The Cold Springer - Week of December 2nd, 2018

Sunday, December 2nd, 2018 - Holy Baptism

Slow Yer Roll!

The day after Thanksgiving my 2 year-old Martha asked my wife if it was still Thanksgiving. “No,” Meredith answered, “Thanksgiving was yesterday.” With hardly a pause Martha fired back, “Does that mean it’s Christmas!?”

Why wait, right? Looking around it feels as though we’re already up to our necks in Christmas. There doesn’t really seem to be more than four weeks until December 25th… but there is.

For a two year old, explaining Advent - the hope-filled season of preparing for Christ to enter the present moment - seemed like an exercise in futility. Though toddlers never fail to surprise when it comes to grasping (in their own sweet way) complex theological ideas. Nevertheless, we’re sticking to Advent Calendars and “decorating for Jesus’ birthday,” at our house.

Let’s keep it short and sweet this week: Don’t get burnt out on Christmas before it gets here! Remember, we’ve still got several weeks of prayerful waiting (and if you really are prayerfully waiting for Jesus to be born into your life, it may be a shorter wait than you think!) Enjoy your Advent and find some quiet time to watch this reflection from former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. You’ll be glad you did.

Yours in Christ!
The Reverend Jesse Lebus

Children’s Chapel

As it is the first week in Advent, a lot of things begin happening during our Sunday School programming. This week we will being teaching that Advent is a preparation for the coming of Christ: His birth 2,000 years ago… the December 25th celebration that happens every year… but also, and maybe most importantly, the potential for Christ's rebirth into our life at any moment. We can prepare for that! We can also be the living signs that Jesus is coming and that his kingdom is here!

This Sunday youths will decorate the night sky (blue felt) with personalized stars. This is the beginning of a series of crafts that the class will do to help decorate the church for Christmas. Oh yeah, don’t forget the Family Friday on December 21st: Greening the Church. That’s the night our families help our flower committee prepare the church for Christmas

There will be pageant casting as well this week, with rehearsals to follow on subsequent Sundays. Look forward to having everyone with us!

Elements of Faith

For the season of Advent our Elements of Faith class will focus on the Sunday lessons as well as begin creating an icon mural to add some orthodox flavor to our holiday decorations. Each week different elements of the mural are introduced to the class. The long story of the Incarnation unfolds in the images of Ruth, King David, John the Baptist and Joseph’s dream.

Pageant casting happens this week during class and the month of December has three Wednesdays of Cold Springer Youth Group for ages 8-12. There is a concurrent parents class as well. It all starts with community dinner at 5:30. See below for more information.

Wednesdays: Youth and Parents Night

Cold Springers Youth Group
Wednesdays in Advent (5, 12,19)
5:30-7pm
Bleecker Hall

Children ages 9-12! Come to St. John's on Wednesday's in Advent for joy filled evenings making and baking! We will start at 5:30 with dinner and then jump right into the activities. On December 5th they will create baked goods for our Chirstmas Fair on the Saturday that follows. On December 12th they will make custom disc sleds for winter downhill fun. And on December 19th the Cold Springers will create a special Christmas gift for their parents. If your children are choir members just stick around.

Parent's Circle Book Group
Wednesdays in Advent (5, 12,19)
5:30-7pm
Lee Room

Parent's, you want to do this! Come together to discuss entertaining and helpful books about faithful parenting without feeling indoctrinated or "wierd." We decided to kick off this group in the season of Advent to run concurrently with our Cold Springers Youth Group. So basically, if your kids are 9-12, then you get some faithfilled baby sitting, too. We are looking to get some space for kids who are younger.

The evening begins with dinner at 5:30 followed by discussion until 7pm or so. For the three Wednesdays in Advent we will take a look at the Rev. Tim Schenck's book: What Size are God's Shoes; Kids, Chaos, and the Spiritual Life. You can purchase and read it, or you can just show up. The entries in this quick read are brief and we will look at a few of them during each get together.

Fair Volunteers

St. John's Annual Christmas Fair
Saturday, December 8th

This year's fair is coming soon and we could use some youth volunteers. The evening before and the morning of the fair we will need help setting up and when the fair closes we will need help wrapping it all up! There is also some assistance needed in kitchen. Of course all hours can be put towards community service. If you have a youngster whose interested, please contact The Reverend Jesse Lebus,[email protected].

Toy Drive Sunday

Sunday, December 16th

We'll be gathering toys for the Family Service league through mid-December but we wanted to have a special Sunday where our young members could bring toys in for families that are in need. So start thinking, looking buying now and have your kids bring a present in to offer.