If you know me, you will know my Father also. John 14:7 Dear Friends, Some day I hope to get to a palace in Rome and see a painting by a man named Reni. It is painted into the ceiling of the dome, over 100 feet high. To stand at the floor level and look upward, the painting seems to be surrounded by a fog which leaves its content unclear. But in the center of the great dome room is a huge mir- ror, which in its reflection picks up the picture. By looking into the mirror you can see the picture with great clarity. Jesus, born in a manger at Bethlehem, is the mirror of God. The Bible could not be clearer ~ Jesus is God speaking for God’s self. He said on a number of occasions, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” No power on earth has done m ore to tam e the h ostile forces of hum ankind tha n this Child of Be thlehem. In fact, those forces are not only tamed by those who open their hearts to it, those forces are defeated through a cross that extends its shadow over the manger scene. My prayer is that this Christ will fill your heart and home not only this month, but every day of your life. There is no greater gift anyone can receive than the gift of Jesus’ saving love and grace. I encourage you to receive and offer that gift to those you love this season. Offer it by name ~ the Name above all names. Merry Christmas to all in this blessed congregation. Thank you for your generosity as we conclude the calendar year and thank you for supporting the leadership, staff and my own family in both the joys and challenges faced. I did want to thank you for your prayers during this recovery from prostate surgery. At this time it has been determined that more treatment is needed, so I anticipate beginning radiation treatment soon. Your prayers are your best gifts. I look forward to our best Christmas and New Year celebration ever! See you in church W eathervane THE First Presbyterian Church 101 Bri dgebor o Road, Moorestown, New Jers ey (856 ) 235- 1688 December 2010 January 20 11 Jonathan Miller, Pastor A Few of the families at The Gingerb read House Challenge on Saturday, November 27th The Moxhay Family The Williams Family The Procida Family
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If you know me, you will know my Father also. John 14:7
Dear Friends,
Some day I hope to get to a palace in Rome and see a painting by a man namedReni. It is painted into the ceiling of the dome, over 100 feet high. To stand at the
floor level and look upward, the painting seems to be surrounded by a fog whichleaves its content unclear. But in the center of the great dome room is a huge mir-ror, which in its reflection picks up the picture. By looking into the mirror you cansee the picture with great clarity.
Jesus, born in a manger at Bethlehem, is the mirror of God. The Bible could not beclearer ~ Jesus is God speaking for God’s self. He said on a number of occasions,“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” No power on earth has donemore to tame the hostile forces of humankind than this Child of Bethlehem. In fact,those forces are not only tamed by those who open their hearts to it, those forcesare defeated through a cross that extends its shadow over the manger scene. My
prayer is that this Christ will fill your heart and home not only this month, but everyday of your life. There is no greater gift anyone can receive than the gift of Jesus’saving love and grace. I encourage you to receive and offer that gift to those youlove this season. Offer it by name ~ the Name above all names.
Merry Christmas to all in this blessed congregation. Thank you for your generosityas we conclude the calendar year and thank you for supporting the leadership, staff and my own family in both the joys and challenges faced.
I did want to thank you for your prayers during this recovery from prostate surgery.At this time it has been determined that more treatment is needed, so I anticipate
beginning radiation treatment soon. Your prayers are your best gifts. I look forwardto our best Christmas and New Year celebration ever!
See you in church
Weathervane
THEFirst Presbyterian Church
101 Bridgeboro Road, Moorestown, New Jersey (856) 235-1688
December 2010
January 2011
Jonathan Miller, Pastor
A Few of the families atThe Gingerbread House Challenge
Our 2010 General Fund income is still about $160,000 less than our YTD expenses. Your continued generosity in the comingweeks will help us meet our expenses by December 31st. If you can make an extra gift, or complete payment on your 2010pledge, your help will be greatly appreciated!
Pledges to the 2011 General Fund now total $1,145,900 as compared to $1,018,500 this time last year. Thank you! Pledgecards are still available in the narthex or from the church office.
2011 offering envelopes are now available in the lobby outside of the Commons. If you have requested envelopes, pleasehelp us save on postage costs by picking up your box of envelopes.
Let me ask you to think on and pray over one question: What are the gifts? I don’t mean, “What’s on your Christmas list?” or “Can
you guess what’ll be under the tree?” Rather, looking to the gospel where the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” as Jesus was
born: “What gifts does God have for you?” … gifts you can embrace, enjoy and respond to with praise. AND, “For what gifts are yougrateful that came from His hand to you in 2010?”
