Monday, December 30, 2013

OUR WEEK - JANUARY 5TH TO JANUARY 11

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1ST  —
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 5TH
EPIPHANY SUNDAY
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

COLOR:  WHITE OR GOLD

SCRIPTURE READINGS —
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ISAIAH 60:1-7
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Isaiah offers a word from the Lord to the
exiles or new returnees to their homeland
after a 39-year absence.          

They knew to expect ruins upon their 
return, and that is what they had found.
 Isaiah prophesies to the people that the 
day will come when all nations will stream 
to their light, and the wealth of all nations 
will come to them.
 Not long after issuing the decree to set the
Judeans free to return to their homeland,
the new Persian government under Cyrus
sent orders to have supplies, building
materials, and all of the gold and silver
vessels that had been carried away, sent
back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and
rebuild it's temple.  The overthrow of the
Babylonians by the Persians freed up the
people and all sorts of resources through-
out the Middle East.          

1-7 "Get out of bed, Jerusalem!  Wake up!
Put your face in the sunlight.
   God's bright glory has risen for you.
The whole earth is wrapped in darkness,
   all people sunk in deep darkness,
But God rises on you,
   his sunrise glory breaks over you.
Nations will come to your light,
   kings to your sunburst brightness.
Look up! Look around!
   Watch as they gather, watch as they
   approach you:
Your sons coming from great distances,
   your daughters carried by their nannies.
When you see them coming you'll smile—
   big smiles!
   Your heart will swell and, yes, burst!
All those people returning by sea for the
reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered
in from the nations!
And then streams of camel caravans as
far as the eye can see,
   young camels of nomads in Midian and
Ephah,
Pouring in from the south from Sheba,
   loaded with gold and frankincense,
   preaching the praises of God.
And yes, a great roundup of flocks from
the nomads in Kedar and Nebaioth,
Welcome gifts for worship at my altar
as I bathe my glorious Temple in splendor. 
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PSALM 72: 1-14 (UMH 845)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
In praise of the righteous king who would
receive tribute from all nations.
A PSALM OF SOLOMON

1-8 Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O
God, the gift of just rule to the crown
   prince.
   May he judge your people rightly,
      be honorable to your meek and lowly.
   Let the mountains give exuberant
   witness;
      shape the hills with the contours of
   right living.
   Please stand up for the poor,
      help the children of the needy,
      come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
   Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
      age after age after age.
   Be rainfall on cut grass,
      earth-refreshing rain showers.
   Let righteousness burst into blossom
      and peace abound until the moon
   fades to nothing.
   Rule from sea to sea,
      from the River to the Rim.

9-14 Foes will fall on their knees before
   God, his enemies lick the dust.
   Kings remote and legendary will pay
   homage, kings rich and resplendent
   will turn over their wealth.
   All kings will fall down and worship,
   and godless nations sign up to serve
   him,
   Because he rescues the poor at the first
   sign of need, the destitute who have run
   out of luck.
   He opens a place in his heart for the
   down-and-out,
      he restores the wretched of the earth.
   He frees them from tyranny and torture -
      when they bleed, he bleeds;
      when they die, he dies. ————————————————————
EPHESIANS 3:1-12
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Paul's imprisonments have enabled the
Gentiles and their leaders to know the
mystery and receive an invitation to
become fellow heirs in Christ Jesus. Paul
never stopped evangelizing about God's
kingdom and Jesus Christ to everyone he
could, even to the point, of reaching the
whole imperial guard in Rome.      

THE SECRET PLAN OF GOD
1-3
This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ,
having taken up the cause of you outsiders,
so-called. I take it that you're familiar with the
part I was given in God's plan for including
everybody. I got the inside story on this from
God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

4-6 As you read over what I have written to
you, you'll be able to see for yourselves
into the mystery of Christ. None of our
ancestors understood this. Only in our
time has it been made clear by God's
Spirit through his holy apostles and
prophets of this new order. The mystery
is that people who have never heard of
God and those who have heard of him all
their lives (what I've been calling outsiders
and insiders) stand on the same ground
before God. They get the same offer, same
help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The
Message is accessible and welcoming to
everyone, across the board.

7-8 This is my life work: helping people
understand and respond to this Message.
It came as a sheer gift to me, a real
surprise, God handling all the details.
When it came to presenting the Message
to people who had no background in God's
way, I was the least qualified of any of the
available Christians. God saw to it that I
was equipped, but you can be sure that it
had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

8-10 And so here I am, preaching and
writing about things that are way over my
head, the inexhaustible riches and
generosity of Christ. My task is to bring
out in the open and make plain what God,
who created all this in the first place, has
been doing in secret and behind the
scenes all along. Through followers of
Jesus like yourselves gathered in
churches, this extraordinary plan of God
is becoming known and talked about even
among the angels!

11-13 All this is proceeding along lines
planned all along by God and then
executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust
in him, we're free to say whatever needs
 to be said, bold to go wherever we need
to go.  So don't let my present trouble on
 your behalf get you down. Be proud!
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MATTHEW 2:1-12
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The Magi (Iraqi/Iranian astrologers) see a
star in the heavens that leads them on to
inquire and bring gifts for the birth of a
new king. The magi have traveled
hundreds of miles for this manifestation of
sudden revelation (Epiphany) . . . to pay
homage in the form of precious gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh.  They later
team up with God to subvert Herod's plan
to destroy the new king they came to seek.
They are told in a dream that they must go
home by another route.

 
SCHOLARS FROM THE EAST
1-2
  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem
village, Judah territory— this was during
Herod's kingship—a band of scholars
arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They
asked around, "Where can we find and pay
homage to the newborn King of the Jews?
We observed a star in the eastern sky that
signaled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to
worship him."

3-4 When word of their inquiry got to
Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod
alone, but most of Jerusalem as well.
Herod lost no time. He gathered all the
high priests and religion scholars in the
city together and asked, "Where is the
Messiah supposed to be born?"

5-6 They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah
territory.
The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:

   It's you, Bethlehem, in Judah's land,
      no longer bringing up the rear.
   From you will come the leader
      who will shepherd-rule my people, my
   Israel."

7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting
with the scholars from the East. Pretend-
ing to be as devout as they were, he got
them to tell him exactly when the birth-
announcement star appeared. Then he told
them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and
said, "Go find this child. Leave no stone
unturned. As soon as you find him, send
word and I'll join you at once in your
worship."

9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off.
Then the star appeared again, the same
star they had seen in the eastern skies. It
led them on until it hovered over the place
of the child. They could hardly contain
themselves: They were in the right place!
They had arrived at the right time!      
11 They entered the house and saw the
child in the arms of Mary, his mother.
Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped
him. Then they opened their luggage and
presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

12 In a dream, they were warned not to
report back to Herod. So they worked out
another route, left the territory without
being seen, and returned to their own
country.
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• 1781 - Richmond, VA, was burned by a
British naval expedition led by Benedict
Arnold.
• 1925 - Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross was sworn
in as the governor of Wyoming She was
the first female governor in the U.S.
• 1933 - Construction of the Golden Gate
Bridge began. 
 
