Branson First Church of the Nazarene

Transcription

1 Branson First Church of the Nazarene 2016 ENDS; 2017 BEGI NS As the old year retires and a new one is born, we commit into the hands of our Creator the happenings of the past year and ask for direction and guidance in the new one. May He grant us His grace, His tranquility and His wisdom! Peggy Toney Horton You can be clumsy yet clever. You can be classy yet poor. It's not tearing a leaf off a calendar which will make you a better or a worse person but the attitude that you have from dusk till dawn every day. Indeewara Jayawardane A New Year s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. Anonymous Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties. Helen Keller Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. Ralph Waldo Emerson As the year comes to a close, it is a time for reflection a time to release old thoughts and beliefs and forgive old hurts. Whatever has happened in the past year, the New Year brings fresh beginnings. Exciting new experiences and relationships await. Let us be thankful for the blessings of the past and the promise of the future. Peggy Toney Horton Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will. Jonathan Edwards Rev. Jim Cariker, Senior Pastor Rev. Gloria Cariker, Assoc. Pastor Rev. Bob Alarid, Hispanic Pastor Sunday School at 9:30 am Adult Bible Study Fellowship at 9:30 am Worship Service at 10:30 am Sunday Evening Worship at 6:00 pm Wednesday Bible Study at 6:30 pm 300 W Hensley PO Box 988 Branson, MO bransonnazarene@centurytel.net Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2017 Monthly Publication Rogene Clements, editor

2 Page 2 DECEMBER 2016 CHILDREN PROGRAM The Children s Christmas program began with Roni Fletcher entertaining the children in her home with a joyous welcome and then a short movie explaining the Christmas story. Children participating were C.J. Elander, Tory Tabuchi, Myla Tabuchi, Erick Tabuchi, Gracie Dodril and Natalie Ruan. They opened Christmas presents and displayed their gifts of Jesus presence...love, Hope, Grace, Faith, Joy, and Peace and quoted Bible verses about each gift. Happy Birthday, Jesus! was sung by the children, accompanied by Joy Straley on the piano. Roni Fletcher is our Director of Children s Ministries. She teaches the preschool Sunday School class and Chilren s church during the Worship hour. Joy Straley teaches Sunday school to a wide range in ages (5 years to 12 years old). Jayme Tabuchi watches over the toddlers. Please pray for these ladies. They love our children and the children love them. CHRISTMAS PARTY! Good food, good fellowship and a few laughs. That s what happened at the Davis home on Friday, December 9. Twenty-six of us indulged in finger foods laughs, and conversations. Leona emceed the Wacky White Elephant exchange this year. Rogene Clements ended up with the Grinch outfit after Don Enright exchanged with her. Pastor Jim admonished her to not wear it to the office. Pastor Jim, on the other hand, opened a bag of nice girlie things soaps, hand lotion, etc.

3 Page 3 PAPER PULPIT BY PASTOR JIM Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV). Here we are at the end of the year with a new year before us! The old year had its good times and it had some not so good times. But through it all God has blessed, answered our prayers and provided for our need. We made it through a rough political year with election campaigns... Our state elections were almost as boisterous as the national elections. But now we are waiting for these who were elected to take office and hopefully lead our state and nation in a way that honors God and the constitution! As we look ahead to 2017, there are many unknowns. But there is one certainty: God has promised to be with us, to provide for us, to protect us from the Evil One, and to empower us to live as the holy people of God. There will be good times. There will be challenges. There will be times of heart ache. There may even be times of tragedy. But we know that whatever the future holds, God holds the future. So what do we do? I challenge you to set aside time every day to read from the Bible God s Word for our lives. Spend time in prayer talking to God AND listening to Him. Be faithful to the Church with your attendance, your service and your resources The Church is God s ordained institution for evangelizing the world! And set a goal to tell someone about Jesus every week! If Christians don t tell others, they will never know about the love of God and His plan of salvation through belief in Jesus Christ! And, as you obey the Lord, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! In Christ, Pastor Jim BIRTHDAY CALENDAR January 1 Patty Rowland January 1 Carolyn Smolik January 2 Bob Rowland January 2 Martin Smolik January 8 Dixie Burch January 8 Ron Speak January 14 Vern Anderson January 18 Glenna Thompson January 20 Ron Erickson January 22 Diana Warrick CHURCH EVENT CALENDA R January 1 10:30 am Worship Service No Sunday School or Evening service January 7 8:00 am Men s Breakfast at Davis home January 7 10:30 am Ladies Craft Day, Fellowship Hall January 8 9:30 am Regular Morning Schedule January 8 6:00 pm Family Film Fun Night January 9 7:00 pm Church Board Meeting January 17 11:30 am Circle of Sisters ANNIVERSARY CALENDAR Bob & Patty Rowland January 6 Ken & Dianna Warrick Januay 18

4 Page 4 CHRISTMAS COFFEE HOU SE The Inn Keeper s wife, Gloria Cariker, shared with us her viewpoint of that night when there was a knock at the door of their crowded inn. Her husband ushered a young couple to the barn where the animals made it warm. Norma Dominguez and Jayme Tabuchi performed a Christmas spiritual dance. Jubilee presented the Christmas cantata. Members are Vicky Shepard, Leona Davis, Nancy Plummer, Joyce Riedesel. Back row: John Clements, Dan Straley and Dan Shepard. Angels: Myla Tabuchi, Tory Tabuchi and Natalie Ruan

5 Page 5 FAMILY FUN FILM NIGH T Family Fun Film Night is exactly that...fun for the family! The movies we ve viewed so far have been very good. Steve Hager does an excellent job of selecting the movies. The movie for January is Heaven is for Real. It s a movie about the real-life couple whose son Colton experiences Heaven during emergency surgery. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence. He describes Heaven in vivid detail, and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth... things he couldn't possibly know. So circle Sunday night, January 8, on your calendar and come have a good time. KIDS IN CHURH 3-year-old Reese : 'Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen.' A little boy was overheard praying: 'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.' After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys. One particular four-year-old prayed, 'And forgive us our trash baskets As we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.' THANK YOU RECEIVED We are so blessed to be part of this loving community of believers. You truly are family. Your prayers have sustained us, your love overwhelms us. Thank you for the beautiful Peace Lily. It is the perfect reminder of God s peace in the journey. You blessed us. You mean the world to us, the world of faith. Bless you, Dan & Joy REMEMBER THESE IN PR AYER Dixie Burch Dianna Warrick Graham & Diane McAfee Diane McAfee s daughter, Megan Reed Roni Fletcher Robb Connor Luke Gerfen June Lints Baby Walker Grim Bob Alarid and the Hispanic ministries Money counters are still needed The position of Worship Leader is still open AS 2016 COMES TO AN END Ruth Brasfield, our church treasurer, reminds us that all contributions to the church must be in the church office by December 31 in order to be listed on your contribution statement for Thank you.