One great gift Jesus hands me every day is the reminder that I am (we are) not alone. As the prophet said of Jesus’ birth – “the virginshall be with child, give birth to a son and call him Immanuel”—which means “God with us” (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:22,23). I.e., God has not
walked away from me nor given up on me … and you. God is with me and you.
One of the great gifts He gave me this year was a four month sabbatical to reconnect with Him, with Lissa and with my own soul. What
a great gift those months were…THANK YOU! But the sabbatical was and is a gift for all of us … for you as well as me … a gift that
will continue to unfold for us during the three days of January 21-23, 2011. During that weekend, we’ll welcome Christian Andrews to
guide us on a journey into the heart of God’s love for us and of His presence with us in the Holy Spirit who daily makes possible the life
we’ve always wanted which is Life As I t’s M eant to Be.
Christian, who was with us for a Sunday last February, is lead pastor of ORB (TheOutreachRedBank Community Church) which
started in 2002 as an outreach ministry towards young people and is now a multi-generational church. The soul of that church, reflect-
ing the soul of their pastor, is to be a body of people through whom the good news of Jesus Christ can go out into the world and
through whom all kinds of people can come to know and follow him.” Those who heard him in February already know Christian as a
powerful and creative communicator of God’s truth.
As I look forward to that weekend, two images come to mind: FIRE andWATER. FFIREIRE ININ THETHE
HHEARTEART and SSTREAMSTREAMS OFOF LLIVINGIVINGWWATERATERWW ITHINITHIN THETHE SSOULOUL. There’s power in those images:as fire drives an engine or water turns a turbine. There’s joy in those images: as fire “dances” and water
“bubbles”. But there’s also aPerson in those images – for they are visual images for God’s Holy Spiritwho is God With Us every day, who gives us the power to live and the joy that makes life worth living.
Therefore the sub-title to the weekend: Life As I t’s M eant to Be: T he H oly Spirit and the T ransformed Life.
Elsewhere inThe Weathervane, you’ll find the preliminary schedule for the weekend. As you’ll see, it’s a whole church family weekend
with ministry for kids, youth and adults … with times geared for each and others for us all together. And here’s what I like to encour-
age you to do with this gift: look the schedule over and jot in your calendar, PDS or Daytimer when you can and will be there to open
the gift God has for us in that weekend. Then, begin to pray with me for that weekend … seek out a way you can do even one small
thing to help out for the weekend (call Harris Ransom at the church and let him know when you can help out).
As you come into the Holy Season – ask yourself: “What are the gifts?” Celebrate THE gift in Jesus, and look forward to the gifts He
has for you during the Spiritual Renewal Weekend in January. As always, I remain …you r s i n Ch r i st ’s ser vi ce
Dr. Diogenes Allen will lead a four week Adult Sunday School class beginning January 9 th.He will talk about the Theology for the Troubled Believer, which is the title of h is recent book.
The reasons people are attracted to Christianity and its teachings are many and varied. Dr. Allen
hopes to supply the missing pieces of the puzzle that are needed to make sense of the Christian
understanding of God and our life. The book addresses issues and questions that emerge on
a daily life for people.
The turn of another year signals the passage of time and reminds us that we live within the limitations set by God. Three
thousand years ago, King David understood the boundaries of life on earth when he said in Psalm 139:15-16, “Like an open book, you
watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before
I'd even lived one day.” (The Message) We all have to use our time wisely as we have a limited amount of time. But how do you de-
cide how to spend your time?
Allow me to give you a spiritual check list to help improve your spiritual journey.
Maintain a regular prayer time each day.
Read through the Bible.
Make practical plans to show love to your neighbor.
Forgive someone who has hurt you (and tell them you forgive them)
Forgive yourself.
Choose to be thankful in every circumstance. Take a risk and learn something new.
Trust God for what you cannot see.
It’s been said that an optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.Join the ranks of forward thinkers who are filled with hope because they know the secret of Romans 8:26-28: “Meanwhile, the moment
we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He
does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know our-
selves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of
love for God is worked into something good.” As you prepare for the birth of a Babe in Bethlehem and the beginning of 2011, let’s make an effort to bring our best to God for Godwill not let us down.
Those who sow in tearswill reap with songs of joy.
–Psalm 126:5
You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light..
–Psalm 18:28
Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays don’t necessarily find everyone feeling warm and cheerful. For some of us, the joyand happiness advertised on television or in greeting cards, gives a bittersweet taste to this time of year when nostalgicmemories of past holidays bring a stark awareness that life has changed and people we love are gone. Dealing with thedeath of a loved one, facing life after divorce or separation, coping with the loss of a job, living with cancer or some other disease that puts a question mark over the future can make holiday parties and festivities painful for many people in our congregation and community.
