Bergen UMC News December 2018

FOLLOWING JESUS—TOGETHER—SHARING HIM WITH OTHERS.

Christmas Eve Monday, December 24

7:00pm Family-friendly Worship Service with Candle lighting

10:00pm Worship Service with Holy Communion and Candle lighting

Sunday, December 30

9:15am Combined Worship Service - Lessons and Carols

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Pastor Wilson

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Advent is nearly upon us. Advent is a time of waiting and preparation. Waiting isn’t easy for many of us. Whether it is waiting for something good to come or waiting for something we don’t enjoy to end, waiting goes against the norms of today. I sometimes have heard people say during Advent, “Pastor, why don’t we sing more Christmas songs in worship?” And I say, “Wait. We will.” But we don’t like waiting. I find Advent to be a bother because it forces us to wait for what we really want to do: celebrate the birth of Jesus. And what is more annoying is that it won’t let us wait in peace. It is bad enough we wait to sing “Silent Night, Holy Night” but Advent slaps us in the face with that seemingly constant cry of an unshaven, unkempt preacher: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” And I want to say, “Come on, John, why can’t we just get on with the party?” When I was young, I disliked Advent. I hated waiting for Christmas…what kid doesn’t…except for the Advent wreath. I remember when I was young my family was asked to light the candles in church. It was so cool to see my name in the bulletin. But recently I’ve grown to realize the power of waiting. Waiting can build a sense of anticipation. Waiting can make the celebration all the more exciting once it finally comes. Advent is about delayed gratification. Advent says “Not in my time, God, but yours.” Advent helps us to understand the longing the Jewish people

felt waiting for their Messiah. Advent can make us pause and realize that our lives are too fast, too rushed, and too filled with “me” or things or just too simply too full. Advent helps us resist the consumerism of Christmas that has stores decorating for the holiday before our Thanksgiving turkeys are carved. All the world says “Let’s get on with it!” Advent says, “Hold on for a minute….or two.” Several years ago I was opposed to singing any Christmas songs in worship during Advent – you know, if we are going to do Advent, let’s do it right. But then I realized that some Christmas songs might actually build the anticipation of Christmas rather than lessen it. My grandmother would never let us in the kitchen when she was cooking. We used to sneak in anyway and steal a “sample” because we just couldn’t wait. And that made waiting even harder because we had taken a taste of what we were waiting for. We knew how good it was going to be. A few Christmas songs during Advent can do that for me now. They can actually help me prepare. The church has found ways to wait during Advent and to build a sense of anticipation for Christmas. Some churches don’t decorate until after the First Sunday of Advent. Other’s add decorations slowly throughout the season. Sometimes only Advent songs are sung early in the season and then the old Christmas favorites are slowly added in. The Advent Wreath is meant to build to the climax of Christmas. During worship this year we are going to try to hold back, even if just a little, with

Our long time custodian Gretchen Defabaugh has announced that she will be retiring effective December 31, 2018. Gretchen

has faithfully served Bergen UMC for more than 22 years!!! Be sure to share your appreciation with her for her years of dedicated service and keep your eyes open for opportunities to show your appreciation in more concrete ways.

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celebrating Christmas so that when we are finally able to let go, all heaven breaks loose. Sure, we will get a taste of the joy, the songs, the celebration. But my hope is that when we walk in on Christmas Eve, we are so tired of waiting, so tired of preparing the way, so tired of holding back, that we are overcome with joy and wonder and awe. I pray that somehow the waiting will make the Coming all the more powerful. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

. . . . . and then some.

There will be no Sunday School classes on December 23. Enjoy being at the Worship service of your choice with your family on that day. Classes will resume on December 30th at 9:15 a.m. See you then! Merry Christmas! Sue Inouye, Sunday School coordinator

We are having a lot of fun in the preschool/kindergarten class in Sunday School! We have a small group, but it's a great group! We start our Sunday morning singing worship songs with the older kids and then head down to our classroom where we've been learning stories from the Old Testament such as the parting of the Red Sea, Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and the 10 Commandments. We even have a snack that goes along with the story. Barb Zinter and Katina Miller are thoroughly enjoying this group of kids! If you have a four year old or a child in kindergarten, please bring them down to join us!

