December, 2019 The Colts Neck Reformed Church ⬧ PO Box 57 ⬧ 139 Route 537 ⬧ Colts Neck ⬧ NJ ⬧ 07722 732-462-4555 ⬧ [email protected]⬧ www.coltsneckreformed.org INSIDE THIS ISSUE Focus on Faith ...................... 2 Advent Focus ........................ 2 Christmas Concert ................ 2 Christmas Camp .................. 2 Christmas Happenings ......... 3 Church School....................... 4 Christmas Parenting Tips ..... 4 Women’s Retreat .................. 5 Fellowship—Youth ................ 5 Our Ongoing Groups ............ 5 Music .................................... 6 Mission ................................. 7 Congregational Care ............. 8 Health & Wellness ................ 8 Welcome New Members ....... 9 Worship Schedule ............... 10 Covenant House Flyer ........ 13 Christmas Concert Flyer ..... 13 Christmas Camp Flyer ........ 12 Contact Information ........... 13 What’s going on this December? REFORMED Informe r Colts Neck Reformed Church Christmas Eve Worship We joyfully offer four Christmas Eve worship services for all to share in the jubilation of the message that “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) 1:00 p.m—A family service in which the message of Good News is con- veyed in an interactive way that is especially geared to children of all ages. Our impromptu pageant is a tradition! The service is in the sanctuary. 4:00 p.m—A traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles. Music is offered by Celebration Ringers (our high school+ aged handbell choir) and by Jubilation! (our 7-12+ grade vocal choir). The service is in the sanctuary. Nursery care is available. 7:00 p.m.—A traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles. Music is offered by Exultation Ringers (our adult handbell choir) and by Sanctuary Choir (our adult vocal choir). The service is in the sanctuary. Nursery care is available. 9:00 p.m.—A traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles. The service is identical to the 7:00 p.m. service with music offered by Ex- ultation Ringers (our adult handbell choir) and by Sanctuary Choir (our adult vocal choir). The service is in the sanctuary. THE SEASON OF ADVENT Advent is the time when we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The name of this season is taken from the Latin word adventus and it means “coming”, for not only do we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also receive the blessing of the coming of Jesus dai- ly into our hearts, and we anticipate the second coming of Christ in his glory. There are four Sundays in Advent—December 1, 8, 15, and 22. Each week in the four-week season of Advent, we’ll be looking at a stanza of the carol “Joy to the World”. The decorations in our sanctuary will reflect this theme as will the ornaments on our tree. During these Sunday worship (Continued on page 11)
14
Embed
What Christmas Eve Worship - Amazon S3...Christmas Eve Worship We joyfully offer four Christmas Eve worship services for all to share in the jubilation of the message that “This
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
December, 2019
The Colts Neck Reformed Church ⬧ PO Box 57 ⬧ 139 Route 537 ⬧ Colts Neck ⬧ NJ ⬧ 07722
“For all we really need is God’s love and our love for God and others.”
FOCUS ON FAITH
Dear Friends,
Thanksgiving has passed and we
are in the season of Advent. This
time of year is busy with all the
Christmas preparations—the deco-
rating, baking, shopping, wrapping,
writing cards, and all the activities
that make this season special.
But I am not quick to let go of the
blessing of Thanksgiving. We all
know that Thanksgiving gets lost in
the crush toward Christmas and
seems to find only a few days of its
own. But, perhaps because of its
name, it is a holiday where the em-
phasis is on family and friends and
the giving of thanks for all we have.
For all we really need is God’s love
and our love for God and others.
We need to give thanks for each day
that our Father lays out for our
lives. We come from our Creator
with a stamp on us that says,
“Fragile. Handle with care.” Try as
we might, we can’t add additional
days to our lives or to the lives of
others. We can’t outlive our own
humanity. We can live in thankful-
ness for God’s mercy and grace.
