Norwalk Christian News

Transcription

1 Norwalk Christian News Norwalk Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) December 15, 2010 Friday, December 24th Christmas Eve 5:00pm Family Christmas Eve Worship Christmas Eve 7:00 & 11:00pm Candlelight Communion Services Sunday, December 26th Combined Worship Service 10am Christmas Eve Services On Christmas Eve the tradition of Norwalk Christian Church is to gather at one of our three services to celebrate God s coming to us in Jesus. At our family service at 5:00 PM we invite the children to participate in the service and we use a safer option than lit candles to conclude our service as we sing together Silent Night. At 7 PM and 11 PM we offer our traditional candlelight communion services. At all three services we will share the story of Jesus birth and remember why it matters in our lives today. It truly is an opportunity to experience a moment of promised peace. Invite your family. Welcome a neighbor. Share the moment and the blessing. Combined Worship on December 26th Reset your clocks for a unique combined worship experience on Sunday, December 26, at 10:00 AM. We will worship in the sanctuary and move into fellowship hall for continued fellowship. Everyone is invited to bring Christmas goodies you want to get out of the house before the new year (and a new diet) begins. We will NOT have Sunday School or our evening Gathering.

2 CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15 Chi Rho 6:00 p.m. CYF 6:00 p.m. Yoga 6:00 p.m. Choir 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting 8:00 p.m. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16 Prayer Shawl 1:00 p.m. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18 Men s Breakfast 7:30 a.m. Barkley Christmas 1:00 p.m. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 Casual Worship 8:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Traditional Worship 10:30 a.m. Gathering 6:00 p.m. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21 Coffee Time - Gift Exchange 10:00 a.m. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 Choir 7:00 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24 Offices Open at Noon Family Service 5:00 p.m. Traditional Services 7:00 & 11:00 p.m. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 Combined Worship 10:00 a.m. MONDAY, DECEMBER 27 Offices Closed TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28 Coffee Time 10:00 a.m. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29 Chi Rho 6:00 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31 Offices Closed SATURDAY, JANUARY 1 Hill Family Christmas 12:00 p.m. SUNDAY, JANUARY 2 Casual Worship 8:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Traditional Worship 10:30 a.m. Gathering 6:00 p.m. January Birthdays & Anniversaries 3 Janet Riordan 3 Kara Gesaman 4 Marilyn Boarts 4 Jeff Walker 4 Nicole Butler 5 Doug Juhl 6 Gerry Rinard 6 Tim Tingwald 8 Katelyn LeFleur 9 Dorothy Hildreth 10 Patty Combs 11 Virgel Myer 11 Abby Lampe 16 Spencer Foltz 17 Tom Anderson 19 Lisa Canby 20 Chris Murillo 22 Brian Murillo 23 Jan Walker 23 Anthony ClarkWilt 24 Levi Webb 25 Arnie Becker 25 Emma Burnett 25 Tom and Sally Reavely 26 Anne Burnett 27 Roger Ballard 27 Mike Pritchard 27 Mary Lou Enos 28 Greg Mitchell 28 Emmett Apana-Stipe 28 Shirley Richardson 28 Kevin LeFleur 29 Rosalea Johnson

3 NCC HOLIDAY OFFICE HOURS Friday, December 24th Offices Open at Noon Monday, December 27th Offices Closed Friday, December 31st Offices Closed

4 Adult Recess This January we are having a White Elephant Gift Exchange & Party on Sat., Jan. 8 th at 6pm. This is a fun and fantastic way to wrap up the Christmas Season. The party will be at Darin & Lori Feikema s House Hwy 28. Bring an appetizer and drink to share, along with a White Elephant Gift. What is a white elephant gift? It is something goofy, silly, used, junky, use your imagination! Childcare will be available at the church. Please RSVP for childcare by Sun., Jan. 2 nd so we can ensure we have adequate childcare workers. A new Norwalk Christian church website is coming in January! Thanks for your patience as we begin this transition! Coffee Time We will be doing a White Elephant gift giving Tuesday, Dec. 21st, during coffee time. Bring an item from home to exchange as a gift. JYF Fun JYF kids had a fun time playing Rudolph in a relay game on December 1 st!

5 Help Feed Our Kids! At all of our youth events we strive to provide either a meal or a snack to the kids. Many parents sign up, but we also need the help of our congregation to make this part of our Children s & Youth ministry possible. At JYF we provide a snack & drink for the kids every Wednesday except days when kids get out early or don t have school. We usually have kids participate. You can drop off snacks anytime before JYF, we will take care of serving them. At Chi-Rho & CYF we provide a meal on the 1 st & 3 rd Wednesdays for about 25 people. We ask that you help serve the meal or coordinate with someone for a team effort. If you have questions or can help with this, please contact the church office Pledge Cards Pledge cards were mailed out last week and we ask you to return them to our Recording Secretary as soon as possible. Out To Lunch Bunch Visited The Jordan House OTLB went to the Jordan House in West Des Moines on December 6. We had a great time learning about the Underground Railroad and the history of the Jordan family. The house was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

6 A Christmas Blessing During this Christmas season, May you be blessed With the spirit of the season, which is peace, The gladness of the season, which is hope, And the heart of the season, which is love Somehow, not only for Christmas But all the long year through, The joy that you give to others Is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart's possessing Returns to you glad. John Greenleaf Whittier Come for Christmas - Great Success Heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who contributed to Come Home for Christmas on December 1. The church was filled with the warmth of food, fellowship and fun. Some chatted, some created, some sang, some played and it was wonderful. Enjoy the pictures on the next page.

