Dear Good Shepherd,

 

Well, I've been sick all week and I'm not feeling any better (it's Thursday as I write this) this morning. I am persuaded that my kids had more than one sort of flu and that they each gave me a different one at the same time. This is really awful stuff. I hope your week has been better.

 

In any case, there is a lot of important information to pass on this week, so please be sure to read carefully.

 

God bless

 

UPDATE CONTENTS

EPIPHANY

THANKSGIVING

ANNUAL MEETING

VESTRY ELECTIONS

VESTRY MEETING

CONFERENCE

BIBLE STUDIES

WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY

ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

 

NEWS

EPIPHANY: Epiphany is the season between Christmas and Lent. The Word "Epiphany" means something like: “the revealing”. During Epiphany believers celebrate the fact that God has made himself known, he has “revealed” himself to the world in Jesus Christ. The emphasis during Epiphany is on the proclamation of this good news. Despite our rebellion, God loves us and has sent his Son into the world to save us and not only us, but everyone who believes. Thanks be to God.

 

THANK YOU: Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the Christmas-Eve Play and service. You all did so very well and it went beautifully. We had more people in the building at once for Christmas Eve than we've had in a long time. Thank you to all the actors, acolytes, costume designers, back-stage personnel, organizers and leaders. Thank you also to everyone who came out to worship together. This service has great potential. Next year we'll either move it to around 7:00pm or back to 5:00pm so that we can avoid dinner time. I am so very thankful to have so many talented and dedicated parishioners.

 

ANNUAL MEETING: Every year Good Shepherd holds an official meeting to discuss the affairs of the parish. Reports from various ministries and organizations are given, the annual budget is explained and voted on, and representatives for various ministries and organizations and three vestry members are elected (and one warden) or reelected. All members are encouraged to come.

 

This year the Annual Meeting will be held between services on Sunday the 21 st of January.

 

VESTRY ELECTIONS: So far it appears that all those up for election this year are re-running. But all baptized members who regularly attend worship, give a yearly pledge, and can commit to one meeting a month are welcome to run. It is an expectation but not yet a requirement that you join and attend at least one bible study a week.

 

VESTRY MEETING REMINDER: Speaking of vestry. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening the 17 th of January at 7:00pm. There are a number of important issues to discuss so I hope you will all be there. Oh, and let me also remind everyone reading this that vestry meetings are open to the congregation, so you are all invited and welcome to come.

 

CONFERENCE: Anne and I have been called away to the Mere Anglicanism conference in South Carolina from the 25 th to the 27 th . I say “called away” because given the busyness of the season I would not attend were I not on the board. In any case, that means that there will be no bible study on Thursday and Friday of the last week of the month. It also means that the Vestry retreat scheduled for that Saturday should be rescheduled.

 

BIBLE STUDIES: Just a brief note to our newest members. You are invited and welcome to attend any of the 5 bible studies Good Shepherd offers every week. These studies are great ways to meet new people, draw closer to Jesus Christ and learn how he works in your life, and become more integrated into the life of the church. See the schedule below to find a bible study that fits your schedule.

 

THE WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY: The women will start into the book of Hosea this Saturday. Hosea was the prophet God commanded to marry a prostitute named Gomer. Having done so, she subsequently sold herself again into prostitution. God came to Hosea again and commanded him to find Gomer, buy her back, and bring her back into his home. To find out why God would do this be sure to read the book or come to the bible study. If you are a woman, you can do both. This study starts at 10:00am Saturday Morning

 

ADULT CHRISTIAN ED: HEROES OF THE BIBLE Continues this week. Last week we bridged the gap between Abraham and Moses. We talked about Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and the great famine that caused Abraham's descendants to move from the land of Canaan to Egypt . We ended in Exodus chapters 1 & 2, discussing the birth of Moses and his upbringing. We'll pick up there this week. Moses' life is one of the most exciting stories of the bible. Over the course of my Christian walk, I've noticed that the lives and experiences of these biblical heroes are replicated or in some way shared in the lives of all believers. The type of struggles, temptations, falls, and triumphs they experienced and faced, are common to all Christians.

HAVE YOU…. shared your faith with a friend? The vestry has challenged all of us to share our faith in Jesus Christ with at least one non-believer each month.

Good News for the Week

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:15-25)

Don't forget to....BRING A FRIEND TO CHURCH!

 

Daily Schedule for the week of Sunday January 14th (Epiphany II), 2007

Monday:
Pastor's day off

Tuesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
9:00 a.m. Tuesday Morning Bible Study
6:30 p.m. First Light Bible Study
8:00 p.m. Choir Practice

Wednesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer

Thursday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
5:30 p.m. Shepherd's Bowl
6:30 p.m. New Beginners Bible Study

Friday
6:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast/Bible Study
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Pastor's sermon prep day

Saturday:
10:00 a.m. Women's Bible Study

Sunday January 21st, 2007 Epiphany III: Praise and Worship the Lord!
8:00am Holy Communion II and Sermon
9:15-10:15 a.m. ANNUAL MEETING (child-care no Sunday School)
10:30 am Holy Communion II, Music and Sermon

God bless you all

In Christ,