Newark Central Newsletter - Dec. 5, 2012

The Newark Christian

Serving God's Transformation of Licking County

 

Vol. LXXIII                                                                   December 5, 2012                                                                  No. 37

 

Congregational Meeting

After 8:30 & 10:30 am worship

Sunday, Dec. 9th

 

One of the distinctive elements of our Disciples of Christ tradition is that the members of the church have the opportunity each year to vote on the officers of the congregational leadership team, and the church budget. This is an opportunity that is not the case in every denomination, and our work together in seeking God's vision for this body of believers is shown, in part, by this annual congregational meeting.

 

Of course, we meet and plan and fellowship and decide in many other times and settings, but there is both a practical and symbolic value to what we do every year in the congregational meeting.

 

Please plan to stay for a brief period following the benediction this Sunday; guests and visitors are welcome to stay and witness how we do this, or may leave, but we do encourage all members to plan to participate!

 Youth Christmas Party... 

     On Sunday, Dec. 9 all youth ages 5 and up are invited to meet at the church from 1:30-4:30 p.m. We will be watching a Christmas movie and enjoying tasty refreshments. The youth will receive a small Christmas gift. In addition, the youth will play games, make crafts, and also listen to Christmas songs performed by Vintage Voices. Please bring a game and a drink to share with everyone. Until then get ready to experience the Christmas Spirit.                   

Samantha (call office)

Vintage Voices Return for Holiday Concert

The Vintage Voices will again be presenting their Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m. in our sanctuary. Please come and enjoy a delightful seasonal performance by this
local choral ensemble.

 Live Nativity

Plan to participate in the Live Nativity this year.  It is Saturday, December 15 from 6-9 p.m.  There are no lines to memorize, just follow the prompts from the Christmas story, which is recorded.  The sign-up sheet is on the Welcome Center or call Ron or Carol Thompson at (call office).  We need two sets of characters to take alternating shifts.    One shift will be on the hour and one on the half hour.  We need adults, youth and children.  Hope you can be part of this fun and important event or come to the parking lot and enjoy the presentation.  Invite your friends and neighbors!

Youth All Christian Skate Night

On Monday, December 17 all youth ages 5 and up should meet at the church from 6:15-8:15 p.m. Skating admission is free thanks to Betty Lou and Larry Iden, In line skates are $1.00 and any money needed at the consession stand. We will have devotions at 7:30 at the skating rink. Until then get ready to play the number game!

Shoebox Project

Thanks to all who participated in our recent Christmas Child Shoebox Project. This year we collected a total of 24 shoeboxes. The boxes were full of many fun gifts and will definitely delight a child this Christmas. What a great way to reach out and spread the love of Jesus!

With much appreciation, Outreach Committee

Youth SEE the LIGHTS at the ZOO... 

       On Friday, Dec. 21 all youth ages 5 and up are invited to meet at the church from 4:30-9:00 p.m. We will be traveling to the Columbus Zoo. Please dress warm for the weather (gloves, thermal underwear, hats, coats, etc), bring $7.00 and money to eat at McDonalds. Parents and Chaperones are encouraged to attend and help drive. Please see Samantha for details. Until then get ready to for Christmas fun at the ZOO!     

Samantha (call office)

Neighborhood Caroling

Come one; come all to sing lots of Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood. We will meet at the church December 9 at 6:00 and walk in our area to sing our favorite carols.  Dress warmly, wear comfortable boots or shoes and join the fun.  We will return to the church for coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies. 

Notes From My Knapsack

Christmastime is filled with opportunities to give.

        

That's preacher-speak for "you get asked to give to lots of stuff"!

 

It's true, whether in church life or in the community, the end of the calendar year is filled with all sorts of appeals and requests and urgent notifications of the needs of non-profits and helping agencies all around (not to mention your college alumni associations).

 

It can feel overwhelming, and someone coined the phrase "compassion fatigue" which neatly sums up what can happen as you open your mail at home or click around on the internet.

 

The Bible, on the other hand, says "And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)

We already know, as Christians, that you don't earn your way into God's love, but it is given us freely -- that's grace! But our response to God's grace is an important form of witness that the world watches for from we who believe. So when you pile up those request envelopes and cards of reminder to give to this or that, give thanks first of all that you have the ability to give anything, anything at all. Figure out, using your personal budget (you've got a budget, right?) what you can give and how that fits into your general witness of stewardship -- how you use what God has blessed us with -- and then work with that number, and the requests you've received.

 

Yes, it can be hard, but if guilt is your main feeling when you honestly sit down and look at what's before you, then you need to work on where the guilt's coming from! If you need to give more in general, that's between you and God, but when you know in your heart and your pocketbook what you're supposed to share with others, it's a real adventure to look at where and how you'll give, and ask "how does this work reflect the values and priorities I feel God is calling me to embody and share and represent, in my own life?"

 

When you give to the Christmas offering (envelopes on the Welcome Center!), it's a chance to support the wider work of the Disciples around the US & Canada. When you decide which helping and healing ministries you want to affirm with your gifts, it's a chance to make clear to the world where your heart is; or as I mentioned last Sunday with Bob Pierce of WorldVision, "Let my heart be broken by the things which break the heart of God."

 

Enjoy the process of deciding where your blessings will go, and finally: pray for them to bear fruit, and to show grace where you can't be yourself! That's where you really feel the hand of God at work in the whole process of giving.

In grace and peace, Pastor Jeff

Joys and Concerns

·      Family of Ralph Miller on his passing at the age of 99

·      Family of Pam Wolfe on her passing, sister of Sue Rintamaa and Diane Bowland

·      Lucille Peoples

 

Looking Ahead

December 9 - "Bringing the baby home, part 2",
                            Malachi 3:1-4

December 16 - "Bringing the baby home, part 3",
                              Luke 3: 7-18

December 23 - "Bringing the baby home, part 4",
                              Luke 1: 46-55

December 24 – Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 6:30

 

To my church family...

It meant so much to be remembered with cards on my birthday and while I was in the hospital. I very much appreciate the love and care that went into the gifts that the youth group brought me. What a treat it was to have the children visit me! It's always such a joy to hear from my church family and I thank you for thinking of me.

Sincerely,
Lucille Peoples

Daily Scripture Readings

 

Dec     3            Psalm 119: 105-112

            4            Luke 12: 22-31

            5            Matthew 18: 15-20

            6            Romans 8: 5-14

            7            Matthew 2: 1-15

            8            Romans 12: 4-13

            9            Luke 1: 5-24, 57-80

            10            Psalm 126: 1-6

            11            Acts 2: 41-47

            12            1 Thessalonians 5: 14-18

            13            Ephesians 2: 4-10

            14            Matthew 1: 18-25

 

(Taken from The Upper Room)

 Special Thanks

Thanks to all who came to decorate the church for the Christmas Season!  We appreciate your help.  Once again we are blessed by the artistic talents of Dennis Kohler.  We especially appreciate all the time and effort he put into making all new chrismons and poinsettias for the large Christmas tree in the sanctuary.  Then he spent hours decorating it so beautifully.  Thanks, Dennis! 

Thank you

As fellowship chairman, I would like to thank everyone who helped plan, prepare, and serve the church Thanksgiving dinner so that Bob and I could go to North Carolina to spend time with our children. We really appreciate all of you making it possible.

Linda and Bob Jewell

 Upper Room Devotionals

  The January & February Upper Room Devotionals are now available at the Welcome Center.

 Lydia Circle…

…is selling pecans again this year at the following prices: Mammoth halves $8.75 per pound and medium broken pieces $8.25 per pound. To order, please contact Cynthia Rarick at (call office).

Food Pantry Collection…

…will be Sunday, December 16. Food and basic hygiene items are needed. You also can make a financial donation which the food pantry can use to purchase supplies at a greatly discounted price. Please give as you can!

*  *  *

[Editor's note: the key difference in the online newsletter from the print version is that personal/home phone numbers are removed, as are "in hospital" Joys & Concerns, and (call the office) is inserted in place of the number. You may, of course, call during the week and get the number of the person we removed from Lisa, between 7 am and 2 pm Monday thru Friday!]

