting to the meat of those faith statements in Psalms. Eventually I saw the error of my ways and it got better at least for me. In fact, when I was done I felt like I had received a fresh outlook on this classic Old Testament Prayer Book. I reflect on that while remembering one year in particular when we had that program read the Bible in a year. Many of you followed the booklet we handed out and benefitted. For that whole year I received questions and comments about what you were reading. As you read I felt like the understanding of the task God has given us here was clearer for you. All that was several years ago now. So, now I want to approach the same task in reverse read the last first. I will try to be responsible to have some overview of the book available as we go. Most of the sermons will have commentary for where we are. Each book approach will take as long as it takes in the New Testament. I will try to measure out the books to the time we have to reach July. As I preach on these books I expect you to keep up with the reading, and while you do I would treasure any comments you might have. I will stop at the festival time of the year Easter, Pentecost and Holy Humor -- and read appropriate text for that season, but my main track will be what I have described here. It is a New Year and our Anointing and Communion Worship will be January 12 th and the week before we will install new officers. I get excited every year we have started together. This has been such a good congregation in which to live out my faith. Thank you. Warmly, Worship Lessons January 5 I Corinthians 12:1-11 You Got Gifts! January 12 Mark 10:23-26 A Partner of the Impossible January 19 Revelation 21:1-5 Yes! We will recover January 26 Revelation 4:1-6 Look over here and you will see!

2 Page 2 January 22nd Office Hours Monday - Friday 9:00am -1:00pm Friday is the Pastor s day off Office office@firstpresnampa.org Pastor s balaams@firstpresnampa.org Website: Phone: (208) Fax: (208) Nampa First United Presbyterian Church Purpose Statement To bring people together to love and magnify God through worship, to minister to the needs of all His children, to fellowship in God's family, to spread the Good News, and to develop people to Christ-like maturity for their mission in the world. General Fund Financial Activity December 24, 2013 Budgeted Actual Difference Monthly Receipts $19, $25, $6, Monthly Expenses $19, $ $10, Jan-Dec Receipts $228, $215, $13, Jan-Dec Expenses $228, $208, $20, Building Project obligation to the Synod of the Pacific as of December 24, 2013 is $102, Session Highlights December 16, 2013 Mountain States Roofing has been contracted to put a new roof on our present building. The starting date for the roof is sometime in January and will take up to two weeks to complete. We have free leak repair between now and the installation. Hill Construction has been contracted to install a decorative fence to hide the new sanctuary air conditioning unit. New officers will be installed January 5. Following a short break, Sunday School will resume activities January 12. The annual Congregational Meeting will be January 26. Next Session Meeting will be January 20. Respectfully submitted, Ina Sano, Clerk of Session Deacons report December 2, 2013 Treasurer s Report-The beginning balance was $1, Donations were $ Expenses were: Hope House $100.00, Adopt-A-Senior $120.00, and Shelter meal $ Ending balance was $1, Birthday calls were made. Visitations were done by the Deacons and Pastor and frozen meals distributed. Shelter Meal was served to 55 people at the Salvation Army in November. Each Adopt-A-Senior recipient will receive an additional $25 Christmas gift in December. The next meeting is a potluck for outgoing and incoming deacons on Monday, January 6 th at 6 p.m. in the Resource Room. Respectfully submitted, Kip Winter, Secretary

3 Known January Birthdays 1/01 Ruby Hokenson 1/04 Ardria Yoder 1/05 Howard Davis 1/07 Julie Reed 1/09 Anna Tjaden 1/09 Don Tuckness 1/09 Ed Cisek 1/09 Wanda Yellen 1/14 Mike Carl 1/20 Jean Borer 1/20 Herb Carlson 1/21 Dora Gourley 1/22 Betty Pearson 1/24 Alexa Decoteau 1/25 Mary Joyce Hawley 1/25 Dick Stellway 1/25 Dan Wiebold 1/26 Nina Bachman 1/28 Ina Helt 1/28 Kathy Mattson 1/30 Robie Harano Known January Anniversaries 1/30/88 Ralph & Susan Williams 1/31 David & Sharyn Barrett 1/31/86 Sidney & Sylvia Fleishman Page 3 Please update your Church Directory with the following addresses and phone numbers. Nancy Canary 1022 W. Camelot St. Nampa, ID njcanary@gmail.com Rebekah Canary 1022 W. Camelot St. Nampa, ID Lorraine Diehl 727 W. Sheridan Ave. Nampa, ID lorrainediehl35@hotmail.com Peg Wolfe th Street So. #164 Nampa, ID grandywolfe@msn.com Sunday School Update The Sunday School will take a short break for the Christmas break. Classes will resume on January 12th. Blessings, Christian Ed Special Dates New Year s Day, January 1, 2014 Epiphany, January 6, 2014 Baptism of the Lord, January 12, 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observance, January 20, 2014 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18-25, 2014

