ST. STEPHEN S CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH

Transcription

1 ST. STEPHEN S CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH 1100 Hunters Chase Lane Lebanon PA ststephcfc@comcast.net Website: January 2014 Special Thanks There are some special thanks we need to give to those who offer their help in so many ways. To our choir for the lovely and moving Christmas Cantata they performed to get us all feeling the true meaning of Christmas! And to Steve Suk for all the time he puts in not only at Christmas, but all year long! To All those who made the Christmas Eve Service so special, we thank you! Alter Flowers and Bulletins The list is located in the back hallway. Please sign up now for your date for alter flowers or bulletins. It is always nice to see fresh flowers on our altar on a Sunday morning. Alter Flowers are $37.50 a week (Please note the increase in price). Bulletins are $12.00 a week If needed call Kathy in the office at Crazy for Daisies is our supplier

2 January 2014 Our Worship Team List Greeters: Ushers: Lectors: January 5 Steve & Melody Gipe January 12 Steve & Melody Gipe January 19 Tyler & Erin Frantz January 26 Chris & Tammy Boltz January 5 Jim & Joanne Bomberger January 12 Steve & Melody Gipe January 19 Tyler & Erin Frantz January 26 Tyler & Erin Frantz January 5 Cindy Klingler January 12 Johan Berger January 19 Tyler Frantz January 26 Chris Boltz Counting Teams: January 5 Team #1 June Barry and Bruce Barry January 12 Team #2 Shirley Golembiewski, Ken & Pat Shank January 19 Team #3 Brian & KimWeidman, Jere Snavely January 26 Team #4 Janet & Dan Light, Devon Gill 2

3 From your president s computer MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a great and awesome time of the year. My procrastination has given me the opportunity to write this Steeple article after our Fourth Sunday in Advent worship service. Yes, this was also the service when we had our cantata. What a service! We had a great attendance which filled the sanctuary with a very joyful noise as we sang several Christmas carols. The cantata delivered the Christmas story through song and narration. From my perspective (not that I am biased by being in the choir), I think the choir and readers did a great job. Participating in the cantata has been another wonderful experience for me and has provided a lot of inspiration that has really touched me with the true joy and meaning of Christmas. I hope that the congregation was touched and inspired just the same. Now I (we) need to take this excitement and joy and spread it around like an epidemic. Many of the songs in the cantata give us direction on what we need to do. Like, Shout the good news for the Lord has come!, Loudly proclaim that a new day dawns, a day of glorious Light!, Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!, People of God, celebrate His coming, the King of glory and might! Let us all go and Shout the good news!! Brian Weidman, Church Council President. 3

4 From your Pastor With the onset of another new year comes tons of resolutions, reminders and suggestions, like how to increase your efficiency, how to make every moment count and how to spend, or better yet, invest your time wisely, how to make more money, and how to get all you can. Let s say, just for a little exercise in good, clean fun, let s take the upside-down approach. I m going to suggest to you how you should waste your time and if you follow my advice, you will make little or no progress this whole new year. First, begin to worry. In fact, worry a lot! Start worrying early in the morning and let the intensity of your anxiety grow stronger as the day progresses. You say, what if I run out of things to worry about? Well, pick up the daily newspaper, go on the internet, or just sit on your behind and watch a few hours of television news, you know, the kind of media hype built on sensationalism, yeah! You ll probably gather up enough bad news, end of the world stuff, threatening third world dictators stuff, human tragedies, price increases, and late-breaking catastrophes to keep your mind spinning and the anxiety churning, maybe even all through the night! Something I found that really helps me to worry and be depressed almost to the point of total ineffectiveness, and that s constantly reflecting on all my failures in life, not to mention my perceived failures as a pastor with the church in decline and so many members no longer coming. That gets me really pumped-up with worry. What sis I do wrong? What did I do right? If you are a mom or dad, what about your job rating as far as raising your children so far? There you might find a healthy dose of guilt to get you cranked. Maybe, as a reminder, you could recall all the things you should have done and didn t. There are so many creative ways to induce worry. How about some other catagories to pile on the worry? How about problems with your marriage or your job or your family? How about the possibility of your roof starting to leak, trouble with the car, snd don t forget aging and all the things you can no longer do so good. I mean, if you do this right you can have all the worry you can handle even before February rools around. So you better get started, because those new ulcers need fresh stomach acid to keep going. Next, how about making some crazy, impossible plans. Why not, the whole year is in front of you. Plan to make some major purchases, you know, you only live once. Oh, you can set some really lofty goals for yourself, the kind that you know will never happen so you can worry about this too. Thirdly, set your mind on getting rich! Make sure you enter all the lotteries. Also be extra careful and be sure to get all your information from the secular world and not from someone like King Solomon who wrote: Don t worry yourself to gain riches, cease from thinking about it. For when you set your eyes on it, it s gone! Fourthly, and this is important. Always compare yourself to others. This is a great waste of time and source of stress. You ll try to change to like someone else that you envy almost to the point of not knowing who you are anymore. STOP!!!!! Or..you could pray more and worry less, you could be more accepting of the way things are, you could do more for others, and maybe, you could be thankful for what you have, for who you are, and for how God made you! In other words, GET A GRIP!, or should I say, loosen your grip, loosen your grip on things you don t need, on grudges you hold, on the things of this world for they are perishing and instead, get a good grip on the Truth of the Word of God, and the Love of God in Jesus Christ and you can start by changing what you re gripping and by putting your hand in the Hand of the Man who stilled the waters, in the Hand of the Christ Who died for you and leave the rest up to Him. You will have the besstesst new year ever! 4 pastorron