Knapsack 12-3-12

Notes from my Knapsack - Newark Central Dec. 3, 2012

Christmastime is filled with opportunities to give.

That's preacher-speak for "you get asked to give to lots of stuff"!

It's true, whether in church life or in the community, the end of the calendar year is filled with all sorts of appeals and requests and urgent notifications of the needs of non-profits and helping agencies all around (not to mention your college alumni associations).

It can feel overwhelming, and someone coined the phrase "compassion fatigue" which neatly sums up what can happen as you open your mail at home or click around on the internet.

The Bible, on the other hand, says "And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)

We already know, as Christians, that you don't earn your way into God's love, but it is given us freely -- that's grace! But our response to God's grace is an important form of witness that the world watches for from we who believe. So when you pile up those request envelopes and cards of reminder to give to this or that, give thanks first of all that you have the ability to give anything, anything at all. Figure out, using your personal budget (you've got a budget, right?) what you can give and how that fits into your general witness of stewardship -- how you use what God has blessed us with -- and then work with that number, and the requests you've received.

Yes, it can be hard, but if guilt is your main feeling when you honestly sit down and look at what's before you, then you need to work on where the guilt's coming from! If you need to give more in general, that's between you and God, but when you know in your heart and your pocketbook what you're supposed to share with others, it's a real adventure to look at where and how you'll give, and ask "how does this work reflect the values and priorities I feel God is calling me to embody and share and represent, in my own life?"

When you give to the Christmas offering (envelopes on the Welcome Center!), it's a chance to support the wider work of the Disciples around the US & Canada. When you decide which helping and healing ministries you want to affirm with your gifts, it's a chance to make clear to the world where your heart is; or as I mentioned last Sunday with Bob Pierce of WorldVision, "Let my heart be broken by the things which break the heart of God."

Enjoy the process of deciding where your blessings will go, and finally: pray for them to bear fruit, and to show grace where you can't be yourself! That's where you really feel the hand of God at work in the whole process of giving.

In grace and peace, Pastor Jeff

Knapsack 12-6

Notes from my Knapsack -- Granville Sentinel 12-6-12

Jeff Gill

 

A vision of sugarplums

___

 

There's not much left of an old fashioned Christmas, by some measures.

 

You don't find "presents on the tree" anymore. The 1943 hit "I'll Be Home for Christmas" had Bing Crosby singing about gifts you might imagine dangling from the branches of that tree back at your folks. It was long after those homesick GI's came back from overseas that the lyrics were bent into "presents under the tree."

 

Get a toothbrush, a new shirt, or an orange as your gift? You'd count yourself as ill-used and neglected indeed. Now we look for weighty consumer electronics and home entertainment systems which would snap the trunk, let alone branches.

 

Baking and canning are niche hobbies for many of the few (!) who still know how to do them. Some have found in sustainability an ethic that affirms the old, hot, time consuming ways to consume our produce and pickings, but for the rest of us, cloves and cinnamon sticks are more likely to be used in art products than in food preparation.

 

But even for those of us who enjoy cooking with odd elements and even pine for a chance to take up blacksmithing, there's those "sugarplums" in Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" aka "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Going all the way back to 1823, if not older (but that's when it saw print), this story of an Old World bishop in his red robes, adapted a bit for northern European climes and perhaps influenced more than a bit by Odin All-father, includes a number of charming archaisms that even so are still comprehendible today. Nightcaps and kerchiefs in homes without central heating, chimneys down which a spritely figure can clamber, dusting their ermine with soot, and even a "bowl full of jelly" – all this we can easily imagine in 2012.

 

Sugarplums, though, not so much. Are they candied fruit? That's what I used to assume. It was in looking up some old seasonal recipes that I learned that, other than in shape, there's no plum in sugarplums. They're sugary candies built up, layer by layer, in a long slow process that starts with a seed, whether rock crystal candy or even a caraway seed. Then the hard rounded sweet is dipped and dunked and added to layer by layer, until you have a final size and shape to your satisfaction coming out of the simmering simple syrup, and then dusted for good measure with . . . sugar! They were very occasionally started with an almond at the center, but no dried fruit was ever used that I've found.

