A Census, a Plague, and an Altar 2 Samuel 24:1-25. David s Last Words 1 Kings 23:1-7

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1 During my vacation I travelled to New England to spend some time with a college friend who lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. Hanover is probably best known for being the home of Dartmouth College, one of the nine colonial colleges and one of the eight Ivy League schools. Dartmouth itself is beautiful. The buildings are white with black shudders or stately brick. The chapel is a simple stone structure built in the shape of a cross. The libraries are almost entirely of old, deep, rich wood, with cast iron trimmings. The center of campus is a large colonial building with a bell tower that overlooks a central green. To walk through the campus is to feel as though you have been transported back to the late 1700 s. In fact, the school was started in the mid s by a Congregational minister from Connecticut named Eleazar Wheelock, with help from George Whitefield and others, in order to train Native Americans to be Christian missionaries. It was located in New Hampshire because the Royal Governor at the time provided the land for it to be built. It was named Dartmouth after the Second Earl of Dartmouth, who was a supporter of the earliest efforts of Wheelock. As my friend gave me a tour of the campus, we walked past the administration building, which sits on the left border of the central green. He stopped and said, I want to show you something. So we walked up the steps of the old brick building and he showed me a plaque that hangs left of the main doors. On it is a prayer. But it is not just any prayer; it is the prayer of a minister who was asked to come and pray over the school at its founding. The minister s name was Lucius Waterman and for almost 250 years, every president and administrator has walked past this prayer every morning and every evening as they attend their duties. As I stood there and read the prayer, I was struck by its beauty and I was moved by the thought of all those people passing by the words of this prayer over the last two and a half centuries. I also thought of how, with small adaptations, it would be a wonderful prayer to pray over our church, our families, and our institutions today. Perhaps you will be moved to pray it yourself. O Lord God Almighty, Well-spring of wisdom, Master of power, Guide of all growth, Giver of all gain; we make our prayer to Thee, this day, for Dartmouth College, earnestly entreating Thy favour for its people, for its work, and for all its life. Let Thy hand be upon its officers of administration to make them strong and wise, and let Thy Word make known to them the hiding-place of power, give to its teachers the gift of teaching, and make them to be men right-minded and high-hearted. Give to its students the spirit of vision, and fill them with a just ambition to be strong and well-furnished and to have understanding of the times in which they live. Save the men of Dartmouth from the allurements of self-indulgence, from the assaults of evil foes, from pride of success, from false ambitions, from hardness, from shallowness, from laziness, from heedlessness, from carelessness of opportunity, and from ingratitude for sacrifices out of which their opportunity has grown. Make, we beseech thee, this society of scholars to be a fountain of true knowledge, a temple of sacred service, a fortress for the defense of things just and right, and fill the Dartmouth spirit with Thy Spirit, to make it a name and a praise that shall not fail, but stand before Thee forever. We ask in the name in which alone is salvation, even through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Now, that s a prayer.

2 A Song of Praise 2 Samuel 22:1-51 Surprising Devotion 2 Samuel 23:13-17 A Census, a Plague, and an Altar 2 Samuel 24:1-25 David s Last Words 1 Kings 23:1-7 September 28 was a beautiful autumn day and 12 seniors went to Jamesport. We had a tour guided by Myrick, who owns a local bed and breakfast. He was able to point out many of the interesting sights. We went by the Amish school, the deer farm, the dairy and stopped at the Cheese farm, the carriage shop and where we saw many carriages for sale. We went to the Variety Store which had lots of miscellaneous items and a petting zoo. We finished the day with lunch at Gingerich Bakery and Pantry and a visit to H&M, a local bulk food store with many interesting extras. October 18 th was another beautiful autumn day and 11 seniors went to the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City. We had a guided tour by docent Bill Henderson. He was able to point out many of the differences of the various eras of painting, which made it very interesting. To cover all of the museum you need several days. The Museum is beautiful. We had lunch at the restaurant located in the museum before returning home. Despite the cold, and yes... SNOW, several people showed up in costume to enjoy this year s Trunk or Treat! Thank you to all the hot dog grillers, popcorn poppers, trunk decorators, treat Brookdale News is a monthly publication of Brookdale Church 203 South 31st Street St. Joseph, MO Phone: Fax: Website: Editor: Terri Lansbury terri@brookdalechurch.com providers, and especially all the kids and their families who joined in the fun. It s good to see that a little cold weather can t keep us from having a good time!

3 Late night 2017 is in the books..and I survived!!! On Friday, October 20th, Brookdale Student Ministries took 49 kids down to Power Play in Kansas City for 3 hours of nonstop laser tag...go karts..and video games. Just typing about it is making me tired again Haha! A blast was had by all. We then returned to the SMC where I spoke to the students about how much they are valued by our living savior..so much so that Christ paid the ultimate price for us on the cross. We had many new students attend the event with an excitement to start coming to youth group on Wednesday nights! Thanks to my amazing volunteers for making this happen (Tim Larson, Jamison Ball, Kelsey Taylor, and Jeremy Decker). I would not have survived if it weren t for your dedication to our students. Also, Brookdale family... our annual Turkey Scavenger Hunt will be Sunday, November 19th! Let us know if you can help out!