Sunday School News

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As most of you already know, Yelena Morosky has resigned from her position as Youth Pastor and Underground Director. Her last day was November 20th. A letter from Yelena has been shared with the congregation at the end of worship on November 25 and via email. In this letter, she revealed that she is pregnant with twins and she felt that in order to care for herself and her unborn babies it was best for her to resign. Some of you have already shared your concern for and support of Yelena in light of this news. However, her resignation and/or pregnancy may leave others with concerns or questions, even among those who have expressed support. Yelena chose not to share with the church the circumstances around her pregnancy and we respect her right to privacy. She did share in the letter that the father is not in the picture. While it can be natural to have questions and to make assumptions in situations like this, experience tells us that in the absence of facts it is best to

resist the temptation to jump to conclusions. Most of us have probably experienced finding out that assumptions we have made were mistaken. What we do know is that Yelena is facing the challenge of being a single mother of two babies and can use all the prayers and support that she can be given. She has asked the body of Christ at Bergen UMC to pray for her and her pregnancy. There may be opportunities for us as a church to support her in other ways in the future, and we will let you know should those opportunities arise. In the meantime, the leadership of the church will be doing all we can to make sure that the Underground and our youth programs continue until the time when we can make more permanent, long-term arrangements. In Christ, Pastor Wilson Dianne Szczupakowski, SPRC Chair Rick Woodring, Council Board Chair

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United in Christ, we are led by the Spirit and

called to worship, build relationships,

and dig deep into the Scriptures so that each person grows into maturity.

God calls and empowers all of us to go out to our communities to build relationships so that

others will come to know the exceptional love of Jesus.

Have you had a chance to visit the church library lately? We have a wide selection of books and audio and are sure there is something in our library that you and your family will enjoy. It is hard to believe, but the Holidays are right around the corner. With this in mind, we will be pulling the Christmas/Advent materials and displaying them in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday, December 2nd. If you see something you like, you can check it out that day. In the busy and often times stressful days ahead, take time to relax with a good book.

“We read to know we are not alone.” C. S. Lewis

Blessings in Him, Nancy Specht

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Putterers on December 8

9:00—noon

Contact Steve Daniels

368-8695 or

stevednls@rochester.rr.com

The monthly meeting of the Naomi Circle will be on Wednesday, December 12 at 1:30. The group will meet at the church to pack Christmas Cookie boxes. All women are invited to attend. Contact Marian Partridge at 494-1632 for more information.

NAOMI

It’s Red Kettle Time!

There are Bell Ringing Opportunities Available

Batavia Tops Market (East Entrance)

Saturday, Dec. 22nd

9am - 6 pm

Sign-up Sheets are in the Fellowship Hall

If you would like to donate to the Flower Fund so that the flower committee can continue to purchase floral items to make new floral pieces, or re-do pieces that need work, or need to be replaced, it would be greatly appreciated. Please put your check in the offering plate, with “Flower Fund” in the memo area, or see John Hamel in the vestibule before or after either service.

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9:15 Service

Greeter 2 Donna Lievense 9 Suzi Lepkowski 16 Rose Chambers 23 Donna Pringle 30 Mary McKee Nursery / Cradle

2 Deb Coleman 9 Vicki Kuipers 16 Anne Pocock 23 Sherry Starowitz 30 Sawyer Zinter Acolytes & Ushers 2 Gary Cooper / Jan Cooper 9 Ron Chraston / Sherry Chraston 16 George Parry / Brian Pocock 23 Daryl Bater / Warren Pocock 30 David Lepkowski / Suzi Lepkowski Scripture Reader 2 Mary McKee 9 George Parry 16 Bill Waldruff 23 Hal Milward 30 Jerry Sheridan

11:00 Service Greeter 2 Liz Mundell 9 Kaitlyn House 16 Katina Miller 23 Susan Barr 30 *** 9:15 only Scripture Reader 2 Susan Barr 9 Alysia Fink 16 Steve Daniels 23 Donna Weiler 30 *** 9:15 only Nursery / Cradle 2 Nancy Daniels 9 Marge Busmire 16 Devon Zinter 23 Jude Miller 30 *** 9:15 only

December Layhelper Schedule

If you cannot serve as scheduled, please attempt to switch Sundays with someone on a different week and call the office at 494-1312 with the change. Opportunities are available for all positions in the 9:15 and 11:00 Worship Services. Please call Nancy Daniels at 293-3644 or email at nancydnls@rochester.rr.com to volunteer to serve. YOU are needed!

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Birthdays and

December

We are having lots of fun and learning so much in preschool! We had a great field trip to McCracken Farms and have talked a lot about being thankful. We've also worked on using scissors and writing our names, learned to take turns and raise our hand when we want to talk. Soon we'll hear the Christmas story from Pastor Wilson and make some cute gifts for our parents! Preschool is a busy time and we're loving it! Merry Christmas from all of us at Little Hands!

