December 17, 2010

Season’s Blessings

We are drawing near to the end of our Advent time of waiting and preparing, and will soon celebrate Christ’s coming. It has been a rich season of Word, sacrament, and music, as well as prayer and community life. This Sunday, as we light all four candles on the Advent wreath, we’ll affirm that the time of arrival is almost here and that our time of rejoicing is just ahead. 

Worship with us this week at 10am (following the COR@9 conversation on ‘Sabbath’), then enter in to the Christmas season later in the week.

— Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve Service, 6:30pm (Carol singing begin after 6pm)

— Dec. 26th, First Sunday of Christmas, at 10am

O Come Let us Adore Him!

Loving and Serving

We have an opportunity to bless some families in our community through North Shore Academy, a public therapeutic school, based at Oak Terrace School in Highwood. Redeemer’s Dan Hanlon teaches at the school and has opened a connection for us to help those in need through the donation of gift cards. 75% of the children who receive services at the school are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and their families are in need of basic necessities such as food, warm clothing, shoes, toiletries, books and educational toys.

You can purchase a gift card from places like Target, Jewel or Dominicks for whatever amount then place your card in the Redeemer offering over the next two Sundays. We’d like to have as many this week as possible, but will also collect on Dec. 26th. 

Thank you for bringing your gift cards this week as we bless our community in Jesus’ name.

COR@9’s New Season

For many of us, the Old Testament feels less accessible than the New Testament, full of "begats," bloodshed, and strange rules. However, it is impossible to grasp the significance of the Gospels or the New Testament without having a good foundation in the truths of the Old Testament.

Beginning January 16th, COR@9 will begin walking through the first "half" of the Old Testament. A team of teachers, led by Dana Harris, will lead us in an exploration of major themes in the Old Testament so that we might get a better grasp of the story of God and his people, the story that is now our story too. Please join us as we jump into Genesis, beginning 9 a.m. on January 16th. You might just find that you come to love the Old Testament too!

Youth Ministry

This week we will be concluding our journey through Advent during the Youth CoR@9 hour. We are thankful for those who participated, and we believe it has been a fruitful journey.

Please keep the following dates in mind:

We will not have Youth CoR@9 on Sunday, December 26th or Sunday, January 2nd. The Jr. High will also not meet during the service on Sunday, December 26th. We will gather again for Youth CoR@9 on Sunday, January 9th. 

Year End

Thanks be to God for the progress we have made in the last few weeks on our budget needs at Church of the Redeemer. We have been praying for God’s provision and we have been experiencing that. We still have a ways to go, and your part in that remains vital. Many organizations seek support at year’s end, and so many of them carry on important work and ministry. But the local church is not a charity, in that same sense, but the focus of God’s work in the world. This is why we encourage the biblical discipline of tithing or giving that is a regular part of our spiritual life.

As you pray about your giving you may want to get an update on your tithes year-to-date. You can do that through our bookkeeper Elena, by contacting her at the church office. May God bless the work that he is accomplishing through our faithful commitment.
 
Offering last week:  $2,553
Amount needed by year’s end:  $14,685

Turning the Page…

Do you have your 2011 calendars all set to go? Here are a few important dates to include:

— Sunday, January 23rd Redeemer Annual Celebration—set aside the time that morning for worship and dinner together

— Feb. 9-12, Anglican Mission Winter Conference, Greensboro, NC
Click here to learn more

— Feb. 19-20, Church of the Redeemer welcomes Bishop Laurent Mbanda and his wife, Chantal. This will be our first opportunity to meet the new bishop of Shyira Diocese, Rwanda.

Open House

Join us for a graduation and going away open house for Josh and Brooke Block. Saturday, December 18th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Susan Sheehan’s home, 1042 Western Ave. Lake Forest, IL 60045. They will move back to Montana following our Sunday service.

Please Pray For

— Peace and safety in this season
— those who are alone or otherwise discouraged at Christmas, that they would know Christ’s joy
— for St. Michael’s, Sonrise School and the Shyira Diocese of Rwanda
— for those God is calling into service at Redeemer