the Daily Disciple Monthly Newsletter of First Church of New Knoxville December 2018

Transcription

1 the Daily Disciple Monthly Newsletter of First Church of New Knoxville December 2018 Merry Christmas! Sunday School Department Christmas Party Monday, December 3-6:30 pm The Giving Tree is up through Christmas Eve and benefits the Elizabeth New Life Pregnancy Center in Sidney. Elizabeth New Life Center provides positive solutions for the challenges of unexpected pregnancies. They specialize in offering women the resources and support they need to choose life and to make those lives good ones. Elizabeth's New Life Center operates a baby boutique as part of their "Earn While You Learn" program. Mothers learn life skills at the Women's Center, earning coupons to purchase much needed baby items. The ornaments on the tree for items such as diapers, baby wipes, formula and new baby clothing, gift cards, diaper bags etc... Gifts can be left under the tree in the heritage room Children s Christmas Program Sunday, December 16 10:30 am Refreshments served in the heritage room between 10:15 and 10:30 am Jr. & Sr. High Youth Group Christmas Party Wednesday, December 19-6:30 8p Bring Your Friends! Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Monday, December 24 7:30 pm Join us as we celebrate the birth of our King Come early and enjoy special Christmas music at 7:00 pm

2 Dear Church, The Christmas season is here! Advent, which means arrival, marks the beginning of the Christian calendar. During this season, we prepare our hearts for the arrival of Jesus on Christmas. We celebrate his birth because he is our Immanuel, or God with us. Our God took on humanity, in the form of a baby, to redeem us and save us from our sin. Advent actually serves two purposes. First, it reminds us of the events surrounding Jesus birth more than 2,000 years ago. Second, it points us to Jesus second advent. This is the day when Christ will return and establish the Kingdom of God in the new heavens and new earth. In a sense, Advent teaches us about God s love and good news of a savior so that we will be ready when he returns. Reflecting on Advent got me thinking about the Christian calendar as a whole. Beginning with Advent, the liturgical calendar provides an outline of salvation history. Advent and Christmas give way to Lent and Easter. During that time of year we reflect on the meaning of Jesus death and celebrate the resurrection. After Easter we celebrate Pentecost, when God gave his Spirit to equip believers and the church to spread the Gospel. After Pentecost is a season known as ordinary time, when we reflect on the ongoing work of the church from the time of Acts until the present. The last Sunday of the year, the week before Advent begins, is Christ the King Sunday. On this day, the church looks forward to the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Chris is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). Over the course of a calendar year, then, we celebrate the entire scope of salvation history, from the birth of Christ to the return of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Christian calendar tells the story of God s saving acts in the world, not simply which color cloths are on the altar on a given Sunday. It also reminds us that we are part of a bigger story and the larger Christian community. People all over the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus together over the next four plus weeks. Let s join our hearts and our voices together and sing Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. In Christ, Pastor Joel Suggested Reading Hidden Christmas by Timothy Keller Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels Evangelism Handbook by Alvin Reid CURRENT SERIES Prepare the Way December 2 Luke 21:25-36 December 9 Luke 3:1-6 December 16 Luke 3:7-18 December 23 Luke 1:39-45 What is Christmas? A Children s book by Michelle Medlock Adams December 30 March 3 Next Series: Rules to Live By

