CHRISTIAN Journal 7130 Bachman Road, Sardinia, Oh * (937) * website: sardiniacc.com *

Transcription

1 S A R D I N I A C H U R C H O F C H R I S T CHRISTIAN Journal 7130 Bachman Road, Sardinia, Oh * (937) * website: sardiniacc.com * sardiniacc@gmail.com *December 2018 WHAT JOY! WHAT WONDER! WHAT DELIGHT! Come participate, enjoy, and join with us in celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior during this special season of the year. On Sunday, December 9th, the Children present their Christmas Program and, following Morning Worship, food and clothing donations will be taken to Blue Creek, Ohio. In the evening a Prayer Meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. This year we are celebrating a "Brown County Christmas". Our goal is to reach out to more people in our community showing we are #forbrowncounty. On December 22nd from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. we will be hosting our live nativity event. This year will also feature visits with Santa and horse drawn wagon rides! Our Sunday morning service on December 23rd will be a special family service with hot chocolate, cookies, and a photo area for family photos! Wrapping up our Christmas events will be a traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight service at 5pm. We hope you will attend and invite your neighbors, family, and friends. Visit the website browncounty.christmas for more info!

2 Comments from Jeremy An often quoted verse is "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46). I don't know about you, but in my life there isn't much time to be still. This becomes increasingly difficult as we come into the holiday season. Our to do list grows and our calendar fills up quickly. I often have to remind myself that if I'm to busy to read scripture, to pray, or to spend time with my family, then I am too busy. I believe this is why God has commanded us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Unfortunately the world continues to try to press in on that time. It's easy to say we should be less busy, it's harder to become so. I think there are a few ways we can go about that this year. First I think we have to be intentional. We should look at our calendar and carve out alone time. Even Jesus took time out of His ministry to go off alone and to pray. Be intentional with your time. The second is prioritize. There may be opportunities you have to say no even if you would like to say yes. This is one of the areas I hope to personally improve and set as an example for my children. Are the things we're spending our time on important? Will they matter years from now? Finally relax. We get so caught up in the idea that everything in our life must be in order, when at the end of the day some of it really doesn't matter. Luke 12:25-31 reads: 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. My hope for my life and yours this holiday season is that we slow down and revel in the awesomeness of God and that we seek first His kingdom! Jeremy Mignerey

3 Student Ministry News Questions? Please contact Facebook page: One Wednesday night at my home church we were playing a game of dodgeball. As if dodgeball wasn t stressful enough for everyone at some point a sister and brother who were on the same team got into a fight. I only saw the very end of the fight, which was the brother smacking her glasses off her face and, I m sure in his mind, taking out whatever demon he thought was possessing her to pester him. Immediately I pulled David aside and before anything could be said, of course, he defended his actions with, she started it, and I did it because I was defending myself. As I continued to talk to David he refused to have his actions addressed because his bad actions didn t happen first, saying his sister should be addressed first. I responded and repeated multiple times, We will talk to your sister about her actions. Right now I am talking to YOU about YOUR actions because us talking about her won t get her to change. We need to talk about you and how you need to change. I then gave a laundry list of alternative actions many of which, I assured him, we would have supported him had he done them. Despite all my pleading and reasoning, there was no changing his mind because he just wanted his sister to change and for us to neglect his history of rash behavior. I saw a saying the other day that was pretty amusing and telling; You can t get rid of your demons if you re still enjoying their company. That pretty much sums it up right there and we all know someone whom we would like to direct that towards. But as I said to David I will say to you; it is useless for us to talk about others actions and expect them to change. Let s talk about you. What demons do you have that you have grown comfy with, so much so that you spend more time addressing others demons than your own? I ve definitely struggled with it at times and the biggest growth in my character came from addressing it and changing it. I know that word is like a four-letter curse word, but hey, if the boot fits. It took a while but David did change and I m amazed that my words did stick in his mind in some way. I have friends and loved ones who haven t changed yet and most of the time its because their demons have become their advisors pointing out all the flaws in others and how to fix them while not recognizing that they re distractors. After all, they get to keep their demons, why can t you? I mean come on, what s in it for you if you give up yours? Imagine what could happen if you faced your demons and others are able to see what could happen if they got rid of theirs? By the way, you don t have to address your demons alone. That s why God established the Church and that s what all of Christ s commandments help us to fulfill. In doing this we are able to be the shining lights that we are. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and one you can truly enjoy without distracting demons. Sincerely, Joe

