Good Shepherd Update Thursday December 8th, 2011
Dear Good Shepherd,
I hope you all are having a better week than I am—Finals week is upon us, so be sure to hug a stressed college student at Church this Sunday! I look forward to seeing you all then. Here’s your Update!
-Matt T
In this Update:
1. Greening of the Church
2. Christmas Caroling
3. Food Pantry Needs as of 12/3
4. Coffee Hour
5. ACW Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale
6. Christmas Pagaent
7. Saratoga Christmas Outreach - Updated!
8. Last Sunday’s Sermon
9. This Week in Christian Education
10. Bible Studies and Mission Groups
11. Discussion Questions
Christmas Caroling: You are invited to join Tim and Virginia Wetherbee on Tuesday afternoon, December 13 at 2 PM to sing Christmas carols to some of the elderly/ shut ins of the church when our ACW (Anglican Church Women) deliver Christmas packages to them. You are also welcome to join us for lunch that day at the Hole In the Wall Restaurant on 43 South Washington St. at 12:00 so we can all enjoy the music of Curt Osgood and his Christmas trio.
Greening of the Church: On Sunday, December 18th we will decorate the church for Christmas. There will be a pot luck dinner after church. Please bring a dish to pass and plan on helping with set up and especially with clean up. Are there any willing dish washers in the house??? See you then!
Food Pantry needs as of 12/3/11: Canned meats and tuna, spaghetti and sauce, canned carrots, corn, tomatoes, beets, asparagus, juice, sugar, rice, cooking oil, cereal, coffee/tea, cocoa, powdered milk. (No dry bean, string bean, mayo or salt please, we have plenty of them). Please remember this holiday season and give generously! Thanks to all and God bless - CJ Johnson.
Coffee Hour: Thanks to all of those who have helped with coffee hour in the last year. It is an important part of our Sunday morning worship and fellowship time. Please plan on doing your part in the new year by signing up to host a 2012 coffee hour. We need 2-4 families each time to help out with planning the snack, serving and cleaning up so there is a job for each of you to do. The church can help with financial assistance to cover costs for the snacks if you need it. Please sign up for this ministry or speak with Kay Seaman or Virginia Wetherbee for more information.
The ACW Christmas Bazaar and Christmas Bake Sale will be Saturday, December 10, 2011. Proceeds from this event will go to the Scleroderma Foundation. Holiday decorations and items for the Bazaar can be slightly used. You can bring these items to church starting on Sunday(12/03). This part of the sale will “Buy by Donation” and the baked goods will be priced! Thank you and God bless.
Christmas Pageant: Its that time of year again! Time to get ready for the Christmas Pageant! If you would like in anyway to participate (either in it or helping with it) in this year’s pageant I would like to hear from you. Practices for the Christmas Pageant will be directly after church from November 20th through December 18th and there might be one practice the week before Christmas or on Christmas Eve as needed. November 20th we will choose parts and pass out scripts, so that will be a short but critical day. After that we will run through the whole script at each practice so it is important to be on top of any lines that need to be learned, and to practice songs, if at all possible, through the week. The Pageant will be at 5pm on Christmas Eve. Pray about it, talk to your kids and let me know how you’d like to be involved! -Anne
Christmas Outreach Updated: Again this Christmas we at Good Shepherd have the amazing opportunity to celebrate Christ’s birth by helping those less fortunate than ourselves. 30 needy children from Saratoga Youth Center have provided us with wish lists for Christmas. Please join the Outreach Team in surprising these dear children with some special presents (valued at $15-$20) this holiday. Select a child represented on the Christmas tree on the wall in the Parish Hall. Please gift wrap the present and be sure to place the number of the child on the wrapped package. Please bring it to church by Sunday December 20th. Thanks so much!
Last Sunday’s Sermon, “God Appoints a Fish” (Jonah part ) can be found here.
This Week in Christian Education This Sunday we will be continuing in our series studying Tim Keller’s “Reason for God.” See you there!
Mission Groups: (all mission groups meet in homes and in keeping with our Sunday morning sermon series. You are invited to join the one nearest you.
* Mondays at 6:30pm Lee and Jane Bronson’s Mission Group meets at Darrell and Carolyn Dean’s house at 19 Newton Street in Port Dickinson.
* Tuesdays at 6:00pm Ife’s Mission Group meets at Carrie Moorhead’s house at 5 Hancock Street in Binghamton.
* Wednesdays at 7:00pm Joe Kovac’s Mission Group meets at 108 Allen Street in Johnson City.
* Wednesdays 7pm Bill Woollet’s group meets at Mary Lindsey’s House, 41 Hayes Street in Southeast Binghamton (near the present church.)
Bible Studies (all bible studies meet at the church in the parish hall and each study takes one book at a time and studies verse by verse)
1. Tuesday Morning Bible Study: Tuesdays at 9:00am—presently studying Romans
2. Thursday Evening Bible Study (for beginners): Thursdays at 6:30pm—presently studying the Book of Acts
3. Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study: Fridays at 6:30am—presently studying the book of Acts. All men are invited and welcome. Unfortunately I have misplaced my list. I will update this as soon as I know who is scheduled to cook.
4. Women’s Bible Study: Saturdays at 10:00am—presently studying Revelations
Discussion Questions:
Text: Jonah 1 - 2:7
1. [Jonah 1] What evidences do we see in the Book of Jonah that confirms that the sailors are more compassionate and more faithful than Jonah?
2. Have you known any non-Christians that are more obedient, more ethical, or more generous than some actual Christians? What do you think makes them this way?
3. Regardless of our good deeds, they do not save us. Why do we want to share the gospel with other people? Important: It’s not so they can “become good.”
4. [Jonah 1] What transformation do we see in the sailors throughout first chapter?
5. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, and God demonstrates a lot of mercy here. Which act of mercy speaks the most to you? Why?
6. [Jonah 1:17] Remember, we know the appointed fish is coming because we have probably heard this account before, but Jonah doesn’t. What is Jonah really asking the sailors to do (to him) and why does he ask such a thing?
7. [Jonah 2:1-7] What change do we see in Jonah in the opening verses of chapter 2?
8. Although far from the Christ himself, we get a glimpse of what Jesus’ life is like through the details of Jonah’s actions. In what ways is Jonah’s life like that of the Messiah’s?
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