KINDERHOOK REFORMED CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICES NOVEMBER 23, 2014
“To Know Christ and to Make Him Known”
Rev. Rudy Visser, Pastor
A warm welcome to visitors. We would like to get to know you better
and invite you to sign our Guest Book in the entranceway and fill out a pew card and place it in the offering plate
8:30 A.M. CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP
Announcements and the Lord’s Greeting
Morning Prayer
*Morning Praise Shout to the Lord
Scripture Psalm 100 (p. 427)
Sermon “Thanksgiving on the Eve of Advent”
Prayer of Blessing
Offering
Intercessory Prayer
*Closing Hymn How Great Is Our God
*Benediction
10 A.M. CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP
All are invited to enjoy refreshments and fellowship downstairs in the Fellowship Room following today’s Worship service.
Ushers: Jim Dunham, Fred Hickman, Barry Knights, Gary Leggett
Greeter(s): Will and Jayne Ferguson Preschool Nursery available downstairs.
Prelude
Announcements and God’s Greeting
Drawing Near To God
Call to Worship (Responsive)
Christ is calling, inviting, urging, and wooing: Come and follow me!
Let us set aside our worry and fear, our busyness,
and competing agendas to respond to Christ's call.
Christ offers us the opportunity to walk with him,
to come to know his heart more deeply day by day.
Nothing is more precious than opening our hearts to God,
who fills us with love.
Christ grants us the privilege of working alongside him
in our Father's business.
There is no higher call and no greater joy
than making a difference in the kingdom of God.
Come, let us worship the One who calls us to follow!
We worship in joy, in gratitude, in praise:
Jesus Christ is Lord of all!
*Hymn of Praise #317 All People That on Earth Do Dwell
Call to Confession
Let us come before God with contrite and open hearts, striving to be honest in
admitting our shortcomings, and open to receiving forgiveness so that we might let go and move on.
Prayer of Confession (Responsive)
We acknowledge the times when we have worked hard
and fallen short of the mark.
We regret the times when we did not try at all.
We are sorry for the times when we didn't try to make things better.
And sorrier still when we made it difficult
for someone else to work for justice.
We look back with regret at the occasions
when we didn't offer praise for work well done.
And we ask forgiveness for the times when we belittled
and scorned someone for doing what we should have done.
We see now the opportunities missed
when we could have given our time to help others.
And we are sorrier still that we did not even give of our money
so someone else could help in our stead.
We regret the times when we looked the other way.
And we regret even more when we were the ones committing the wrong.
In these moments of silence, examine your hearts,
and confess to God your shortcomings.
[Moment of Silent Prayer]
Assurance of Pardon
Listen! Hear this good news: Our God is a God of mercy and love. In the name of Christ, your sins are forgiven. In response to this gift of grace, make your pledge to do better as you follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Amen.
Allowing God to Shape Us
Children’s Message and Prayer of Blessing (Unison)
God of all creation, who sustains and watches over the lives of these, your children, bless each of them with a heart of thanksgiving and praise for your enduring love, and everlasting faithfulness. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Psalm 100 (p. 427)
Sermon “Thanksgiving on the Eve of Advent”
Prayer of Thanks
Giving Ourselves for God’s Glory
Offering and Offertory,
Duet, Nancy Baker and Deborah Spaulding Thanksgiving Medley arr. Hal Wright
*Doxology and Offertory Prayer (Unison)
Let us give out of gratitude and not self-satisfaction. Let us give out of love, and rejoice that we are able, quietly and faithfully, to help another. Make it so, loving God. Amen.
Prayer Requests and Pastoral Prayer
*Hymn of Rejoicing #108 Come, Christians, Join to Sing
*Blessing, Benediction, and Response Hymn By the Gift of God’s Grace
By the gift of God’s grace may your burdens be light, and your heart with his love be aglow.
May your spirit be glad, may your soul be at rest,
and may Christ grant you peace as you go. Amen.
Postlude
Donations for poinsettias to decorate our pulpit area
are now being accepted and are greatly appreciated. Contributions may be placed in the offering plate
clearly marked for this purpose.
~FAMILY CONTRIBUTION REPORTS READY FOR PICK-UP~
2014 Family Contribution Reports, January 1 through November 16,
are now available on the back table in alphabetical order.
Please pick yours up today.
CELEBRATE THE SEASON!
~ECUMENICAL THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE NOVEMBER 26~
The United Methodist Church of Niverville will host the Ichabod Crane Council’s Ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve Service at 7 p.m. THIS COMING WEDNESDAY, November 26. All are invited to share in the blessing of this Thanksgiving Worship.