4 What s Happening Here at Church? Every week plates are set out for a free will offering of a dollar. At the end of the month the money collected is given to someone in the community in need. Church members can recommend someone who has been hit with difficult times. Application forms are available at the Welcome Center or on our web page at sardiniacc.com under Our Ministries/The Dollar Difference. Getting involved can make a dollar difference for someone! Congregational Meeting following Morning Worship on December 2nd Church members will be voting on Elders and approving the 2019 budget. Come and enjoy Zack Shelton and 64 to Grayson Sunday, December 2nd, at 6:00 p.m.

5 What s Happening Here at Church? Fitness Activities At 6:30 p.m. every Monday classes in Zumba Tone and every Wednesday classes in Zumba will meet. However, both evenings the church building will be unlocked for those who wish to walk inside or outside. (The track is available for use at any time.) Each session costs $2 per person. Please note that there will be no Zumba classes on Dec. 24th, 26th, and 31st. Women s Bible Study At 6:30 p.m. we ll be meeting on December 3rd and December 17th. This is an open forum and an in-depth study of the Bible which is open to all women. We are studying Philippians in conjunction with the book, Joy, by Keri Folmar. Contact Lisa Boling at for more information. Euchre Night at the church on Friday, December 7th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Come and enjoy a fun time of fellowship.

6 What s Happening Here at Church? Children s Christmas Program On December 9th, during Morning Worship, the children will be re-enacting the nativity scene with scripture and Christmas songs under the direction of Kim Tutt. Prayer Meeting on Sunday, December 9th Meet at the church at 6:00 p.m. for a time set aside for prayer for our families, for this church, for our community, for our state, for our nation, and for our individual needs. We ll be praying for protection from Satan and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms and against the spirits of bondage/addiction, unbelief, pride, and fear operating in our country. Then we can experience first hand the strong arm of God and His Spirit moving through our land. To God be the glory! Amen.

7 What s Happening Here at Church? A BROWN COUNTY CHRISTMAS December 22nd In the evening, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., a Brown County Christmas will be hosted here for the community and surrounding areas. The event begins with a live nativity on the church grounds and includes horsedrawn wagon rides. Upon moving indoors, pictures with Santa and refreshments complete the evening. What a special time for families!

8 Announcements Results from the Rice Packing Event Sarah Stephan reports that 105 SCC enthusiasts came on November 3rd and packed, in one hour and 50 minutes, 4,833 bags of rice which will provide 29,000 meals. To everyone who participated in any way: well done good and faithful servants! Carol Chambers reports that 90 blankets were completed and are now being distributed to various groups. Thanks go to everyone who was involved and helped in any way to provide comfort to children in stress. THANK YOU for all the stuffed animals, small toys, toothbrushes, wash cloths and bars of soap, lip balm and stuffed animals, small balls and sunglasses, chalk, crayons, erasers, scissors and notebooks, paper, colored pencils, glue sticks, and rulers, solid deodorant, combs, and brushes, coloring books, shoes, and shoe boxes. Everyone who has been involved from wrapping shoe boxes to stuffing shoe boxes please know that you have made 1799 children from all over the world very happy as they feel God s love and your love through these gifts.

