C h u r c h o f t h e N a t i v i t y WORSHIP SERVICES Saturdays NATIVITY SCENE 5:00 PM Holy Eucharist Sundays 7:45 AM Holy Eucharist V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 6 9:00 AM Adult Education 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist with Sunday School and Nursery Care I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : From Fr. Chad s Desk Getting Ready Celebration of New Ministry A New Look Autumn Reunion Outreach Matinee 1 2 2, 3 4 5 6 7 Leaders Meeting 7 Dear Nativity Family, FROM FR. CHAD S DESK I hope all of you are as excited as I am as we prepare to enter this next Holy and Sacred time in the life of the church Advent and Christmas. Every day I watch as the sun lowers just a little bit earlier and feel the oncoming of the New England winters I have heard so much about (and you undoubtedly know). I am reminded of the joy that will catch us all up during this change of seasons in both the weather but also the life of the church. Thank all of you for enduring the painting and new carpet and furniture and thank you for supporting this time of change as we prepare for the bright and exciting future we are going into together. I know that it has been a challenging time but everyone rose to the challenge and hasn't it been worth it though! Change though, for changes sake is of little use to the body of Christ. Change with God s vision at heart and with His Kingdom in sight accomplishes beautiful and mighty things, and ultimately grows us in our faith. For the past few weeks we have been talking about stewardship, sharing our time, talent, and treasure and stepping out in faith. I thank Tony Rhea and the Stewardship Board for prayerfully and with deep love leading this most important ministry in the life of the church. I thank folks like Garth Johnson, Lisa Phelps, Sheryl Brower, Cathy Reilly, Glenn Campbell, Sue Roche for sharing their stories of grace with us about how Stewardship has impacted them in building the Kingdom of God and growing as Christians through sharing of Time, Talent, and Treasure. They have been inspiring to us all and I hope we all see Stewardship as part of our Christian life and how we grow through serving. Whether it is the weather or new paint, the Christian life is about changes. We cycle through the lectionary, we cycle through the liturgical calendar, and we cycle through highs and lows in our faith. Soon we will triumphantly welcome the baby Jesus into our home at Christmas yet not long after we will strip the alter and mourn his death only to wait three days to celebrate his glorious resurrection. So, as we prepare for busyness of Advent and Christmas just be present in the time God has prepared for us and let us enjoy all the Lord has given us and know that I keep all of you in my prayers. God's Blessings, Chad+
VOLUME 57, ISSUE 6 Page 2 GETTING READY FOR THE INSTALLATION CELEBRATION OF NEW MINISTRY NATIVITY SCENE
V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 P a g e 3 CELEBRATION OF NEW MINISTRY
P a g e 4 MOVING DAY V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 It took many hands to move this large cabinet from the lower level to the Parish Hall THE NEW LOOK Fr. Chad at work! Family Room Parish Administrator s Office Sacristy Secretary and Reception Area Nursery
V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 P a g e 5 AUTUMN SPLENDOR by Barbara Dexter and Elaine Bell utumn view inspires memory A nder brilliant blue above U rees are dressed in moree than green T nified splendor all around U eans fall has come to bless us M eeded diversion from life s agenda N erving a purpose for our sould S eople sharing themselves with others P ike links in a silver chain of Family L vening time brought thoughts of love E ow, then and perhaps forever N istance can t stop us any longer D r bar the way from each others O elationships always matter! R This is an Acrostic, which is a poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the first in each line forms a name, motto, or message read in sequence.