Let us keep thanks in our hearts for
those we love today and those we (Continued on page 11)
BARCLAY CHRISTMAS FIGURES ON DISPLAY IN
OUR LIBRARY
Thank you to Tom Russell for sharing his Barclay Christmas figurines. The figures, made of lead, are each about three inches tall and date back to the 1950s and 1960s. Together the figurines make a Christmas scene. Many of the figures in the scene were displayed below Tom’s family Christ-mas tree as he was growing up. As an adult, Tom has added a few more skaters and skiers to the collection, and a horse drawn sleigh; the horse wears a delicate and quite fragile red blan-ket made of aluminum foil. The “bottle brush” trees in the scene are also from the 195os and 1960s.
For several reason, please don’t touch the figurines, but do come and look and enjoy the whimsical display.
See a picture of the display here.
2
“SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS” CONCERT When: Sunday, December 8, at 2:00 p.m.
Where: Our sanctuary
What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than by listening to beauti-
ful Christmas music in our sanctuary? Bells, instruments, and voices of our
Celebration Ringers, Alleluia Jazz, and Jubilation! choir will combine in an
afternoon of Christmas music . Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to
this free concert which will be enjoyed by all ages! See flyer
CHRISTMAS CAMP When: Saturday, December 14, 10:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m.
Where: Fellowship Hall
Who: Children ages 2.5 to 9 years old
Cost: $25 per child which includes snack, lunch, drinks, and activities
Do you need a few hours to get some Christmas shopping or errands done?
Leave your kids with some of Santa’s helpers (the nursery school summer-
time camp counselors) who will spend four hours with your little ones mak-
ing Christmas crafts, decorating Christmas cookies, singing Christmas car-
ols, watching a Christmas movie, and much, much more! See flyer
Reservations are required and payment must be received before the event.
“JOY TO THE WORLD”—OUR FOCUS FOR ADVENT “Joy to the World” is 300 years old! It is a favorite carol, closing our Christ-mas Eve worship services and is the most published Christmas hymn in North America. Based on Psalm 98 and Genesis 3, Isaac Watts penned the text in 1719. The tune to which we are accustomed to singing with this text is “Antioch” and was not written until 129 years after the text, in 1848 by
POINSETTIAS FOR THE SANCTUARY A beautiful display of Poinsettia plants will grace the sanctuary on Christ-mas Eve. If you would like to contribute to the beauty of this display, you may purchase a Poinsettia in either white or red for $12.50 per plant. To order, you can print a form, use a form from the weekly announcements in the Sunday bulletin, or call the church office. All orders must be received by Monday, December 16.
You can pick up your poinsettias following the 9:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve or after the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, December 29th. We kindly ask that you not remove your Poinsettias from the sanctuary prior to the end of the 9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service to allow those who worship with us at the later services to experience the full beauty of the display.
3
ANNUAL ADULT CHRISTMAS PARTY
When: Friday, December 20, 7:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m.
Where: The home of Kathie and Wayne Nolte—93 Stone Hill Road, Colts Neck
What do I bring?: An appetizer or dessert plus $8 per person to help cover expenses
Kathie and Wayne Nolte will once
again graciously open their home
to host the annual adult Christmas
party. This is a wonderful time of
fellowship where newer members
and long-time congregants can get
to know one another while enjoy-
ing good food, beverages, and the
White Elephant Gift Exchange
(back by popular demand!). To
participate in the White Elephant
Gift Exchange, please bring a
wrapped gift—that’s it, no rules! It
can be a fruit cake that you re-
(Continued on page 11)
IS THERE CHURCH WHEN IT SNOWS?
If there is a snowstorm or other weather emergency, there are ways you can find updates about the church service sched-ule:
The church website will be up-dated with any pertinent mes-sages listed on the front page—just scroll down. www.coltsneckreformed.org
A bulk email will be sent detail-ing any changes to the morning worship schedule (if you cur-rently are NOT receiving the weekly (Friday) email from the church office, you will NOT get the weather email. Call the church office if you need to be added to this email list.
So, just because there’s snow on the ground, don’t assume that church is cancelled—remember, our minister has a very short commute (just a few steps) to get to church!
CHURCH FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD EXCHANGE
December can be a little less hectic and costly if you join the annual Church Family Christ-mas card exchange. It enables you to send just one card to the entire church family. The cards will be posted on the bul-letin boards throughout the Community Center for all to enjoy! If you choose to partici-pate, please submit your card to the church office by Sunday, December 15th.
