Announcements and Order of Worship – December 13 2019

By AdminAnnouncements, Order of Worship

Sermon Preview

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Merry Christmas from Ezekiel!

It sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it? And yet, as we have observed over the last couple of Sundays, the prophets of the Old Testament indeed had a ‘Christmas’ message to send! And we have drawn the practical conclusion that our celebration of Advent, and our basic understanding of the Christmas Miracle, is not at all complete until we have considered what the prophets foretold about the coming Messiah and King!

This Lord’s Day we will turn to the thrilling Messianic prophecy discovered in Ezekiel 37:24-28. In these verses, the prophet provides us with an ancient promise of One who will come to Israel in her exile and spiritual hopelessness. He will be God’s “ servant,” and Israel’s new “ king,” “ shepherd,” and “ prince”!  And the results of His appearance and His ministry will be nothing less than miraculous!

As you pray and ready your hearts for Lord’s Day worship this Sunday, you’ll be richly blessed by reading and meditating upon the entire thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel.

A Special Announcement for Men

Beginning on Wednesday January 8, 2020, from Noon until 1:00 PM, I will be teaching a Men’s Lunch-time Bible Study every-other Wednesday. The study will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn near the old Landry’s restaurant location.

Below are the dates for our meetings, and all of the men of the Church and guests are invited!

Jan 8, 22
Feb 5, 19
Mar 4, 18
Apr 1, 15, 29
May 13, 27

I’ll have more details to follow, but if you are interested email me at:   mcalvert256@comcast.net.

I love you all, and see you Sunday!

Mike

Upcoming Events:

Dec 15, 6 PM – Career/Singles Bible Study at Daughtry Home
Dec 17, 6 AM – Men’s Morning Study at Panera Bread Co. Bridge Street
Dec 24, 5 PM – Christmas Eve Service
Jan 2, 11 AM – Women’s Thursday Potluck Lunch at Timber’s Edge
Jan 12, 12 PM – Second Sunday Fellowship Lunch

Order of Worship:

You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here

If you’d like to sing the songs with your family beforehand, the songs for this week are:

Go Tell It On The Mountain – Hymn 224 v.1-3
Salvation Is Born
He Will Hold Me Fast
What Child Is This – Hymn 213 v.1-3

Announcements:

Schedule Note:

Please make plans to attend our Christmas Eve service on December 24 at 5 PM. Friends & family are welcome! Child care will be provided. Also there will be no Sunday School the mornings of December 29 or January 5. We will have fellowship at 10 AM, with the service of worship beginning at 10:30. Our regular schedule will resume January 12.

Advent Wreath:

The Advent Wreath in the narthex is full of rich symbolism anticipating the celebration of our Savior’s birth. It is round – in Him there is no beginning or ending. It is filled with evergreens – He is eternal. The four candles on the wreath, one for each Sunday of Advent, anticipate the coming of the Light into the world growing ever brighter each week. On Christmas Eve, we light all four and the center one, announcing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Light of the world has come!

Advent Resources for Families:

I have compiled a list of Advent Resources for those with children or grandchildren. Read some of my recommendations by clicking HERE.

Ashley

Men’s Morning Study:

The men are meeting at Panera at Bridge Street on Tuesdays at 6 AM to study Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. If interested, email darondrown@gmail.com

Career/Singles:

There is an ongoing weekly bible study and fellowship at 5:30 PM Sunday evenings at the home of Jim and Sharon Daughtry. Email them to get involved.

Transportation for Jean Terry to Worship

Steve Terry’s treatment, which will take place in Arkansas,  will be a long process – 42 weeks.  So, we as a church body have the opportunity to serve this sweet family during the difficult road ahead.  One way we can serve and bless them is to provide transportation for Jean Terry, Steve’s mom, to and from worship service.  A link is provided to sign up if you are able to help in this manner.  Please contact Kim Fohrell if you have questions about serving. Click HERE to volunteer to drive Ms. Jean to and from worship service.