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MONDAY, JANUARY 6TH —
THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY.

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• 1759 - George Washington and Martha
Dandridge Custis were married.
• 1838 - Samuel Morse demonstrated his
telegraph publicly for the first time.
• 1912 - New Mexico became the 47th U.S.
state.
• 1945 - The Battle of the Bulge ended with
130,000 German and 77,000 Allied
casualties.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 7TH —
Happy Birthday Rex Noland!
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• 1789 - Americans voted for the electors
that would choose George Washington to
be the first U.S. president.
• 1904 - The distress signal "CQD" was
established. Two years later "SOS"
became the radio distress signal because
it was quicker to send by wireless radio.
• 1927 - In Hinckley IL, the Harlem
Globetrotters played their first game.
• 1959 - The United States recognized
Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.
• 1968 - The cost of a U.S. first class stamp
was raised to 6 cents.
• 1975 - OPEC raised crude oil prices 10%,
which began a time of world economic
inflation.
• 1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa was
closed to the public. The accelerated rate
of "leaning" raised fears for the safety of
its visitors.
• 2010 - Apple's iPad was unveiled.    
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8TH —
A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN 

FROM 5:30 P.M. TO 7:30 P.M.       
SPRC MEETS IN CASEY AT 7:30 P.M.           
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• 1790 - George Washington delivered the
first State of the Union address in the
United States.
• 1815 - The Battle of New Orleans began.
The War of 1812 had officially ended on
December 24, 1814, with the signing of
the Treaty of Ghent. News of the signing
had not reached British troops in time to
prevent their attack on New Orleans.
• 1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
announced his Fourteen Points as a basis
for peace upon the end of World War I.
• 1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson
declared a "War on Poverty."
• 1962 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa
was exhibited in America for the first time
at the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, DC.
 1998 - Scientists announced that they had
discovered that galaxies were accelerating
and moving apart and at faster speeds. 
• 2009 - In Egypt, archeologists entered a
4,300 year old pyramid and discovered the
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 9TH —
Happy Birthday Wyatt Vais!
Happy Birthday Alex Gerhards!
Happy Birthday Ralph Sheeder!
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• 1793 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the
first successful balloon flight in the U.S.
• 1861 - The state of Mississippi seceded
from the United States.
• 1902 - New York State introduced a bill to
outlaw flirting in public.
• 1905 - In Russia, civil disturbances
known as the Revolution of 1905 forced
Czar Nicholas II to grant some civil rights.
• 1951 - The United Nations headquarters
officially opened in New York City.
• 1972 - The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth
was destroyed by fire in Hong Kong port.
• 1991 - U.S. secretary of state Baker and
Iraqi foreign minister Aziz met for 6 1/2
hours in Geneva, but failed to reach any
agreement that would forestall war in the
Persian Gulf.    
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10TH —
Happy Birthday Alan Beattie!
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• 1861 - Florida seceded from the United
States.
• 1920 - The League of Nations ratified the
Treaty of Versailles, officially ending World
War I with Germany.
• 1946 - The first meeting of the United
Nations General Assembly took place with
51 nations represented.
• 1971 - "Masterpiece Theater" premiered
on PBS with host Alistair Cooke. The
introduction drama series was entitled

"The First Churchills."
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 11TH —
• 1569 - England's first state lottery was
held.
• 1770 - The first shipment of rhubarb was
sent to the United States from London.
• 1805 - Michigan Territory was created.
• 1815 - U.S. General Andrew Jackson
achieved victory at the Battle of New
Orleans.
• 1861 - Alabama seceded from the Union.
• 1878 - In New York, milk was delivered in
glass bottles for the first time.
• 1922 - In Toronto General Hospital,
Leonard Thompson became the first
diabetic successfully treated with insulin. 
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FUTURE FOCUS —
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12TH —
YOUTH GROUP WILL MEET IN CASEY AT
11:30 A.M.
A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN IN
CASEY U.M.C. - FROM 9 TO 11 A.M.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15TH —
MARTHA CIRCLE WILL MEET AT 7 P.M.   
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH —
DEBORAH-MARY CIRCLE WILL MEET 
AT 2 P.M.       
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• IMAGINE NO MALARIA - IOWA •
December 15th Bishop Trimble, and 

“Imagine No Malaria-Iowa” took part in 
a Simon Estes concert to fight malaria. 
World renowned opera singer Simon 

Estes performed with a full 1200 
member choir comprised of students 
from across Iowa, along with the Des 
Moines Symphony Youth Orchestra at 
Hilton Coliseum in Ames for his 
IOWA STUDENTS CARE CHRISTMAS 
CONCERT.

“We had choral music, orchestra 

music, solos by Simon Estes, we sang, 
and then the whole crowd sang.  Can 
you imagine 5,000 people singing Hark 
the Herald Angels Sing?  Incredible 
sound!” 

Raising awareness for malaria was not 
just a musical event, Bishop Trimble 
said. It was a Christmas concert in 
every sense of the word.

The United Methodist Church has been
working in Africa for more than 160 
years. The church has an operating
infrastructure of more than 300 clinics 
and hospitals in Africa set up to treat 
thousands of patients. The Imagine No 
Malaria campaign has a goal of getting 
medicines and diagnostic tests to 
those hospitals and clinics, as well as 
thousands of treated mosquito nets to 
the outlying population.  
 The United Nations Foundation, Nothing 
But Nets Program was launched more 
than five years ago within the U.M.C. 
The new concept spread like wild fire 
throughout the denomination.  Led by 
our youth in particular, the U.M.C. has 
raised more than $9 million to send life-
saving insecticide treated mosquito 
nets to Africa and join the global fight to 
prevent deaths from malaria.

The United Methodist Church works 
on this project in conjunction with 
partners of a religious and secular 
nature. Some partners include the 
World Health Organization, the  United 
Nations Foundation, and the Bill and 
Melinda Gates Foundation, among 
others.

Happy New Year to All!
God Bless and Keep You,
Donna

Monday, December 23, 2013

OUR WEEK-DECEMBER 29TH TO JANUARY 4TH

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25TH  —
• MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

                  
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28TH —       

A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN FROM
9 A.M. TO 11 A.M.

BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED

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SUNDAY-DECEMBER 29, 2013
First Sunday After Christmas Day

COLOR: WHITE OR GOLD

Happy Birthday Dorothy Dillinger!
Happy Birthday Randy Carney!
Happy Birthday Jason Hall!