Note: If you haven’t yet updat-ed your address book, don’t forget that the church address has changed to 139 Route 537 and Scott and Kay Brown’s address has changed to 135 Route 537.
CHRISTMAS GIFT PROGRAM
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill
Our Christmas Gift Program sign-
up is in full swing, but the deadline
is drawing near—December 8 is
the last day for signing up. De-
tails are available at the Coffee Hour
Connections table during Coffee
and Fellowship and in the narthex
of the church before and after the
11:00 a.m. worship services. You
can also find information on the
Mission bulletin board in Fellow-
ship Hall.
Give Locally: On December 15,
we will host a Christmas celebration
dinner and party in Fellowship Hall
for 15 young adults who are resi-
dents of Covenant House. In addi-
tion, we will be “adopting those 15
young adults, plus an additional 30
who currently live at Covenant (Continued on page 11)
You may notice that throughout the newsletter, we don’t disclose the email addresses, phone num-bers, or physical addresses of our volunteers (unless the volunteer has specifically asked us to do so). We do this to protect their priva-cy. It would certainly make it easier for you to contact them if we included their contact infor-mation in our articles, but doing so exposes their information to anyone, anywhere who finds the information on the internet. We ask that you look for their infor-mation in your church directory (updated directories are availa-ble in the church office), check the weekly bulletin announce-ments, or contact the church of-fice and we will make the infor-mation available to you. We will continue to print contact infor-mation for staff members. Thanks for understanding!
4
CHURCH SCHOOL CLASSES SHOW THEIR LOVE Our Church School classes are keeping up with
The Story lessons as they learn along with our
congregation the stories of the Old Testament.
Along with learning Bible lessons, they also take
time to care about others. Our kindergarten/1st
grade class made a card for Reverend Brown
(see picture at right) showing the things for
which they are thankful.
Other classes send notes of prayer and thanks along with their offerings.
Several classes have written letters to Morgan Kinobe, our Compassion child
in Uganda (see page 4 of the November newsletter for more information
about Morgan). They send cards to members of our congregation who are
no longer able to attend church. For Thanksgiving, the children were encour-
aged to bring in food to donate to Open Door, a food pantry in Freehold. Our
Church School teachers and assistants find many ways to encourage our chil-
dren to love God and to love others. May this lesson of blessing continue to
Single Active Seniors: Our Single Active Seniors group is on hiatus while the group’s leader, Gerry Romano, focuses on her health. Please pray for Gerry.
5
WOMEN’S RETREAT 2020
Offsite: When: Friday, January 24, 7:00 p.m. — Saturday January 25, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Chateau Inn and Suites, Spring Lake, New Jersey
Onsite: When: Sunday, January 26, Noon — 4:30 p.m.
Where: Ministry Center
Searching for and Creating Sanctuary: In most cases, when we use the
word “sanctuary”, we are talking about the place where we gather each week
to worship God and gather as His people. We come hoping to sense God’s
presence in those moments, but we know that God shows up in more mo-
ments than Sunday mornings. In fact, the word “sanctuary” can mean so
(Continued on page 12)
YOUTH GROUP HAPPENINGS (SR. HIGH+, ELEMEN-TARY YOUTH GROUP) Events are open to all church youth who would like to participate and to make a difference. We encourage parents to have their children join our youth groups (Elementary, Junior High, Senior High+) to serve Christ through their volun-teering and actions, and to make life-long friends. CONTACT: Debbie and Paul Horan [email protected].
Senior High+ Youth Group—grades 9-12+:
Christmas Party: The Senior High+ Youth Group will be meeting at Paul
and Debbie’s house, 28 Village Lane, for their annual Christmas party. We
are working on finding a date that works for everyone. We know it will be on
a December evening from 7:00—10:00 p.m. Please bring a White Elephant
gift (traditionally a funny or silly gift, but it can be a traditional gift if you
prefer) with a value of about $10 for the grab bag. Food will be provided.
Movie Night and Lock-in: Watch a good movie and stay all night with
(Continued on page 13)
The Fellowship team works hard each year coming up with ideas and
planning activities for the congregation to enjoy. Our team is always
looking for new members. There are many ways to be involved without
a huge time commitment. Contact Laurie Robinson if you are interest-
PRAYER CHAIN “What is a prayer chain?” you ask. It’s a group of people from the church who take time to pray for others. When someone needs prayers, his/her name and need is added to the list, the information is sent via email to those on the chain, and the prayers begin. To be added to this group, contact Dianne O’Hara ([email protected]).
