The St. Johns Eagle

December 2006

Prayer for the month

 God of grace, ever faithful to your promises, the earth rejoices in hope of our Savior’s coming and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time. Prepare our hearts to receive him when he comes, for he is Lord forever and ever. Amen
From “The Book of Common Worship”

Outreach Focus for December

  Christmas Joy Gift Offering will be received on December 17. A Presbyterian tradition for seventy years, the Christmas Joy Offering is one of the four special offerings designated by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to provide congregations direct ways of supporting specific causes that help those in need.
The receipts from the offering are distributed equally to the Board of Pensions for assistance programs and to National Ministries of the General Assembly Council to support Presbyterian racial ethnic education.
We will conclude our hat, scarf, mitten/glove drive (children and adults) by December 17. Please bring these items and place them in the bin in the narthex. We will donate them to Presbyterian Urban Ministries.

Did you take a picture of that?

 St. John’s is collecting pictures of members, past dinners, programs, events, outreach functions, etc. to display on our room dividers. If you have any pictures at home you would like to share, please bring them to church with you and mark on them the date and event and also if you want them returned.

Farwell to Peter

 Peter Savitsky has resigned as our pianist due to his busy work and school schedule. But, we may see him from time to time as a substitute. Peter has been with us for 2 ½ years and during that time we have come to consider him one of the family. We will get to say “farewell for now” on December 3rd when Peter will play for us one more time. We will honor Peter with lunch after the morning service. Please plan to join us. More details about the lunch will be forthcoming.

Christmas Craft Festival

 Our 10th Annual Christmas Craft Festival, hot dog and bake sale is Saturday, December 2nd. This year we will not only have crafters with handmade items for sale; but, we will also have demonstrations by some of the crafters. Join us for some holiday fun and shopping – 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.  

“Tis The Season”

 You are invited to join the Durham Chorale for a singing celebration of the holiday season. We will be giving a concert on Saturday December 9th, 2006 at 8:00 PM and Sunday December 10th, 2006 at 3:00 PM. The concert is FREE. The concert hall is at the Durham Academy Upper School Kenan Auditorium located at 3601 Ridge Road; Durham, NC. Please visit our web site at www.durhamchorale.org for further information. We will be selling tickets for a raffle of many items to help support our non-profit organization. We want to fill the auditorium to the rafters!

December Family Night

  Our annual Christmas Family Night Dinner will be held on Sunday, December 22th, at 6:30 p.m. We will also have our Christmas program at that time. A sign up sheet is at the back of church for you to list the number of folks coming from your family and also what dish you would like to bring.

Candlelight Christmas Eve Service 

 Our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service will be held on December 24th at 5:30 p.m. with a light supper to follow. This service is copyrighted by Lisa Frenz. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission and adapted for our use by Kathy Barnes. It is a beautiful service with lots of familiar hymns and carols.
Our early time enables folks who want to attend a service plenty of time to enjoy the remainder of the evening with family and friends.

Daily Bible Readings
 Here are the Bible readings for the month of December. You may use some of the readings in the morning and some in the evening, your choice.

 Week of December 3

 Sunday: Isa. 1:1-9; Psalm 24;
II Peter 3:1-10; Matt. 25:1-13
Monday: Isa. 1:10-20; Psalm 122;
I Thess. 1:1-10; Luke 20:1-8
Tuesday: Isa. 1:21-31; Psalm 85;
I Thess. 2:1-12; Luke 20:9-18
Wednesday: Isa. 2:1-4; Psalm 50;
I Thes. 2:13-20; Luke 20:19-26
Thursday: Isa. 2:5-22; Psalm 18:1-20;
I Thess. 3:1-13; Luke 20:27-40
Friday: Isa. 3:1-4:1; Psalm 102;
I Thess. 4:1-12; Luke 20:41-21:4
Saturday: Isa. 4:2-6; Psalm 90;
I Thess. 4:13-18; Luke 21:5-19
 

Week of December 10

Sunday: Isa. 5:1-7; Psalm 150;
II Peter 3:11-18; Luke 7:28-35
Monday: Isa. 5:8-17; Psalm 145;
I Thess. 5:1-11; Luke 21:20-28
Tuesday: Isa. 5:18-25; Psalm 146;
I Thess. 5:12-28; Luke 21:29-38
Wednesday: Isa. 6:1-13; Psalm 147:1-11;
II Thess. 1:1-12; John 7:53-8:11
Thursday: Isa. 7:1-9; Psalm 147:12-20
II Thess. 2:1-12; Luke 22:1-13
Friday: Isa. 7:10-25; Psalm 148;
II Thess. 2:13-3:5; Luke 22:14-30
Saturday: Isa. 8:1-15; Psalm 149;
II Thess 3:6-18; Luke 22:31-38
 

Week of December 17

Sunday: Isa. 13:1-13; Psalm 25;
Heb. 12:18-29; John 3:22-30
Monday: Isa. 11:1-9; Psalm 110;
Eph. 6:10-20; John 3:16-21
Tuesday: Isa. 11:10-16; Psalm 40;
Rev. 20:1-10; John 5:30-47
Wednesday: Isa. 28:9-22; Psalm 85;
Rev. 20:11-21:8; Luke 1:5-25
Thursday: Isa. 29:9-24; Psalm 53;
Rev. 21:9-21; Luke 1:26-38
Friday: Isa. 31:1-9; Psalm 126;
Rev. 21:22-22:5; Luke 1:39-56
Saturday: Isa. 33:17-22; Psalm 130;
Rev. 22:6-11, 18-20; Luke 1:57-66

Week of December 24

Sunday: Isa. 59:15b-21; Psalm 132;
Rev. 22:12-17, 21, Luke 1:67-80
Monday: Zech. 2:10-13; Psalm 98;
I John 4:7-16; John 3:31-36
Tuesday: II Chron. 24:17-22; Psalm 27;
Acts 6:1-7; Acts 7:59-8:8
Wednesday: Prov. 8:22-30; Psalm 19;
I John 5:1-12; John 13:20-35
Thursday: Isa. 49;13-23; Psalm 110;
Isa. 54:1-13; Matt. 18:1-14
Friday: Isa. 12:1-6; Psalm 132;
Rev. 1:1-8; John 7:37-52
Saturday: Isa. 25:1-9; Psalm 89:1-18;
Rev. 1:19-20; John 7:53-8:11

Week of December 31

Sunday: Isa. 26:1-6; Psalm 45;
II Cor. 5:16-6:2; John 8:12-19
Monday: Gen. 17:1-12a, 15-16; Psalm 98;
Col. 2:6-12; John 16:23b-30
Tuesday: Gen. 12:1-7; Psalm 9;
Heb. 11:1-12; John 6:36-42, 48-51
Wednesday: Gen. 28:10-22; Psalm 111;
Heb. 11:13-22; John 10:7-17
Thursday: Ex. 3:1-5; Psalm 20;
Heb. 11:23-31; John 14:6-14
Friday: Josh. 1:1-9; Psalm 99;
Heb. 11:32-12:2; John 15:1-16
Saturday: Isa 52:7-10; Psalm 72;
Rev. 21:22-27; Matt. 12:14-21

Not a regular attender of St. John’s? Come visit us!
We’re so glad that you are reading this publication;
we hope you will find it interesting, provocative and
worth your time. And, if you are not a member of any
church, please take the next step and worship with us,
any Sunday, 10 a.m. (Starting in September, 11 a.m.)
We are an active place with friendly people who will
welcome you in, and without “pressure”.

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