2 Allen Dunham Pamela Koska 3 Michael Lovett 4 Nancy Pocock 6 Laura Alhart Susan Barr 7 Greta Miller Brian Pocock 9 Will Cassada 10 Paul Davidson Michael Mundell 11 Linda Garner 12 Cathy MacConnell Dorothy Gibson 13 Katina Miller Yelena Morosky 16 Daniel McAdam 19 Rocky & Rose Chambers* 22 Kenneth Bater 23 Betty Stedge 26 Dave & Cathy Washburn* 27 Suzi Lepkowski 29 Karen Howard 31 Justin Mundell

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I don’t know what your storm has been, but I do know that it may not be the storm that brought you down. It might be shallow roots; weakened roots—roots that have been neglected or just don’t go deep enough for life’s major onslaughts. Life’s storms expose shallow roots. Maybe that’s what’s been happening to you. Maybe your faith has been rooted in your feelings, and when your feelings took a nose-dive, so did your faith. Or could it be that you’ve been trying to make it with a second-hand faith; maybe your parent’s Jesus, your church’s Jesus, your spiritual leader’s Jesus. But somewhere, you may have missed getting a one-on-one relationship with Jesus that’s yours, your very own; one that’s not dependent on your Christian environment. When the winds are strong, a second-hand faith, it’s not going to survive. Or maybe you’re a fair-weather follower of Jesus. You hang onto Him when things are going your way, but when they aren’t, you wander off from your Savior. One other kind of roots that won’t hold you—living for the approval and the attention of a certain person or a group of people. If that’s where your worth is, I’ll tell you, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going down. Now to our word for today from the Word of God. Strong roots, Isaiah 33:6, “The Lord will be the sure foundation for your times.” A life that’s deeply anchored to a growing personal relationship with this Lord is holding onto the one thing that no storm can uproot. The very first Psalm describes a person who is “like a tree planted by streams of water.”

Roots That Hold

A Word With You with Ron Hutchcraft

The wind was blowing so hard that day, I was afraid someone was going to end up in Oz; and this isn’t even Kansas, Dorothy. I was in my office during one of those blustery hours, but you could not miss the roar outside. At times the winds were approaching hurricane force. I mean, they were knocking out electric power to many customers, they’re tearing branches off trees, and in one case while we were still living in the northeast, it was causing the deaths of four schoolgirls in New York City. They were actually in their church-school van when a 60mph gust whipped down the street, uprooted a 68-foot high maple tree, which fell on the van, killing those girls instantly. But the next day the mayor suggested that this was a tragedy that did not have to happen. Several months earlier, a nearby sidewalk had been paved without a permit, and that possibly weakening the roots of that tree. So, it may not have been the storm that caused the tragedy; it might have been the weakened roots. I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “Roots That Hold.” If your roots don’t go deep enough, the storm can uproot you just like that tree in New York. In fact, it could be that the recent storms in your life have blown you around violently and maybe you’ve even fallen to despair, or temptation, unbelief, or back to an old you that you thought you were done with.

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Did you get that? Planted. Solid. Not going anywhere. How can you be that person? It says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners.” In other words, stop flirting with sin. Every time you do, you weaken your roots. That sin comes between you and your anchor, your Lord. The Psalm goes on, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” So, you make your daily time with Jesus the most important, most non-negotiable thing in your day. You avoid the weakening pull of sin and compromise. You make a priority of the strengthening that comes from daily time in God’s Word, and that’s where deep roots come from. Every day that you have quality time with your Lord, your roots go a little deeper into Him and you become a little more storm-proof. So don’t wait for the storm to suddenly start developing your roots in your relationship with God. It’s too late then. The landscape is filled with those who have fallen; not because the storm was so strong, but because their roots were so weak. Don’t let that happen to you. November 12, 2018

Our OCC Packing Party was a great success this year. It was rewarding to see the many parts of our church come together to support this mission. A multi-generational Craft Night made many items for the shoeboxes. The generous support of the congregation provided many gift items and monies. Underground Youth prepped materials destined for the shoeboxes. “Secret Agents” scoured the aisles of Walmart for just the right gifts. On a Saturday afternoon, the youth and many gracious volunteers packed 101 shoeboxes. In additon, $635 was sent to Samaritan’s Purse / Operation Christmas Child to partially offset the cost of shipping these shoeboxes.

Thank you congregation for your faithful support of Operation Christmas Child. We were blessed to deliver 205 shoeboxes to the local collection site on November 12th. It is exciting to see the hundreds of boxes being delivered and packed at the collection site by enthusiastic volunteers. Each box represents a child that will come to know God’s love and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Following Jesus, Together,

Sharing Him with Others

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