That’s why we offer each year at this time a quiet Advent Service of Remembrance that is reflective and quiet in tenor, accepting of where we really are, giving room for tears (if needed) or a quiet smile. This is a service which holds out healing and hope for every-one who is present by creating sacred space for families, friends and anyone living through dark times.
So, we invite you to join us on Sunday, December 5 in a candlelit sanctuary at 7:00 pm, for a time of special music, scripture, sto-ries, quiet reflection, healing prayer and communion; and Pastor Dick Herman will bring a simple meditation entitled Sow in Tears
… Reap in Joy.
Please come or come with someone you care about who needs such a service of healing – and bring a picture or remembrance of
your loved one(s) to place on the window sills of our sanctuary to say in the presence of our Lord and our friends, that our love for them and God’s love for us and them still carries us through it all.
Jesus— Lord of Comfor t and Companion of the Lonely:
You were birthed into the midst of our condition –
our frailty and mortality, life and death, peace and pain.
You know what it is like to lose a loved one to death.
You wept the tears we weep and felt the emptiness we feel.
Fill the empty spaces of our lives with your presence, with your love.
Encourage us to reach out – to take the hand of another offered to us;
and to give our hand to another who needs to know
that he or she is not alone either.
May they and we know Your hope and grace for the journey,
Being ever mindful of Your presence with us and for us.
Missionwares is another way to respond to those in need around the world at Christmas. Through Missionwares, fair in-
come is derived for skilled artisans in exchange for their beautiful and unique handcrafts and jewelry. In addition to offering hand-
crafts from the two largest Christian organizations that assist third world artisans, Missionwares also welcomes other ministries that
focus in special areas. One example is Africa Team Ministries (CA) that imports handcrafts and jewelry from Kenya to support the
HIV/AIDS training of church elders through the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Another example is Wonderfully Made Jewelry(VA) whose mission is to create hope through an alternative income for survivors of trafficking and exploitation. Each item of
jewelry tells a story of the avenue to lasting freedom for victims of trafficking and represents a discussion piece because of the
beauty of the design and elegance in the materials and craftsmanship.
The schedule for Missionwares coincides with the Alternative Gift Market.
TheChristmas Joy Offering is a long standing Advent tradition of generosity for
Presbyterians - over 70 years! The Joy Offering supports the Board of Pensionsfinancial assistance programs and Presbyterian related racial ethnic schools.
Through the Christmas Joy Offering, the Board of Pensions assists current or re-
tired church workers in crisis or in the event of an extraordinary medical situation or
natural disaster. As the staff was discussing Advent activities, Pastor Martha
shared her testimony about the significance of Christmas Joy offerings in
her family. In 2003 the Jordan’s daughter KD was progr essing with the help
of special speech services provided by their New York schoo l district. In
2005 they moved to a small town in Indiana where the special services KD
was receiving were not available. They continued to work at home to helpKD develop her communication skills and found a speech therapist to work
with her through the summer. However, they learned that the summer services would not be covered by insurance. Without
continuit y of care the Jordan’s were deeply concerned that KD would lose ground. “Through the generosity of the Christ-
mas Joy Offering we were able to afford the therapy for the summer. As a pastor, it was a wonderful blessing knowing that
our church and denomination supported us.”
Our denomination historically promotes education, especially through establishing and supporting racial ethnic schools. The Christ-
mas Joy Offering provides scholarships to deserving students and helps schools with basic operating costs. These schools develop
leaders for tomorrow as they enable students to discover and pursue their dreams - Barber-Scotia College (NC); Cook College &
Theological School (AZ);; Knoxville College (TN); Menaul School (NM); Sheldon Jackson College (AK) Stillman College (AL); Pres-byterian Pan American School (TX)
Christmas Joy Offering envelopes (star), as well as FPC Christmas Offering envelopes (candles), are in our stewardship supplies and
pew racks in the sanctuary. As you are able, please add your gifts to these special offerings on Manger Sunday, December 19th.
2011 Outreach Journey Partnerships:
- Haiti Outreach Ministries building homes
- Hekima Place, Kenya - completing new residences
- Lalitpur mission hospital in north India - refurbishing
kitchen facilities for families of palliative care patients
- The Philadelphia Project/Mt. Airy Presbyterian
Church encouraging homeowners through repairs
- Youthworks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York
Orientation meetings to be held in early January –Date and time to be announced in weekly bulletins.