Your Weekly News From www.phbclr.com December 12, 2017 Click on these links to see: Upcoming Events Upcoming Worship Information Read a note from Pastor Randy. Read a note from Marty. December 17 Advent Breakfast 9:00 a.m., Hicks Hall no cost/donations accepted 10:45 a.m. Sanctuary Choir presents Christmas cantata "Canticle of Christmas" with orchestra December 24 No Sunday Morning Bible Study Worship, 10:45 a.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service, 5:30 p.m. December 31 No Sunday Morning Bible Study Worship, 10:45 a.m. The Children's Ministry Team is putting together shoeboxes of supplies for veterans this Christmas season. We will fill shoeboxes with stationary, toiletries, and other helpful items. The boxes will be distributed at the Fort Roots Rehabilitation Hospital and Nursing Home. If you would like to contribute to the cause, we are looking for small Bibles and good, warm socks. Email Marty at mpike@phbclr.com for more information. This Week's Worship Information: The Second Sunday in Advent Cantata "Canticle of Christmas" Children's Sermon: Beth Nutt Acolyte: Mady Lighting the Candle of Joy: Debbie Tillery and Christopher K. Smith
Deacons of the Week: Leann Broadway and Kelly Newberg Greeter of the Week: Melissa Moody Wednesday Night Menu This Week Vegetable Soup Salad Cornbread Dessert Next Week no evening activities Christmas 2017 Missions Offering Global and Lottie Moon Church Goal: $2,500. Given to Date: $335. Christmas Recitals During the season of Advent and Christmas, Jonathan Merritt will be playing organ recitals each Friday at noon. On December 15 and 22, Melanie Martin will join Jonathan for this seasonal delight. This is a wonderful way for you to celebrate the season, so please tell your friends, and plan to join us each week. December Birthdays 16 - Ted Snider 17 - Madeline 18 - Michael Staton Welcome New Member April Lane Please Join Us... for a reception honoring Gloria and Tommy Havens following worship Sunday, December 17, in Hyde Parlor and for lunch honoring Janet and Randy Hyde Sunday, December 31, in Hicks Hall. The meal will be catered by Adams Catfish. They will provide an all you can eat buffet with catfish fillets, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, fries, hushpuppies, baked beans, slaw, green tomatoes, pickles, onion, tea and lemonade. The cost will be $10.00 per person. The meal will start right after church followed by a short program
of fun saying goodbyes to Randy. Lo ve Offering A love offering will be accepted for Tommy Havens and Randy Hyde. Tommy's final Sunday with us is December 17, and Randy's is December 31. If you would like to participate, you may do so through the regular offering process or send to the church office at 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd., 72205. [The alternative member-led semi-monthly food pantry, 1st and 3rd Tuesdays meeting at 5:30 p.m.] is seeking donation of hotel mini shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, and feminine hygiene products to assemble kits for homeless and sheltered persons. Please leave items in the donation box in Hicks Hall. Thank you! For more information contact Mande Corbett at 501-626-2890 or email fann@phbclr.com. Small Group Studies According to the surveys that were returned, it appears that several people were interested in participating in a small group for Prayer/Bible Study. I am interested in finding out who is ready to get started. I will ask that you respond to me at lbroadway@sbcglobal.net if you would like to lead a group or be a part of a group. Actually, there is really not a leader but a facilitator, someone to get things started! These groups can be whatever the group wants it to be...a book study, Bible study, Prayer group, personal growth study or a combination of any of these. I would like to see it as an opportunity to explore and discuss ideas for growing spiritually and growing in relationships. The groups can meet weekly or every other week or whatever works best for each group. The goal is for these groups to be fun, flexible and worthwhile. I know my life is so much better with regular prayer and Bible study and what better way to do that than with friends who can hold me accountable. Please let me know your interest level. These groups can start now or after the holidays if that is better for you. There are a number of study options in the church resource room I can get for you. I have several suggestions for a book study or your group can be creative with your own ideas. I personally think meeting in homes is best but if you need to meet at the church we can work that out. Feel free to include people from outside the church. This could be a good outreach tool. Once groups are started, we will have them listed in the church office with the name of the facilitator in case someone wants to join a group at a later time. I am praying for a good result. I am excited to hear from you. Blessings, Leann Broadway Pastor Randy For several years I exchanged church newsletters with a pastor friend in Virginia. Most churches, of which I am aware, have done what we did a couple of years ago and gone to electronic mail for their communications.
So my friend and I no longer stay in touch through our respective newsletters. I don't know if he still does it, but he used to begin just about every column by saying something like, "Sunday was a wonderful day at 'Such-and-Such' Baptist Church!" I thought of him as I reflected on last Sunday here at PHBC. It was indeed a wonderful day! Our morning worship had a spirit that was encouraging, not only to me, but to many who were in attendance. I know because a number of you made a point to tell me so. The end of worship had a homecoming feeling as April Lane cast (re-cast!) her membership with us. There were hugs and pictures being taken. I love it when people linger and visit at the communion table long after worship is completed. Sunday night's Christmas Feast was wonderful. We Baptists like to count, you know, and according to our math we had 108 people in attendance. I was told in advance that our gifted accompanists, Melanie Martin and Jonathan Merritt, were going to present "dueling pianos." Not really. That sounds too competitive. They had complementary pianos! Boy, are they good! All in all, it was a wonderful day at PHBC, one of those that will linger in the memory banks for a long, long time. Thank you to all who made it so special. Wednesday evening we will have our Service of Consolation in the sanctuary at 6:15. The holidays can be a difficult time for those who grieve, or for those who feel loss of a different kind. We will consider that which makes for joy, even when one's heart is heavy, for real joy is found when one can lay a burden down before the One who says, "Come to me..." The service will follow our regular Mid-Week meal. The sanctuary choir is giving several hours this week to the final preparations of "Canticle of Christmas," to be performed this Sunday morning, accompanied by an orchestra. This will also be Tommy Havens' last day with us, so the occasion will be bittersweet. Invite your friends and family to join us for this special time. Oh, but I'm not finished. One more thing... Please remember the annual Advent Breakfast this Sunday. We begin at 9:00. Intergenerational Sunday school will be held around the tables. I encourage your presence for what should be another wonderful Sunday at PHBC. Marty I saw a churchy comic about Advent the other day. The first panel of the comic was of a pastor announcing the beginning of Advent as a time to slow down and breath to prepare for the coming of Christmas. The second panel showed the pastor in her office the next day surrounded by piles of Advent service preparations and Christmas festivities, and family holiday traditions pulling her in every direction. This is a busy time of year. There are parties to go to, traditions to prepare for, and work to be caught up on before the holidays. In researching Advent resources this year, I came across several devotions catering to the busy. We are busy celebrating and preparing, but what are we preparing for? When we celebrate the birth of Christ, we celebrate the time when God joined humanity and walked the earth with us. It is the word Emmanuel: God with us. So, lean into the busyness of this season. Hang in there. And when Christmas comes, may you be prepared to welcome the birth of Jesus. STAY CONNECTED: