Monday Evenings at 6pm - Hosted by Julie Lutz in Wading River. Dinner is included; kid-friendly.

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1 FRIDAY WORSHIP SERVICE JANUARY 8 TH AT 7PM LAMPLIGHTER January 2016 WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH WRCC Home Groups If you didn't get involved in one of our Home Groups this fall, January is the perfect time to jump in! WRCC Home Groups are small groups that meet regularly for fellowship and study. They re a great way to grow in your faith, build friendships and find the support we all need. Each group includes time for fellowship (many include meals), discussion and prayer. Whether you've never been in a Bible study before or if you've been to all of them, these groups are for you! Monday Evenings at 6pm - Hosted by Julie Lutz in Wading River. Dinner is included; kid-friendly. Monday Evenings at 6pm - Hosted by the Turners in Shoreham. Dinner is included; kid-friendly. New Study begins January 11 th! Wednesday morning at 10am - Hosted by Dottie Davis in Wading River. Refreshments included. New study beginning this winter! Friday Evenings at 6pm (Meets twice monthly) - Hosted by the Schmidt s in Calverton. Dinner is included; kidfriendly. Saturday afternoon at 12pm (Meets twice monthly) - Hosted by Rosemarie Schulz in Leisure Glen. Lunch is included. Sunday Evenings at 7:30pm (Youth study 2 nd and 4 th Sunday of each month) - Meets at the church and refreshments are included. For more info contact the church at or us at homegroups@wadingriverchurch.org INCLEMENT WEATHER In the event of inclement weather on a Sunday, please call the church office at prior to services. A message on the machine will inform you if services have been cancelled that day. Trusting God Trusting God when life is hard - We all know that life can be hard. But sometimes, the pain we see and experience can overwhelm us. When that happens, we're often unsure how to respond. How do we face hardship and pain by faith? How should we respond to our doubts and fears? Where is God when he seems silent? Join us starting Sunday January 17 th for a sermon series to help us consider these questions. For about 6 weeks we ll look at the book of Habakkuk to see how God meets us in our fear and doubt to restore our hope, even when life is hard.

2 A Word from Pastor TJ "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:47 For the last few Lamplighters I've looked at the description of the church at the end of Acts 2. This passage describes a church where the people are dedicated to the Word of God, to worshiping God and to each other. The end of the passage shows the result of all of this. The church grew daily as new people joined in. It's important, however, to recognize why that actually happened, because it can be easy to misjudge results if you're not careful. For example, a recent study found that fad diets often work at first, not because the diet actually works, but simply because the person doing it is paying more attention to what they eat. When we think about the church and hope to see new people added to our number, it's important that we recognize the real reason for the result we see in this passage. If we don't, we could focus on the wrong things. Like a coffee shop I once worked at, convinced people came for their premium product, the owner raised prices and focused on fewer products. Unfortunately, he had misunderstood his success. High prices drove away customers who came because of its convenient location and good food selection. As a church, it is important we understand what really leads to the growth we see in this passage. Dedication to the Word of God is crucial for any church to be a healthy place where people come to know the Lord better. But that was not the primary reason the church in Acts grew. Dedication to worshiping God is crucial for any church to stay connected to God, and to keep focused on his work in our lives, and to find the joy he promises. But that wasn't the primary reason either. Loving and supporting each other is also crucial for the church but even that wasn't the primary reason the church in Acts grew. The primary reason the church grew, as the passage tells us, is that people were being saved. In other words, the church grew because people came to know Jesus as their Savior there. Their dedication to the word, to worship, and to each other all served a greater purpose of leading people to know God as their Father, and Jesus as their only source of hope and life. That is the reason the church grew. The same is true today. If we, as a church, hope to see new people added to our number, people must come to know Jesus through us. Our study and worship and service must all serve the greater purpose of leading people to know God through Jesus. And when they do, the result will be an even greater dedication to all of those things. So let's dedicate ourselves to the mission of Jesus to make disciples of all people, to lead the people all around us not just to know about God or to believe God exists, but to truly know him. This is truly possible because Jesus is the one who works through us.