 

It's almost a jawbreaker, with a hint of Everlasting Gobstopper, since a child could get one and work on it for days, even weeks. (Let's not think about where that 1823 child stored it in between chaws.)

 

Having read up on sugarplums, I'm convinced that my best approach to an old-time Christmas is more along the lines of making snickerdoodles or a fruitcake. Fruitcakes can last a long time, too.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County, and he hopes you'll have yourself a merry little Christmas. Tell him your favorite old recipes of the season at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

Faith Works 12-1

Faith Works 12-1-12

Jeff Gill

 

How It Really Was Back Then

___

 

Pope Benedict is putting out a new book about Jesus, and apparently there's some excitement, or controversy, or just some ginned up debate over what he says about Christmas.

 

It wasn't, we're told (I haven't seen the book yet), exactly like your standard Christmas pageant. Supposedly Il Papa claims there were, at the actual Nativity, no donkeys or cows, and the Magi, aka "wise men" not only weren't named Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior, they didn't show up at all until Jesus was two or so.

 

I'll bet he also says the spare room outside the main house wasn't a quaint, atmospheric stable, either.

 

My bemusement at this "news story" is because none of this is "news" in any sense I can recognize. If you've been to Bethlehem itself, you know that the site revered there is actually a rock-hewn cavern which guides tell you served the locals as stables for centuries. And who hasn't had the quiz question go by them at church asking "how many wise men came to visit the newborn king?" to which the answer is "we don't know, the Bible only says 'wise men' in plural." Could have been twenty, might have been two. Gifts numbering three are specified, so three to carry one each (gold, frankenstein, and myrrh, as I recall) just made sense.

 

Did they ride camels? What animals were in or around the stable or guest room for out-laws, or whatever a "kataluma" means in Greek to explain Luke 2.7?

 

If you want to know why the standard Nativity scene has the animals it does, don't look to Luke, but to Isaiah, specifically verses 1.3 & 60.6 (go ahead, look 'em up, I'll wait).

 

See why?

 

They fit the story, just as the appearance of the magi from Matthew 2 is blended in. We know the conventions of storytelling in a graphic novel, and when one character turns in a panel to the left to see one antagonist, then is approached by another person from the right with a different background, we don't overthink the art, we just understand that time passes. Medieval art, which has quite a bit in common with graphic novels, does this kind of compression or multiple appearances of the same figure in a single scene, and the viewer quickly "learned" how to read the plot development.

 

So it went with Nativity depictions; in the thirteenth century, when St. Francis in Assisi gathered up a bunch of local players and creatures to create the first "crèche" scene, he used the stock images of the day.

 

Now, in Italy, there's a tradition whose epicenter is in Naples, on the Via San Gregorio Armeno, a sight I'd love to see someday. Along this narrow, winding street that passes an ancient convent of the same name, there are dozens of makers of "il presepe," or depictions of the Nativity. Mary is whatever ethnicity or style you'd like to see somewhere along the shop windows of the artisans, and Joseph is anything from ancient & elderly to mature but vigorous with bulging muscles and a huge axe in hand (no doubt to cut the umbilical cord).

 

And the rest of the hundreds and thousands of scenes are the stock images of the Bethlehem birth, placed in familiar if wildly inappropriate contexts.

 

To be fair, most of them emphasize quaintness, age, and beauty, so you find the setting in Roman ruins and olive tree groves, or Gothic surroundings and painstakingly detailed oak trees, all with barn wood details and observant animals all around. But there are quite a few that put the story in modern terms, in current circumstances: in a garage and 50's diner elements, or on a recognizable street in today's Napoli, or Roma. There are crèche sets with clowns and acrobats, in a Formula One repair bay (the driver's seat serving as manger), or with popular animated series figures playing the various parts.

 

I think we all know that what we know about the events around the first Christmas aren't accurate. It wasn't how we imagine. What all these representations help us say, to affirm, is that it happened. It happened here, as in here in reality, and the message of why that actual birth is important is that it has an import for us, who we are, and where we live. That's what makes these updated, conflated, and augmented manger scenes so touching, and so meaningful, even if not historical.

 

But I draw the line at a Hobbit-themed Nativity. I think.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him about your favorite crèche set at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.