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8 Offering will be collected December 19th

9 Children s Christmas Program We had a wonderful Christmas Pageant during the 10:30 service on Sunday December 12 th. The kids worked hard preparing for the show. All of our actors and actresses did a fabulous job. Hannah Pratt and Amber Johnson stepped up and did a fantastic job filling in unexpectedly. All the kids have been practicing music during Sunday School with Barb Desenberg & Ilene Phipps since October. Several children accompanied the choir singing in a trio and as a solo. In the trio Emma Burnett played piano, Sophie Strong played flute, and Miranda Sullivan played clarinet for two songs. Jordan Sullivan played Guitar and did a vocal solo. They all did a fantastic job! The music and singing was beautiful. We couldn t have put the program together without the help of many adults. Thanks to any parents who stayed during the practices and helped. I want to thank our Music leaders Barb Desenberg & Ilene Phipps. I also want to thank our pianist Kim Ward, sound Technician Mike Ward, and Sunday School Superintendent Cathie Graves. I owe a big THANK YOU to Dorothy Hildreth who stepped up and helped create some new costumes and mend some old ones so Thanks Dorothy. I especially want to thank the Sunday school teachers who helped at practices and during the shows. The teachers this year are Anne Burnett, Deb Reed, Sue Bunce, Barb Desenberg, Linda Street, and Dawn Mundil. Thanks to you all! Our Christian Education chairperson, Abby Lampe did a wonderful job supporting and coordinating the program. Thanks Abby! The program was truly wonderful. We hope you enjoyed the Pageant and that understand how much it means to the kids to have your support, as parents, grandparents and fellow church members. Pictures from the program are on the next two pages. Thank you & Merry Christmas! Pastor Kara

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12 December 19, 2010 Matthew 1:18 25 Joseph had a dream one night. While dreaming, Joseph heard a voice deep down and all around. This voice told Joseph that Mary was going to have a special baby who was filled with God s love. Joseph should care for Mary as his wife and care for the baby as well. The voice reminded Joseph that one of his relatives from a long time ago was King David, the ruler of Israel. Because of this, Joseph is the right person to help raise God s special child. When Joseph woke up, he knew in his heart that Mary would give birth to a special baby and said Yes to doing his part. December 26, 2010 Psalm 148 The wind whistles and the trees shake their branches in the air. Insects buzz, critters chatter, water rises from Earth and falls from the clouds. Humans sing, dogs wag their tails, flowers send perfume into the air. Each element of nature applauds, in its own way, the Sacred Energy that created Earth and keeps it going. During the Season of Christmas, there is much to celebrate. Let us sing joy to and with the whole world. January 2, 2011 Matthew 2:1 12 The news of Jesus birth spreads around the world to a group of magi, wise ones from the East. As is their custom, the magi send representatives to pay their respects to the child whom they say is a new king for the Jewish people. On their way, the magi visit King Herod to ask if he has heard about the new king. Herod says he is surprised by the news and asks the magi to tell him where this new king is to be found so he can pay his respects, too. But the magi are warned in a dream that Herod wants to do harm to the baby. They return to their home by a different way in order to avoid Herod and keep Jesus safe. January 9, 2011 Matthew 3:13 17 After Jesus grew from a baby to an adult, he traveled to the wilderness of Judea to where John the Baptizer was preaching. Many people were responding to John s message to turn away from their hurtful ways and John would baptize them in the Jordan River. This baptism was a sign of forgiveness and their desire to show God s love. When Jesus arrived at the banks of the river, he asked John to baptize him too. As Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit of God appeared like a dove and Jesus was sure that God loves and is proud of him.

13 Norwalk Christian News Published bi-monthly by the Norwalk Christian Church Disciples of Christ 701 Main St., Norwalk, IA (515) Minister: Rev. Dayna Kinkade Associate Minister: Rev. Kara Courtney Ministry Assistant: Diana Sullivan OFFICE HOURS Minister ~ Tuesday - Friday 9 AM-5 PM Associate Minister ~ Monday - Thursday 9 AM-5 PM Ministry Assistant ~ Monday - Friday 9 AM-3 PM WORSHIP SCHEDULE Informal worship Sunday School Traditional Worship 8:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Coffee Fellowship follows each service. MISSION STATEMENT Disciples of Christ - Sharing the Journey