News for the Church, 1/27/23

A Snowy Afternoon to you, Church!

Well, we are definitely walking in a winter wonderland today, aren’t we? I think we got close to a foot of snow at my house yesterday and the flakes are still gently falling to the ground today. 

Here’s the news for the week:

Jeff Mitchell to Preach this Sunday

Jeff has been preparing his sermon for weeks, and I hope that you will come out to join worship and support him, as he brings us a word from the Word.

Congregational Meeting and Potluck, Sunday, Feb. 5th

Early next week I hope to send out our congregational report and other corresponding documents, so that you have time to read through them before we have our meeting on the 5th. It’s been a good year for us, and it’s a joyful endeavor to read and remember all that happened in 2022! 

At our meeting, we will have time to discuss the year in review, as well as look through our financials and vote on our 2023 budget. 

I hope you will join us! 

Your Charitable Giving Report

If you gave any sort of donation to the church last year, you would have recently received a tax document in the mail from the church reporting on your giving. Unfortunately, when Sue Waters graciously drafted these documents for us, she did not have all of the pertinent information needed to generate correct documentation of your giving. 

The error has been noted however, and Sue is currently redoing all of our tax forms. She hopes to have them out by next week. My apologies for this mishap, and thank you for your patience!

Gifts Sent to Ukraine!

On Wednesday of this week Renee Stauffer boxed up the various items folks in our congregation purchased to help support the soldiers in Ukraine. We sent 2 sleeping bags, 6 sleeping pads, 1 waterproof coat, 16 pairs of wool socks, 3 fleece pullovers, 2 wool hats, 1 fleece balaclava, 2 pairs tactical gloves, 2 pairs of long johns, and 7 winter insoles. A big thanks to everyone who bought items, helped with shipping, or contributed money! 

Celebrating Snow

Today I got to wondering if snow shows up in our Bibles. Certainly, snow is used as a metaphor for cleanliness– “washed whiter than snow” shows up in many different places. But does snow itself have a presence? I did a little digging, and I found this lovely passage from Job that I wanted to share with you. I don’t think it needs any explanation. 

37 1-13 “Whenever this happens, my heart stops—
    I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,
    the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,
    lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,
    powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.
    No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
    his mighty acts staggering our understanding.

He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’
    and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’
No one can escape the weather—it’s there.
    And no one can escape from God.

Wild animals take shelter,
    crawling into their dens,
When blizzards roar out of the north
    and freezing rain crusts the land.
It’s God’s breath that forms the ice,
    it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater
    and hurls lightning from them every which way.

He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—
    commands them to do what he says all over the world.
Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love,
    he makes sure they make their mark.

May we enjoy the extravagant love of God’s beautiful snow today!
Pastor Katrina