9 Announcements Forward in Faith 18 Capital Campaign Status as of November 25th 18 Amount Received Amount Remaining is $38, is $218, If you would like to participate in this Building Fund Campaign, please use the Building Fund envelopes on the back of the pews. The church staff (Jeremy, Joe, Alexa, Rita, Ruth Ann, and Bob) send best wishes to you and your families during this special time of celebration in remembrance of our Lord. Just a reminder regarding our winter church services. If school is closed or delayed for the inclement weather we will not hold activities for that evening. Cancellation of Sunday morning worship services will be announced on local 9 news station. Also if you have provided your address we will notify you via . THANK YOU! For your AWESOME response to the request for Holiday boxes. Thus far we have received a total of 184 boxes from churches and individuals. Again this year the food pantry has enough boxes to cover requests for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many persons will be blessed; both those receiving and those giving. The Staff of the Sardinia Food Pantry

10 Service Opportunities On December 9th, we ll be taking 100 gallons of 2% milk and all donated coats, hats, scarves and mittens to the residents of Blue Creek, Ohio. There are three ways you can help: (1) bring to the church your new or gently used hats, coats, scarves and mittens by the end of Morning Worship on December 9th, (2) help load the trucks with milk and the clothing donations, and/or (3) deliver and distribute the food and clothes to the Blue Creek residents. We ll be loading the trucks and leaving the church following the Morning Worship service. Many hands make for light work so let s work together to reach out to those in need. If you have questions or want to help in some way, please contact Nancy Mays at Justin Conley will explain details of the Shop With a Cop program on December 2nd during Morning Worship. This program provides Christmas for selected school children and their families. He will also provide information on how we can be involved in this work. Each child with their own Cop will spend the day together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in Hillsboro shopping at Walmart and enjoying special treats on December 19th, and heading home late after wrapping the selected gifts. On Christmas morning the wrapped gifts and Christmas dinner are delivered to each home. How special is that?!

11 Special Opportunities This Empowered Ministries Event for Women is free on Saturday, December 1st, here at the church from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is provided. Ladies, check this one out. Tickets are not required for admission; they are only to determine how many meals to prepare. Call Kristen McRoberts at to make reservations. Saul s Christmas Dinner for Seniors will be served on December 9th. This free dinner, courtesy of Sardinia Ready-Mix, is to be served at the Sardinia Elementary School at 1:00 p.m. Door are open at noon. Please call Sardinia Ready-Mix at to let them know that you are coming for dinner.

12 December 2018 Calendar December 1st - Empowered Ministries Day for women here 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. December 2nd - Congregational Meeting following Morning Worship December 2nd - Shop With a Cop presentation and love offering December 2nd - 62 to Grayson concert at 6:00 p.m. with love offering December 9th - Children s Christmas Program during Morning Worship December 9th - Food and clothing donations to Blue Creek, OH following Morning Worship December 9th - Saul s Christmas Dinner for Seniors at 1:00 p.m. at Sardinia Elementary School December 9th - Prayer Meeting here at church at 6:00 p.m. December 12th - The Friendly Circle meets at 7:00 p.m. December 15th - Student Ministry Christmas Party from 6:00 to 9:45 p.m. December 19th - Shop With a Cop event in Hillsboro December 22nd - A Community Christmas from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. December 24th - Christmas Eve service at 5:00 p.m. December 25th - Christmas Day - Merry Christmas One and All! December 26th through January 1st - Church offices closed WORSHIP TIMES SUNDAY SCHEDULE SARDINIA CHURCH OF CHRIST 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m Worship Elders Staff Joe Henslee, Youth Minister jhenslee.scoc@gmail.com Alexa Forsythe, Worship Co-ordinator forsythe_alexa@gmail.com Ruth Ann Goodlin Secretary sardiniacc@gmail.com Rita Mignerey, Janitor Bob Hopkins, Treasurer Ed Fryman Scott Mays Bill Boling Joe Etienne Dave Mignerey Deacons Jeremy Mignerey, Children s Ministry and Outreach Regge Fender, Communion Ministry l Mission Statement l We are committed to worshiping GOD, making Jesus the Lord of our lives, and sharing the truth of God s Word with our community and the world.