12/18/2016

First Christian Reformed Church

Pastor Craig Van Hill pastorvanhill@gmail.com

Cell: 920.539. 3848

We welcome our visitors and hope that you enjoy worshipping with us. If you are presently seeking a church home, we welcome you to join our fellowship. You will find a visitor card in

your pew, please fill one out and place it in the offering bag. If you would like further information about our church, check out our website at www.waupuncrc.com or contact

Pastor Craig (920-539-3848) or the church office (324-2898).

Large-print bulletins and children's bulletins are available from an usher or the back sanctuary rack. You can tune in to AM 1170 every Sunday morning at 8:30 to hear last week’s sermon. You are also able to listen to sermons from our website as well as view the bulletin. Website address is www.waupuncrc.com

Church Office Hours Tuesday from 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Thursday from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM All announcements due in the office by 9:00 AM Thursday

Phone: 920-324-2898 email: waupuncrc@gmail.com

Welcome to

Accompanist Brenda Hofman Fellowship Coffee Gregg & Kristi Zonnefeld

Greeters Brian, Jessica, Cody & Jacob Van Herwaarden Nursery Brad & Rhonda Schouten Breanna Smits Sound System Scott Ritzema Transportation Jim Groenewold (520-0055) Morris Te Grootenhuis (539-0438) Ushers Will Bronkhorst Ray Hofman Al Holden Video Projection LeAnne Holden

Missionary Letters Joe D. to Daryl Pfantz

Glen G. to Neen+ Harold G. to Chaplain Peter

+Please pray especially for this missionary family this

9:30 AM Worship Service (See separate bulletin for Program)

6:00 PM Worship Service

(*Please stand if you are able)

Prelude

Call to Worship

*God’s Greeting

Opening Songs led by Ben Homan

Prayers of the People led Brian O

We Study God’s Word: John 1:1-14 ~ The Word

*Song of Response: Angels We Have Heard on High – G347 vs 1-3

* Affirmation of our Faith

Jesus Christ, God become man, I believe. I believe that in the beginning was the Promise and the Promise was with God and the Promise was God. I believe in the infinite, nurturing creativity of God, in the incarnate, crucified humility of God, in the intimate, inspiring liberality of God. Jesus Christ, King of kings become a baby, I believe.

*Benediction

*Closing Song: Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow – G638

*Postlude

Worship Notes Today we hear the message of Christmas from our children as they lead us in worship in the Sunday School Christmas program. Hear that story that changed eternity again. Next Sunday is Christmas. Come and celebrate the joy of this event. Warm up your vocal chords and prepare you heart to give praise to the God who became human for our sake! Verse of the week: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 This week be in prayer for: - Those who are forgotten and left out during the holidays - Ears and hearts that hear the Christmas message anew - Kenosha CRC Give thanks to God for: - Jesus being willing to become human - The ways that God reveals Himself to us - Protection from the cold

Deacons Report

Fund YTD

Offering YTD Budget YTD Surplus s

Short Fall of 100% paid

Local Budget $115,215.09 $126,380.00 -$11,164.91

Denominational $11,801.50 $34,600.00 -$22,798.50

Classical $7,476.00 $9,625.00 -$2,149.00 Last Week’s Offerings Local Budget $5,966.00 Building Fund $1,023.00 Bethany Christian Services $ 0 Starting this week if you are making a donation to the maintenance and remodeling project please label the envelope or check Capital Improvements. This will help the deacons. Thank you! December cause: Bethany Christian Services - to support their various services such as orphan care, pregnancy counseling, adoption support, and foster care. Log onto www.bethany.org or call 1-800-BETHANY for more information.

Our Family Birthdays December December Lorna O’Donovan 20 Gloria Rens 21 Ryer Greenfield 21 Elizabeth Jonker 24 Anniversaries December Dick & Barb Heeringa 18 As you pray this week please remember these people in your prayers:

- Arky Navis – see his thank you below. Pray that it will now begin to heal.

- Kathy Bille as she recovers from having a tumor removed from her upper arm.

- Norm Jansma as he recovers from ankle replacement surgery. We give thanks that he has little pain and pray that the 6 weeks of recovery will go quickly.