If you have a prayer request that you would like to have sent out to the prayer chain and included in the weekly bulletin announcements, email Dianne ([email protected]) or call the church office. Email requests and requests left on voicemail that are received after 3:00 p.m. or on a Friday will be sent out on the next work-day. If you have an ur-gent request and Dianne is not available, speak to Pam Licata in the church office. The deadline to submit a request to be printed in the bulletin announcements is Friday, by 9:00 a.m.
Before submitting a request, please make sure you have permission from the person for whom we will be praying.
8
YOUR DAILY PRAYERS ARE NEEDED Please include the following members of our church family in your prayers. In addition to your prayers, they may really appreciate an occasional card, call or (if local) visit. If you would like to be added to our rotating list of visi-tors, contact Dianne O’Hara ([email protected]). This requires a com-mitment of one visit every two to three months.
Gavin Femiano, treatment for neurofibromatosis (NF) Type 1 Kristin Howlett, daughter of Ken and Lonnie Howlett, ongoing health
concerns Daniel Kibler, son of Nancy and Robert Kibler, autoimmune diseases Noelle, a friend of the Horan family, dealing with depression Emma Sklair, health concerns Tim Slisky, son of Vera Santucci, ongoing medical concerns Ginny Yanchus, Beth Burke’s mother, ongoing health concerns All residents of the Reformed Church Home which includes Marge Flock
PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES TO: Donna Otten and family on the death of her uncle, Dave Archer, on No-
vember 6, 2019 Matt and Becky Axtell and family on the death of their brother-in-law,
Jeffrey Grigg, on November 10, 2019 Bill and Barbara Burns and family on the death of Bill’s mother, Eleanor
Burns, on November 11, 2019 Paul and Debbie Horan and family on the death of their brother-in-law,
Alex Johansson, on November 11, 2019 Terry and Ellen Karl and family on the death of Terry’s mother, Jeanne
Karl, on November 12, 2019 Alicia and Tom Dimtsios and family on the death of Alicia’s mother, Ge-
nie Nash, on November 19, 2019 The family of Garrett Thompson, who passed away on November 23,
2019
CONGRATULATIONS AND BLESSINGS TO: JD Cerny and Hannah Brenner who were married in the sanctuary on
October 7, 2019
Please keep Rev. Scott Brown, Pastor Debi Jensen, or Dianne O’Hara informed as to when you or a family member is hospitalized AND discharged. Hospitals cannot provide this information to us.
See our website for
information on
our Health and
Wellness offer-
ings, including
Holy Yoga,
HERE. CHURCH-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES If you or someone you know is in need of low cost mental health services, please contact Lorrie McGough at [email protected] or 732-784-3394 and ask for a telephone screening. Lorrie is a licensed professional counselor who provides services on our church campus. She is available to see clients (church members and non-church members alike) during the week on our church campus. The fee for the services is a sliding scale sug-gested donation. Services will not be denied to anyone due to financial cir-cumstances.
On November 24, we welcomed into the life of the Colts Neck Reformed Church several new
members. Find some time to say hello to them and to extend a warm, CNRC welcome!
Ginny Allen lives in Applewood where she is very active, having started a go-green commit-
tee, a monthly newsletter, and a yearly gift program for Applewood employees. Ginny is a re-
tired nurse and spent her career visiting colleges around the country helping them to start
nursing programs. She received her doctorate from Columbia University. She enjoys crafts
and is an accomplished pallet knife painter having sold and displayed her paintings over the
years.
Walter Deans has lived at Applewood for the past three years. He is retired from the insur-
ance industry. He is a friend of Ed and Laura Burke. Walter likes to read and enjoys the beach.
Bill and Debbie Eckert live in Eatontown. They met in high school and have been married
for 19-1/2 years. They have one child, Alex, who is 17 years old. Debbie works at JoAnn Fab-
rics. For fun, Debbie enjoys crafts and crocheting. Bill enjoys riding his motorcycles and work-
ing with wood.