5 Music News and Views January 2014 by Steve Suk I trust everyone reading this has had a very Happy New Year. In this issue the story of the hymn, O Happy Day, is presented. St. Stephen s has sung this hymn and it is included in most traditional hymnals. O Happy Day by Philip Doddridge. When Monica Doddridge gave birth to Philip ( , England), she had been through the pain of labor no less than 20 times. Eighteen of her children had died in infancy. Phillip was delivered as though stillborn, and so the midwife set him aside to attend to his mother. And then the baby cried out. At that moment Monica determined that young Philip's life had been saved for a purpose. She spent the next few years doing her best to teach her frail son the Scriptures. At a young age, Philip Doddridge was orphaned. An excerpt from his diary tells that his faith in God remained strong: God is an immortal Father. My soul rejoices in Him. He hath hitherto helped me and provided for me; may it be my study to approve myself a more affectionate, dutiful and grateful child. With no family and no money for formal training, friends encouraged him to give up his dream of entering the ministry. Doddridge took the matter to prayer and God miraculously provided funds. Doddridge found his place among the clergy of the English Dissenters. He was pastor of an independent congregation and taught at a seminary for dissenting ministers. More than 200 years later, this same college (now under another name) includes a large collection of his manuscripts in the library. Doddridge wrote more than 50 hymns, including the very popular O Happy Day.. O Happy Day has survived the centuries in various formats, with different melodies, and in both 3/4 and 4/4 time. The song has been recorded by several famous artists, including Joan Baez and the Hawkins Singers. It has been a part of many movies, including The Nutty Professor II, and Sister Act II. It has been sung by church and school choirs, at baptismal, confirmations, Easter and Christmas celebrations. O Happy Day is a timeless song that brings inspiration and joy to the hearts of both doubters and believers. O Happy Day O happy day, that fixed my choice On Thee, my Savior and my God! Well may this glowing heart rejoice, And tell its raptures all abroad. Refrain: Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away! He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. Source: ShareFaith.com 5

6 January Birthdays 1-2 Allen Schwartz 1-3 Daniel Light Casey Bender 1-5 Joy Weidman 1-9 Zachary Marsh 1-11 Helen Crawford 1-14 Joseph Golembiewski 1-15 Wilson Morinchin 1-21 Chad Schies 1-23 Kyle Miller Kelly Koons 1-24 Megan Hoffa 1-30 Charles Artz Steven Gipe A.S.A.P. Lebanon County Christian Ministries Needs your help more than ever: Sloppy Joe Sauce Boys Pants/Jeans Spaghetti Sauce Bath Towels Canned Luncheon Meat Shampoo/soap Canned Chili Men s & Boys Socks Soups of any kind Boy s Shirts Please remember, the 4 th Sunday each month is Food Bank Sunday! Make Me a Blessing Out in the highways and byways of life, Many are weary and sad. Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, Making the sorrows glad. January Anniversaries 1-1 Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dechert Make me a blessing; Make me a blessing. Out of my life may Jesus shine. Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray. Make me a blessing to someone today. 1-4 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Feller This was taken from The Celebration Hymnal #670, but the words ring true and may this be one of your resolutions for the New Year! 6

7 The Long Winter Days are Ahead, Please Remember Our Shut-Ins Don t Forget! Mr. Richard Hoover Mrs. Annabelle Snavely Mrs. Helen Reigel Mr. Butch Rittle Mr. and Mrs. Lee Boyer Mr. Glen Taylor Ms. Nancy Eiceman Mrs. Dorothy Moyer Mrs. Shirley Golembiewski Our Facebook: Haven t liked us on Facebook yet? It s not to late, check us out at St. Stephen s Christian Fellowship Church Starting Monday, January 6 th At 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary a new informal community Bibile Study called Truth 4 Life is starting. Please join us as we study the four Spiritual Laws. This will continue on the 1 st and 3 rd Mondays of each month. Our Website: Check us out online for updates on news around the church and church information. Check us out at: Also if you have any information for the website see that Kaitlyn Day receives it as early as possible 7

8 St. Stephen s Christian Fellowship Church January 2014 Steeple St. Stephen s Christian Fellowship Church 1100 Hunters Chase Lane Lebanon, PA Don t forget to join us on Sundays for our worship service at 10:30am See you in the pew! [Recipient]