~KRC SANCTUARY DECORATION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2~
Decorating the church for the Christmas Season will be done from 9 am - 12 noon Tuesday, December 2, under the direction of Jim and Bonnie Dunham. All are invited to offer their services to the ministry of beautifying our sanctuary in celebration of the birth of our Lord.
~CCRM MEN’S and WOMEN’S GIFT PROGRAMS ~
LET’S SHARE OUR BLESSINGS and bring some warmth and caring to many who might not otherwise have much “Holiday Cheer” in these difficult times. KRC is again be collecting gifts for homeless men, and Capital City Rescue Mission will distribute these gifts at the Mission’s community Christmas dinners. In a gallon-size zip lock bag, place the following 5 items: (1) two new pairs men’s warm socks; (2) one knitted hat; (3) one pair of LG or XLG mittens or gloves – no MEDIUM please; (4) a personal care item or pair of items such as toothbrush/paste, deodorant, shaving gel/razor, nail clipper; and (5) a non-perishable snack or treat that will not crush or melt - no peanuts or chocolate, please. Wrap with festive paper (no bows), tape securely, mark LG or XLG on the outside of package, and return to the church collection boxes by SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7.
Outreach Ministry is also collecting ladies TOILETRIES and COSMETICS for the CCRM women. Toiletries requested include hand lotion, Chapstick, shower gel, shampoo, shower mist, perfumes, colognes, and fancy soaps; Cosmetics - all in neutral colors - include lipstick, lip gloss, eye liner, blush, mascara, or anything that would make a lady feel a little special. Baskets will be placed in convenient locations in the church for collecting individual items. AFTER SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, the toiletries and cosmetics will be delivered to the mission, where Christmas gift bags will be made up for the ladies.
ANGEL TREE GIFT PROGRAM~
Gift needs for Angel Tree’s children of prisoners are now displayed on angel cut-outs on a Christmas tree in the church’s main entrance. Each angel contains very specific age, size, and gift-request information for a particular child to assist donors as they gift-shop. Please consider taking an angel. Your gifts will bring Christmas joy to those Christ blessed and of whom he said, “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Volunteers will also be needed to participate in the delivery of the gifts to local Angel Tree families. Please see Sara Hartman, or call 828-6368 or 917-538-6576, if you are willing to participate in the gift-delivery ministry.
~CHRISTMAS TEA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6~
Bunny Otterbeck has extended an invitation to the women of KRC to attend Christian Community Church's Christmas Tea Saturday, December 6, from 2 - 4 p.m. Libby Little will be speaking, so mark your calendar and plan to attend. You will not want to miss the spiritual blessing and inspiration of God that Christians the world over have experienced through Libby's ministry. We have been asked to give a count of how many will be coming from our church, as a number of other churches have also been invited. If you would like to attend the tea, a sign-up sheet will be available on the back table of the sanctuary, or you may speak directly to Patti Varga who has agreed to be KRC's contact person for this event.
~MUITZESKILL REFORMED CHURCH CHRISTMAS BAZAAR DECMBER 6~
The Reformed Dutch Church of Schodack at Muitzeskill will be holding its annual Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Church is located at the intersection of Schodack Landing Road & Muitzeskill Road, in Schodack Landing. The Christmas Bazaar will include new and gently used Christmas decorations, cards, gifts, and books, as well as a Luncheon Cafe and a Bake Sale. For more information, call the Church office at 732-7500.
~CANDLELIGHT NIGHT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12E
KRC will sponsor its annual Candlelight Night Open House 6 – 8:30 p.m. Friday, December 12, in conjunction with Kinderhook Village’s Candlelight Walk celebration. KRC’s Open House will feature tours of our beautiful sanctuary - decorated with lighted garlands, candles, poinsettias, the lovely Chrismon tree, and the nearly-life-size Fontanini Nativity - together with Christmas music, cookie decorating, refreshments, and community fellowship in the Fellowship Room. Refreshment buffet will include hot dogs, cookies, cake, candy, hot drinks, and eggnog. Volunteers to assist, as well as donations of buffet items and Christmas paper products, will be much appreciated. Please watch for a sign-up sheet on the back table in the near future, but feel free to contact a member of the Outreach Ministry if you are able to help with this ministry.