Sebastian Raatz was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. He grew up
from baptism to confirmation and beyond in the local suburban Lutheran
church. He came to America for a study-abroad program at Boston College,
and moved to northern New Jersey in 2007 for a job in magazine publishing.
Sebastian married his wife, Allie, in 2013 and they subsequently moved to
Colts Neck and had baby Annie in 2015. They are now divorced, and Sebas-
tian has moved back to Hoboken, and continues to come to Colts Neck every
Sunday to attend CNRC with Annie. Allie joins them occasionally.
Linda Steel lives in West Long Branch and works at J. Jill in the Grove.
She has spent many years volunteering in the community. Linda started
coming to the church with her family this past summer. For fun, Linda en-
joys the beach and reading.
Megan Steel lives in Long Branch with her daughter, Zoey. Megan works
for the West Long Branch Board of Education as a kindergarten teacher. Bri
and Sean Horan told her about CNRC; she and Zoey started coming this past
summer. For fun Megan enjoys the beach, travelling, and going to New York
City. Zoe is in 2nd grade and enjoys dancing, riding her bike, and basketball.
Samantha and Ian White live in Lincroft with their two sons—
Donovan who is in 1st grade and Beckett who is in 5th grade. Saman-
tha is the Director of Volunteer Services at Family and Children’s Ser-
vices in Long Branch, and Ian is Assistant Vice President for Academic
Initiatives and Infrastructure at Caldwell University. It’s an extended
family affair for Samantha—she is joining along with her mom, Linda
Steel, her sister Megan Steel, and her niece Zoey! (see above) Saman-
tha enjoys reading, going to the beach and doing things with the kids. Ian enjoys playing golf,
watching sports, and visiting his home state of Maine. Donovan and Beckett enjoy playing
baseball, swimming, and having fun with their friends and family.
At the Colts Neck Reformed Church, the 9:15 a.m. worship service coordinates with our church school educational opportunities for 3-year-olds through 7th graders. As such, this service contains a “gospel for children” and also makes available a “family room” where the worship service is simulcast in a room where parents can bring in-fants and children who might be more comfortable in a less formal church environ-ment. Professional nursery care for infants and toddlers is provided at both the 9:15 and the 11:00 a.m. worship services. The 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. services provide the same sermon, hymns, prayers, and special music.
10
DECEMBER WORSHIP SCHEDULE
We are taking a break from The Story in December and will resume with Chapter 11, “From Shepherd to King”, on January 5. During Ad-vent, we prepare for the coming of Jesus using phrases from the 300-year-old carol, “Joy to the World”.
SUNDAY, DEC. 1—FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT We light the first candle on the Advent wreath at the 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. worship op-portunities, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper at both services. Music is offered by the Joyful Ringers and Jubilation! The focus is on “Prepare Him Room!”. Children in grades pre-k through 3rd grade have a special lesson while the older children remain in worship.
SUNDAY, DEC. 8—SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT Two candles on the Advent wreath are lit as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World! This morning at the 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. services, music is offered by the Echo Ringers and Sanctuary Choir. The worship phrase is “Repeat the Sounding Joy!”.
SUNDAY, DEC. 15—THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT We worship this morning at 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. as the light on the Advent wreath grows brighter. Music is offered at both services by the Sanctuary Choir. As we pre-sent our Christmas gifts, the theme is “Make His Blessings Flow… !”.
SUNDAY, DEC. 22—FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Our Alleluia, Angel, and Cherub choirs provide service music at both worship opportu-nities—9:15 and 11:00 a.m. They share a special musical message which reflects “The Wonders of His Love!”.
TUESDAY, DEC. 24—CHRISTMAS EVE 1:00 p.m.—A family service in which the message of Good News is conveyed in an interactive way that is especially geared to children of all ages. Our impromptu pageant is a tradition! This service is in the sanctuary.
4:00 p.m.—Traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles. Music is offered by our teenaged Celebration Ringers and Jubilation! choir. Nursery care is available.
7:00 p.m.—Traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles. Music is offered by the Exultation Ringers, Sanctuary Choir, and instrumentalists. Nurse-ry care is available.