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SCRIPTURE READINGS:
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ISAIAH 63:7-9
(THE MESSAGE)
Thanksgiving for God's salvation.
(In context, deliverance from exile).
The readings for this first Sunday after
Christmas focus on the shadow of the
Incarnation, the painful side of the
mystery of God with us in Jesus Christ.
ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS DONE THAT
NEED PRAISING —
7-9
I'll make a list of God's gracious
   dealings,
   all the things God has done that need
   praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
   his great goodness to the family of
   Israel—
Compassion lavished,
   love extravagant.
He said, "Without question these are my
   people,
   children who would never betray me."
So he became their Savior.
   In all their troubles,
   he was troubled, too.
He didn't send someone else to help them.
   He did it himself, in person.
Out of his own love and pity
   he redeemed them.
He rescued them and carried them along
   for a long, long time.
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PSALM 148   (UMH 861)
(THE MESSAGE)

1-5
Hallelujah! Praise God from heaven,
      praise him from the mountaintops;       

   Praise him, all you his angels,     

      praise him, all you his warriors,    

   Praise him, sun and moon,       

      praise him, you morning stars;  

   Praise him, high heaven,
      praise him, heavenly rain clouds;
   Praise, oh let them praise the name of
      God—
      he spoke the word, and there they
      were!

6 He set them all in place
      from all time to eternity;
   He gave his orders,
      and that's it!

7-12 Praise God from earth,
      you sea dragons, you fathomless
      ocean deeps;
   Fire and hail, snow and ice,
      hurricanes obeying his orders;
   Mountains and all hills,
      apple orchards and cedar forests;
   Wild beasts and herds of cattle,
      snakes, and birds in flight;
   Earth's kings and all races,
      leaders and important people,
   Robust men and women in their prime,
      and yes, graybeards and little children.

13-14  Let them praise the name of God—
      it's the only Name worth praising.
   His radiance exceeds anything in earth
      and sky;
      he's built a monument—his very own
      people!

   Praise from all who love God!
      Israel's children, intimate friends of
      God.
   Hallelujah!
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HEBREWS 2:10-18
(THE MESSAGE)
Scholars consider this writing to be more
polished and eloquent than any other book
of the New Testament.  It was written for a
mixed audience of Jewish and Gentile
Christians who lived in Rome and perhaps
Jerusalem.  Its purpose was to encourage
Christians to persevere in the face of all
persecution.
Jesus is made perfect, Hebrews reminds,
not as a “perfect, innocent little baby” but
rather through all that he suffered. It was
through suffering with us that he could
become for us a merciful high priest. It is
through dying as one of us that he could
conquer death and Satan. It was through
all of that, and only through that, that he
could make atonement for our sins.

10-13
It makes good sense that the God
who got everything started and keeps
everything going now completes the work
by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect
through suffering as he leads all these
people to glory. Since the One who saves
and those who are saved have a common
origin, Jesus doesn't hesitate to treat them
as family, saying,
  I'll tell my good friends, my brothers and
      sisters, all I know about you;
  I'll join them in worship and praise to you.
Again, he puts himself in the same family
      circle when he says,
   Even I live by placing my trust in God.
And yet again,
   I'm here with the children God gave me.

14-15 Since the children are made of flesh
and blood, it's logical that the Savior took
on flesh and blood in order to rescue them
by his death. By embracing death, taking
it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's
hold on death and freed all who cower
through life, scared to death of death.

16-18 It's obvious, of course, that he didn't
go to all this trouble for angels. It was for
people like us, children of Abraham. That's
why he had to enter into every detail of
human life. Then, when he came before
God as high priest to get rid of the
people's sins, he would have already
experienced it all himself—all the pain, all
the testing—and would be able to help
where help was needed.
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MATTHEW 2:13-23
(THE MESSAGE)
The reading from Matthew today reveals
the painful cost to families with infants
and young children (toddlers) in the region
around Bethlehem. Matthew’s telling of the
story does not dodge the pain. He leads us
squarely into it. He reminds us of a lament
song from the days of the exile and the
genocidal slaughters that accompanied it.
13
After the scholars were gone, God's
angel showed up again in Joseph's dream
and commanded, "Get up. Take the child
and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay
until further notice. Herod is on the hunt
for this child, and wants to kill him."    
14-15 Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the
child and his mother under cover of
darkness. They were out of town and well
on their way by daylight. They lived in
Egypt until Herod's death. This Egyptian
exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: "I
called my son out of Egypt."

16-18 Herod, when he realized that the
scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage.
He commanded the murder of every little
boy two years old and under who lived in
Bethlehem and its surrounding hills.     
(He determined that age from information
he'd gotten from the scholars.) That's
when Jeremiah's sermon was fulfilled:

    A sound was heard in Ramah,
         weeping and much lament.
    Rachel weeping for her children,
         Rachel refusing all solace,
    Her children gone,
         dead and buried.

19-20 Later, when Herod died, God's angel
appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt:
"Up, take the child and his mother and
return to Israel. All those out to murder the
child are dead."

21-23 Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the
child and his mother, and reentered Israel.
When he heard, though, that Archelaus
had succeeded his father, Herod, as king
in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But
then Joseph was directed in a dream to go
to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled
in the village of Nazareth. This move was a
fulfillment of the prophetic words,
"He shall be called a Nazarene." 
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• 1170 - St. Thomas à Becket, the 40th
archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered
in his own cathedral by four knights acting
on King Henry II's orders.
• 1812 - The USS Constitution won a battle
with the British ship HMS Java about 30
miles off the coast of Brazil. Before
Commodore William Bainbridge ordered
the sinking of the Java he had her wheel
removed to replace the one that the
Constitution had lost during the battle.
• 1813 - The British burned Buffalo, NY,
during the War of 1812.
• 1845 - U.S. President James Polk signed
legislation making Texas the 28th state of
the United States.
• 1851 - The first American Young Men's
Christian Association (YMCA) was
organized, in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1890 - The U.S. Seventh Cavalry killed
over 400 men, women and children at
Wounded Knee Creek, SD. This was the
last major conflict between Indians and
United States troops.
• 1940 - During World War II, Germany
began dropping incendiary bombs on
London.
• 1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, was the
first ultra high frequency (UHF) television
station to operate on a constant daily
schedule.
• 1997 - Hong Kong began killing their
population of 1.25 million chickens, fearing
the spread of 'bird flu'.  
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 30TH —

• THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY
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• 1853 - The United States bought about
45,000 square miles of land from Mexico in
a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.
• 1887 - A petition to Queen Victoria with
one million names of women appealing for
public houses to be closed on Sundays
was handed to the British Home Secretary.
• 1903 - About 600 people died when fire
broke out at the Iroquois Theater in
Chicago, Illinois.
• 1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) was formed.  It was
dissolved in 1991.
• 1936 - The United Auto Workers union
staged its first strike, at the Fisher Body
Plant in Flint, Michigan. 
• 1940 - California's first freeway was
opened connecting Los Angeles and
Pasadena.
• 1953 - The first color TV sets went on sale
for about $1,175.
• 1993 - Israel and the Vatican established
diplomatic relations.
• 1996 - About 250,000 striking workers
shut down vital services across Israel in
protests against budget cuts proposed by
Prime Minister Netanyahu. 
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31ST —
Happy Anniversary Ray and Sara Young!
————————————————————
• 1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from
France for the Cape of Good Hope, where
they would later create the South African
wine industry with the vines they took with
them on the voyage.
• 1695 - A window tax was imposed in
England, which resulted in many windows
being bricked up.
• 1862 - U.S. President Lincoln signed an
act admitting West Virginia to the Union.
• 1879 - Thomas Edison gave his first
public demonstration of incandescent
lighting to an audience in Menlo Park, NJ.   
• 1891 - New York's Immigration Depot was
opened at Ellis Island, to provide improved
facilities for massive numbers of arrivals.
• 1897 - Brooklyn, NY, became part of New
York City.
• 1946 - U.S. President Truman officially
proclaimed the end of hostilities in World
War II.
• 1961 - In the U.S., the Marshall Plan
expired after distributing more than $12
billion in foreign aid.
• 1999 - Sarah Knauss died at the age of
119 years. She was the world's oldest
person. She was born September 24, 1880. 
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1ST  —
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!    

Happy Birthday Devin Hunter!
Happy Birthday Steven Sheeder!
————————————————————
• 0404 - The last gladiator competition was
held in Rome.
• 1622 - The Papal Chancery chose January
1st as the beginning of the New Year,
instead of March 25th.
• 1804 - Haiti gained its independence. It
was the first independent nation of Latin
America and the Caribbean; the only nation
in the world estabished as a result of a
successful slave revolt.
• 1808 - The U.S. prohibited import of slaves
from Africa. British North America practiced
slave trade from the early 1600's.  Internal
slave-trading was continued, and the slave
population eventually peaked at four million
before abolition was declared.
• 1863 - U.S. President Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation, which
declared that all slaves in rebel states free.
• 1909 - The first old-age pensions were
paid in Britain. People over 70 received
five shillings a week.
• 1934 - Alcatraz Island officially became a
Federal Prison.
• 1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
issued a declaration called the "United
Nations." It was signed by 26 countries that
vowed to create an international postwar
World War II peacekeeping organization.
• 1945 - France was admitted to the United
Nations.
• 1999 - In California, a law went into effect
that defined "invasion of privacy as
trespassing with the intent to capture audio
or video images of a celebrity or a crime
victim engaging in personal family activity." 
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 2ND ————————————————————
• 1492 - The leader of the last Arab strong
hold in Spain surrendered to Spanish
forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and
Queen Isabella I.
• 1788 - Georgia became the 4th state to
ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1872 - Brigham Young, the 71-year-old
leader of the Mormon Church, was
arrested on a charge of bigamy.
He had 25 wives.
• 1879 - Thomas Edison commenced
construction on his first generator.
• 1890 - Alice Sanger became the first
female White House staff person.
• 1900 - U.S. Secretary of State John Hay
announced the Open Door Policy designed
to induce trade with China.
• 1929 - The United States and Canada
reached an agreement on joint action to
preserve Niagara Falls.    
• 1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in
as mayor of Washington, DC. She was the
first black woman to head a city of that size
and prominence.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 3RD —
Happy Birthday Sadie Peterson!
————————————————————
• 1496 - References in Leonardo da Vinci
notebooks suggested that he tested his
flying machine today. The test did not
succeed and he didn't try to fly again for
several years.
• 1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicated
Martin Luther.
• 1777 - The Battle of Princeton took place
today in the War of Independence.  George
Washington defeated the British forces,
led by Cornwallis.
• 1823 - Stephen F. Austin received a grant
from the Mexican government and began
colonization in the Brazos River region in
Texas.
• 1833 - England seized control of the
Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
150 years later, Argentina seized these
islands from the British, but Britain took
them back after a 74-day war.
• 1888 - The drinking straw was patented
by Marvin C. Stone.
• 1924 - English explorer Howard Carter
discovered the burial site of Tutankhamen
in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor,
Egypt.   
• 1925 - In Italy, Mussolini announced that
he would take over dictatorial powers.
• 1959 - In the U.S., Alaska became the
49th state.
• 1961 - The United States severed all
diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1995 - WHO reported that the cumulative
total of officially reported cases of AIDS
had risen to 1,025,073 in 192 countries as
of the end of 1994.   
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 4TH —
Happy Birthday Pam Fisher!
Happy Birthday Darla Cline!
————————————————————
• 1821 - The first native-born American
saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in
Emmitsburg, Maryland.
• 1885 - Dr. William Grant performed the
first successful appendectomy. The
patient was Mary Gartside.
• 1896 - Utah became the 45th U.S. state.
• 1948 - Britain granted independence to
Burma.
• 1962 - New York City introduced a train
that operated without conductors and
motormen.
————————————————————
FUTURE FOCUS —
JANUARY 6 IS EPIPHANY.


God Bless and Keep You This Christmas 
Season,
Donna

Monday, December 16, 2013

OUR WEEK-DECEMBER 22ND TO 28TH —

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH —
• ESTHER CIRCLE MEETS AT 7 P.M.

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22ND —
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
COLOR: PURPLE OR BLUE

 On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we pause
to remember the promise and the peculiar
circumstances around the birth of Jesus.
On this day, as we build a bridge from the
waiting of Advent to the celebratory
contemplation of the Incarnation during
Christmas Season, our readings do not let
us rest with any self-made image of God. 
This is the One who has come to us in
Jesus, abides with us in the Holy Spirit,
and will come again to make all things new.


SCRIPTURE READINGS
————————————————————
ISAIAH 7:10-16
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Ahaz was twenty when he became king of
Judah and reigned for sixteen years.  His
sole reign began 732-731 B.C. and ended
716-715 B.C.  It is said he was weak and
wicked.  He introduced many pagan and
idolatrous customs. 

 He ignored the many remonstrances and 
warnings of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, 
and Micah.
Ahaz, king of Israel, lived in a "bunker
mentality." He is hunkered down in wary
fear of what Kings of Syria might do next,
and even in fear of what God would do if
he dared to ask for help.
Ahaz did ask for help of Tiglath-Pileser III,
the king of Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser sacked
Damascus and annexed Aram. 
Tiglath-Pileser then attacked Israel and
took Gilead and Galilee.

Ahaz died at the age of 36 and was then
succeeded by his son, Hezekiah.
Following Ahaz's death, his son Hezekiah
commissioned the priests and Levites to
open and repair the doors of the Temple.
Removing the defilements of the sanctuary
took 16 days.
The good news offered through the prophet
was that God is already at work to eliminate
fear over the course of the next few years.
Soon Syria would no longer be a threat to
Israel at all.  The help would unfold, just as
surely as the child will grow and mature
to a point of being able to make ethical
decisions.

10-11 God spoke again to Ahaz. This time
he said, "Ask for a sign from your God.
Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the
moon!"
12 But Ahaz said, "I'd never do that. I'd
never make demands like that on God!"
13-17 So Isaiah told him, "Then listen to
this, government of David! It's bad enough
that you make people tired with your pious,
timid hypocrisies, but now you're making
God tired. So the Master is going to give
you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl
who is presently a virgin will get pregnant.
She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel
(God-With-Us). By the time the child is
twelve years old and able to make moral
decisions, the threat of war will be over.
Relax, those two kings that have you so
worried will be out of the picture. But also
be warned: God will bring on you and your
people and your government a judgment
worse than anything since the time the
kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah.
The king of Assyria is coming!"
————————————————————
PSALM 80:1-7, 17-19
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
 AN ASAPH PSALM
1-2
  Listen, Shepherd, Israel's Shepherd -
   get all your Joseph sheep together.
   Throw beams of light
      from your dazzling throne
   So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
      can see where they're going.
   Get out of bed — you have slept long
      enough!
      Come on the run before it's too late.
3  God, come back!
      Smile your blessing smile:
      That will be our salvation.      
4-6  God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
      how long will you smolder like a
      sleeping volcano
      while your people call for fire and
      brimstone?
   You put us on a diet of tears,
      bucket after bucket of salty tears to
      drink.
   You make us look ridiculous to our
      friends;
      our enemies poke fun day after day.
7 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
      Smile your blessing smile:
          That will be our salvation.

8-18 Remember how you brought a young
      vine from Egypt,    
      cleared out the brambles and briers
      and planted your very own vineyard?
   You prepared the good earth,
      you planted her roots deep;
      the vineyard filled the land.  

   Your vine soared high and shaded the
      mountains,
      even dwarfing the giant cedars.
   Your vine ranged west to the Sea,
      east to the River.
   So why do you no longer protect your
      vine?
      Trespassers pick its grapes at will;
   Wild pigs crash through and crush it,
      and the mice nibble away at what's left.
   God-of-the-Angel-Armies, turn our way!
      Take a good look at what's happened
      and attend to this vine.
   Care for what you once tenderly planted
      — the vine you raised from a shoot.
   And those who dared to set it on fire—
      give them a look that will kill!
   Then take the hand of your once-favorite
      child,
      the child you raised to adulthood.
   We will never turn our back on you;
      breathe life into our lungs so we can
      shout your name!
19 God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come
      back!
      Smile your blessing smile:
      That will be our salvation.
————————————————————
ROMANS 1:1-7
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Paul introduces himself and his ministry
to the home churches in Rome.  The
purpose is to establish his credentials for
addressing these churches.  Instead of a
résumé, Paul spends most of his time
talking about the good news about God he
has been entrusted to share.  The power
of the Son was not made known through
earthly warfare or kingship, but through
resurrection from the dead.  And this God,
Paul says, has called him to lead people
everywhere to the "obedience of faith",
which is to say, faithful discipleship to
Jesus Christ.       

1 I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus
Christ on assignment, authorized as an
apostle to proclaim God's words and acts.
I write this letter to all the believers in
Rome, God's friends.
2-7 The sacred writings contain preliminary
reports by the prophets on God's Son. His
descent from David roots him in history;
his unique identity as Son of God was
shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised
from the dead, setting him apart as the
Messiah, our Master. Through him we
received both the generous gift of his life
and the urgent task of passing it on to
others who receive it by entering into an
obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you
are through this gift and call of Jesus
Christ! And I greet you now with all the
generosity of God our Father and our
Master Jesus, the Messiah.
————————————————————
MATTHEW 1:18-25
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Matthew tells the story surrounding the
pregnancy of Mary and the difficulties it
posed for her relationship with her finance,
Joseph.  Uncertainties and threats abound
in this story. Joseph’s reputation is on the
line. So is Mary’s reputation, and even her
life.   Whatever Joseph decides to do will
determine the future of the unborn child.
THE BIRTH OF JESUS
18-19
The birth of Jesus took place like
this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be
married to Joseph. Before they came to
the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she
was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit,
but he didn't know that.)Joseph, chagrined
but noble, determined to take care of
things quietly so Mary would not be
disgraced.
20-23 While he was trying to figure a way
out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in
the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't
hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy
is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has
made her pregnant. She will bring a son to
birth, and when she does, you, Joseph,
will name him Jesus—'God saves'—
because he will save his people from their
sins." This would bring the prophet's
embryonic sermon to full term:

   Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant
   and bear a son;
   They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for
   "God is with us").

24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly
what God's angel commanded in the dream:
He married Mary. But he did not
consummate the marriage until she had
the baby. He named the baby Jesus.        
————————————————————
• 1775 - A Continental naval fleet was
organized in the rebellious American
colonies under Commander Ezek Hopkins.
• 1807 - The U.S. Congress passed the
Embargo Act, designed to force peace
between England and France by cutting off
all trade with Europe.
• 1864 - During the American Civil War,
Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a
message to U.S. President Lincoln from
Georgia. The message read, "I beg to
present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city
of Savannah." 
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23RD —

Happy birthday Jeremiah Betts!
————————————————————
THE OFFICE WILL BE OPEN THIS 

MORNING FROM 9 'TIL NOON
————————————————————
• 1783 - George Washington returned home
to Mount Vernon, after the disbanding of
his army following the Revolutionary War.
• 1788 - Maryland voted to cede 100 square
miles of land for the seat of the national
government.  About two-thirds of the area
became the District of Columbia.
• 1823 - A poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas"
by Clement C. Moore (" 'Twas the night
before Christmas...") was first published.
• 1880 - Thomas Edison incorporated the
Edison Electric Light Company of Europe.

• 1888 - Following a quarrel with artist Paul
Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh
cut off part of his own earlobe.
• 1913 - The Federal Reserve Bill was
signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson. This act established 12 Federal
Reserve Banks.
• 1942 - Bob Hope agreed to entertain U.S.
airmen in Alaska. It was the first of Hope's
traditional Christmas shows.
• 1990 - Elections in Yugoslavia ended and
left four of its six republics with
non-Communist governments.    
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH — 

————————————————————
THE OFFICE WILL BE OPEN THIS 

MORNING FROM 9 'TIL NOON
————————————————————
• CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE AT 5:30 P.M.
IN ADAIR U.M.C.

