- Simultaneous Meetings: This Sunday morning at the close of the Communion Service all three boards will meet briefly for the purpose of electing a new chair, vice-chair, and secretary. The Deacons will meet in the pastor’s study, Trustees in the BYKOTA classroom, and C.E. Board in the JOY classroom.
- Thank you to all who signed up as greeters for 2016. This is an important part of our church ministry, and we are grateful for you who are willing to welcome people as they enter!
Weekly Update for Sunday, January 3, 2016
Happy New Year!
- There will be no AWANA or Roots Youth Group this Sunday evening.
- Sarah Mission Circle meeting: Jan. 4, 1:00 PM in the Library.
- We still have two openings available for greeters. That sign-up sheet is at the Welcome Center.
I Am
Way back in the late eighties (remember them?), the Christian band I was in decided to make a demo tape of some of our songs. We couldn’t begin to afford a recording studio, but one of us had a reel-to-reel tape recorder, so we went amateur all the way. We recorded at a band member’s house in Terre Haute, starting on Friday evening and planning on recording most of Saturday. So that we could work as late as possible on Friday, and get started as early as possible on Saturday, they asked if I could stay Friday night with another friend of the band’s in Terre Haute. This sounded better to me than driving back and forth from Coal City twice on Friday and Saturday, so I agreed.
In those days I was in an inner turmoil about a lot of things. Rae Anne and I had been married just over ten years; we had two young children we were raising; and, as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:28, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”…though in my case it was only the one church I was pastoring. All these things tended to weigh on my heart, especially at night.Read More
Weekly Update for Sunday, December 27, 2015
Merry Christmas!
- Due to the upcoming holidays, we will not have the 11th Hour Time of Prayer on Dec. 31.
- There will be no AWANA or Roots Youth Group December 27 or January 3.
- The new Bible reading schedules are available at the Welcome Center.
- We still have openings available for greeters. That sign-up sheet is also at the Welcome Center.
Weekly Update for Sunday, December 20, 2015
- Due to the upcoming holidays, we will not have the 11th Hour Time of Prayer on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.
- There will be no AWANA or Roots Youth Group on Dec. 27 and Jan. 3.
- The new schedules for reading the Bible in one year are available at the Welcome Center.
- We still have openings available for greeters. That sign-up sheet is also at the Welcome Center.
Weekly Update for Sunday, December 18, 2015
- Deacons Meeting: this Sunday after the morning service.
- Memorial Poinsettias: Suggested colors this year are white flowers with gold foil and ribbons. They may be brought in through December 18, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Weekly Update for Sunday, December 6, 2015
- Annual Business meeting: This Sunday, following a pitch-in dinner after the morning service. Please note, everyone is welcome at the dinner, even those who aren’t members – we’d like to get to know you and welcome you to our church family!
- Sarah Mission Circle Pitch-in Christmas party: Dec. 7, 12:00 PM in the Library. Don’t forget to bring your gifts!
- Memorial Poinsettias: Suggested colors this year are White flowers with gold foil and ribbons. They may be brought in the week of Dec. 14-18 by 2:30 PM.
Means of Grace at Christmas
Every family celebrates Christmas a little differently. And every church does, too.
We’ll have Christmas-themed services at our church, as we do every year. We’ll light the candles in the Advent wreath, sing the Christmas carols, read and study the accounts of Christ’s birth in the Scriptures, listen to the choir sing their special Christmas cantata, and see if the preacher can present the old, old Story in some new and attention-getting way. Other churches will celebrate Christmas differently, with more formality.
The word Christmas means literally “the Christ mass”. It is the service at Christmastime in which liturgical churches celebrate The Eucharist, or what we call The Lord’s Supper. The word mass comes from the Latin word missa, which means “dismissal”. At the end of the service the priest would say “Ite, missa est” (or, “Go; it is the dismissal”). In time, that word came to mean the entire church service.Read More