Message From Pastor Jeff Estes

Transcription

1 Friends and Family of Maple, Message From Pastor Jeff Estes But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Luke 2:10-12 (NIV) December is now upon us, and when I think of December, I think of Advent. Advent means coming. The Old Testament writers prophesied about a coming Savior - a person sent by God to save His people. In Luke 2:10-12, the angel s proclaimed the good news that the Savior had arrived! Another term used is Messiah. Messiah means Anoint or Anointed One. This person wasn t only a Savior, but He was also anointed by God. But what was the Messiah anointed for? We have the answer in Luke 4:18-19, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. After Jesus read those words from Isaiah 61:1-2a, Jesus declared, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:21) Today, Christians recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of the scriptures concerning the first Advent, and each year we celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of our Savior the Messiah. But the news keeps getting better! Jesus is coming again! When Jesus arrived the first time His goal was to save people from sin, God s wrath, and make a way for eternal life. When Jesus comes the second time, Jesus will not come as a humble baby in a manger; but rather as a conquering King. His goal will be to destroy evil completely, pronounce judgment, and set up God s Kingdom on earth, without the forces of evil causing chaos, harm, suffering, and physical death. The scriptures say, Look! God s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4 NIV) That is why Jesus second coming will be the ultimate good news! When Jesus appeared the first time, many were not expecting Him. If we are not careful, we too may not be ready for Jesus second coming. That s why it is important to keep Christ in Christmas, and even more important to keep Christ as a regular part of our lives. So, let s celebrate the good news of Jesus first coming, and in the meantime, we must be preparing for Jesus second coming. Blessings, Pastor Jeff Estes