 We will have Holy Communion this night.
————————————————————
• 1814 - The War of 1812 between the U.S.
and England was ended with the signing
of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
• 1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf,
Germany composed the music for the
song "Silent Night" to words written by
Josef Mohr.
• 1851 - A fire devastated the Library of
Congress in Washington, DC, destroying
about 35,000 volumes.
• 1865 - Some veterans of the Confederate
Army formed a private social club in
Pulaski, TN, called the Ku Klux Klan.
• 1914 - In World War I, the first air raid on
England was made when a German airplane

dropped a bomb on the grounds of the
rectory in Dover.
• 1943 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as
supreme commander of Allied forces in
Operation Overlord. 
• 1944 - A German submarine torpedoed a
Belgian transport ship, S.S. Leopoldville
with 2,235 soldiers aboard. 800 American
soldiers died. The soldiers were crossing
the English Channel to be reinforcements
at the battle that become known as the
Battle of the Bulge.    
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25TH  —

THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY.
• MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!


————————————————————
• 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembled
one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio,
Italy.
• 1776 - Gen. George Washington and his
troops crossed the Delaware River for a
surprise attack against Hessian (German)
forces at Trenton, New Jersey.
• 1818 - "Silent Night" was performed for
the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus
in Oberndorff, Austria.
• 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson
granted an unconditional pardon to all
persons involved in the Southern rebellion
that resulted in the Civil War.
• 1914 - During World War I, British and
German troops observed an unofficial
truce and even played football together on
the Western Front.
• 1962 - The Department of Commerce
Census Clock in Washington, DC, records
the U.S. population this day at 188,000,000.
• December 15, 2013, (51 years later) the
Census Clock records United States
population at 317, 246, 078.
• 1972 - Managua, the capital of Nicaragua,
was hit by an earthquake.  Over 10,000
people were killed.  
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26TH —
————————————————————
• 1620 - A ship load of Pilgrim Fathers
landed at New Plymouth, Massachusetts,
to found Plymouth Colony, with John
Carver as Governor.
• 1776 - The British suffered a major defeat
in the Battle of Trenton during the
American Revolutionary War.
• 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie discovered
radium. Radium is a highly radioactive
chemical element that is an almost white
alkaline earth metal.  It readily oxidizes on
exposure to air, becoming black in color.
Radium is found in uranium ores.
• 1917 - During World War I, the United
States government took over operation of
the nation's railroads.
• 1941 - Winston Churchill became the first
British prime minister to address a joint
meeting of the U.S. Congress.
• 1947 - Heavy snow covered Northeastern
United States, burying New York City under
25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours. The severe
weather was blamed for about 80 deaths.
• 1956 - Fidel Castro attempted a secret
landing in Cuba to overthrow the Batista
regime. All but 11 of his men were killed.
• 1982 - The Man of the Year in "TIME"
magazine was a computer. It was the first
time a non-human received this honor.
• 1991 - The Soviet Union's parliament did
formally vote the country out of existence.
• 2004 - Under the Indian Ocean, a 9.0
magnitude earthquake sent 500-mph waves
across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.
The tsunami killed at least 283,000 people
in a dozen countries, including Sri Lanka,
Indonesia, Sumatra, Thailand and India.   
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27TH —
————————————————————
• 1900 - Carrie Nation staged her first raid
on a saloon at the Carey Hotel in Wichita,
Kansas. She broke each and every one of
the liquor bottles that could be found.
• 1927 - Leon Trotsky was expelled from
the Communist Party. He opposed the rise
of Joseph Stalin and the intense increase
in bureaucracy in the Soviet Union. 
He was assassinated in Mexico on Stalin's
orders.
• 1978 - Spain adopted a new constitution
and became a democracy after 40 years of
dictatorship.
• 1979 - Soviet forces seized control of
Afghanistan. Babrak Karmal succeeded
President Hafizullah Amin, who was over
thrown and executed.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28TH —
˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜
A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN FROM
9 A.M. TO 11 A.M.

  • BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED
————————————————————
• 1065 - In England, Westminster Abbey
was consecrated.
• 1732 - "The Pennsylvania Gazette," owned
by Benjamin Franklin, ran an ad for the first
issue of "Poor Richard’s Almanac."
• 1836 - Mexico's independence was
recognized by Spain.
• 1846 - Iowa became the 29th state to be
admitted to the Union.
• 1879 - In Dundee, Scotland the central
portion of the Tay Bridge collapsed as a
train passed over it. 75 people were killed.  
• 1908 - The city of Messina in Sicily was
almost entirely destroyed by earthquake
and associated tsunami this morning.  It
killed about 75,000 people and destroyed
most of the ancient architecture.
• 1945 - The U.S. Congress officially
recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance."
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UPDATE ON CHRISTMAS MALL —
“A BIG THANK YOU to all the awesome 
help we had this year: all the donations we 
received, the help setting up the fellowship 
hall after church, unpacking and then
displaying all the presents on December 
5th and 6th.  Thank you to those of you 
who brought snacks, helped in the kitchen, 
helped the little shoppers, and wrapped 
gifts.  Thank you to all who sorted through 
and packed up the left over gifts on 
December 16th and 17th. 
We will use these next year and send some 
of them to a “better” home in Atlantic.
 

All the kids absolutely loved to find hidden 
treasures and get them wrapped for their 
loved ones!   Everyone who helps at the 
Mall enjoys it as much as the kids! 
Thank you again for a great Mall this year.”
— Rhonda Wall 
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I hear the Food Pantry was very well used 
this month and indeed, ran out of food.  We 
are exceedingly pleased that this has now 
become a valuable asset in our community. 
It is a wonderful thing, but it does not 
function by itself.  A huge THANK YOU to 
all who have worked so hard to keep this in 
operation.
Remember our fellow citizens of earth who 
were victims of the typhoon in the central
Philippines.  I read that there are about 
6,000 confirmed dead. Those who survived 
will have a very long hard struggle.
 ————————————————————
We have seen a tiny glimpse of the vast,
enormous, positive impact Nelson Mandela 
had on his country and indeed, on planet 
earth.  This month the world lost him at the 
age of 95.  He went from spending 27 years 
in prison to being the leader of his country. 
I dare say few of us would have the positive 
energy and the constitution to rise so high 
from so low.  
Through it all he said he never lost faith.  
When he was beaten and starved, and 
promised a life in prison, he did not loose 
his faith. 
We remember Nelson Mandela and pray 
for a grain of his determination.
————————————————————
Thank you all for your positive energy and 
ceaseless efforts to keep our community 
thriving.  It requires the spirit, resolve and
determination of every one of us.

