heritage highlights December 2018 Heritage Presbyterian Church c/o Tudor Oaks S77 W12929 McShane Drive Muskego, WI 53150

Transcription

1 Heritage Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) heritage highlights December 2018 Heritage Presbyterian Church c/o Tudor Oaks S77 W12929 McShane Drive Muskego, WI Phone: Fax: Website: heritagechurchmuskego.com Rev. Michelle Henrichs, Pastor Clerk of Session Glenn Sheridan: In case of Emergency or Hospitalization: 1. Pastoral Care, Rev. Michelle Henrichs: Your assigned deacon (see deacon tree) 3. Church office: Araunah looked up and saw the king and his servants approaching him. Araunah rushed out and bowed low before the king, his nose to the ground. Araunah said, Why has my master and king come to his servant? David said, To buy this threshing floor from you to build an altar to the LORD, so the plague among the people may come to an end. Then Araunah said to David, Take it for yourself, and may my master the king do what he thinks is best. Here are oxen for the entirely burned offering, and here are threshing boards and oxen yokes for wood. All this, Your Majesty, Araunah gives to the king. Then he added, May the LORD your God respond favorably to you! No, the king said to Araunah. I will buy them from you at a fair price. I won t offer up to the LORD my God entirely burned offerings that cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. David built an altar there for the LORD and offered entirely burned offerings and wellbeing sacrifices. If you weren t in worship on November 18, you missed a powerful service as we celebrated God s steadfast love in the abundance of our ministries and missions at Heritage. Several members gave powerful testimonies how serving has impacted their faith and life. You also missed a sermon that didn t happen. All that needed to be said, had been, so we skipped the sermon. However, there are still some things I wanted to say about God s faithfulness in our life together and how our participation in that doesn t cost us nothing. So following is an excerpt of part of the sermon that wasn t.

2 PAGE 2 Continued... Today, we celebrate our shared history of God s faithfulness. And in response not to earn anything but in joyful response we offer to God that which does cost us something. It may be a monetary pledge. But it is also found in the way we do life and live our faith together. One of the offerings you make, one that does not cause you nothing, is the way my contract is structured. If you ve been here this fall, you know that I ve been absent quite a bit. I know it would be easier if I was here 46 Sundays a year, plus holidays. Worship Council wouldn t need to find pulpit supply. Heidi wouldn t have to chase so many pastors down for the order of worship. You would know what to expect and have more consistency in worship. But our arrangement allows me to fulfill my calling to my family. As a part-time pastor, we could probably make up the hours other places: council meetings, Bible study, special services, etc. But then you would have pulpit supply rather than a pastor. Our arrangement, which I believe is beneficial to us all, does not cost you nothing. Our decision to be here at Tudor Oaks does not cost you nothing. I m not talking about the rent and utilities that we pay. I m talking about the need to schedule every meeting, submit weekly requests to facilities for our room set-up, setting up and taking down our worship space, trips to the storage unit for banners and other things we keep there, not having our stained glass displayed. But once again, our arrangement is beneficial to us all. We have the freedom to say yes to the different things God is calling us to. We have new relationships with the residents of Tudor Oaks, whom we consider us not them. The things of life and faith that mean the most, will always cost us something. Participating in a council costs us an evening of relaxation at home. Worship set-up or ushering costs us an extra minutes with the Sunday paper in the morning. Making a meal for Larry Under the Bridge or serving at Divine Intervention costs us time to go shopping and a trip to Tippe in the winter. Serving as a host at DI costs us a good night s sleep. The question is not whether our faith costs us something. It s whether the cost is a joyful response to what we have already received and our continued participation of God s faithfulness to us. Today we celebrate God s faithfulness to Heritage. In response, we will not offer to the Lord that which costs us nothing. Celebrating and serving with you, Pastor Michelle

3 PAGE 3 Share Our Suppers Meals, Divine Intervention Tippe s Divine Intervention ministry needs folks to provide meals in December. NOW is the time to really search your calendars and your friends calendars (and maybe their friends calendars) to see if you or they can take one more days especially the open ones in December. Please call Tippe s church office at for more information or to volunteer. Our Christmas Families Heritage has adopted two Christmas families! For the past few weeks, there has been a tree at Tudor Oaks with ornaments that list gifts to purchase. Many were taken, but if you d like to purchase a gift card and bring it to church on Dec. 2, that would be great. (Target and Pick n Save gift cards are a sure bet!) If you just want to donate money, that would be greatly appreciated, too. Please Connie Fellows at cfellows1@wi.rr.com if you want to purchase additional gifts or have any questions. We will collect and dedicate the gifts on Sunday, Dec. 2. Let Connie know if you need more time. Please wrap the gift and label with the child s name and contents. Thanks so much for helping bring Christmas joy to these families!

4 PAGE 4 Heritage Muskego Open House Heritage Muskego is an Independent, Assisted Living, and Memory Care Community built on Heritage Church s former property along Janesville Road. You are cordially invited to attend the Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 1. (See page 8 of the Highlights for a photo of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.)

