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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17TH —
Hostess is Ginger Spangler
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21ST —
Happy Birthday Sandra Farnsworth!
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This night, is “Longest Night,” the Winter
Solstice. . . the first day of Winter.
Today, the final Sunday of Advent, is the
segue to the Christmas Season. As a
segue, this Sunday addresses not the
birth, but the story from Luke’s gospel
about the announcement to Mary that
the birth will happen.
• COLOR: PURPLE OR BLUE
• FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
LIGHT THE FOURTH CANDLE OF THE
ADVENT WREATH.
spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he
has looked with favor on the lowliness
of his servant. Surely, from now on all
generations will call me blessed."
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SCRIPTURE READINGS ———————————————————
2 SAMUEL 7:1-16
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Nathan brings good news and a reality
check to David. The good news: God
intends to establish David's lineage
permanently, though conditionally. The
reality: God has been present with
God's people by being in their midst as
they have traveled (the tabernacle,
"incarnation") and has no need for
David to build a temple.
GOD'S COVENANT WITH DAVID
1-2 Before long, the king made himself
at home and God gave him peace from
all his enemies. Then one day King
David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look
at this: Here I am, comfortable in a
luxurious house of cedar, and the Chest
of God sits in a plain tent.”
your heart, go and do it. God is with you.”
to Nathan saying, “Go and tell my
servant David: This is God’s word on the
matter: You’re going to build a ‘house’
for me to live in? Why, I haven’t lived in
a ‘house’ from the time I brought the
children of Israel up from Egypt till now.
All that time I’ve moved about with
nothing but a tent. And in all my travels
with Israel, did I ever say to any of the
elders I commanded to shepherd Israel,
‘Why haven’t you built me a house of
cedar?’
8-11 “So here is what you are to tell my
servant David: The God-of-the-Angel-
Armies has this word for you: I took you
from the pasture, tagging along after
sheep, and made you prince over my
people Israel. I was with you everywhere
you went and mowed your enemies
down before you. Now I’m making you
famous, to be ranked with the great
names on earth. And I’m going to set
aside a place for my people Israel and
plant them there so they’ll have their
own home and not be knocked around
any more. Nor will evil men afflict you
as they always have, even during the
days I set judges over my people Israel.
Finally, I’m going to give you peace from
all your enemies.
11-16 “Furthermore, God has this
message for you: God himself will build
you a house! When your life is complete
and you’re buried with your ancestors,
then I’ll raise up your child, your own
flesh and blood, to succeed you, and
I’ll firmly establish his rule. He will build
a house to honor me, I will guarantee
his kingdom’s rule permanently. I’ll be a
father to him, and he’ll be a son to me.
When he does wrong, I’ll discipline him
in the usual ways, the pitfalls and
obstacles of this mortal life. But I’ll
never remove my gracious love from
him, as I removed it from Saul, who
preceded you and whom I most
certainly did remove. Your family and
your kingdom are permanently secured.
I’m keeping my eye on them! And your
royal throne will always be there, rock
solid.”
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LUKE 1:47-55 (UMH 199)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The Song of Mary. If you don't hear and
feel Mary pregnant with the end of this
age and the hope for the coming one in
this song, you're not listening or
singing her song yet!
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—
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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ROMANS 16:25-27
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
A concluding doxology that joins the
eternal praise of God for revealing the
mystery of salvation intended for the
whole world in Jesus Christ.
25-26 All of our praise rises to the One
who is strong enough to make you
strong, exactly as preached in Jesus
Christ, precisely as revealed in the
mystery kept secret for so long but now
an open book through the prophetic
Scriptures. All the nations of the world
can now know the truth and be brought
into obedient belief, carrying out the
orders of God, who got all this started,
down to the very last letter.
27 All our praise is focused through
Jesus on this incomparably wise God!
Yes!
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LUKE 1:26-38
THE MESSAGE MSG)
The angel Gabriel announces to Mary
that she will become pregnant by God
and bear the Son of the Most High
whose throne will be eternal. She
consents. Do we?
A VIRGIN CONCEIVES
26-28 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s
pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel
to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a
virgin engaged to be married to a man
descended from David. His name was
Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary.
Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
29-33 She was thoroughly shaken,
wondering what was behind a greeting
like that. But the angel assured her,
“Mary, you have nothing to fear. God
has a surprise for you: You will become
pregnant and give birth to a son and
call his name Jesus.