The hay wagon ride will be making a second stop at the Fairpoint parking lot this year to enable people to visit KRC and the art gallery next door more easily. In order to do this, at least two volunteers are needed at all times to assist people on and off the wagon over the 2-hour period it will operate, and this will help reduce the cost of providing the 2nd stop. Jim Dunham has volunteered to take one half-hour shift of duty, and has told KBPA that KRC will try to line up 3 other volunteers, each to take a half-hour shift. This will provide the same service over two hours as one person alone would provide, and KBPA will recruit the additional assistant(s) needed. If you are willing to work a half-hour (or more) at the wagon stop, please contact Jim.
~SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14S
As part of our Worship Service Sunday, December 14, KRC’s Sunday School children will be celebrating the birth of Jesus with the presentation of their Annual Christmas Pageant. (Snow Date is Sunday, December 21.)
~LESSONS AND CAROLS 4 P.M. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21~
Directed by David Smith, Lessons and Carols is a worship service celebrating the birth of Jesus, and will be presented at 4 p.m. Sunday, December 21, at KRC. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books, and the Gospels, along with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns, and choir music. The first Lessons and Carols was held on Christmas Eve, 1918, at King's College, Cambridge, England, and has been broadcast from there by the BBC to millions of listeners around the world each Christmas Eve since 1931. The order of worship was adapted from an order prepared 38 years earlier by Edward White Benson, Bishop of Truro. Tradition says that the bishop organized a 10 pm service in Cornwall on Christmas Eve, 1880, in a temporary wooden shed serving as his cathedral.
A Christmas gift to our community from the KRC family, Lessons and Carols is open to all.
~SALVATION ARMY LOOKING FOR BELL-RINGERS~
If you don’t mind the cold weather of winter, this might be the ministry for you this holiday season. Also, the hours spent doing this count toward completing community service requirements for anyone who may need them. If you would like to volunteer, call 567-6412.
The Property Ministry would like to recognize the work of a couple of people who saved the church a considerable amount of money by completing some extremely tough jobs.
Despite the fact that he works two jobs to support his family, Andrew Jones made time one evening to prepare the foyer and hallway downstairs for the contractors. He took up a remaining piece of carpeting, removed all the loose tiles and the bits and pieces, taped sheets of plastic in all the doorways to adjacent rooms, and vacuumed and mopped the whole area. The contractors who started the next day were well pleased that they had so little preparatory work left to do.
We had thought that to address the peeling paint on the ceiling and archway above the pulpit would require installation of scaffolding and considerable expense. We then learned of such a thing as an indoor lift. When Greg Clause went to pick up a rental lift he learned that they weigh 3 tons! No longer an option!! Grim determination must have set in. Using a ten foot ladder and a rigid pole of similar length, Greg was somehow able to accomplish the repairs we see today. He was assisted by Mike Deegan, a worker at the cemetery, who was needed to replenish the paint roller on the floor each time Greg lowered it from his position on the ladder. It was hard and risky work.
We applaud and thank these men for their dedication in completing jobs that were anything but easy to do.
PLEASE KEEP IN YOUR HEART AND PRAYERS THE MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES AROUND THE WORLD
THAT KRC HELPS TO SUPPORT:
Dave and Char Alexander, RCA missionaries, Taiwan;
Alight Pregnancy Center, Hudson
Perry Jones and Capital City Rescue Mission, Albany
Compassion International, KRC-Sponsored Children:
Evelin Chuquinia, 15, Bolivia Giulbert Muguna, 18, Kenya
Alex and Fran Knauss, Trans-World Radio
Maureen Menard, Youth with a Mission
Dick and Carolyn Otterness, RCA missionaries, Hungary
Brian and Bea Post, Wycliffe Bible Translators
Seth and Melissa Rogati, missionaries, Young Life Ministry, St. Thomas
Betty Ann Stedwell, Christar International Mission
REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR
- those who do not know Christ, or who are struggling in their faith.
- KRC programs & projects and those planning & administering them: adult and children’s Sunday School; KRC’s youth; small group ministries; adult Bible studies; Community Prayer Group; outreach programs.
- KRC’s Consistory members and administrative ministries, chairpersons, and supporting members.
- our military men & women, their families, and friends, that they may know God’s presence, protection, and peace.
- survivors of warfare, terrorism, violence, and natural and other disasters worldwide, especially those in Syria, Iraq, other areas of the Middle East, and in our own country, that they may be blessed with God’s reassurance that he is in control.
- our state and national leaders, that God will grant them the leadership skills, wisdom, and the personal protection needed to govern effectively and safely.
- those, especially children, suffering poverty and hunger; abuse; exploitation; neglect; family hostility.
- containment of the ebola virus, and for the thousands who are suffering from or have lost family members and friends to this disease.
- family and friends grieving the death of Brittny Shook after a long battle with cancer. Remember especially Lisa and Brittny's 5-year-old daughter.