3 Retirement Home Youth Service Project December 5 6:30 8:15 p Jr. / Sr. High Youth Group will be headed to Elmwood in New Bremen. Cars will leave church parking lot at 6:35 p. Don t be late! Youth Schedule for December Wednesdays December 5 & 12 Combined youth group 6:30 8 p. Wednesday December 19 Combined youth group Christmas Party 6:30 8 p. (NO youth group on Dec. 26 or Jan 2) Sundays December 2,9 & 16 4:30 p. High School Bible Study Dave & Judy Bambauer s, 400 Botkins Angle Rd., NK (NO bible study on Dec. 23 or 30) Facebook: FirstChurchNKYouthGroup Instagram: firstchurchnk_youthgroup It has been a year of changes and transition for our youth ministry! God has been walking us through many changes to our youth ministry, our leadership within the youth ministry and even making changes to the plans we had for next summer. Even though change is hard, God has had his hand in every bit of it. One major change for 2019 is that we will not be going to Young Life (YL) Camp. In August I met with the YL leaders from Piqua and we talked about the camp s purpose and what our students gain from it. We came to the conclusion that there may be better opportunities out there for our NK students to grow deeper in their faith. YL Camp is primarily for students that do not have a relationship with Christ. They plan the entire week around helping students enter into relationship with Christ. The cool thing about our students is that many of them already have a growing relationship with God! YL now limits students to attending camp only once. Many of our students went to camp last time so they would not be eligible to go again. Because our students really grow closer as a group on our summer trip, leaving anyone behind who wants to be a part of the trip just isn t an option. It is clear to our leadership team that God is closing this door for a reason and we are excited for the door He has opened for us! Our students and parents are aware of the decision and are also excited for the new plan for this summer. We will be taking our students on a summer trip to the mountains in Tennessee. We will be focused on helping our students grow deeper in their relationship with Christ and with each other while still offering an opportunity to meet Him for the first time. We will be diving deep into God s Word together and spending time doing fun things as a group as well. We don t know all of the details yet but we are excited to see where God leads us! We will begin fundraising for this trip after the first of the year. Be on the look out in the bulletin and newsletter for fundraising dates and opportunities to help. I am more than willing to talk further about these changes. Please don t hesitate to call me! I would love to chat with you. Blessings, Tory

4 Financial Snapshot for October 2018 General Operating Fund Balance $52, Benevolent Fund Balance $29, VBS Fund Balance $6, Seminary Student Ed. Grant Fund Balance $13, Radio Ministry Fund Balance $29, Music Ministry Fund Balance $3, Bequest & Endowment Fund Balance $117, Camp Fund Balance $8, Building Maintenance Fund Balance $214, Held for Elevator: $78, Held for Sanctuary Painting $19, Jr. High Youth Fund Balance $2, Sr. High Youth Fund Balance $5, Organ Concert Series Fund Balance $ Global Missions Fund Balance $2, Christian Women s Fund Balance $7, Outreach & Evangelism Fund Balance $5, Sunday School Fund Balance $2, Temporary Undesignated Gifts Balance $91, Those In Need Fund Balance $7, Building Technology & Improvements Bal. $16, Full detail is available by calling the treasurer, Connie Schroer at the church office facts & figures October 28 General Fund offering $2, Attendance: 186 November 4 General Fund offering $2, Attendance: 213 November 11 Sanctuary Painting Fund offering $1, Attendance: 165 November 18 Building Improvement & Technology Fund offering $1, Attendance: 190 November Mission Projects Brian & Tara Vinson with Global Ministries in Zambia and Carl & Angela Lanham with Athletes in Action both received $1,500 from the Warner Benevolent Fund financial FAQ Each month the treasurer will answer frequently asked questions about the finances. Have a question? Send it to her at connie.schroer@nktelco.net Q: Does the Pastor see my individual pledge or giving? A: No. Only the treasurer who deposits and posts gifts sees the full extent of an individual s gifts to the church. The deacons who count the offering on Sundays do see any checks or marked envelopes that are placed in the offering plate. The pastor only sees overall reports and statistical info on giving. He has no access to individual info on who gives what. Q: Is there anything I shouldn t put in the offering plate? A: There are a few things that shouldn t be placed in the offering plate such as payments for anything tangible. One example would be a payment for a cookbook. A general rule of thumb is - if it is a monetary gift and you received nothing in return for it, you can put it in the offering plate. Any other payments should go to the office Goal: $775,000 + Pledged: $234,250 Received: $31,550 (as of 11/21/18)

