"A body of believers glorifying God, outwardly focused, committed to growth in personal transformation and in number."

Transcription

1 "A body of believers glorifying God, outwardly focused, committed to growth in personal transformation and in number." Ebenezer Reformed Church 2997 N. German Church Road Oregon, IL Office: (815) Pastor: Brion Brooks Parsonage: (815) Secretary: Dee Haak Treasurer: Bill Welty (815) Assistant: Mark Lohman *Newsletter editor: Jean Woodin Prayer Chain Requests: Contact Marge Barnes ( ) or Connie Rieck INSIDE THIS ISSUE Page 2: Calendar Page 3: News and Events Page 5: Schedules Page 6: Reflecting on the manger Page 7: Birthdays and Anniversaries *Newsletter articles are due SUNDAY December 22. Items can be ed to or put in the box in the Narthex. Thank you. CONSISTORY MEMBERS 2013 ELDERS Carl Berg - (815) Home (815) Cell colafb@gmail.com Council: Stewardship & Property Dale Flanagan - (815) Home (815) Cell Daleflanagan85@Hotmail.com Council: Music & Worship Ken Haak Consistory Clerk (815) kendeehaak@att.net Council: Music & Worship Gary McDanel (815) McDanel8754@comcast.net Council: Missions & Outreach Bill Reecher Consistory Vice President (815) breecher1@comcast.net Council: Discipleship & Education Joe Wolf (815) Home (815) Cell jwphoto@t6wireless.com Council: Music & Worship - Chairperson DEACONS Lance Barnes - (815) Home (815) Cell lancenmarge83@yahoo.com Council: Stewardship & Property Tony Berg (815) aberg1959@yahoo.com Council: Missions & Outreach - Chairperson Dale Boomgarden - (815) Home (815) Cell ddboomgarden@gmail.com Council: Stewardship & Property - Chairperson Steve Raine (815) s.raine@comcast.net Council: Discipleship & Education N E W S L E T T E R D A T E Larry Seabold - (815) lseabold@bergstrominc.com Council: Stewardship & Property Ceri Woodworth - (815) cwoodworth@byron226.org Council: Discipleship & Education - Chairperson 1

2 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :00 PM Ladies Aid 1 1 st Sunday of Advent Food Pantry Collection Communion 8 2 nd Sunday of Advent Deadline for Christmas wishes/poinsettia orders 6:00 PM Youth Group/ Women s Bible Study/ Men s Bible Study/ Kid s Club 6:30 PM Worship & Music Council meeting :00 PM Youth Group/ Women s Bible Study/ Men s Bible Study/ Kid s Club 12 12:00 PM Christian Fellowshipers rd Sunday of Advent Deadline for gifts to Neighbors in Byron 18 6:00 PM Youth Group/ Women s Bible Study/ Men s Bible Study/ Kid s Club First Day of Winter 3:00 Christmas Caroling 22 4 th Sunday of Advent Newsletter Articles Due :30 PM Elders 7:00 PM Consistory 6:30 PM Christmas Eve Service Created with WinCalendar Calendar Creator More Templates: 2013 Calendar, 2014 Calendar 2

3 Our new and improved web site is up and running! If you haven t visited it in awhile be sure to check it out: Announcements and bulletin notices can be sent directly to Dee at secretary@ebenezerreformed.com. Please follow through and make sure all future announcements for the bulletin are sent so that Dee can be on top of any information needed. Food Pantry Collection Sunday December 1 is our food pantry collection for Lifeline in Oregon. They are in need of Pork&Beans, canned fruit, soups, kidney beans, peanut butter, jelly and paper products. Please place monetary or food donations in the grocery carts in the church foyer. Meals on Wheels It s that time of year again!! December is Ebenezer s month to deliver Meals on Wheels to shut-ins in Byron. If you could spare the noon hour every weekday and have access to a car, you could be that on human many of these people see in a day s time. I have been SO thankful there are so many of you who step up for this mission. The internal rewards are great!! Please consider being that one to deliver meals! Contact Ceri Woodworth at (815) Thanks! Ladies Aid The Ladies Aid Missionary Society meets the first Wednesday of each month at 1:00 P.M. at the church. There is a Bible Study, devotions, refreshments and each member brings a scripture verse for roll call relating to a certain topic. Ladies Aid takes an offering to support various ministries throughout the community, denomination and the world. They also serve luncheons when requested by family members at the time of funerals in the church. Do you have a couple hours to give one afternoon a month? Age doesn t matter; this ministry is open to all women of the church. This month s meeting is December 4 at noon All ladies invited!!! Christmas Love is our theme -- Meal provided by Members of Ladies Aid. Come for lunch and fellowship. Sign up in Narthex if you would like to be included! Naomi Ruth Please note that there is no Naomi Ruth meeting this month. Christmas Cards Some of our congregation are donating to a charity of their choice instead of giving Christmas cards. There is a list (in the narthex) for you to sign up is you would like to do this. Putting down your charity is optional. Dee will put your Christmas wishes in the bulletin all at one time. The deadline for this will be Sunday, December 8. 3