2 Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is right around the corner (as in less than 30 days). Don t forget to tell your children about Advent and what it means. Please check out dates you need for your calendar. ADDITIONAL DATES IN CHURCH LIFE: FISH FRY January 25, 2019; March 29, 2019; May 31, 2019; July 26, 2019; September 27, 2019 and November 22, Fifth Sunday Dinners: December 30, 2018; March 31, 2019; June 30, 2019; September 29, 2019; December 29, 2019 HOPE SEEDS: 10:30 to 1:30--3 rd Tuesday of each month. Upcoming dates: 12/18/18, 1/18/19. Dave Schaffner 5 th Sunday service at Chateau Girardeau at 2 o clock: 12/30/18, March 31, 2019; June 30, 2019; September 29, 2019; December 29, 2019 Angel Tree adoptions (15) will be ready and to be delivered week of 12/16. December Blessings basket Puerto Rico mission trip! Choir Christmas Special Music: December 2 nd during worship service Front Porch Players will present special music during 12/9 worship service. Church Christmas Program is December 16 th during the worship service. Program practice at 10:00 December 15 th. Christmas is on a Tuesday. No on December 26 th January blessings basket SEMO students. Will also collect food and supplies. February blessings basket principle on the building loan. Prayer Wall month of February March 1 st World Day of Prayer. March 3 rd burn the prayers from the wall. March Blessings basket FMSC FMSC packing event April Palm Sunday is April 14, and Easter is April 21. NURTURE: Prayer group is still meeting on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 for an hour. It is an important ministry of the church. The group is now using Prayers by Stormie Omartian. For the next month, please pray for our congregation: I am grateful to You, Lord Jesus Christ, that you have established Your church on earth, where You bless me with love and mercy in the Word and the Sacraments. I am grateful that Your Word is proclaimed in our congregation in truth and purity. May the Holy Spirit fill the members of the Maple Church congregation that it may be said of us they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Help me to do my part to keep it so for my own spiritual good. Use Maple Church for the building of Your kingdom on earth. Make Maple Church a power for good in your community and bless our efforts to bring Your saving Gospel to the unchurched, to the glory of your name. Hear my prayer, O God. Amen. MAPLE KIDS MINISTRY: The Maple Kids Christmas program will be during church service on December 16 th. We have new costumes. We would like all our Maple Kids to participate. The title of the program is THE CHRISTMAS NATIVITY. There are several speaking parts and singing familiar Christmas carols. Please encourage your child in learning the music. We are practicing every Sunday during Sunday school before the program and will have a dress rehearsal on December 15 at 10 am in the Sanctuary. OUTREACH: We are still collecting for the FISH PANTRY and the SHOEMAN MINISTRY. In the last 2 months, there were 87 items for the FISH PANTRY. 78 pairs of shoes in the last reported Shoeman Ministry. We collected $ this past month in the FMSC blessings basket. In March, we will again be collecting for Feed My Starving Children. We will be packing those packets on April 13 th which is the day before Palm Sunday. Be ready to sign up. We have several prayer shawls in the Children s church room should you need one for someone. Hope Seeds continues as well. In November we packed family packs. One bag contains 13 different kinds of seed packets which would feed the family that receives them. We packed 800 of these family packs touching each family pack bag 16 times by 16 different people in order to package them. We have several new people who had never packed with Maple before. If you are interested in helping to plan the things that Maple is involved in, tell Sue Batchelor, or put it on the registration slip on the bulletin. It will get to the right people. The next NOW meeting will be 2/12/19 at 6:00 pm in the fellowship hall. WITNESS: Gavin and the whole Holdman family were in the charge of the Christmas float. They did a marvelous job and we all hope they will consider being in charge next year as well. We had enough candy and we want to thank all who donated. Thank you, Maple Church for your assistance in this as always We are STILL planning to have a cookbook printed. We are getting closer to having enough recipes. Please bring your recipe with all ingredients, directions, your name and phone number and put it in the red basket on the round table in the foyer. If you want to make it easier on yourself, you can a Word document with your recipes on it to fands1991@charter.net. At this point, we will be working on putting it together in January. The 5 th Sunday Dinner on December 30 will have a snowman theme. We are having soup, sandwiches and dessert. We will have a signup sheet for this and all you need to do is put down the type of soup you are bringing; or the type of sandwiches you are bringing, or the type of dessert, or if you are bringing something not in this category (crackers, cornbread, rolls, etc.). Eating again on March 5 th for Fat Tuesday we will have a pancake supper. This WILL NOT be a money maker but would be a good time to invite someone to visit with you. Again, this will be March 5 th. A sign-up sheet for families will be on the Welcome table and you just need to tell how many are coming. Everything will be furnished. Because this is the day before Ash Wednesday, we will not have a service but will have an Ash Wednesday service in the Sanctuary at 6:00 pm. Dave Schaefer would like to have some speakers to speak at the service at Chateau Girardeau for about 10 minutes each time. The dates are printed above. Talk with him if you would like to speak to that group. Please remember to visit your adopted shut-in and remember to let the pastor know how your visit went. Blessings Maple Church and congregation! A further editorial remark: We need everyone to participate when an activity is sponsored by the church. We need you to be there to support the mission and ministry of our church and church family. We have folks putting in a lot of energy and effort to organize these events, and when you come and help, you not only make Maple Church look good, but you are uplifting to the organizers as well. We know that no one can make every event, but if everyone could come to at least half of them, it will be an enormous help to the future of our church family. We need you at the Youth events, and we need you at the Fish Frys. Please be in prayer about helping us at as many events as you can. Thank you!

3 MEN S CLUB BREAKFAST NO MINUTES SUBMITTED FOR 11/10/18 REMINDER: There is an open invitation to all men in the congregation to attend. We would appreciate you presence at this meeting. There will be NO Men s Club Breakfast in December. Next Meeting on January 12th at 7:30. WIRED WEDNESDAY Your presence is requested for Dinner and Worship! Dinner begins at. Worship begins at 7:00 PM. This worship is laity led. It will be a wonderful time for fellowship and mini midweek worship!!! CHRISTMAS ANGEL TREE Pick up Angel Tree Child from the tree outside the office. Gifts are due December 16th. Pray for all 15 kids CHRISTMAS CANDLES Envelopes for Christmas candles will be available in the foyer each week. There is no set amount required to have a candle lit in memory or in honor of someone. We invite you to participate in this throughout Advent. Verna Bingenheimer Eleanor Brown Frank & Jeanne Crites Atlee Fulbright Joy Grace Bob Lemons Mildred Miget Andy & Carol Mouser Mary Pannier Wilma Seabaugh Paula Smith Howard Thomas Adele Townsend Pat Uptain Wanda Williamson Nelda Crader