5 Heating System Update The trustees have been busy working with an engineer to develop a Design/Build Request For Proposal (a.k.a. an RFP), This document contains a general description of the job including the type of boilers, types of plumbing, zoning, controls, and other pertinent information such as start and finish dates, etc. that contractors need to bid the project. The RFP was hand delivered to three contractors, Smith-Boughan, Wells Brothers, and Slagle Mechanical on Tuesday, November 20. Trustees will be available to show contractors the building during the first two weeks of December. Contractors who wish to bid on the job will need to do a study of the building and design a system that meets the parameters outlined in the RFP. We have requested bids be returned by February 1, The trustees will review them and make a recommendation to consistory & then the congregation for approval at a special congregational meeting. Ideally we would like to start work on April 29 which is a week after Easter. Copies of the RFP are available at the information center on the north side of the sanctuary. Our current steam heating system continues to experience issues making replacement even more certain. When the boilers were started for the season the chimney would not draw air. It was discovered that the flue opening was plugged with crumbled brick and mortar which had fallen from inside the chimney. Fifteen five gallon buckets of debris were removed. However, the new state of the art boilers will not require use of the deteriorating chimney. We have also discovered another steam pipe leak in the basement which we can handle with a bucket. Any questions may be directed to Trustees Doug Hoelscher, Bob Grimes, Ned Vordermark or Pastor Joel. Thank you to all of you who made Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes & gave donations for postage. Seventy seven shoeboxes were delivered to the distribution center. $743 in donations were also sent to Samaritans Purse in postage donations. Thank you as well to Nancy & Wayne Bambauer and all those who helped deliver them to the center. Thank you from The Sunday School Department. New Bible Study in January: Jesus Among Secular Gods This January we will be offering a NEW bible study on Sunday mornings called Jesus Among Secular Gods written by Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale. The rise of secular gods presents the most serious challenge to the absolute claims of Christ since the founding of Christianity itself. We will be studying the secular prevailing worldviews such as atheism, scientism, pluralism and many more that are drastically different than what Jesus preached. This study will seek to help us as Christ-followers to engage and have meaningful conversations with people that believe in these secular worldviews. This study will be an 11-week bible study led by Jake Breitigan beginning January 27 on Sundays at 10:15 am. Please sign up at the info table by January 6 th so that we can order books for those who are interested! Everyone is welcome to join this study. Please talk to Jake Breitigan if you have any questions.

6 Dear First Church, the Bambauer families thank everyone who donated food and money in memory of Steve to Agape. We were overwhelmed with your generosity. Thanks again!! Dear First Church, thank you for the beautiful rose given to us for our 53rd wedding anniversary. We really appreciated it. Karen and Larry Niemeyer Dear First Church, thank you very much for the rose on the altar in memory of our 55th wedding anniversary. It is much appreciated. Terry & Becky Huston Dear Church Friends, thank you for all the lovely cards, hugs and comforting words given at the recent passing of Emily s father. He was a terrific guy and I wish you had all known him. We sincerely appreciate your thoughtful expressions of sympathy. Gene & Emily Little Thank you to the following members who served on committees this year. These members are appointed by the consistory president in September and present recommendations for 2019 to the consistory. These recommendations are then presented to the congregation in January at the annual meeting. Designated Offering Committee: Carolyn Lammers, Chairman & Elder; Glenn Culp, Elder; Rick Homan, Deacon; Tory Breitigan, Youth Pastor; Danielle Hirschfeld, Rebecca Vordermark and Pastor Joel Bucklin. Salary Committee: Carolyn Lammers, Chairman & Elder; Aaron Rohrbaugh, Elder; Doug Hoelscher and Bob Grimes, Trustees; Brian Hoge and Mark Howe, Deacons. Budget Committee: Chad Huston, Chairman & Elder; Aaron Rohrbaugh, Elder; Ned Vordermark, Doug Hoelscher & Bob Grimes, Trustees; Brian Jones, Dave Bambauer, Larry Kellermeyer, Connie Schroer, Treasurer and Pastor Joel Bucklin. Dear First Church, we have so much appreciation for your prayers. Jeff and I are happy to say that after 50 days at the James and 14 days at Joint Township Jeff s mother / my mother in-law Mary Jo Colson has recuperated! It was a very rough road. Sincerely, Jeff & Sharon Colson Dear Pastor Joel & First Church, We extend our heartfelt thanks for your generous and kind donations in member of Steve Bambauer. A total of $1,505 in monetary donations and 475 food items were received. What a wonderful tribute to Steve. Your donations will help us to continue to purchase the much needed food to fill our pantry shelves. With the holidays fast approaching, there are many families who to look to Agape Ministries Choice Food Pantry for their holiday meals. Individuals & families should never have to make the tough decision of whether to buy food or pay the utilities. That is why we are so grateful for congregations like yours who share in our mission to help those who struggle with their everyday needs. Take Care & God Bless. Patti Hamilton, Executive Director & Donna Kuffner, Program Manager. Happy 96th Birthday to Erma Meyer on December 15. You can send her a card at Vancrest Living Center, 1140 S. Knoxville Ave., St. Marys, OH Happy Birthday to Mark Schneider on December 31st. If you would like send Mark a card you can do so at 924 Daisy Drive Wapakoneta, OH Happy Anniversary to Gordon & Jean Coffin who will celebrate 53 years of marriage on December 18th.