P a g e 6 V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 NATIVITY OUTREACH TEAM PRIORITIES AND APPROACH by Garth Johnson Nativity has many people who are looking to serve others and that s not surprising because a big part of God s transformation of believers is how He builds in us an awareness, motivation, and ability to reach and help others. Ephesians 2 describes how we experience God s saving mercy and kindness. Forgiveness and new life doesn t come from our effort, but is a gift from God through Jesus that He initiates. We become His work as we accept God s work in our lives. And God s work has a focused direction: For we are God s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Since God s at work in the lives of believers, we can count on the fact that Jesus is increasingly waking people up at Nativity to other s needs. Each of us has spiritual gifts and life experiences that God uses to guide us to people and ministries where we can increasingly learn to serve with joy and effectiveness. Not only that, but God is actively creating pre-arranged opportunities (things God prepared in advance for us to do ) to honor Him as we help others and share God s love in Jesus. With these spiritual dynamics at work, what s the role of the Outreach Team at Nativity? Here s some of the things that we re seeking to help Nativity become stronger at: To identify Nativity people who are already serving in the community and to identify places where folks in our church can serve regularly in Jesus name. To more effectively share how people can join others in serving (we re better when we serve together) and where possible, to encourage team development. To share the stories of how God is using us to reach and help others for God s glory and our joy. Along with church leadership, to encourage and train people in Christian service, evangelism, and ministry and to help create opportunities to serve together. Marge Carlson, Janet Wilcox, and I make up the Outreach Ministry team and we re looking to encourage and support people to be involved effectively in community and missions ministry and to utilize Nativity outreach funds to make an impact for Jesus. Our desire is to help people here, and through the Christian organizations that we support together, to meet people s needs and to give others an opportunity to see God s love in action. Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. As people grateful for Jesus sacrifice for us and God s continual goodness, we want people to know about the gospel and to practically experience God s love. We want people to see the light and for them to join us at Nativity in honoring God as they experience how wonderful He really is. This is a big vision and we ask for your prayers. If you re interested in checking out how to help, we d love to give you more details. The most encouraging reality is that God is way ahead of us in encouraging us and preparing places where we can make a wonderful difference for Him.
V O L U M E 5 7, I S S U E 6 SATURDAY MOVIES P a g e 7 On several Saturday afternoons this fall, the Nave (worship center) at Nativity has been temporarily transformed into a movie theater with popcorn and drinks at the refreshment stand in the Narthex (entry hall). The group in attendance enjoyed Christian-based movies hosted by Karen Taylor and Barbara Strom. Saturday Movie Ministry Team would like to take this time to thank our church family for their continued support of the " Saturday Afternoon Movies." Thank you to our faithful regular movie goers. A special thank you to Larry Engholm and Glen Campbell for being our "two-man technical crew" and to Erica Swift for creating the beautiful movie posters. Have a great Thanksgiving and a Blessed Christmas. Saturday movies will be back in the Spring. EXCERPTS FROM THE LEADERS MEETING We establish relationships in which people can become Safe in the Love of the Father Shaped in the Image of the Son, and Serving in the Power of the Spirit, all to the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom. We see ourselves and others becoming a group of people so deeply filled with the love of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit that we allow God, the Master Potter, to shape us in the likeness of Christ, and to send us to serve the world in His Name and in His power. We go deep with Christ in order to go deep for Christ. Recognizing that we are all at different places in our spiritual journeys, we seek to help one another to turn towards Christ, to draw closer to Him and others, and to go into the world to serve others with His grace and truth. The vision which God has given us is simple: we pray, study and work together so that we and others, ordinary people, can lead Extraordinary Lives through Jesus Christ. We believe that God has called us together to change lives for the better, and our world for the better. Safe in the Love of the Father Shaped in the Image of the Son, and Serving in the Power of the Spirit, all to the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom.
THE NATIVITY SCENE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO.52 NORTHBORO, MA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 45 Howard Street Northborough, MA 01532 508-393-3146 (fax) 508-393-0702 We have been called together by God to be and to make faithful followers of our Lord Jesus Christ www.churchofthenativity.org Check out our weekly News and Notes listing of announcements and events. NOVEMBER 12 Quiet Day 13 Simple Social Lunch 19 Novemberfest 22 Interfaith Service at Trinity Church 24 Thanksgiving Day DECEMBER 6 December 10 Quiet Day 17 Living Nativity 24 Christmas Eve Services 25 Christmas Day Service