God Bless and Keep You,
Donna







Monday, December 9, 2013

OUR WEEK-DECEMBER 15TH TO 21ST

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11TH —
       
A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN IN
CASEY U.M.C. - FROM 9 TO 11 A.M.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14TH —

MOBILE FOOD PANTRY WILL BE IN
CASEY COMMUNITY BUILDING - FROM
 9 A.M. to 11 A.M.
VOLUNTEERS ARRIVE FOR SET UP AT
8:30 A.M.

CHRISTMAS MALL 
FROM 9 A.M. TO 1 P.M. IN CASEY U.M.C.  
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15TH —
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
    

COLOR: PURPLE OR BLUE
•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •
• CHRISTMAS PROGRAM IN ADAIR U.M.C.
During Worship Service.
• SOUP LUNCHEON AT CASEY COMMUNITY
BUILDING AFTER SERVICE - WILL BE
HOSTED BY DEAN AND PASTOR MELODEE.
• CAROLING IN ADAIR AND CASEY AFTER
LUNCH     

SCRIPTURE READINGS
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ISAIAH 35:1-10 
THE MESSAGE (MSG)

A song of hope to exiles in Babylon….
"Waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
streams in the Syrian Desert… a highway
shall be there." 

The people in exile in Babylon to whom
this prophetic song was delivered may
have been caught in a tension. On the
one hand, they were making their homes
in a strange land, just as God instructed
them to do through the prophet Jeremiah.
On the other hand, they were still longing
for the homes they had reason to suspect
were destroyed. They wanted to be
content where they were; and at the same
time, they wanted this exile to end.

THE VOICELESS BREAK INTO SONG
1-2
Wilderness and desert will sing
joyously, the badlands will celebrate and
   flower—
Like the crocus in spring, bursting into
   blossom,
   a symphony of song and color.
 Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.
   Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—
   gifts.       

God's resplendent glory, fully on display.
   God awesome, God majestic.

3-4 Energize the limp hands,
   strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls,
   "Courage! Take heart!
God is here, right here,
   on his way to put things right
And redress all wrongs.
   He's on his way! He'll save you!"

5-7 Blind eyes will be opened,
   deaf ears unstopped,
Lame men and women will leap like deer, 
   the voiceless break into song.

Springs of water will burst out in the
   wilderness,
   streams flow in the desert.
Hot sands will become a cool oasis,
   thirsty ground a splashing fountain.
Even lowly jackals will have water to
   drink, and barren grasslands
   flourish richly.

8-10 There will be a highway
   called the Holy Road.
No one rude or rebellious
   is permitted on this road.
It's for God's people exclusively—
   impossible to get lost on this road.
   Not even fools can get lost on it.
No lions on this road,
   no dangerous wild animals—
Nothing and no one dangerous or
   threatening.
   Only the redeemed will walk on it.
The people God has ransomed
   will come back on this road.
They'll sing as they make their way home
   to Zion,
   unfading halos of joy encircling their
   heads,
Welcomed home with gifts of joy and
   gladness as all sorrows and sighs
   scurry into the night.
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LUKE 1:47-55
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
CANTICLE OF MARY


46-55
And Mary said,
 I'm bursting with God-news;
     I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
     God took one good look at me, and
     look what happened—
     I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
 What God has done for me will never be
      forgotten,
      the God whose very name is holy, set
      apart from all others.
 His mercy flows in wave after wave
      on those who are in awe before him.
 He bared his arm and showed his
      strength,
      scattered the bluffing braggarts.
 He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
      pulled victims out of the mud.
 The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
      the callous rich were left out in the
      cold.
 He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
      he remembered and piled on the
      mercies, piled them high.
 It's exactly what he promised,
      beginning with Abraham and right up
      to now.
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JAMES 5:7-10
THE MESSAGE (MSG)

"Be patient until the coming of the Lord."
James is waiting, trusting simple, fairly
concrete, organic processes. The central
metaphor is one of farming.  Those of us
who live in more urban or suburban
settings might think of it as gardening.
The moment you plant the seed in the
earth, and even before, you are already
tasting the juicy, ripe tomatoes, the sweet
buttery corn, the complex tones of fresh
broccoli, the comforting zucchini bread,
and the crisp lettuce that you will enjoy
in days to come . . . if you wait for it.

7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for
the Master's Arrival. You see farmers do
this all the time, waiting for their valuable
crops to mature, patiently letting the rain
do its slow but sure work. Be patient like
that. Stay steady and strong. The Master
could arrive at any time.

9 Friends, don't complain about each
other. A far greater complaint could be
lodged against you, you know. The
Judge is standing just around the corner.

10-11 Take the old prophets as your
mentors. They put up with anything, went
through everything, and never once quit,
all the time honoring God. What a gift life
is to those who stay the course!   You've
heard, of course, of Job's staying power,
and you know how God brought it all to-
gether for him at the end. That's because
God cares, right down to the last detail.
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MATTHEW 11:2-11
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
John the Baptist in prison sends a
question to Jesus: "Are you the one who
is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

Are we there yet? That’s the question
impatient children ask when they’re tired 

and bored with being stuck in the car, the 
bus, or the plane.  There comes a time 
when the waiting stops, when the longed 
for thing has in fact come. And at that 
point, if we’ve gotten used to waiting, or 
tired of hoping, we may need someone to 
remind us that we’ve actually arrived.
2-3 John, meanwhile, had been locked up
in prison. When he got wind of what
Jesus was doing, he sent his own
disciples to ask, "Are you the One we've
been expecting, or are we still waiting?"

4-6 Jesus told them, "Go back and tell
John what's going on:

   The blind see,
   The lame walk,
   Lepers are cleansed,
   The deaf hear,
   The dead are raised,
   The wretched of the earth learn that God
is on their side.
"Is this what you were expecting? Then
count yourselves most blessed!"

7-10 When John's disciples left to report,
Jesus started talking to the crowd about
John. "What did you expect when you
went out to see him in the wild? A weekend
camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk
pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a
long shot. What then? A prophet? That's
right, a prophet! Probably the best
prophet you'll ever hear. He is the prophet
that Malachi announced when he wrote,
'I'm sending my prophet ahead of you, to
make the road smooth for you.'