He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “But how?
I’ve never slept with a man.”
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over
you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
36-38 “And did you know that your
cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old
as she is? Everyone called her barren,
and here she is six months pregnant!
Nothing, you see, is impossible with
God.”
Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.
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• 1620 - The "Mayflower", and its
passengers, pilgrims from England,
landed at Plymouth Rock, MA.
• 1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie
discovered a radioactive element, radium.
• 1909 - McKinley and Washington
schools of Berkeley, California, became
the first authorized, junior-high schools
in the United States.
• 1945 - U.S. Gen. George S. Patton died
in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from
a car accident.
• 1958 - Charles de Gaulle was elected to
a seven-year term as the first president
of the Fifth Republic of France.
• 1991 - Eleven of the 12 former Soviet
republics proclaimed the birth of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 22ND —
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NOON TODAY •
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• 1775 - A Continental naval fleet was
organized in the rebellious American
colonies under the command of Esek
Hopkins. He was the only Commander
in Chief of the Continental Navy during
the American Revolutionary War.
• 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 you as a Christmas gift, the city
of Savannah."
• 1941 - British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill arrived in Washington for a
wartime conference with U.S. President
Franklin Roosevelt.
• 1989 - Romania's hard-line Communist
ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu, is overthrown
in a popular uprising.
• 1990 - Lech Walesa was sworn in as
Poland's first popularly elected president.
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23RD —
Happy Birthday Jeremiah Betts!
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• 1783 - George Washington returned
home to Mount Vernon, after disbanding
his army following the Revolutionary War.
• 1788 - The state of Maryland voted to
cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat
of the national government. About
two-thirds of the area became the
District of Columbia.
• 1888 - Following a quarrel with Paul
Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh
cut off part of his own earlobe.
• 1913 - The Federal Reserve Bill was
signed into law by President Woodrow
Wilson. The act established 12 Federal
Reserve Banks in the United States.
THEY ARE DIVIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• 1942 - Bob Hope agreed to entertain
U.S. airmen in Alaska. It was the first of
his traditional Christmas shows.
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH —
Happy Birthday Sandra Lundy!
Happy Birthday Charlie Carney!
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THE OFFICE MAY POSSIBLY BE
CLOSED TODAY, IF IT CAN BE
MANAGED.
HELD IN CASEY U.M.C. AT 5:30 P.M.
We will have Holy Communion.
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• 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
"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 - Many veterans of the Confederate
Army formed a private social club in
Pulaski, Tennessee, . . . the Ku Klux Klan.
• 1943 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
supreme commander of Allied forces as
part of Operation Overlord.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25TH —
• THIS IS CHRISTMAS DAY •
tomorrow.
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• 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembled
one of the first Nativity scenes ever, in
Greccio, Italy.
• 1776 - Gen. George Washington and his
troops crossed the Delaware River for a
surprise attack against Hessian forces at
Trenton, New Jersey.
• 1818 - "Silent Night" was performed for
the first time, in the Church of St.
Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.
• 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson
granted an unconditional pardon to all
persons involved in the South's rebellion
that resulted in the Civil War.
• 1896 - John Philip Sousa finally titled his
melody "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
• 1962 - The Department of Commerce
Census Clock in Washington, DC,
recorded the U.S. population on this day
as 188,000,000.
• 1991 - Soviet President Mikhail S.
Gorbachev went on television to give his
resignation as leader of a Communist
superpower that had already gone out of
existence.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26TH —
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• 1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers landed at New
Plymouth, MA, 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.
• 1917 - During World War I, the U.S.
government took over operation of all 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 blanketed the North
east United States burying New York City
under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours.
Severe weather was blamed for 80 deaths.
• 1956 - Fidel Castro attempted a secret
landing in Cuba to overthrow the Batista
regime. All but 11 of his supporters were
killed.
• 1982 - The Man of the Year in "TIME"
magazine was a computer. It was the first
time a non-human received the honors.
• 1991 - The Soviet Union's parliament
formally voted 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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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27TH —
Happy Birthday Don Chesnut!
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• 1900 - Carrie Nation staged her first raid
on a saloon at the Carey Hotel in Wichita,
Kansas.
• 1945 - The World Bank was created with
an agreement signed by 28 nations.
• 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
overthrown and executed.
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Thank you for your blessings and
contributions this week. They certainly
make a difference.
God bless and keep you,
Donna
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