December 2, 2007 marks the beginning of the Advent season. This,
as you know, is the four weeks before Christmas and the birth celebration of
Jesus Christ. It is known as a time of preparation for
his coming among us. During this time we light Advent candles, one each week,
until four candles burn brightly on our altar. These candles are
known to signify hope, peace, joy, and love. They also can symbolize a
few other things.
As a bit of Advent trivia, I would
share with you the meaning of our four Advent candles so that when they are
lighted you might think about what they symbolize as you make you personal
preparations for the coming of the Christ Child.
The first Advent candle we light is often called the
“Prophet’s Candle”. It reminds us of God’s Old Testament prophets who spoke the
word of God that was a promise of life and world changing events. As we light
that candle we are called to remember that God keeps
the promise that somehow the world will be saved in Jesus.
The second Advent candle that we
light is known as the “
Candle”. As we light it
we are challenged to remember that
The third Advent candle is traditionally the pink candle. It
is often called “Gaudete” (gow-day-tay) which means “Rejoice!” It is known as the
“Shepherd’s Candle” because they were the first to hear the good news to
“Rejoice, for unto the world a Child is born – Emmanuel, God with us!” This
rejoicing was not easy for the shepherds. They had to overcome their primal
fears in order to see the child and rejoice at his birth. The same is true for
us. So, this candle urges us to drop our fears and
sing for joy because Jesus is born in our hearts forever.
The last Advent candle is known as the “Angel’s Candle”. It
reminds us to behold and believe in the angels who sing always and unceasingly
of God’s love for the world and for us.
By the way, there is another candle that
we light on Christmas Eve. It is the white candle that
stands in the center of our Advent wreath. It is known
as the “Christ Candle”.
When this candle is lighted it
transforms our Advent wreath into a Christmas wreath marking the end of
preparation and the beginning of celebration of Christ’s birth on the earth. It
is from this candle that we light all of our individual candles, just as it is
from Christ that we each receive our light and life!
So, now you know the meaning of our
Advent candles. As they are lighted this year, may
they touch your lives in deeper ways so your faith may be made new!
Blessings to you in December!
Wanda
Teaching the
Word...
DECEMBER STUDY TEXTS
Here are the Study
texts for the month of December. Rev. Mello’ will be preaching a special sermon
series entitled, “Dreams of Christmas – Visions In the
Night Proclaim the Savior”. The preaching texts are in Bold print. You are invited to read the texts
ahead of each Sunday service as you prepare to hear God’s word. These texts are
also the texts that are studied in our Wednesday
morning Bible Study to which everyone is invited.
December 2, 2007
Psalm 89
(Rev. Jenell Mahoney, preacher)
Psalm 148
Isaiah 63:7-9
Hebrews 2:10-18
WORSHIP
READERS NEEDED…
We are in need of our worship readers for the month of January and February. If you are interested in serving as a worship reader please sign up on the sheets in the Social Hall or speak to Rev. Mello. May you be blessed as you read God’s word in worship.
WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY
Everyone is invited to join us at 9:30 AM each Wednesday in the library as we study the scripture texts for Sunday’s service. However, due to the busy-ness of the season, including the Adult Advent Study and the Holiday Concerts, we will not have Bible Study in December. See you in January!
ADVENT ADULT STUDY
Rev. Mello will be leading an Advent study for adults on Tuesday evenings, November 27, December 4, December 11, & December 18. We will meet in the lounge at 7:00 PM each Tuesday to take a look at Jesus as Deity, Truth, Grace, and Life. All adults are welcome to attend.
CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP
We invite everyone to join us in worship on Christmas Eve at 5:00 PM for a service of carols, scripture, and candlelight. Bring your family and friends and join us to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Touching
the World...
Any or all of
the items on the list that follows will be welcome additions to our food
pantry. Your gifts to replenish the food pantry are greatly
appreciated. Please remember, if you can’t get
out to purchase any of the things on the list, cash donations are also accepted
so that the necessary items may be purchased. Please DO NOT bring
PREVIOUSLY OPENED SPICES OR FOOD ITEMS! We cannot give those out to people as we don’t know their safety.
Our pantry is
well stocked at the moment so we are not in need of
food donations at this time. We will let you know when your food gifts are needed. Thanks!
You are invited to give a gift for mission to our Assistance
Fund. Thanks so much for your continued support of this fund! Your gifts to
this fund do indeed help those in our community who are in need!
Once again Patti, our organist,
will be playing a series of three
ARVIN HIGH CHORAL CONCERT
We will host the Arvin High Choir as they sing Vivaldi’s “Gloria” on Thursday, December 13 beginning at 7:00 PM. The public is invited to attend this free concert in our sanctuary.
