EIGHTH
STREET MENNONITE CHURCH
602 South Eighth Street
Goshen, IN 46526-4019
Tel.: 219/533-6720
Fax: 219/533-8324
Email: eighthst@bnin.net
Web
site: www.bnin.net/~eighthst/
Myron D. Schrag, Pastor
[mschrag@bnin.net]
Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau, Associate
Pastor [bpaetkau@bnin.net]
Laura Sue Dueck, Pastoral Intern
[dueckls@mns.com]
9:30 A.M. December
16, 2001
Eighth Street Mennonite Church is a Christian community –
rooted in Anabaptism and coming from diverse religious traditions – devoted to
worshipping God and to extending God's love to the congregation, to Goshen, and
to the world.
We
weep for those who are oppressed.
Joy
will abound when streams flow in the dessert,
when
all people are healed,
and
the redeemed of the Lord return to Zion.
Restore
us, O Lord!
Pre-Service
Singing 9:15
A.M.
Prelude:
Christmas Concerto Corelli/Dackow String
Ensemble
Welcome and Announcements
Interlude
The sound of running water is a symbol of
our waiting for the coming of Christ this year. Running water makes space for and welcomes our tears. This same running water can also be a source
of restoration. Watch. Wait.
Listen.
*Hymn:
#186 Fling wide the door, unbar the gate!
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Watch!
Wait!
The day of God is at Hand!
People: Like the bud on a tree,
God’s possibilities are about to bloom!
Leader: Stay awake!
People: We stand at the foot of your mountain, God.
We are here, watching and waiting with hope.
All: May God bring justice to all people.
May God’s reign come on earth as in heaven.
*Invocation
*Hymn:
#187 Let the heavens be glad
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10
Special Music: Pastoral Symphony Handel String Ensemble
Prayer of Confession
Lighting the 3rd Advent Candle
Words of Assurance:
Leader: Redeeming
God, you forgive our sins.
You call us to rejoice in your presence
and to return to Zion with singing.
Our tears are turned to gladness
as we welcome your streams of restoration.
All: We magnify the Lord and rejoice in God’s promise of redemption.
Theme Song:
Restore us, O Lord M
Zehr
Children's Time
Scripture Readings: James 5:7-10 [NT pg 231]
Matthew
11:2-11 [NT pg 11]
Sermon:
"The Man Who Was a Lamp"
Poem, "The Man Who Was a
Lamp," by John Shea. Starlight: Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year
Long. The Crossroad Publishing
Company: New York, New York, 1992.
*Hymn:
#184 Hark! The glad sound!
Dramatic Presentation: Luke 1:47-55
Offering and Offertory: Lo,
How a Rose E'er Blooming Paulmichl
(Please sign the registration pad at the end
of your pew.)
Joys and Concerns
The Church at Prayer
*Hymn:
#181 My soul proclaims with wonder
*Benediction
The
congregation is invited to be seated after the benediction and remain seated
for the meditation and the entire postlude during this Advent and Christmas
Season.
Meditation
Postlude:
Savior of the Nations, Come Pachelbel
*All who are able are invited to stand
Worship Leader - Laura Sue Dueck
Sermon
- Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau
(Janeen
Bertsche Johnson, flute)
Isaiah Text - Jason Shenk, Emily Johnson, John
Newburn,
Uryna Gerber, Jenna Liechty
Dramatic Presentation - Becky Colby
Advent Candle-lighter - Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau
Theme Song - Alex Sawatsky, Melissa Fisher,
David
Fast
Children's Time - Karen Miller Rush
Song Leader - Karen Hershberger
Organist/Pianist - Christine Thögersen
String Ensemble - 1st violin: Karen Hershberger,
Karl Koop, Deanna Minnick,
Sara Thögersen
2nd
violin: Julie Rempel,
Erica Johnson, Evan Miller,
Emily Hershberger, Noelle Koop
Viola: James Nelson Gingerich
Cello: Heidi Koop, Leena Miller
= = =
WELCOME
to Eighth Street Mennonite Church! During this Advent season we wait for the
birth of a child – our Savior. Join us
in our waiting and preparation for the coming of Jesus. Visitors are invited to sign the guest book
in the narthex and to worship with us again.
CHURCH CALENDAR
this week, December 16 - 23:
Today - Koinonia Class Christmas Caroling
at 3pm, followed by
sandwich supper
- Annual Reports due
(give to Karen Miller Rush)
Monday - Stewardship Commission, 4:30pm
-
Schmaltzentrubers Christmas Music Concert, 7pm
Wednesday - Church Board, 7pm
Friday - Last day of Preschool before
Christmas break
Next Sunday - Fourth Sunday
in Advent
-
Choir Rehearsal, 8:30am
-
Pre-Service Singing, 9:15am
-
Worship Service, 9:30am
Sermon
– Pastor Myron Schrag
Worship
Leader – Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau
Special
Music – Adult Choir
-
No Children's Sunday School
LAST SUNDAY,
December 9, 2001: Attendance -
242
Visitors: Irene Schrag, Freeman, SD; Tim & Carol
Graber, Hurley, SD; Elton & Fern Martin, Lombard, IL; Suzette Short,
Archbold, OH; Brian & Diane Bertsche, Anita Browning, Camp Friedenswald
(MI); Penny Yarman, White Pigeon, MI; Walter & Marg Sawatsky, Elkhart; Kyle
Yoder, Goshen College student; Brian & Brenda Wiebe and Caleb, Benjamin
& Annelise, Allen & Doris Lefever, Bryan & Lisa Heinz, Jeff &
Elizabeth Tray and Jonathan & Jessica, Dean & Becky Rhodes, Rose
Schrag, Goshen; Benita Miner, Justin Joldersma.