11-14 "Let me tell you what's going on
here: No one in history surpasses John the
Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared
you for, the lowliest person is ahead of
him. For a long time now people have tried
to force themselves into God's kingdom.
But if you read the books of the Prophets
and God's Law closely, you will see them
culminate in John, teaming up with him in
preparing the way for the Messiah of the
kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is
the 'Elijah' you've all been expecting to
arrive and introduce the Messiah.
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• 1791 - In the United States, the first ten
amendments to the Constitution, known
as the Bill of Rights, went into effect after
ratification by the state of Virginia.
• 1840 - Napoleon Bonapart's remains were
interred in Les Invalides in Paris, having
been brought from St. Helena, where he
died in exile.
• 1854 - In Philadelphia, the first street
cleaning machine was put into use.
• 1877 - Thomas Edison patented the
phonograph.
• 1890 - American Sioux Indian Chief
Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members
were killed in Grand River, SD, during an
incident with Indian police working for the
U.S. government.  Sitting Bull was a
Lakota holy man who led his people as
Tribal Chief during the years of resistance
against U.S. government pressures.
Before the Battle of the Little Bighorn,
Sitting Bull had a vision in which he saw
the defeat of the 7th Cavalry under the
leadership of Lt. Col. George Armstrong
Custer on June 25, 1876.  Sitting Bull
motivated his people to a major victory.

• 1944 - A single-engine plane carrying U.S.
Army Major Glenn Miller disappeared in
thick fog over the English Channel while
en route to Paris.
• 1961 - Former Nazi official Adolf
Eichmann was sentenced to death in
Jerusalem by an Israeli court. He had been
tried on charges of organizing the
deportation and extermination of Jewish
people in concentration camps.
He joined the Nazi party in 1932, and was
assigned head of Jewish Evacuation in
1939.  He organized transient camps and
the deportation of hundreds of thousands
of jewish people around Europe.  When the
United States entered World War II, Hitler
decided to set up extermination camps to
get rid of the Hebrew people very quickly.
When the war was over, Eichmann escaped
to Argentina.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 16TH —
Happy Birthday Carol Ann Schnobrich!

THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY.
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• 1773 - Nearly 350 chests of tea were
dumped into Boston Harbor off of British
ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots
were disguised as Indians. The act was to
protest taxation without representation
and a monopoly the government granted
to the East India Company.
• 1835 - In New York, 530 buildings were
destroyed by fire.
• 1850 - The first immigrant ship, the
Charlotte Jane, arrived at Lyttleton,
New Zealand.
• 1995 - Many U.S. government functions
were closed as a temporary financial
provision expired and the budget dispute
between President Clinton and
Republicans in Congress continued.

• 1996 - Britain's agriculture minister
announced the slaughter of 100,000 cows
thought to be at risk of contracting BSE
(Mad Cow Disease) in an effort to persuade
the European Union to lift a ban on Britain.
• 1999 - Torrential rains and mudslides in
Venezuela left thousands of people dead
and drove 120,000 folks from their homes.
• 2002 - Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
The 1997 treaty was aimed at reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.  
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17TH —
Happy Birthday Erika Lundy!
Happy Birthday Jamie Christoffersen!
Happy Birthday Brenda Irlmeier!
Happy Birthday Dale Slayton!

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• 1777 - France recognized United States of
America's independence.
• 1791 - A traffic regulation in New York City
established the first "One Way" street. 
• 1903 - The first successful gasoline
powered airplane flight took place near
Kitty Hawk, NC. Orville and Wilbur Wright
made the flight.
• 1944 - The U.S. Army announced the end
of its policy of excluding Japanese-
Americans which ensured that Japanese-
Americans would be released from the
detention camps. 
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH —
• ESTHER CIRCLE MEETS AT 7 P.M.

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• 1787 - New Jersey became the third state
to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1865 - Slavery was abolished in the United
States with the 13th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution being ratified.
• 1898 - A new automobile speed record
was set at 39 mph.
• 1916 - In World War I, after 10 months of
fighting, the French defeated the Germans
in the Battle of Verdun. 
• 1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S.
Congress. It established the prohibition of
alcoholic beverages.
• 1935 - A $1 silver certificate was issued
for the first time in the United States.  
• 1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret
directive ordering preparations for a Nazi
invasion of the Soviet Union. It was known
as Operation "Barbarossa" and it was
launched in June 1941.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19TH —
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• 1154 - Henry II became King of England.
• 1562 - The Battle of Dreux was fought
between the Huguenots and the Catholics,
beginning the French Wars of Religion.
• 1777 - General George Washington led an
army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
• 1842 - Hawaii's independence was
recognized by the United States. 
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20TH —
Happy Birthday, Ryan Morgan!
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• 1606 - The ships "Susan Constant,"
"Godspeed" and "Discovery" set sail from
London. They landed at Jamestown, VA,
and started the first permanent English
settlement in America.
• 1699 - Peter the Great ordered that the
Russian New Year date be changed from
September 1 to January 1.
• 1790 - The first successful cotton mill in
the United States began operating in
Pawtucket, RI.
• 1803 - The United States Senate ratified a
treaty including the Louisiana Territories
from France for $15 million. It was about
828,000 square miles. Considering the
cancellation of debts, the land cost us
about three cents and acre. 
The property encompassed all or part of 15
present U.S. states and two Canadian
provinces. The land purchased contained
all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa,
Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; parts of
Minnesota that were west of the Mississippi
River; most of North Dakota; most of South
Dakota; northeastern New Mexico; north
Texas; the portions of Montana, Wyoming,
and Colorado east of the Continental Divide;
and Louisiana west of the Mississippi
River.
• 1820 - The state of Missouri enacted
legislation to tax bachelors between the
ages of 21-50 for being unmarried. The tax
was $1 a year.
• 1860 - South Carolina was the first state
to secede from the American Union.
• 1864 - Confederate forces evacuated
Savannah, Georgia as Union Gen. William
T. Sherman made his "March to the Sea."
• 2001 - The U.S. Congress passed a $20
billion package to finance the war against
terrorism taking place in Afghanistan.
• 2001 - The first British peacekeepers
arrived in Afghanistan to help the nation
heal after decades of war. 
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21ST —
Happy Birthday Sandra Farnsworth
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• 1620 - The "Mayflower", and its pilgrims
from England, landed at Plymouth Rock,
Massachusetts.
• 1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie
discovered the radioactive element radium.
• 1937 - Walt Disney debuted the first, full
length, animated feature in Hollywood. The
movie was "Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs."
• 1945 - U.S. Gen. George S. Patton died in
Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car
accident.
• 1988 - 270 people were killed when Pan
Am Boeing 747 exploded over Lockerbie,
Scotland, due to a terrorist attack.
• 1991 - Eleven of the 12 former Soviet
republics proclaimed the birth of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
They were Russian Federation, Ukraine,
Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• 1995 - The city of Bethlehem passed from
Israeli to Palestinian control.  There are
written references to the city since about
1400 B.C.    It has changed hands, and/or
been sacked and rebuilt eleven times since
529 A.D. 

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FUTURE FOCUS ———
DECEMBER 24TH — 

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE AT 5:30 P.M.
IN ADAIR U.M.C.

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DECEMBER 25TH
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!



Hoping you have a blessed Christmas 
season.
God Bless and Keep You,
Donna