A P u b l i c a t i o n o f M t. C a r m e l N e w H o p e C o m m u n i t y C h u r c h A L e t t e r f r o m t h e P a s t o r Greetings NHCC Family, It s the most wonderful time of the year! We are told by this holiday song that we are going to have a great time, because of caroling and fun in the snow. As I set here thinking there are many things that make this the most wonderful time of the year. I can think of lots of culinary and commercial things that make this the most wonderful time of the year. The change of weather with the potential of snow has this time of year leaving us wondering what the weather holds for each day. And of course there are the many parties and gatherings with family and friends. These are all wonderful. But none of them are necessarily about Christmas. In reality, there are two Christmases in the world: One is all about the things I mentioned above: food, gifts, friends and family (and a little bit of Peace on Earth thrown in too). And don t get me wrong; I do not begrudge non-religious people their Christmas void of any religious overtone. But I cannot imagine a Christmas without Christ as the center. With all the busyness of the season and the hurrying here and there trying to find the special gift for each one on your list. I am thankful for our church family that portrays the true meaning of Christmas is about sharing. This season is a great opportunity to share the love of Christ and you do it well. Before the angel tree was put up in the church foyer concerned people were already asking for names of children to buy presents for. Every name that is placed on the tree is always taken and a gift bought for. Many people even ask, if there are any other children or families that are in need for help during the Christmas season. Our annual coat drive and homeless outreach has been a tradition here at New Hope for nearly 16 years. This outreach is a highlight adding to the Christmas spirit of giving to those who could never give back to you. Many of you have faithfully went to the Homeless Shelter in Cincinnati year after year taking clothes, socks, gloves, hats, snacks, coffee and Hot Chocolate. Don t miss out on this event happening on December 17, 6:30 pm. If you can, make a couple dozen homemade cookies to share. We are blessed to have ministry leaders who unselfishly sacrifice time and hours putting together programs, parties and events for the Holiday season. Make sure to take advantage of the many events at the church this month. The Children s Christmas Program titled Unfrozen is December 14, 10:30 am. Our Children s ministry leader Rhonda Cox along with several others have put many hours into teaching the children week after week and then preparing a program for Christmas. The annual Ugly Sweater contest is a hit each year. It will be Sunday, December 14, 6:00 pm. Pick out the tackiest sweater you can find and bring an appetizer to share. Who knows you just may win the contest. Dan Berkebile along with our praise band and choir are excited about the Carols & Candlelight service on December 21, 6:00 pm followed by a church dinner in the Fellowship Hall. A big thank You to a great Church family who each year makes the Christmas season a special time of giving, sharing, laughing and caring. We each one are truly blessed to Know the Christ of Christmas and enjoy the fellowship and warmth belonging to His church brings. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Pastor Ken December Birthdays: Brayanna Berkman: 4th Frank Smith: 5th Debbie Hahn 8th Carol Pelfrey 12th Josh Evans:17 Julie Kirby: 18 Debbie Dane: 27 Sadie Taylor: 31 Anniversaries: Mike & Holly Carson December 4 Ron & Linda Taylor Dec. 5th Dave & Della Fronk : Dec. 20th
Soup & Sandwich Fellowship Dinner & Pie Baking Contest 2014 Pie Contest Winners 1st place Carol Pelfrey (Chocolate Cake Pie) 2nd place Betty Silver (Lemon Crunch Pie) 3rd place Carol Pelfrey (Banana Cream Pie) 4th place Rochele MeConkey (Apple Pie)
NOVEMBER FELLOWSHIP- Soup, Sandwiches, Pie, Friends, and Conversation. We had an awesome time of fellowship along with all the wonderful pots of soup. There were 14 pies entered into the contest each one was delicious. The judges had a fun and tasty time getting to sample each pie. For the record someone slipped a Frisches Pumpkin Pie into the contest LOL. Guess what? It did not win. Thank You to all those who contributed to making it another great day at New Hope.