CPC Christmas Collection for Downtown Rescue Mission:

This Christmas season we will provide support in the name of Christ to the Downtown Rescue Mission (DRM), which for more than four decades has provided compassionate, Christ-centered programs and services to help those in desperate need. We will collect the following new or good condition used items for men, women and children in labeled containers in the church narthex: Undergarments (only new), Winter outerwear clothing, Nonperishable food, USB thumb drives, Headphones for computers, Lotion, Kleenex, and other toiletry items, Diapers/pull-ups. This Sunday is the last day for collection! For more information or questions, contact Norman Dean or Joe Sims.

Youth Group:  

Middle School and High School Youth, please sign up for the presbytery-wide youth retreat. The retreat is held in North Alabama for our entire presbytery January 24-26, 2020. This year’s guest speaker is Daniel Hightower. Daniel is the RUF campus minister at Jacksonville State University (and former Youth Director at Grace Presbyterian Church in Fort Payne). You may register by clicking here. If you have any questions, please email Betsy Morgan or Sarah Burgess as they coordinating cabin and chaperone arrangements for Christ Pres.
**The church has agreed to pay half of the cost, so it’s only $50 a student.  After you register online, make your check payable to the church and write “Roots Retreat” in the line on the bottom of your check. You can drop that into the offering box anytime this month.

Second Sunday Lunches:

Many of you remarked to me that you’ve only been able to come to one or two lunches because of forgetting or making other plans – well let me encourage you to mark your calendars! 😉

We plan to continue each 2nd Sunday of the month from January through May. The May lunch will most likely move to the 3rd Sunday because of Mother’s Day.

January 12 is the next one coming up. Please make plans to join us in the Fellowship Hall after worship. And please welcome visitors to stay and join us to eat!

***A word of thanks to all the MANY helpers who prep, set out tables, serve the meals, bring food or dessert or tea, and those who linger to clean up – THANK YOU for making these lunches a great success. It is a pleasure to work alongside you and serve the church body this way.

Sincerely in Christ,
Denise Brown

Christmas Cards for Missionaries:

At Christmas we have the special opportunity to send a card or greeting to our missionary families listed in the bulletin each Sunday. They have spoken often about how meaningful it is to receive these greetings! They love the picture cards or notes and letters that many of us are sending to family and friends. They are family for us and friends as well. To make it possible for you to include them in your Christmas list we are providing addresses for each family. The PO has global stamps for sending a card or letter to Ireland and New Zealand for about $1.15. If you purchase several at a time you always have a stamp handy for future mailings! It is one way we can be connected to this part of our church family. They have the church directory to remember who they met last summer.

It is a good idea to send the cards near the beginning of December to give them time to get to the destination by Christmas. Mailing packages is quite expensive but certainly some small item could be sent as well, something that could fit into the envelope but may require an extra stamp. If you have any questions or need help contact Judi Fikes (judifikes@gmail.com) please email only or catch me at church! Save these addresses so you can use them from time to time.

Seth and Jessica Lewis
6 Fernbrook
Castlelake
Carrigtwohill County Cork
Ireland

Steve and Rita Williams
21 Johnson St. Beach Grove
Kaiapoi  7630
New Zealand

Vinnie and Molly Athey
2614 Pansy St.
Huntsville AL 35801

Ken and Angie Burnett
5031 Patriot Park Dr.
Owens Cross Roads AL 35763

Franky and Alaina Garcia
5422 Clinton Blvd.
Jackson MS 39209

Prayer Requests:

Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Steve Terry, John Baxter, Bill Cowley, Larrabee Kirkland, Chris Smotherman, Elizabeth Holton, Janet Chou, and Nolan Osmer.
Expecting: Please pray for the Brackins, expecting in March.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); RUF at Alabama A&M; Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA).

Emails:

general inquiries: admin@christpreshamptoncove.org
benevolence needs: benevolence@christpreshamptoncove.org
counsel and ministry needs: matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org
men’s ministry: men@christpreshamptoncove.org
women’s ministry: women@christpreshamptoncove.org
children’s ministry: children@christpreshamptoncove.org
youth ministry: youth@christpreshamptoncove.org
senior fellows: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org

Address:

288 Old Highway 431
Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763