December 9 Offering: $6,005.25
Budget $4,796.25
Student Financial Aid 600.00
Misc/The Mennonite 30.00
Ethiopian Church Bldg 280.00
Cortés-Gaibur
robbery support 179.00
Mennonite Women/WIM 120.00
Actual Year to Date Giving for the
Budget $219,325.55
Needed for the Budget (year to date) 216,722.10
Positive Balance $
2,603.45
ANNOUNCEMENTS,
December 16, 2001
GREETING
US today is the Neufeld family. Tim
spends most of his time at Mennonite Mutual Aid working in the computer
department. His hobbies are remodeling
their house, maintaining their vehicles, watching sports with Kurt,
motorcycling, bicycling, and currently working on a go-cart. Kristin comes to church nearly every
day of the week as she is in her fifth year as a teacher’s aide at 8th Street
Preschool. She enjoys reading, making
desserts, walking with the dog, and going to Kurt's sports events. Kurt, a 7th grader at Northwood
Middle School, plays soccer and basketball.
Besides collecting sports cards, he enjoys watch-ing sports on TV. All three like being greeted by Shiloh,
their 2-year-old black lab-terrier mix when they come home.
STAFFING OUR
NURSERIES:
Today: During worship - Infants – Heidi Koop, Rachel Nolt
Toddlers – Tex Eisenhour, Rachel Saner
During Sunday School --
Tyler Roth, Cathy Beery Berg
Next Sunday: During worship - Infants
– Jane Swihart, Don Paetkau
Toddlers – Tim & Jen Nussbaum
= Second Hour
=
11 A.M.
B1
- Builders – "God's servant will bring light: The gift of comfort" (adult quarterly) – led by Loren Johns
B2 - Koinonia
B3
- Seekers – Discussion on "Mormon thought and practice" - led by
Elder Simpson and Elder Brown
B4
- Challengers – "God's servant will bring light: The gift of comfort" (adult quarterly) – led by Rachel Nolt
B5 - Sr. High – Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau
B6 - Crossroads
B7 - Jr. High – Galen Hershberger
= = =
NEXT SUNDAY, December 23:
Ø
You are invited to bring your copy of The Messiah for singing "The
Hallelujah Chorus" during the worship service.
Ø
There will be no Children's Sunday School classes.
THE CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE will be held on
Tuesday, December 24 at 6:30pm. Plan to
attend with your family and guests.
Concerning Our Church Family and Friends:
Myron and Rickey will be returning
on Tuesday after visiting their grandchildren in Kansas City this weekend.
Barry & Janeen Bertsche Johnson
and Hannah and Aaron are leaving for Japan December 22 and will
be singing in the Christmas service December 23 in the Mennonite Church in
Tokyo and visiting seminary friends there.
Then they will be in Hiroshima with Janeen's parents, Dave & Evie
Bertsche, who are Mission Partners with COM.
Barry & Janeen and family will be returning January 4.
Posted on the bulletin board are thank-you
notes from Stef Miller and Walter & Beverly Boshart for the
poinsettias and from Mary Beechy and Ben Miller for the care
packages.
ANNUAL REPORTS are due today. Please put them in Karen Miller Rush's
mailbox or email them to her at philiphr@aol.com. Thank you for those already received.
THE CONGREGATION IS INVITED TO HEAR the Schmaltzentrubers
Christmas Music Concert tomorrow evening, Dec. 17 at 7 o'clock in the
sanctuary.
ON TUESDAY, December 31 at
6:30pm, there will be a New Year's Eve Communion Service.
NEED
REIMBURSEMENT from the church for a church-related expense? If so, please complete a yellow voucher from
the office Christmas week.
DO YOU HAVE a
church reimbursement check that needs to be cashed? Please cash it promptly (in this year 2001). Thank you.
QUESTION: Who knows about the paper sack of groceries
left on the top of the church mailboxes (now in the corner on the floor under
the coat rack)? Was it late coming in
for the Food Banks? Please remind the
office. Also, the Lost & Found Box
is full of items to be re-claimed.
THE
ANNUAL MEETING of Central District Conference will be held on April 25-27, 2002
at the Meadows Mennonite Church in Chenoa, IL.
HELP IS NEEDED at
Raybird Ministries Church on the west side of South Bend where a tornado went
through about 2 months ago. Help is
needed on December 20, 21 & 22 to work on the inside and the roof (pitch
3/12). For more details, call Vernon
Graber who is in charge of the project.