9:00 p.m.—Traditional Christmas Eve service with carols and candles Music is offered by the Exultation Ringers, Sanctuary Choir, and instrumentalists. (The service is identical to the 7:00 p.m. service.)
SUNDAY, DEC. 29—FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRIST-MAS We worship this morning at 11:00 a.m. only. Coffee and Fellowship will be prior to worship—at 10:30 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Please bring a plate of Christmas cookies to share. Church School and youth choir rehearsals will not be held. Alumni Bells provides musical leadership.
have loved in the past. As we move toward
Christmas, let us give thanks for the eternal
gift of Jesus Christ. God loves us all—His
weak, needy, guilty, and frail children and
He tells us, “I know you through and
through, and I love you anyway. Come to
me. Rest in me. Make me your Rock.”
Thanks be to God for this day and all days.
Pastor Debi Jensen
(Continued from page 2 - Focus on Faith)
11
ceived from Aunt Mary last year, it can be an ugly
sweater, it can be a lovely hand-crafted quilt, it can
be something funny or tacky that you pull out of
your attic. Anything goes—funny, serious, lovely,
tacky—it’s your choice how you play it! If you are
attending as a couple, please bring only one gift in
order to keep the gift exchange to a reasonable
length of time!
The party is for adults only (see page 5 for our
youth activities), and the attire is casual.
Can you help with set-up and clean-up for the par-
ty?—contact Laurie Robinson.
Do you need a ride to the party?—contact Laurie,
and the Fellowship Committee will do their best to
help.
(Continued from page 3 - Adult Christmas Party)
services, we will have special Advent liturgies.
Keep Jesus at the center of your Christmas season with daily devotions. You can sign up to receive a dai-
ly Advent devotion from the Reformed Church in America in your email. Just sign up at www.rca.org/
adventdevos and the first devotion will show up in your inbox on the first Monday of Advent. If you’re
already on the list from years past, there is no need to re-subscribe; your emails will begin automatically.
(And, if you have found them valuable in the past, consider telling a friend!)
“At Home with the Word”, a daily Bible reading schedule, also restarts with Advent. Check out lection-
ary readings for 2019-2020 broken down day by day at www.rca,org/athome.
Please enjoy these devotions each day. They are a wonderful addition to your Christmas traditions.
(Continued from page 1 —The Season of Advent)
House, and providing them with Christmas gifts.
See flyer
Give Globally: Give a gift which contributes
to skill development and sustenance in countries
where there is a need. We are partnering with
RCA’s Gift of Hope program which has many
giving options, ranging from providing a child
with clean water, to providing health-care and
animals to rural communities.
(Continued from page 3—Christmas Gift Program)
Lowell Mason, who composed the tune by using bits and pieces of music by Handel.
Each week in the four-week season of Advent, we’ll be looking at a stanza of this carol, using it to frame our worship. In stanzas 1 and 2, Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the King. Stanza 3 speaks of Christ’s blessings extending victoriously over the realm of sin—certainly a cause for joy. Stanza 4 celebrates Christ’s rule over the nations and how God’s faith-fulness brings salvation to the world.
Isaac Watts grew up in a time when the music in every worship service consisted only of psalms or sections of scripture put to music. He found the practice monotonous. So his father issued a chal-lenge—he told Watts that if he struggled with the songs they sang, then he ought to do something about it; perhaps he should attempt to write something different. And he did! Watts authored over 750 hymns, including eighteen in our current hymnal, such as “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”, “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun”, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, “When I Survey the Won-drous Cross”, and of course, “Joy to the World”!
(Continued from page 2—Joy to the World Advent Focus)
The Colts Neck Reformed Church welcomes you to come and be refreshed by the Word of God, times of prayer and praise, and the community of God’s people! We are a welcoming and affirming congregation, committed to affirm the beauty, value, and gifts of all people. These commitments are not subject to a person’s color, race, ethnicity, place of origin, age, sexual orien-tation, gender identity, rela-tionship status (single, mar-ried, separated, divorced), socio-economic situation, or a person’s mental, physical, or emotional health or abil-ity. All are invited to partic-ipate in worshipping our gracious God and all are included in a community of faith, service and joy.