- Steve Smits as he recovers from surgery on a meniscus tear. - Kaytlin Smits as she recovers from surgery on a torn meniscus and

ACL. - Tabbie Vander Werff as she is already feeling relief from the

implanting of the stimulator. Pray that this will continue to work and that her pain from surgery will disappear. May she feel a new freedom of movement.

- Kim Root as she heals from knee replacement surgery. We are thankful that the surgery went well and she is seeing progress in her movement. Pray that this will continue.

If at any time you would like your name added to or taken off of the prayer list, please contact Gladys. A sincere thank you to everyone who visited, sent cards, called or brought food in. This was all greatly appreciated. I am not on top of this yet, heart & chest are fine, however my leg will not heal. It has been opened from the knee to the ankle and there is a wound vac on to promote better and faster healing. The doctor at the wound clinic is pleased with the way it now looks, still a long way from closing. It is now a little over 10 weeks since surgery. Special thank you to Pastor Craig for a visit before surgery and for waiting with my family during surgery. Also thank you to elder Don Pausma and Linda for their visit this past week. Thanks for your prayers and concerns. Arky Navis Thank you to all those who graciously volunteered to ring the bell for the Salvation Army. It is greatly appreciated. Wayne Miedema The poinsettias in front of church are in memory and honor of Mary Homan, Harry Homan, Wiebe Buwalda, Joan Montsma, Mr. and Mrs. Lester Greenfield, Mary Landaal, Jerry Pausma, Travis Groenewald, Alice

Redeker, Gary Hofman, Steve Mulder, John & Marcie Medema and Norm Vande Streek.

Church News The Executive Team is reviewing the status of our church library. If you have input on this topic pass it along. On behalf of the Council, we want to offer our heartfelt thanks to Sue Buwalda, who has completed an eight-year term on the Board of Directors of the Christian Home, including a term as President. Your leadership and dedication is greatly appreciated! As things transition forward, a new Christian Home Auxiliary is being formed to provide on-going support for the chaplaincy and spiritual programs. As one of the founding churches of the Home, we are looking to provide a member to serve on this Auxiliary. If you are willing to serve in this capacity, please contact one of the Elders. The Roe v Wade Anniversary is on Sunday, January 22 this year. Our church will be participating in The Dollar for Life campaign this year with the Dodge County Right to Life chapter. We need your support to help make a statement to the tri-county area that we STAND FOR ALL LIFE! An envelope will be placed in your church mail box on January 1. This envelope needs to be returned by January 15 in the Return Mailbox slot. If you would like to join thousands of pro-life families, please put $1 for each name you list on the envelope. These names will be published in the Daily Citizen the week of January 22. The money raised after paying for the ad is used as a donation to the Pregnancy Support Center in Beaver Dam and our pro-life educational outreach activities. If you have any questions, talk to Mike or Bonnie Vander Berg. The Union Youth Center is looking for adults to help out with our Saturday Night High School Hang-out. Saturday Volunteers are asked to play games, shoot hoops, have conversation and interact with the students. We also need adults willing to help keep this a safe evening. If this is something that would interest you, please contact Kim Venhuizen at 920-382-4438 or kim@badgerlandyfc.org. There will be no Children and Worship on December 18 due to the Sunday School Christmas Program. To all the women out there who need to be reminded of God's love or just want to join our Women’s Bible Study. This year we will be going through a study by Margaret Feinberg. She is the same lady who walked us through our study on joy last year. In this six-session small group Bible study, Pursuing God s Love, Margaret Feinberg looks at six stories of redemption reminding us nothing is beyond God’s love and transforming power. The book of Genesis reminds us that we are meant to experience

God’s love and become expressions of that love in our world. It reminds us that God is all powerful, all knowing, abounding in imagination, creativity, mystery, and wisdom. And that includes when we question God’s love or act in disobedience, God pursues us! If you are interested, please sign up before December 20th in the Narthex so that books can be ordered. BETHANY CHRISTIAN SERVICES ADOPTION JOURNEY INFORMATION MEETING (learn about all your adoption options, free) DATE & TIME - Thursday January 5, from 6-8 pm LOCATION - Immanuel-Trinity Lutheran Church in FDL RSVP – Call Beth at 920-923-6577 Calendar

Today: 9:30 AM AM Worship Service (Sunday School Program)