Or call Reuel Lehman.
DECEMBER GIVING BOX
& WHITE GIFT: Ethiopian Church Building
From the Sidelines:
Our Eighth St. basketball team had plenty of excuses for being rather soundly beaten by Berkey Avenue 47-35 last Sunday, suffering their first loss of the season. Doug Liechty Caskey said the team was so "flabber-gasted" by Sunday's sermon that they couldn't concentrate on the game. Leonard Beechy used the excuse that the team was so lost in thought thinking about repentance that they never really got their head in the game. In all of my years of sportswriting and preaching, I have never heard a team using a sermon as an excuse for losing. Nevertheless, I will keep preaching. I just hope the basketball team keeps playing in spite of the preaching. – MS, reporter
REMEMBER the
…Warm Tree located at the top of the stairs
near the sanctuary door. Your gifts of
socks, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, and packaged underwear will be taken to
the Salvation Army for distribution after Christmas. Thank you for your generosity.
…2002 Flower Calendar posted on the bulletin
board. Sign your name beside the
Sunday/s you would like to provide flowers, either in memory of someone, in
celebration of an event, or for no special occasion. The office will remind you.
MESSENGER NEWS will be due Sunday, Dec.
30. Please give your family notes,
news articles, and announcements to co-editors Jane and Dave Troup: mailbox or email at messenger@miketroup.com. Remember to clear your calendar events on
the church calendar with Jeannette.
THERE WILL BE GATHERINGS on January 11-13, 2002 at Park
View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA, and January 18-20, 2002 at the
Catholic Conference Formation Center, Dallas, TX, entitled "We are people
of God's peace: Gatherings to discern a
Mennonite response to September 11."
Registration is $50 for Harrisonburg and $85 for Dallas. Through worship, presentations, and
stimulating discussion, these gatherings will help guide congregational
responses, future program-ming, and resource creation. Two settings and two dates are being offered
to better accommodate calendars and travel schedules. Speakers, staff, and resource persons will not be the same for
Harrison-burg and Dallas. Anyone is
invited to attend. For more information
and to pre-register, contact the Peace and Justice Committee of the Mennonite
Church by writing to P.O. Box 173, Orrville, OH 44667; calling 330/683-6844;
visiting their website at http://www.mennolink.org/peace;
or emailing at mcpjc.@sssnet.com.
Ü The Mission and Service Commission
will help with the registration of anyone planning to go. It would be great to have 3-4 from Eighth
St. attend.
MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS, December 16, 2001
NEWS FROM Camp Friedenswald:
·
Our
winter retreats are quickly approaching and we would like to find a few people
that would like to help us make these camps the best ministry possible. We are looking for volunteers for our winter
(spring, summer and fall would be nice, too) programs. We especially need cooks and college
age/young adult activity support personnel.
If you are available, please contact Dave Moser at 616/476-9744 or email
him at moser@friedenswald.org. Retreats are a time of great fun and
fellowship and by volunteering, not only can one participate in these great
aspects of camp, but one can go away from here knowing they helped further this
important ministry.
·
We
are also looking for potential music leaders for a few of our retreats.
PERHAPS YOU KNOW SOMEONE at a transition point in life,
searching for ways to serve. Mennonite Disabilities
Committee (MDC) is seeking live-in caregivers for persons with developmental
disabilities at the Goldenrod Community in Middle-bury and Merimna Homes in
Goshen. Live-in caregivers receive room
and board, a stipend, and can hold supplemental employment while the residents
of the home are at day programs or work.
Prayerfully consider God's tap on the shoulder and explore the
possibilities. Contact MDC by phone at
533-9720, email at mdc@mdconline.org, or
visit us on the web at www.mdconline.org.
JOB
OPENINGS:
Ø Bethany Christian Schools seeks
a licensed teacher for a second semester term position to teach two sections of
Pre-algebra 8. This 30%
position, which begins January 22 and ends June 7, 2002, involves classroom
responsibilities from 8:30-9:50 each morning.
Contact Allan Dueck, principal, at 534-2567 or email: akdueck@bethanycs.net
Ø Goshen College is seeking a Director
of Admissions to start February 1, 2002.
Responsible to help set student admissions goals and to achieve them by
leading a 10 member department team.
Successful candidate will have strong leadership, management and
communication skills. B.A. (Masters
preferred) with at least 5 years experience in higher ed admissions and/or
sales force management required. For
more information and application instructions, please see position listing on
employment page of www.goshen.edu. Goshen College is committed to Christian
beliefs as interpreted by the Mennonite Church. AA/EEO employer: women
and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. Interviews will start in January 2002 and continue until position
filled.
A Birthdays & Anniversaries! A
|
16 |
Stef
& Nancy Miller '72 |
19 |
Tina
Bohn |
|
18 |
Dalton
Bechtel |
19 |
Jason
Liechty |
|
18 |
John
Nyce |
21 |
Phil
Rush |
|
18 |
Roger
& Laurie |
22 |
Kristin
Neufeld |
|
|
Nafziger '76 |
23 |
Ronald
Rice |
A A A