Announcements
Toy
Drop & Clothing Drive--
Thanksgiving Day, a time of celebrating our blessings, seems in
danger of being replaced as a national holiday by Black Friday, a day
that elevates consumerism. Rather than retreat in fear, the Outreach
Committee has chosen to see this as an opportunity. They're going to
have a toy drop/clothing drive from 8 pm on Thanksgiving Day until
noon the following Friday. We're encouraging people to pick up an
extra toy and drop it by the church to benefit the Forgotten Child
Fund. What we need: volunteers willing to staff the church, people
willing to take fliers around the community, and all the publicity we
can get!
Community
Kitchen Spot
There
are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community
needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please
bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the
bookshelf.
#10
Cans of Sweet Potato / Yams
#10
Cans of Italian Style Green Beans
No-Bake
Pumpkin / Apple Pies
No-Heat
Dinner Rolls
Plastic
Forks, Knives, Spoons
Dinner
Napkins
Heavy
Duty Sectional Dinner Plates
Dessert
Plates
3
Oz. Souffle Cups
New
Hope News
Wednesday
Bible Study—Last
night was our final study of the year. We'll pick up again in the
new year.
Thanksgiving
Supper –
For over 10 years, JoAn & Philip Wright have been faithfully
leading a Thanksgiving meal here at the church (@ 2:00) for any and
all who would like to join us. If you'd like to come, please speak
with JoAn beforehand.
Pray
For:
For
Jessica and so many others wrestling with cancer
Dorothy
Parks-Piatt, as she continues her journey
For
those who look at Thanksgiving and feel their hearts tremble as
scars, old and new, remind them of who will not be sitting around the
table because of conflict, death or sickness.
Links
Some
options for Thanksgiving morning activities:
Keith's
Random Thoughts
Tuesday morning, we
realized the toilets in the church weren't working properly. By
Tuesday night, enough dirt had been pulled back from where we had
some work done in the yard to reveal a 4 foot gap in the sewer pipe.
It had been severed by someone who believed that it was an entirely
different and irrelevant pipe. As it was put, “assumptions were
made that should not have been made.”
We do this all the time.
We assume the person who cut us off in traffic is an arrogant jerk,
rather than an over-tired new father who isn't thinking properly
because he's slept 4 hours in the past week. When we say hello to
someone and they ignore us, we assume they are upset, rather than
wondering if they are consumed by some terrible news they just
received.
I've done this with
people. I've assumed that Caleb has a good reason for throwing 24
crayons on the floor. I've assumed that I know the full picture of
someone's situation. I think that people are fine when, in reality,
their lives are falling apart.
The reason I make
assumptions is because I haven't taken the time to know the full
situation. I haven't made time to sit down with someone and listen,
truly listen, to what's going on in their lives. It certainly
requires a willingness and trust on their part to share with me, but
it also demands something from me—patience. I have to be willing
to sit down with someone and make them the most important thing for
the time we have together. Rather than get distracted by all the
other things competing for my time and attention, I have to be
willing to listen.
Jesus astounds me. He
had the power to fix every single problem in the world. He could
have healed everyone at once, then rectified global injustices with a
word. There were countless things demanding his attention.
Yet, in the midst of all
the demands, he intentionally made time to sit down with individuals
and break bread, to listen to their joys and deepest heartbreaks. He
would eat with anyone, regardless of social position, and he loved
them, individually.
When we invest time in
relationships, we are then able to stop making assumptions, because
we have a fuller picture of why people act the way they do. When we
truly listen with a loving heart, we stop assigning motivations and
understand why they are the way we are. Then the Holy Spirit knits
us together, drawing us ever closer as we wander this journey of life
together.
Text
for this Sunday
Mark
16:1-8
(ESV)
When
the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and
Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And
very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they
went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will
roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
4
And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was
very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on
the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And
he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where
they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is
going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told
you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and
astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for
they were afraid.
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