4 Prayer Stations What a joy it was to see the children go from station to station to experience prayer in different ways. The 1st-5th grade students were gathered together in small groups and with several adult leaders. Each station had a specific lesson that allowed the children to actually participate in or learn a special way to pray. The coloring table was a beautiful page with the word PRAY on it. The children colored and as they did they learned that they could pray at any time, and pray continuously. Like the page wouldn t be finished in the amount of time they had, prayer isn t ever finished, so we need to pray all the time. Our next station was the Prayer sticks with specific requests from some of our missionaries to pray for orphans and shut-ins. The children reviewed what each stick had written on it then each child prayed out loud in their group. They also were able to take the prayer stick with them to remember to pray for that request. At the Bible station, there were specific scriptures that were given to the children so they could see how they could pray in certain situations. They looked up several scriptures and wrote down ways they could remember to pray. The last station the children visited was the prayer tree. Each student had 4 leaves with specific ideas: 1. Friends 2. Family 3. Thank you God for. 4. God help me.. I wasn t sure how this would go, but many of the children really thought about what they wanted to write down and pray for. Some wanted their friends to know Jesus, others asked God to help them learn more about Him, and others thanked God for family and their basic needs being met. Several students asked if we could do this more often, and I want to assure them that we will be doing more activities/ events like this for sure.

5 Fall Retreat 2017 was a blast. We talked about being bold in loving our enemies, being bold in asking Jesus for help and being bold in sharing our faith. I have included a few pictures for your enjoyment.

6 2 - Tessa Schweder 3 - Drew Beggs, Austin Holland, Terri Lansbury, Terri Young 5 - Gwen Bachman, Lara Miller 9 - Taylor Peek 11 - Nolan Franken 14 - Jennifer Peterson 15 - Greg Lamorie 18 - Muriel Johnson, Linda Miller, Leah Peek 19 - Wayne Lemon, Kerrie Poppa 20 - Mya Barnes 21 - Ashton Larimore 22 - Benjamin Hadle 25 - Vernon Clibon, Barbara Kentzler 26 - Paige Colgan 28 - Mike Johnston, Tim Larson, Morgan Walley 30 - Janet Smith December 1 - Barbara Colby, Stef Mooney 3 - Gemma Parker 4 - Kelsey Taylor 5 - Suzanne Shepherd Thank you SO MUCH to the Blazer family for hosting the Fall Party! I have never seen so many beautiful and creative pumpkins with carving and paint/glitter/ feathers. Thank you to everyone who helped with the event in some way. The students had a great time-- and we all did too. We truly could not host these parties and welcome students like we do without each of you. Thank you for being part of this team!! Our next event will be the Christmas party at Brookdale Church at 7:00 p.m. on December 1st. Also, thank you to our families who are hosting students for dinner! I am hearing great things about those meals. Thank you for inviting students into your homes and lives! With joy, Christy

7 12 OCC Shoebox 1 6:30 Men s Min.Team :30 Haven House 2 6:00 Men s breakfast 9 6:00 Men s breakfast 16 6:00 Men s breakfast 30 6:00 Men s breakfast Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 5 8:30 & 11:00 Worship 9:45 Christian Ed Classes 6:30 High School youth deadline 8:30 & 11:00 Worship 9:45 Christian Ed Classes 6:30 High School youth 19 8:30 & 11:00 Worship 9:45 Christian Ed Classes 3:00 Turkey Scavenger Hunt 26 8:30 & 11:00 Worship 9:45 Christian Ed Classes 6:30 High School youth :00 Sr. Adult Ministry 6:00 Finance Committee 20 OFFICE CLOSED :30 Deacons 14 1:00 Kids Zone Team mtg 6:00 Elder / Deacon Dinner 7:00 Session :00 MS Youth group 12:00 Daytimers 3:30 KIDS ZONE 6:30 PRAYER SERVICE 7:00 M.S. Youth group 7:00 M.S. Youth group 22 12:00 Daytimers 7:00 M.S. Youth group 29 7:00 M.S. Youth group 9:30 Women s Bible study 5:30 Strength training 6:30 Spiritual Form. Team 6:30 GriefShare 9:30 Women s Bible study 12:00 Military Appreciation Lunch 5:30 Strength training 6:00 Trustees 6:30 GriefShare 11:00 Food Kitchen 1:30 Women s Min. team 5:30 Strength training 6:30 GriefShare 3 6:00 Men s breakfast 10 6:00 Men s breakfast 2:00 Book Club 7:00 R.E.D.I. Night (small group leaders) 17 6:00 Men s breakfast 4 10:00 Zumba 11 8:30 Hiking Group (meet at church) 10:00 Zumba 18 10:00 Zumba :00 Zumba Church office closed for Thanksgiving holiday 9:30 Women s Bible study 5:30 Strength training 6:30 GriefShare

8 Doris Wyckoff has been at Brookdale the longest (since 1938), so she and Pat blew out the birthday candles. Starting the day with praise and worship! Josh Gregory kicked off the Parade of Decades. Representatives from each decade since the 1920s shared a bit of historical information about Brookdale and what was happening in our country. Sandy Zweerink gathered LOTS of pictures to browse through!