6:00 PM PM Worship Service Monday: 6:30 PM Crazy Love BS @ Dan & Gladys Tuesday: 8:00 AM Prayer Meeting Next Sunday: 9:30 AM AM Worship Service 10:45 AM Sunday School & Catechism 10:45 AM Choir Practice 6:00 PM PM Worship Service Next Week Accompanist Laura Ten Pass Children & Worship Leader: Dominique Van Hill Helpers: Parker Van Hill Jolie Schouten Fellowship Coffee Mike & Bonnie Vander Berg Greeters Denny & Nancy Vande Berg Nursery Keith & Laura Venhuizen Mikayla Zonnefeld

Offering: Local Budget December Cause: Bethany Christian Services Sound System Pete Vander Werff Transportation Jim Groenewold (520-0055) Morris Te Grootenhuis (539-0438) Ushers Will Bronkhorst Ray Hofman Al Holden Video Projection Travis Mulder

Proclaiming Evidence for Truth

THIS WEEK'S CREATION MOMENT

Carbon-14 Being Found in Dinosaur Fossils!

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. – Psalm 25:5 Evolutionists were so sure that dinosaur fossils are too old to contain any carbon-14, they never even

bothered to check. Or perhaps they were afraid of what they would find. In any case, creationist scientists are now boldly going where evolutionists have feared to tread. An article in the spring 2015 edition of the Creation Research Society Quarterly presents never-before-seen carbon dates for 14 different fossils, including a Triceratops and other dinosaurs. As ICR scientist Brian Thomas points out, "Because radiocarbon decays relatively quickly, fossils that are even 100,000 years old should have virtually no radiocarbon left in them. But they do." Using the services of five different commercial and academic laboratories, the research team tested seven dinosaur bones and detected carbon-14 in them all. The team also looked at several dozen published carbon-14 results for fossils, wood and coal throughout the geologic column and found radiocarbon in almost 50 samples. Evolutionists, of course, try to explain it all away by saying the samples were contaminated. Nice try, but if this were true, how could it be said that any radiocarbon dating results are accurate? Evolutionists can't just toss out data they don't like! Or maybe they can. In this way, they are acting like police officers telling bystanders, "Nothing to see here, folks. Just move along." If anything, this type of behavior strongly suggests that something really is going on! And in this case, it's proof positive that dinosaurs are thousands and not millions of years old! Ref: Brian Thomas, M.S., "Carbon-14 Found in Dinosaur Fossils," 7/6/15. Photo: Triceratops skeleton at Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. Courtesy of Allie Caulfield. (CC-BY-SA 3.0 ) © 2016, Creation Moments. Churches and parents may freely copy these bulletin inserts.

CREATION MOMENTS, INC. P. O. Box 839 • Foley, MN 56329 • 800-422-4253

This insert adapted from Creation Moments' latest book – Letting God Create Your Day, Volume 8.

Facts China continues to enforce the

old policy that prohibits religious education for children under the age of 18.

The publication of Bibles and other Christian materials is restricted by the Communist government.

Over 90% of Chinese Christians worship in unregistered house churches, therefore it is hard to know the actual size of the Christian church in China. Estimates range from 60 to 130 million.

China continues to repatriate North Korean refugees back to their country, to sure punishment, including harsh labor prisons, interrogation, imprisonment of their family members and death.

China

In communist China, persecution comes

largely in the form of government restrictions,

fines, and imprisonment. Limits are placed on

the ways believers can worship, the number of

Bibles in country, expression of faith, and

evangelism.

“We’ve been praying for a way to

expand beyond our area. By faith, I

asked for more materials than usual.

Many people said this was dangerous

for me to do, but I felt led.”

Sister Hannah is a Sunday School

coordinator in eastern China who is

constantly at risk because she receives

Children’s Bibles and Sunday School

materials and redistributes them to

underground house churches in rural

China. Even though Sister Hannah knows she could be arrested and imprisoned for her work, she is more concerned about teaching children about Jesus “We were so surprised when we had 76 NEW leaders come forward and ask us to help them start Sunday Schools at their churches. These churches are in the countryside of central China. The potential for reaching these children is enormous. Please pray for us, and continue to send Bibles and materials we need to equip the underground churches.” Please visit www.OpenDoorsUSA.org to receive the Weekly Prayer Alert e-mail for the persecuted Church.