Our next monthly Church Cabinet meeting will be on Wednesday, December 12 at 7:00 PM in the lounge.
WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP NEWS
The
Women’s Fellowship would like to remind you to continue to save
CHRISTMAS BASKETS
It
is time once again to prepare and deliver our annual Christmas Baskets to
families in need in our community. We will be preparing and delivering the
baskets in our social hall on December 19 and 20. If you are able to help with
any part of this important mission, please speak to Joan Thomas or Judy Chase.
SPECIAL
OFFERING FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN
We
are currently collecting a special monetary offering that will go to assist
people in
ANGEL
TREE
We
have received 15 names of local children for our annual Angel Tree project this
year. The names, ages, and gift preferences will be on a tree in the narthex
for you to take on December 2. We request that you have all the gifts back to
the church by December 16. As usual, you are asked to
purchase two gifts – one clothing article and one toy – that do not exceed
$30.00 in total. Wrap your gifts and put the angel gift tag
on it and place it under our sanctuary Christmas tree. If you want to
contribute to this project, but don’t wish to shop for
a gift, please know that monetary donations are also accepted and someone will
do the shopping for you.
NEWS
FROM JOEZER HOME
We
have received news that the Joezer Home for Girls is
up and running with five girls in residence, with four babies and one on the
way. The girls go to school and parenting classes every day. There are two staff members present in the house at all times, so
someone is there with the girls and babies 24 hours a day.
There
is a constant need for diapers from newborn size to size 2 and for girls personal care items such as shampoo, lotions, hair
brushes, hair spray, body soaps, toothpaste, etc. Also,
if you have any fresh garden items that you would like to part with, they could
use fresh produce as well.
Non-perishable
items for the house may be left in the big box marked Joezer Home that is located in our narthex (lobby) of the
church. Perishable items may be given to Kathy Brand.
Thanks
to everyone for your support for this special home for girls and their babies.
CHRISTMAS
FUND OFFERING
On
December 23, during worship, we will be taking a special Christmas fund
offering for Veterans of the Cross. This offering goes to help retired pastors
and their spouses with financial needs that they are unable to meet on their
own, due to illness or other reasons. Please consider giving to this Christmas
fund as a gift to those who have served the Lord faithfully as church leaders in
the past and have special needs in these days.
CHURCH
BROCHURE COMMITTEE NEWS
We
now have a Website and it is chock full of information about our church,
complete with photos! Just type in our
address: www.arvinucc.org and you will find us. Thanks and blessings to
Chris Gonzales for all the help he has given us and continues to give us to
make our website a reality!
Patti
will once again be playing an organ recital of holiday music during the lunch
hour on three Wednesdays before Christmas beginning on Wednesday, November 28. The
concerts will be held in our sanctuary and will begin
at 11:30 AM-1:00 PM. Future concert dates will be Wednesday, December 5, and
Wednesday, December 12. Bring a friend and your lunch and enjoy a break in your
busy day with some soothing holiday music!
INTERIM
CONFERENCE MINISTER ANNOUNCED
We
have received word that the Conference Board of Directors has called Rev. Dr.
Jane Fisler Hoffman to be our Interim Conference
Minister. Jane is a graduate of Eden Seminary, graduating four years before
Rev. Mello. She will be in place as our Conference leader sometime in February.
Welcome and God’s blessings to you, Jane!
SPECIAL
THANKS
Thanks
to Kathy Brand for the beautiful thanksgiving decorations
she created for our altar and side table in the sanctuary during the month of
November. The scene reflected the great bounty of God and called forth our
thanksgiving, not only this time of year, but all year long. Also…thanks to the
Gurnett girls, Anna Grace and Allison, and Amy Menefee for the Count Your Blessings banner they made for
the lecturn. It was well done and
completed the scene in our chancel beautifully. Thank God for each and every one of you!
Church
Family News…
As our world remains in a time of war, we ask that you
continue to remember in your prayers all of our young people serving our
country all over the world. Especially pray for Jason Brand, John & David
Phillips, Isaac Philips, and Josh Francis.
Please keep our homebound, and
nursing home members in your thoughts and prayers. They are Mildred Holbert in the nursing home; and
Lucille Barkley at home. Also, please remember Ardella
Wernli who is staying with her son and
daughter-in-law, Robert and Dana Wernli, in
REV. MELLO VACATION
Rev. Mello will be taking her final week of vacation for
2007 after Christmas from December 26 – January 2. Rev. Jenell
Mahoney will be preaching in our worship service on December 30.
Rev. Mello will not be leaving town, but will be busy making
silk flower arrangements, corsages, and bouquets for her daughter, Sierra’s
wedding that is scheduled for February 16, 2008.