Please send your announcements to the office by Friday AM to be included in the bulletin.Speak with Pastor Joel before the Sunday service if you wish to voice your announcement at the end of worship.
         TODAY
Sunday, December 25 Merry Christmas-- No Sunday School
                 THIS WEEK
Tuesday, December 27 Community Meal (5-7pm)
         NEXT WEEK
Sunday, January 1 Happy New Year! --No Sunday School
         COMING UP
Tuesday, January 29 Congregational Meeting , after church


Pastor Joel's Whereabouts
Beyond congregational duties, here are some of Pastor Joel's present activities:
         RECENT
Wed Dec 14 CDC Pastor/Peer meeting at First Mennonite, Bluffton

                  UPCOMING
Dec 26 - Jan 2 Vacation with Kansas family

         MONDAYS ARE A SABBATH

Today we will be celebrating the incarnation by sharing in Communion. Taste and see that the Lord is good! All who hunger for God are welcome to participate.

During the season of Advent you may wish to study the scriptures for the upcoming worship service. Next Sunday's scriptures are: Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12; Ephesians 3:1-12.

Throughout the season of Advent we will again be taking up a children's special offering to support the Children's Home of Cincinnat i through their adopt-a-class program. Bring change, bills, and checks for the children to collect each week. Last year we raised $621 and have a goal of $750 this year.

This season's theme, "Awesome Deeds We Do Not Expect," invites us to find concrete ways of welcoming the unexpected. The theme for the season is visually represented by the plant growing through the crack in the concrete. Something beautiful and awesome (plant) emerges unexpectedly in a very ordinary way (growth) and yet in an uncommon place (crack in the concrete.)
In the same way, the beauty of Advent breaks through unexpectedly through the common "concrete" of our ordinary lives to represent the awesome beauty of hope in the birth of Christ.


MENNONITE ARTS WEEKEND VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Mennonite Arts Weekend is coming soon (February 3-5) and it takes a village!

Thanks to your wonderful hospitality, we already have places to house 60 choir members, but there are still plenty of opportunities for you to participate in the Weekend. In the back of the church are sign-up sheets for everything from
baking cookies to helping serve meals, from ushering at the Saturday evening concert to being a room chair, from setting up on Friday to cleaning up on Sunday. So, please sign up. The more the merrier!

Be sure to check out the website ( mennoniteartsweekend.org ) to read about the inspiring artists (visual, musical and otherwise) that will be with us this February. don't forget to register so we know you're coming (the CMF registration fee of $20 covers costs for meals). Forms are available in the foyer or on the website.

         PRAYERS FOR FAITH AND LEARNING
Thank God for the knowledge, skills, and friendship that teachers, professors and staff share with students at all Mennonite educational institutions. Thank God for the families and friends who also support the students as they grow in their faith.
         PRAYERS FOR THE MENNONITE MISSION NETWORK
Mennonite Mission Network personnel have committed their lives to continuing the work of Jesus' incarnational love in more than 100 locations in the United States and around the world. Pray for the Holy Spirit's power to enliven these ministries.

Book Club will meet on Sunday, January 8 after church at the home of Jim & Joy M.. The book to be discussed is "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. Please bring a dish to share.

Journey Groups

Art and Spirituality: TBD
Spiritual Journey (Open): Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7:30pm @ Joy M.'s house
Men's Group (Open): Meets every third Saturday of each month--all men are welcome.
Coordinator: Jim M.. If interested and not on Jim's email list, please
ask to be added. Watch email for location. Jim would appreciate a
headcount midweek prior to the Breakfast. Time is 7:30am -???