7 31 Church office open December 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 Advent 1 Communion 10:15a Sunday School 10:15a Confirmation 4:30p Sr. High Bible Study 9 Advent 2 10:15a Sunday School 10:15a Confirmation 4:30p Sr. High Bible Study 16 Advent 3 NO Sunday School 10:30 a Children s Christmas Program 4:30p Sr. High Bible Study 23 Advent 4 NO Sunday School NO Confirmation NO Sr. High Bible Study 30 10:15a Sunday School 3 6:30 p Sunday School Dept. Christmas Party Social Rm. 10 6:30p Spiritual Council 7p Trustees Mtg. 7:30p Consistory 4 2p Grand Adults 6:30p Growth Group 11 2p Grand Adults 6:30p Growth Group p Special Christmas Music 7:30 p Christmas Eve Candlelight Svc. regular hours Merry Christmas 5 6:30 8p Combined Jr. / Sr. High Youth Group 6:30p Bell Choir Practice 7:30p Vocal Choir Practice 12 6:30 8p Combined Jr. / Sr. High Youth Group 6-7:15p Jr. High Sun. School Program practice 6:30p Bell Choir Practice 7:30p Vocal Choir Practice 6:30 8p Combined Jr. / Sr. High Youth Group 6:30p Bell Choir Practice 7:30p Vocal Choir Practice

8 Small Group Schedule Changes for December Grand Adults Fellowship will meet Dec. 4 & 11 then take a break until March. Tuesday morning bible study will not meet in December and will resume on Jan. 8 Tuesday night Growth Group will not meet on Dec. 18, 25 or Jan 1. and will resume on Jan. 8 There is a congregational meeting on Sunday, January 6 for the purpose of nominating /approving the nominees for officers of the consistory & congregation for 2019 Merry Christmas from Your entire First Church family! You are invited to enjoy an afternoon of music! The Sharon Chaney Piano Studio Christmas Recital will be held at 3:00 pm on Sunday, December 9 at First Church of New Knoxville. There will be 21 young musicians performing all of your Christmas favorites. The event will be followed by a time of fellowship and refreshments. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #5 NEW KNOXVILLE, OH Senior Pastor Joel Bucklin P.O. Box W. Bremen St. New Knoxville, OH Office firstchurchnk@nktelco.net Church Website: Return Service Requested Find us on Facebook & Instagram at #firstchurchnk Text your name and remove to to be removed from our newsletter mailing list.