The One that Gave the Most; How Singing for Goats Reminded Us Why We Celebrate Christmas The Bible says to make a, joyful noise, which is a good thing, since if it said make a, beautiful noise, then my friends and I would be out of luck. You see, when we sing it s definitely joyful and it s definitely noise, but beautiful? Eh, probably not. Yet that didn t stop us from spending three hours one cold Saturday night Christmas Caroling. You see, we had a mission: We were singing for a goat! A few months ago the youth group I lead, Saved With Amazing Grace (SWAG), decided to sponsor a child through World Vision, an international organization helping children in developing countries. After much praying we ended up sponsoring a four year old girl from Chad, Africa. Her name was Sabine. Chad, Africa is the fifth most under-developed country in the world. Only 36% of Chadians have access to school and even less than can read. Over six million Chadians have no access to clean water and 15% of children die before age five. Chad has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world and the average income for a family in Chad is less than $750 a year. For Sabine, her parents, and her seven siblings this adds up to a difficult life. We wanted to change that. For $35 a month we could give Sabine a shot at a better life. We could give her food, medicine and clean water. But for Christmas we wanted to do more than that. After some research we discovered we could give Sabine s family a special gift, any amount of money besides our regular monthly gift. World Vision would then use this money in the way they deemed would be best for Sabine and her family. This means anything from buying ducks to school supplies to, you guessed it, a goat! As soon as we learned we could possibly buy Sabine goat we went crazy. I m not sure what it was but the thought of getting little Sabine a goat for Christmas positively thrilled us. We immediately began plotting methods of raising enough money (even though we had no guarantee that World Vision would actually purchase a goat with our money). The ideas ranged from bake sales (too messy!) to selling organs on the internet (too illegal!) and then eventually someone suggested we Christmas carol. We all agreed and that s how we came to be singing through the streets that Saturday night. Now I m going to be honest, I had no faith in our ability to earn all the money we needed. We were a bunch of teenagers singing off key while parading through my friend s neighborhood at night. It seemed to me that if we got any money it would be from people paying us to stop singing! I couldn t have been more wrong. Not only did we raise enough money for the goat, but ultimately we had enough to buy two chickens as well! We did meet one Scrooge who slammed the door in our faces halfway through the first verse of Frosty the Snowman but for the most part people were very welcoming to us. We happened to go to one house that was hosting a party and sang to at least fifteen people, and they all loved it. But by far the most giving donor was also the most unexpected. I remember at one house we went to there was a little girl there in her pajamas. She must ve been around Sabine s age and was absolutely enchanted by our singing. When our first song was over she ran away and by the time we started our second she was back, with a little plastic purse in her hands. We finished our round and in the end her mom had to pick her up so she could reach our jar, into which she dropped two dirty quarters. I think of her and I think of the story of the Widow s Mite from the bible. The story of the person that had so little to give but still gave. Many people gave to us that night, but in the end it was that little girl who gave us the most. Christmas began because of the birth of a child and so it is fitting that even now it is through children that we can see its true purpose. As a reminder of a little child and the gift he gave the world. -Danielle Watkins
It is Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.. Play Practice Wednesday December 10 Sunday, Dec. 14th 6:00 pm Contest, appetizers and fellowship. Open to all ages Sunday December 14 @ 10:30 am Food Pantry Our Food Pantry needs to be stocked for Christmas. Bring your donations in as soon as possible. See Pat Martin or Rochelle McConkey for details. Thursday, Dec. 11th @ 6:30 pm Meet at O Charley s Back to church for coffee and dessert Bring a $20.00 gift if you want to participate Homeless Outreach Wed. Dec. 17th @ 6:30 pm Donations needed: cookies, socks, underwear, sweaters, coats, gloves, hats, scarves, clothing. Bring to church by Sunday Dec. Can 21 Candlelight service and carols @ 6:00 pm Sunday, Dec. 21st 6:00 pm Just Thinkin.. As undeserving as I must be His love and grace extends to me. I find that hard to understand, Not in my mind or heart I can. Please Holy Spirit reveal to me, His love and grace that sets me free. Dave Bedwell
Mt. Carmel New Hope Community Church 4170 Mt. Carmel Tobasco Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45255 (513) 528-2380 www.mtcarmelnewhope.com Prayer Request If you have a prayer Request call NHCC Prayer Chain: Dorothy Dunn 688-0955 If you would like to be on Mt. Carmel New Hope Community Church Prayer Chain, please sign up in the foyer. New Hope Community Church Weekly Schedule Sundays: Prayer for Morning Service 10:05am Junior Church 10:30am Morning Worship 10:30 am Evening Worship 6:00 pm Tuesdays: Revival Prayer-7:00 pm Wednesdays: Adult Bible Study 7:00 pm