4 We will be ordering poinsettias from County Market this year. Order forms are on the table in the narthex. The cost is $6.00 per plant and can be given in memory of a deceased loved one or in honor of a special living person or just because you want to give one to beautify the church. Please place your form & payment in the decorated box in the narthex. The deadline for orders is December 8. Christian Fellowshipers Christian Fellowshipers is a time for anyone over the age of fifty to get together for Christian fellowship and fun. They meet the 3rd Thursday of every month at noon for a potluck meal. There are no officers and a free will offering is collected for local missions. Each month a designated host and/or hostess plan and serve the event. There is scripture reading and prayer. Outings to local restaurants or other activities are scheduled. If you are fifty or over you are invited to the meeting What is Christmas all about?? on December 12 at noon; please bring a dish to pass. Caroling Let's go Christmas Caroling! We'll meet at the church Sunday, December 15th at 3:00 pm. then head out for an hour or two of caroling for the shut ins. Following that we'll gather at the parsonage for refreshments. If you can't make it caroling, you can still come for the party. Any questions, see Liz Brooks. Gifts for Neighbors We have received names from Neighbors Rehab Center for Christmas gift for some of their residents. If you are interested in giving a gift to someone who may not receive one otherwise this year, take a name and letter from the board in the narthex. If you want to donate but not shop pick a name and donation and give to Dee and she will shop for you. We need to return them to Neighbors by Tuesday, December 17. Christmas Eve Service The Christmas Eve Service will be December 24 th at 6:30PM. The Christmas Eve service is a special time of music, scripture and reflection on the birth of our Savior. Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. Calvin Coolidge 4

5 December 2013 Schedules es 1 st GREETERS: Kortney & Cherie Bertsch Alan & Nancy Gale USHERS: Gary & Ginger McDanel and Grace Henley 8 th GREETERS: Dale & Deb Boomgarden Brooks Family USHERS: Ellen Mason, Mary Ann Oltmanns and Grace Henley 15 th GREETERS: Dick & Phyllis Cain Kim & Tyler Carow USHERS: Martin/Ring Family and Grace Henley 22 nd GREETERS: Christenson Family Coots Family USHERS: Mark & Myrna Lohman and Grace Henley 29 th GREETERS: Harry & Norma Flanagan Dale & Stacy Flanagan USHERS: Lehne Family and Grace Henley NURSERY 1 st Lorna Snapp & Abbie Ring 8 th Rosalyn & Sarah Smith 15 th Ellen Mason & Paige Schriner 22 nd Connie Rieck & Melissa Reecher 29 th Jean Woodin & Kim Carow 1 st Marilyn Berg and Ryan Schriner 8 th Liz Brooks and Genevieve Sweeney/Abbie Ring 15 th Mary Goerks and Tyler Carow/Anna Ring 22 nd Ceri Woodworth and Kaley Mumma/Heidie Raine 29 th Erin Mumma and Tracie Raine/Paige Schriner 5

6 Reflecting On the Manger The Mystery Revealed to Us in the Hay The story of the birth of Jesus, as told to us by Luke, is full of joy in the midst of great conflict and sadness - even irony and rejection. It prepares us for the scandal of the cross by helping us see, in such a beautifully told story, that Jesus' mission is revealed to us, in how he came to us - in poverty and humiliation. There, in the hay, we begin to know. There, in the manger, we begin to understand. Our God is revealed to us by coming in the lowliest of possible places. It is a meditation for our whole lives. This story is here to bring us light in the midst of any darkness, poverty, rejection, emptiness, sinfulness we experience. By reminding us of where he comes, the Good New is also a revelation of who we are. We are the "people who walk in darkness." We are people who experience parts of our lives as dry and unwelcoming as that hay. We are people who, on our own, not only fail to know and understand; we are capable of tremendous infidelity and stubborn independence. We get our word "manger" from the Latin (and so French, Italian, Spanish) root, which means simply "to eat." Jesus comes, into the greatest place of our poverty, not only to be "with us" but to nourish us. The manger can be the place we go this Christmas to be fed with the acceptance, love, and peace we need. There is no place of darkness in which we need ever feel alone. There is no situation, no loss, no tragedy that need ever leave us empty. There is no sin, no matter how selfish that will ever leave us apart from God's love. We have prayed, "Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people. We await your coming. Come, O Lord." Now, our eyes are opened to the wondrous joy of his coming to us in that manger 2,000 years ago, so that we will know and understand his coming to us in our hunger today, and ultimately so that we will long for his final coming to bring us to the banquet that has been prepared, to fill all our longing. Reprinted from Creighton University's Online Ministries 6

7 December Birthdays 1 Esther Schier Mike Ruthe 3 Jim Rosenbalm 4 Kim Carow 11 Adrian Considine 12 Matthew Meyers Pastor Brion Brooks 13 Cade Bertsch 14 Megan Headley 15 David Jorgenson 17 Erica Mann 18 Val Herriot 21 Sarah Smith 23 Jeff Ruthe 24 Jamee Wolf Gifts for a King Bring him thy precious things And lay them at his feet; The gold of love, the hope that springs The unknown ways to meet. Bring him thy lovely things; The joy that conquers care, The faith that trusts and sings, The frankincense of prayer. Bring him thy bitter things; The myrrh of grief and fears, The aching heart that stings With pain of unshed tears. These for thy gifts to him; And for his gifts to thee, The comfort of his steadfast love, His tender sympathy. Annie Johnson Flint 28 Natalie Haugse 29 Eric Berg Mark Williams 30 Jennifer Christianson 31 Amy King and Anniversaries!!!! 2 Mr. & Mrs. Gary McDanel 30 Mr. & Mrs. James Rosenbalm (1949) 31 Mr. & Mrs. Mark Williams We are trying to keep the birthday and anniversary list up to date. If your birthday or anniversary is incorrect or missing, please send an to newsletter@ebenzerreformed.com or put a note in the newsletter box in the Narthex. Thank you!!!! 7