5 PAGE 5 The Wired Word Update The Wired Word will not meet during December. Starting January 6, we will be changing our meeting time and place to 11:15 a.m. in the Olive Wood Theater. Congregational Meeting, Dec. 2 Session has called for the second stated Congregational Meeting to take place on 12/2/18 after the service. Changes to the existing church by-laws will be considered and officers (elders & deacons) will be elected for 2019 and possibly longer. Pastor's Bible Study Join us as we reflect on the texts for the coming Sunday. We meet at 1:00 p.m. every Tuesday of the month except the third Tuesday. December meetings: Dec. 4 and 11. The Bible Study group will not meet on Dec. 18, Dec. 25, or Jan. 1, but will resume on Jan. 8. For more information, please contact Pastor Michelle at mahenrichs@gmail.com.

6 PAGE 6 Service of Advent Longing, Dec. 10 The Christmas season is one of bright lights and decorations, family and friends, and good food. However, in the midst of being merry and bright during the Christmas season, the truth is that many of us are feeling anything but that. Our annual Service of Advent Longing provides sacred space for the stress, anxiety, family, health problems, politics, financial pressures, or the other weighty matters of our lives as we prepare to celebrate the Word becoming flesh even as we look forward to the final redemption of Creation. Please join us (and maybe even invite a friend) as we worship together on Monday, December 10 at 7:00 p.m.

7 PAGE 7 PDA: California Wildfires We know that your hearts, like ours, have been broken as the devastation wrought by wildfires in California continues to increase in severity. In addition to the destruction of land and forests, the cost to lives and human community has been unprecedented, and those costs are still rising. The town of Paradise has been leveled; more than 80 people have been confirmed dead at this writing, and thousands more are unaccounted for. In Northern California, families are living in tents and having difficulty accessing basic services; many of those who have lost their homes are older than 60. While the focus is on those closest to the fires, the impact is widespread. Due to the smoke, communities hundreds of miles from the fires are being impacted by unhealthy air quality. What s more, after the wildfires there is an increased risk of mudslides. Through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been present since the beginning of the disaster. Working closely with leadership in the affected presbyteries, we have released emergency grants to support the presbyteries in meeting the urgent needs of their neighbors. At the request of the Red Cross, PDA has deployed four disaster spiritual care providers from our national response team to work directly with survivors in shelters and the affected communities. We are deploying additional PDA teams to support the presbyteries in their assessment and response as they help their neighbors begin recovery. Additional grants for ongoing emergency support for survivors and long-term recovery will be forthcoming.

8 PAGE 8 PDA: California Wildfires, cont. HOW YOU CAN HELP: Your gifts to DR (U.S. Wildfires) will ensure that PDA has adequate resources to support the recovery. Gift of the Heart kits are a hands-on way to help others and a fun project for the Advent season; hygiene kits and school kits will especially be needed in California. As people of faith we seek comfort, support, and direction from God. We ask that you join your spirits with ours as we walk with our California neighbors through the valley of the shadow. Heritage Muskego Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony (Please see page 4 of the Highlights for more information about Heritage Muskego.)

9 PAGE 9 A Message from Larry Under the Bridge Donations are great...but we need more than money right now!* The temps have fallen and so have our supplies. Larry's Top Five list of URGENT items: 1. hand warmers 2. food** 3. coffee (regular & decaf), sugar, & creamer 4. hot chocolate 5. dish soap / hand soap / hand sanitizer If you can purchase any (or all) of these items, that would be great! They can be dropped off at the church door closest to 1st Street. (We are in and out of that door all day long so someone will bring them in.) THANK YOU!! Crystal Stinemates, Ministry Support Associate Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church Working collaboratively with 56 intra-faith communities as a positive presence in Milwaukee! Please pray and consider a financial contribution to sustain our vital, life changing missions: *Money is good too, so if that's what you can do at this moment please donate. Thank you! :) Save the Date - Dec. 16: Bring Your Grandchild to Worship Sunday Our worship service on the third week of Advent will be a participatory service for children of all ages. Bring your grandchild and your inner child to worship!

10 HERITAGE PRESBYTERIA N CHURCH, (U.S.A.) Heritage Presbyterian Church, c/o Tudor Oaks S77 W12929 McShane Drive Muskego, WI Web Site: heritagechurchmuskego.com Download newsletter from this site. Phone: muskegoheritage@gmail.com Fax: Dec. 1: Dec. 2: Dec. 4: Dec. 4: Dec. 10: Dec. 16: Dec. 20: Dec. 24: Dec. 30: Calendar of Events Choir rehearsal, 9:30-11:30 a.m. OWT; Heritage Muskego Open House (see Highlights, p. 4) Congregational meeting after worship Worship Council, 4:30 p.m. HCCR Session, 5:30 p.m. HCCR Service of Advent Longing, 7 p.m. Bring-Your-Grandchild-to-Worship Sunday, 10 a.m. Presbytery Prayer Group, 1 p.m. Presbytery Office Christmas Eve worship, 5:30 p.m. Service of Lessons & Carols, 10 a.m.