4 Page 4 SURPRISE Birthday Party We will have a SURPRISE Birthday Party for Betty Pearson during the church coffee hour on Sunday, January 19th!!! Betty will be celebrating her 90th birthday on January 22nd. Being 90 also means that she will have been a member of THIS church for 80 years!!! She joined when she was 10 years old. No gifts please... she does love cards if you feel so inclined. Betty will receive a special newsletter without this secret information. Humor to break up the winter blahs Don t let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case. Some people are kind, polite and sweet-spirited... until you try to sit in their pew. People are funny: They want the front of the bus, the middle of the road and the back of the church. Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn t belong. Forbidden fruits create many jams. Working for God on earth doesn t pay much, but his retirement plan is out of this world. For everything a season Wanting his sons to learn not to judge too quickly, a man sent each, in turn, on a quest to look at a pear tree far away and report what he saw. The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer and the fourth in fall. Finally, the father gathered the young men together. What did you see? he asked. The first son reported seeing an ugly tree, bent and lifeless. The second disagreed, saying it was budding with fresh new life. The third son reported finding a tree laden with sweet-smelling, beautiful blossoms, while the fourth insisted it drooped with ripe fruit. The father said his sons were all correct, for they d seen the same tree, though at different seasons of its life. Don t judge a tree or a person based on just one season of life, he counseled his children. Who they are can only be known at the end, when all life s seasons have been lived. Furthermore, he added, don t give up on your own life if you experience a hard season, such as winter, or you ll miss out on the renewal of spring, the joy of summer, the fulfillment of autumn.

5 Page 5 Page 7 From Pastor Bruce Dear Children, Thank you for the Christmas pageant before Christmas. It was great to see you up in front and telling us the Christmas story. Now it is time for a New Year another year in your life. For me the years of your life go too fast. I see you one Sunday and then the next you have grown in some way. For some of you little ones you grow through the adventures you have with your Mom or day care or family. For the older ones it happens in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school and so on. It is amazing how you learn to carry yourself around myself and others. You are amazing. The leftover of Christmas that I hope you carry with you is the thought that comes from the one great verse in the gospel of John. The Word became flesh and lived among us. This verse means God sent his Son to us so we could see what Jesus was like. Some people gave God bad press which means they would say things about who he was that was wrong. It was like rumors that start. God said, No, I m sending my Son so they can see me in action. This was the gift of Christmas. I pray that you might grow this year aware that God is with you. Warmly, Bible Verses of the Month The Word became flesh and dwelt among us John 1:14

6 Answer: B (See Revelation 3:7-13.) Page 6 Known January Birthdays 1/3 Peyton Dion 1/11 Jessie Page 1/15 Andrew Anderson 1/30 Logan Thompson Classes will start on Sunday, January 12th at 9:00 AM. Bible Quiz The book of Revelation is addressed to seven churches. Which city in the United States shares the name of one of those churches? A. St. Paul B. Philadelphia C. Oconomowoc D. Orlando

7 1 Happy New Year 22 Link Deadline Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 5 8:45a Adult Sunday School No Sunday School 9:30a Chancel Choir 10:00a Worship-Installation of Officers 12 8:45a Adult Sunday School 9:00a Sunday School 9:30a Chancel Choir 10:00a Worship-Anointing Ceremony 19 8:45a Adult Sunday School 9:00a Sunday School 9:30a Chancel Choir 10:00a Worship 26 8:45a Adult Sunday School 9:00a Sunday School 9:30a Chancel Choir 10:00a Worship 11:30a Annual Meeting 6 6:00p Deacons Potluck 7:00p Boy Scouts 13 9:00a Worship Committee 7:00p Boy Scouts 20 Community Shelter Meal 2:00p Bible Study at Sunny Ridge 7:00p Boy Scouts 7:00p Session 27 7:00p Boy Scouts 7 6:00p Bell Choir 14 10:00a PWCT 6:00p Bell Choir 21 6:00p Outreach Committee 6:00p Bell Choir 28 6:00p Bell Choir Office Closed 8 10:00a Midweek Moment Bible Study 6:00p Celebrate Our Community Dinner 7:00p Chancel Choir 15 10:00a Midweek Moment Bible Study 6:00p Celebrate Our Community Dinner 7:00p Chancel Choir 10:00a Midweek Moment Bible Study 6:00p Celebrate Our Community Dinner 7:00p Chancel Choir 29 10:00a Midweek Moment Bible Study 6:00p Celebrate Our Community Dinner 7:00p Chancel Choir :00a Brunch Bunch 16 7:30a Nampa Caring Community :00am Boy Scouts 12:00pm Camp Sawtooth 5:00p Couples Bible Study Swanson s House 5:30p Movie Night

8 F I R S T U N I T E D P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H 400 Lake Lowell Avenue Nampa, ID PASTOR: Bruce D. Swanson RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED If this publication is no longer needed, please notify the church office. Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Nampa, ID Permit No. 180 December December December December December 24 5: December 24 9: