Living Waters Volume 23 Issue 11 November 2014

Transcription

1 Swift Creek Presbyterian Church Jesus proclaimed, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, Out of Living Waters Volume 23 Issue 11 From the pastor Swift Creek Family, Several weeks ago Richard Haney, founding pastor of Swift Creek, was with us for Sunday services. Afterward he spoke to the missions committee and told the following story which I want to repeat for you. When Richard and Pam were fresh out of seminary he took his first call to Third Presbyterian Church in Richmond s West End as the Associate Pastor alongside senior pastor Alan Meenan. At the time both of my parents and Cindy and I were members at Third Pres. Richard recalled how my father sat both him and Alan down and spoke to them about how important it was for them to tithe. Does that sound strange to you, that a layperson would have to teach pastors to tithe? Richard recalled that he hadn t thought that much about it prior to that conversation and that Alan had not either. (Apparently they don t teach tithing in seminary!) Richard, to this day, credits my father with helping him to understand the importance of tithing. My point in recalling this for you is that the inclination to tithe apparently is not self evident. If even pastors don t get it unless taught, then perhaps we must do a better job of teaching all church members. Giving to the church is not a matter of paying your dues. Nor is it a matter of, we must give some money to keep the lights on and the doors open. Tithing is a spiritual concept that is closely tied to spiritual growth and maturity. People who tithe are almost always people who are mature in Christ. Tithing and spiritual growth tend to go hand in hand. Tithing reflects a biblical understanding of all that we have been given in Christ and the understanding that all that we have belongs to him. The commitment to tithe amounts to aligning our lifestyle and practice with the truths of those convictions. Where are you in your giving at this stage in your life with Christ? Are you at 2%? (The national average), 4%? 6%? Is your giving an accurate barometer of your spiritual health and well being? I can tell you this; that a church full of people who tithe will be a very spiritually alive place guaranteed. For those of you who do already tithe, let me stretch you a bit in some additional areas. Will you get a year- end bonus this year? Have you recently received an inheritance of some kind or a windfall of another kind? Have you considered tithing on that? Planned giving (including your church in your estate plan) is another way to grow in the grace of giving. Paul told the Philippians, Not that I seek the gift; but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. (Phil 4:17) Will we grow and fulfill God s purposes for us as a church? I certainly hope so. But I don t believe it will be, first and foremost, because we were savvy fund raisers. I believe that when we adopt the spiritual discipline and commitment to tithing that the rest will follow quite naturally. That is spiritual agronomics of the biblical variety. Grace, Tuck

2 Page 2 Living Waters 21st Annual Living Nativity is Coming Dec. 5 & 6 Sign up Today! If you have never participated in this Swift Creek family production, you don t know what you are missing. It is a special evening an evening when we share the great news of our Savior s birth. Live animals, headlined by a llama, sheep and a donkey, live music, and a host of volunteer actors from our congregation bring the Christmas story to life. This is the largest outreach event we do, reaching hundreds of people in our community every year. We have openings for all sorts of opportunities and encourage everyone to get involved. One of our signature numbers is Bethlehem is Busy where children and adults dance (very basic moves) to a joyful, unforgettable tune. In recent years though, Bethlehem has seen a shortage of men. So we are asking fathers and adult males to step up to the stage and participate in this fun scene. Besides performing opportunities, there are many other places for people to fit in: lighting and sound, stage hands, set construction, ushering, helping with costumes, parking attendants, publicity, signage, and making cookies, just to name a few. Signup sheets are in the Commons! Prayerfully consider being a part of this wonderful Swift Creek tradition. For more information you can contact Alexis Kennett (alikenna@aol.com) or Linda Burns (lburns@scpcva.org). Schedule Sunday, Nov. 2: Sunday, Nov. 9: Sunday, Nov. 16: Sunday, Nov. 23 Monday, Dec. 1: Tuesday, Dec. 2: Wednesday, Dec. 3: Thursday, Dec. 4: Fri., Dec. 5: Sat., Dec. 6: 3:30 for speaking roles 4 p.m. for all cast, except Bethlehem is Busy 4 p.m. All Cast 4 p.m. All Cast 4 p.m. All Cast 6:30 p.m. All Cast 6:30 p.m. All Cast 6:30 p.m. All Cast (evening off) 6 p.m. All Cast 6 p.m. All Cast

3 Living Waters Page 3 New Sunday School Offerings for November and December Gospel In Life by Tim Keller- A new Sunday School class focusing on the gospel and how tolive it out in all of our life- first in our heart, then in community, and ultimately out into the world. Under Wraps- During Advent all of Swift Creek (children and youth too) will be studying this series to help us refocus our hearts and minds on Jesus. ANGEL TREE IS COMING! As the holiday season approaches, it is time to think about helping others and Angel Tree is a wonderful opportunity to do that For those of you who have not been at SCPC for past Christmas seasons, Angel Tree is a program of prison fellowship ministry that affords us the chance to share Christ s love with the families of prisoners.. This program connects parent(s) in prison with their children through the giving of Christmas gifts on the parent s behalf. Angel Tree provides us with the names of local children, and each child receives two gifts. One is a clothing item and one is a toy or other fun item the child desires. We need volunteers to purchase and wrap the gifts, deliver the gifts to the children and/or work the Angel Tree table for one or two Sundays in November. More information about this volunteer opportunity will be coming soon. Please think about how you and your family can participate in Angel Tree and help children whose lives have been impacted by incarceration.

4 Page 4 Living Waters SWIFT CREEK YOUTH YOUTH FELLOWSHIP Join us on Sunday evenings for a time filled with fun, food and fellowship! Middle School: 5:00-6:00 p.m. Combined Dinner: 6:00-6:30 p.m. High School: 6:30-7:30 p.m. We are meeting Nov. 2, 9, 16 & 23. No meeting on Nov. 30. (Thanksgiving) Nov. 23 is our worship night! (See below) WINTER RETREAT This January 16-18, the youth will retreat to Camp Willow Run in North Carolina for a weekend of fun and spiritual growth. This weekend is open to current 6 th through 12 th graders. The cost for the weekend is $110. We hope that everyone will get the chance to join us for this great weekend of fun and fellowship. Please contact Kevin with any questions. SUNDAY NIGHT WORSHIP One Sunday a month, the youth gather on a Sunday night together and worship as one. Our next worship night this fall is going to be Sunday, November 23. Instead of regular youth group that night, we will have dinner together at 6:00 with the worship service following from 6:30-7:30. CHRISTMAS PARTY The youth ministry will have it s annual Christmas Party on Sunday, December 14. It will be a combined youth group with dinner, games and a gift exchange, Please loom for more details closer to the event. It will be a great night the teens won t want to miss! We hope you are able to join us and as always, invite a friend! CONNECT Website: SwiftCreekPresbyterian.org Twitter: twitter.com/scpcyouthgroup Facebook: facebook.com/groups/ SCPCYouthGroup

5 Living Waters Page 5 The Creek POWERSOURCE POWERSOURCE ASK GOD: 1. To give your children loving, grateful hearts toward him. 2. To help your family members put their love for God into action by serving other people. 3. To help you make service a joyful, regular habit in your home. Swift Creek Presbyterian Church Wendy Hicks - Children s Director whicks@scpcva.org Love God by Loving Others Jesus summed up the entire law in two commandments: Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39). Followers of God express love and thanksgiving to him by showing love to other people in practical ways. No matter our age, we can live out this gratitude in a variety of ways big and small. And service isn t limited to the holidays. Follow these tips to make service a year-round occurrence in your family: Set a model of servanthood and responsibility. Don t use acts of service to manipulate or one up each other. Instead, perform tasks out of humility, not expecting thanks in return. Make serving fun. Spend an afternoon raking leaves for elderly neighbors or church members. Afterward, gather leaves on your own lawn, and throw some individually wrapped candies into the pile. After kids search for the candy, discuss what makes helping others feel so sweet. Offer age-appropriate ideas. Kids of all ages can pitch in to help others. Find ways for your children to actively help by considering what they re able to do. Share your adventures in serving. Each week, challenge family members to perform acts of giving and kindness. Then report the activities every night during dinner or family devotions. Examples include shoveling snow, delivering cookies, helping someone carry their books or packages, and so on.

6 Page 6 Living Waters Date & Time Event Information - For more information on any of these activities, please contact Wendy Hicks or whicks@scpcva.org Monday Nov. 3rd 10 am - noon Sunday Dec. 14th 9 & 11 am Monday Dec. 22nd Noon - 2 pm FUNday Monday Children s Christmas Musical Shepherds, Sheep and a Savior Cookie Decorating All Ages Welcome For children PreK - 5th grade. Join us & the guys from Camp Hanover, this Monday when school is out to have some FUN. Games, snacks, and more. $5 per attendee. Register from our facebook page. Join us as we follow along shepherds as they hear and discover about the birth of the Savior. Join us as we decorate large gingerbread people to take home and cookies for our Christmas Eve services. All ages welcome, preschool parents will need to stay on site. Cost is $5 per attendee. Register from our facebook page. Children s Sunday School For November Join us Sundays at 10 am for fun and learning. K - 2nd Mrs. Walker 3rd - 5th The Burns Children s Christmas Musical For kids Kindergarten - 5th grade is every Sunday 12:30. Kids are welcome to bring a bag lunch and eat in the large Sunday School room at noon. 9 & 11 am For November 2nd - Joseph & His Brothers 9th - God Called Moses 16th - The Israelites Left Egypt 23rd - The Israelites Crossed The Red Sea 30th - God Gave The 10 Commandments Join us and bring a friend! Bible Verse Memorization Kids are encouraged to join us as we learn a verse at a time and recite it to Mrs. Wendy. Each verse gets you a punch in your own punch card. 20 punches earns a treat at McDonalds or Chic-fil-A Christmas Unwrapped During Advent our children, youth, and adults will all be studying this series to help us refocus our hearts and minds on Jesus.

7 On a Mission Living Waters Page 7 Our CHAT yard sale on October 4 th was a success! We raised $1,500 for the Street Leaders Program for CHAT. In addition to the money raised, folks in Church Hill received some really nice items at very reasonable prices. Thanks to the many volunteers that gave their time to receive items, pick up items, sort items, price items, store items, and staff the actual yard sale event. On October 12 th, the Missions Committee held its third quarter meeting. We had two special guests at the meeting. First, our founding pastor, Richard Haney, gave us an overview of his new role as Executive Director of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF). We support PFF financially as they accomplish their vision of spreading the Good News to the unreached peoples of the world. Secondly, Elizabeth McGuire, associate pastor of Salisbury Presbyterian, spoke to our committee about the work that she and others in the Presbyterian of the James are doing in Haiti. We are in the process of exploring an SCPC trip to Haiti in 2015 and Elizabeth was able to give some great insight and guidance. Although the first CCHASM Thanksgiving collection date will have passed by the time you receive this newsletter, if you were not able to make a contribution, here is another opportunity this Sunday (November 2 nd ). A financial donation of $20 provides a family in need with a turkey dinner and all of the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. We ve pledged $1,200 to CCHASM this year and hope to exceed that as we did last year. Thanks to the many volunteers that keep our Friends Feeding Friends, Meals on Wheels, and Food Pantry efforts going! We re always looking for volunteers for each of these efforts. If you were at the church service on October 19 th, you heard Wendy Hicks talk about Young Life Capernaum where our youth and adult volunteers buddy up with Chesterfield teens with various physical and mental challenges. The next Young Life Capernaum Club will be held at Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church in Midlothian on November 6th. For information or interest in participating in any of our missions programs, please contact Greg Herceg at

8 Page 8 Living Waters November Birthdays 1 Joshua Lacks Rick Doll 2 Joey Burgess 5 Ken MacDonald Lindsey Wakefield 6 Diane Ritchie 7 Tom Abbott David Walker 8 Owen Gunter 9 John Burns Rachel Crow Sean Crow Savannah Hardwich 10 Nyah Chin Lauren Sampson 11 Mike Anderson Cole Carawan Melissa Wakefield Samantha Finnegan 12 Delaney Robinson 13 Pat Bell 14 Christina Jenkins 16 Alex Owens 18 Hilary Burgess Sophie DeSimone Carl Schnute Cammie Quinones 20 Richard Dunlap 21 Kendall Moody 22 Wendy Houck Brad Lawler Ed Rosenbaum 24 Audrey Nicklow 25 Justin Houck Bettsie Wrenn 29 Stacie Sydow Operating Budget YTD 2014 Financial Report Budget Actual Revenue $441,123 $371,356 Expenses $349,000 $359,000 YTD Net (8,200) (6,553)

9 NOVEMBER 2014 Living Waters Page 9 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 CHASM Thanksgiving Program Daylight Savings Time/Fall Back Stewardship Commitment Sunday 9:00 AM Contemporary Service Sunday School 11:00 AM Traditional Service 12:00 PM Counters (Room 203) 12:30 PM Children's Musical 3:30 PM Living Nativity --Speaking roles only 3:30 PM Officers Training 4:00 PM Living Nativity --ALL CAST except Bethlehem is Busy 5:00 PM Middle School Youth 6:00 PM Ladies Bible Study 6:00 PM Youth Dinner 6:30 PM High School Youth 3 FUNday Monday - kids event 11:00 AM Monday Morning Ladies Bible Study 4 9:00 AM Calendar Planning Staff Meeting/Offsite (tentative) 3:00 PM Good News Club 5 Moving On Group Adult Praise Team 6 Ladies Bible Study 6:30 PM Handbells Adult Choir :00 AM Contemporary Service Sunday School Trustees Meeting 11:00 AM Traditional Service 12:00 PM Counters (Room 203) 12:30 PM Children's Musical 3:30 PM Officers Training 4:00 PM Living Nativity --ALL CAST 5:00 PM Middle School Youth 6:00 PM Ladies Bible Study 6:00 PM Youth Dinner 6:30 PM High School Youth 10 11:00 AM Monday Morning Ladies Bible Study 11 9:00 AM Staff Meeting 3:00 PM Good News Club 7:00 PM Deacon's Meeting 12 Moving On Group Adult Praise Team 13 6:30 PM Handbells Adult Choir Burfoot / Eagle Scout Project 8:00 AM Living Nativity Set Build 9:30 AM Quilters Group 16 Minute for Ministry/Missions Angel Tree 9:00 AM Contemporary Service Blood Pressure Screening Sunday School 11:00 AM Traditional Service 12:00 PM Counters (Room 203) 12:30 PM Children's Musical 12:30 PM Friends Feeding Friends 4:00 PM Living Nativity --ALL CAST 5:00 PM Middle School Youth 6:00 PM Ladies Bible Study 6:00 PM Youth Dinner 6:30 PM High School Youth 17 11:00 AM Monday Morning Ladies Bible Study 18 9:00 AM Staff Meeting 3:00 PM Good News Club 7:00 PM Session Meeting 19 Newsletter deadline Moving On Group Adult Praise Team 20 Ladies Bible Study 6:30 PM Handbells Adult Choir Burfoot / Eagle Scout Project 23 Children's Message 9:00 AM Contemporary Service Sunday School 11:00 AM Traditional Service 12:00 PM Counters (Room 203) 12:30 PM Children's Musical 4:00 PM Living Nativity --ALL CAST 5:00 PM Middle School Youth 6:00 PM Ladies Bible Study 6:00 PM Youth Dinner 6:30 PM High School Youth 24 11:00 AM Monday Morning Ladies Bible Study 25 9:00 AM Staff Meeting 3:00 PM Good News Club 26 Adult Praise Team 27 Thanksgiving 28 Office Closed 29 9:00 AM Hanging of the Greens 30 9:00 AM Contemporary Service Sunday School 11:00 AM Traditional Service 12:00 PM Counters (Room 203) 12:30 PM Children's Musical 1 11:00 AM Monday Morning Ladies Bible Study 6:30 PM Living Nativity 2 9:00 AM Staff Meeting 3:00 PM Good News Club 6:30 PM Living Nativity 3 Movin g On Group 6:30 PM Living Nativity Adult Praise Team 4 5 Ladies 7:00 PM Livin Bible Study g Nativity 6:30 PM Handbe lls Adult Choir 6 7:00 PM Living Nativity See the most current CHURCH CALENDAR, along with other content, on the church website:

10 Page 10 Living Waters HANGING OF THE ADVENT GREENS Next Newsletter Deadline Wednesday, November 19 Hanging of the Greens will be Sat, Nov 29th at 9am (light breakfast will be served) Sign-up sheet will be in the Commons area. Removal of the Greens will take place after the 12:00 service on Dec 29. Many hands make for light work. Please help if you are able! Thank you, Linda Warren, Marlene Ebert and Kim Ratliff (Fellowship Committee) Please submit articles to Crissie Nicklow, verizon.net, Articles for the newsletter may be placed in the newsletter box located in the church office or ed to the above address. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID MIDLOTHIAN, VA PERMIT NUMBER 4061 Change Service Requested Swift Creek Presbyterian Church 5900 Woolridge Road Moseley, Virginia Phone: Fax: Worship Services Contemporary - 9:00 a.m. Traditional 11:00 a.m. Church School 10:00 a.m. Open to All Ages