- Dick Van Alstyne, recovering at home following successful partial knee-replacement surgery Monday. Pray also for Jeff, Dick’s son, as he assists in his father’s recovery.
- Linda Moran, recovering from abdominal surgery this past Wednesday.
- those battling or recovering from cancer: Andy; Lucy B. and Rodrigo; Zoe Covey; Jean; Edward Giordano; Glen Simmons; Karen; 2-year-old Logan; Sandy; Bridget; Charlie Ropollo; Donna Scalera.
- those awaiting test results or surgery; recovering from surgery, injury, or illness; chronically ill; or in hospice care: Carl, Susan Lamont’s cousin; Randall; Karen Warren; Kara Ennis; Paul Varga; Jackie and her sister Barbara; Brother Arnold, Shaker friend of Suzy Nieman; Alan Dick; Doris Schmeider; Maureen Mooney; Jane Smith; Blanche Rogers; Baby Ellie LaTorre; Liz Carroll; Ruth Edge; Laurie (Dunham) Maul; Florence Rivera.
- those facing challenges, stressful circumstances, and difficult decisions: Craig Johnson, struggling through a difficult and stressful family crisis; Holly and Marc Morales; those facing the challenges of their college education - pray that God will bless them with wisdom in all of the many choices, and decisions that they are facing; Susan Lamont and kids, settling in to their new home; Cliff, desperately in need of prayers; Christians everywhere who are suffering persecution; Libby Little.
- those who are traveling, especially Thanksgiving travelers; and Elize, Annake, and Liezl Visser, flying to South Africa this coming Wednesday.
- reassurance and peace for our loved ones who are nearing the close of this life; those caring for the elderly, displaced, disabled, or ill.
- Residence-bound members Gordie Van Buren, Murray Leonardson, and Joan Van Alstyne.
REMEMBER TO THANK & PRAISE GOD FOR
- Pastor Rudy Visser, our Spirit-filled minister and leader of vision.
- those men and women who have served or are now serving our country, and those who have sacrificed their well-being and lives for the peace & liberties we enjoy.
- all His provisions for our basic life needs, and the wonderful ways God shows His love to us, especially during difficult times.
- the many dedicated and hard-working friends and members of the Kinderhook Reformed Church Family who serve on Consistory, church ministries, and committees; teach Sunday School; lead Youth Group, Bible studies, and prayer group; organize and carry out special church events; prepare food, serve, and clean up for coffee hours, receptions, and dinners; and who are always ready to offer whatever help and support they can to those in need.
HAPPY NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY!
Fred Hickman (3rd), Ted Call (11th), Joy Bertram (14th), Claudia March (22nd),
Joan Van Alstyne (26th)
COMING EVENTS
Today, November 23 CCRM and Angel Tree Gift Programs Continue
8:30 am Early Worship Service
10:00 am Worship Service and Children’s Sunday School
11:15 am Adult Sunday School - main floor Conference Room
Tues., November 25
7:00 pm KRC Youth Group meets
Wed., November 26
7:00 pm Ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve Service
United Methodist Church, Niverville
Mon., December 1
6:30 pm Outreach Ministry meets
Tues., December 2
9 am – Noon Decoration of church sanctuary
Thur., December 4
9:00 am Small Group meets @ KRC
Please join us as we continue our Stonecroft Bible Study,
Living in God’s Will – A Guide to Decision-Making
10:00 am Community Prayer Group @ KRC
Fri., December 5 First Friday Potluck Supper, KRC Fellowship Hall
Sat., December 6
10 am – 2 pm Muitzeskill Reformed Church Christmas Bazaar
2 pm – 4 pm Christian Community Church Christmas Tea
Libby Little, Guest Speaker
Sun., December 7 Deadline for CCRM Gift Donations
8:30 am Early Communion Worship Service
10:00 am Communion Worship Service and Children’s Sunday School
11:15 am Adult Sunday School - main floor Conference Room
Mon., December 8
6:30 pm Consistory meets
Wed., December 10
11:30 am Columbia-Greene Women’s Luncheon, Coxsackie
Fri., December 12
5:30 – 8:30 pm KRC Annual Candlelight Night Open House
Sun., December 14 Sunday School Christmas Program
Sun., December 21 Snow Date for Sunday School Christmas Program
4:00 pm KRC Annual Lessons and Carols Worship Service
Wed., December 24
7:00 pm KRC Annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Service
Servers Next Sunday, November 30, 2014
Ushers: Jim Baker, Bob Dreier, Dick Silvano
Greeter(s):