3 Lamplighter Deacon s Corner Psalm 103:1-2 Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. May we remember to praise Him each and every day throughout this New Year! May we praise Him for His provision and for helping us to see that it is sufficient. May we praise Him for his mercy especially in situations where we didn t expect it and we don t understand it and perhaps we don t deserve it. May we praise Him for His presence and pray to see more clearly each day Thank you! Thank you to our church family for all your prayers and best wishes during my recent surgery. I received a call from my doctor on December 17 th concerning the biopsy results. Her first words were, I have good news. I knew then that God had heard our prayers. The results of the biopsies showed no further treatment was necessary. his hand in our daily lives. May we praise Him for His friendship especially when no one else seems to understand or have the patience for us. May we praise Him for His sovereignty when the world feels so out of control we are not certain what to do about it, and then we remember, we don t have to know, He does. May we praise Him for His forgiveness, given long before we earned it and even though we don t deserve it. May we praise Him for His love and ask Him to help us each day this year to love the people that He puts in our paths, just as He loves us. In His Service, I felt the immediate joy of the best Christmas gift I could ever have imagined when I heard those four words. Thank you all; our prayers were answered. Walt Vogel

4 Lamplighter Women s Ministry Happy 2016! May this be a year of faith, blessings, peace, love, joy, health and growth for our church. Many thanks to Kerstin and Pastor TJ for opening their home for the Open House. Who would have thought that the weather in December would be warm enough to enjoy time out on the deck? Thanks to all who supplied the goodies and helped with set-up and clean-up! This has become a joyful Christmas tradition! Please join us on Sunday, January 10 th as we unhang the greens and have a time of fellowship together. The Women s Ministry will provide lunch after the second service as many hands make light work and our decorations are stored for another year. Also coming up on Saturday, January 23 rd is lunch and a movie! Join us at noon for a time of fellowship followed by a showing of the movie War Room not a film about World War II, but about the battles we each fight to keep Christ in our lives. As always, transportation will be provided, if needed. Please contact the church office. Bring your friends for a faith-filled afternoon. Look for the sign-up in the auditorium. If you haven t joined one of the home groups, now would be a good time to look into it. Information on the where and when is in the bulletin each week. As many of us have found, they are a wonderful way to connect to others in the church both spiritually and personally. All women are invited to join us for all activities. As 1 Thessalonians 5:118 says, So encourage each other and build each other up. January Birthdays 3 Peggy Barnes Dot Bascomb Jeanne Carle 8 Chris Jones 10 Frank Vaughan 16 Kristen Epp 20 James Lee 23 Andrew Tumilowicz 24 Michelle LoRusso 25 Rosemarie Schulz 28 Jimmie DeMory 29 Pat Roberts 30 Natalie Epp

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6 TJ Turner, Pastor - pastortj@wadingriverchurch.org Wading River Congregational Church 2057 North Country Road Wading River, NY Phone: Fax: We re on the Web! See us at: Kathy Rowehl, Children s Ministries Coordinator kathyr@wadingriverchurch.org Donna Rassner, Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper donnar@wadingriverchurch.org Deacons deacons@wadingriverchurch.org Joe Burgess Julie Lutz Finn Mauritzen Joe Nocerino Karen Perricone Rosemarie Schulz Trustees trustees@wadingriverchurch.org David Agnew Peter Akras (co-chair) Pat Burgess Dottie Davis Frank Lehman Jack Guthy Andrew Tumilowicz Walt Vogel (co-chair) Greg Von Brook Walt Vogel Sunday School: Kim Schmidt, Superintendent Kathy Rowehl, Secretary-Treasurer Outreach Coordinator: Nancy Bosseckert Asst. Treasurer Lana O Toole Clerk Ann Otten Asst. Clerk Kerstin Turner Women s Guild Nancy Bosseckert, President Kerstin Turner, Vice-President Ann Otten, Corresponding Secretary Men s Fellowship Frank Lehman, President Peter Akras, Secretary/Treasurer Food Pantry: Carolyn Baier Joe Baier Craig Baier Organists: Diane Hanwick Jean Elliott Choir Director: Doris Allen WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 2057 N Country Road Wading River, NY January 2016