4 BIRTHDAYS Dec. 2 Dec. 4 Dec. 5 Dec. 6 Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec 9 Dec. 10 Dec. 10 Dec. 12 Dec. 12 Dec. 13 Dec. 13 Dec. 18 Dec. 19 Dec. 23 Dec. 23 Dec. 24 Dec. 24 Dec. 26 Dec. 29 Margie Ervin Brian Holdman Lora Jacobs Lucas Batchelor William Dace Elizabeth Ervin Jennifer Inman Tom Enderle Katie Estes Robert Lemons Jackie Morton Justin Grayson Jim Koen Brenda Keene Raelyn Inman Emilee Keene Laura Jean Morton Rodney Durham Brian Hite Barbara Schaffner Kathryn Scholl Jason Leggett Dodi Elledge BIRTHDAYS Jan 6. Jan. 9 Jan. 10 Jan. 11 Jan. 11 Jan. 13 Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 16 Jan. 16 Jan. 16 Jan. 17 Jan. 17 Jan. 18 Jan. 22 Jan. 23 Jan. 23 Jan. 24 Jan. 27 Jan. 29 Jan. 30 Jan. 31 Jan. 31 Mandy Niswonger Sharon Williams Yvonne Miller Robyn Morton Carman Roach Christine Gunnin Ruth Ellen Holdman Chris Statler Judy Criddle Rev. Jeff Estes Emilie Ticer Sadie Jae Middleton Jamie Morton Reba Enderle Buddy Shockley Hannah Campbell Nicholas Ervin Frances Brotherton Heather Holdman Paul Marberry Judy Reilly Sarah (Libby) Batchelor Charles Ellinghouse ANNIVERSARIES Dec. 8 Dave & Barbara Schaffner Dec. 17 Richard & Terry Biddle Dec. 18 Danny & Roselyn Conrad Dec. 19 Clint & Aimee Ticer Dec. 26 Frank & Jeanne Crites Dec. 31 Jesse & Patricia Williams USHERS Mike & Clara Engelmann WORSHIP Dave Schaffner LEADER USHERS WORSHIP LEADER COMMUNION GREETERS Frances Brotherton & Judy Reilly Frank Batchelor Mandy Niswonger & Chris Statler Dave & Barbara Schaffner COMMUNION GREETERS Ruth Ellen Holdman The Dunavans FISH PANTRY 1 pound dry beans, 1 box corn muffin mix, 1 can beets, 1 can spinach, 2 cans fruit, 1 package cookies or cookie mix. FISH PANTRY 2 cans Chicken Noodle Soup, 1 jar peanut butter, 1 jar jelly or jam, 1 box Saltine crackers, 1 can fruit.

5 DECEMBER SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 Hanging of the Greens-10: CHOIR CANTATA (in place of regular service) Worship-10:15 Day Circle 12:00 PM Kids Practice for Christmas Program 10: CHRISTMAS PROGR (in place of regular service) Hope Seeds-10: Worship-10:15 CHRISTMAS EVE Christmas Eve Candlelight Service COMMUNION NEW YEARS EVE Worship-10:15 Fifth Sunday Dinner Dave Schaffner Chateau Girardeau Message 2 PM CHRISTMAS DAY Office Closed NO WIRED WEDNES- DAY

6 JANUARY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY COMMUNION Worship-10:15 Day Circle 2:00 PM One Church Council Men's Club Breakfast 7: Worship-10:15 Hope Seeds-10: Worship-10:15 Fish Fry 4: Worship-10:15 NEWSLETTER DEAD- LINE

7 DECEMBER 2018 VOLUME 48, NUMBER 12 Rev. Jeff Estes Cell phone: Parsonage phone: Worship Times Small Groups (Sunday): 9:00 Sunday Worship: 10:15 Church Contact Church phone: Church Meal & Worship: Church Website: maplechurch.org