Nokesville Church of the Brethren
December 2023 Newsletter
PASTOR’S PONDERINGS
Three years ago, we were at the height of a pandemic that restricted many of our holiday traditions and gatherings. Traditions that were reshaped included how and when we decorated. As a sign of hope and encouragement, many put up their Christmas trees and outside lights before Thanksgiving. According to social media this year, that seems to have continued.
We want to enter into a time of waiting expectantly for Christmas. Lights and pretty decorations lighten our mood and seem to indicate that Christmas is still Christmas. Indeed, it is.
400 years without prophets ends for Israel with the birth of John the Baptist,. God can be heard again. With the birth of Jesus, prophecies and promises are fulfilled.
Prophesy
Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:14
Fulfillment
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). -Matt. 1:22-23
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. -Luke 1:31
Prophesy
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
-Isaiah 9:6
Fulfillment
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. – Luke 2:11-12
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
-Luke 4:18-19
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. -John 3:16-17
As you enjoy the lights of the season, be reminded that God keeps his promises, that God loves all of us, and that God is with us.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:1-5, 14
May you know the light and love of Jesus.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Janet
SERVICE & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Blessings Box To allow larger volumes of items to be delivered to the church, an Amazon Wish-list has been set up.
Senior Socials In December, Christmas will be celebrated with a Pot Luck luncheon, gift exchange and music by David Myers. Plan to attend and bring a friend.
Growing Hope Globally – Field of Boaz The fund raising bake sale for Field of Boaz was held at Midland Church of the Brethren on October 28th. Enough money was raised to sponsor another acre of crops.
CWS Blanket Drive This CWS project continued through the month of November. Total raised will be announced in December.
Angel Tree Pam Breslin and Clara Nelson are facilitating this annual gift collection for families in need.
Senior Socials A huge “thank you” to the Nokesville Homemakers’ Club for providing the delicious luncheon and entertainment for the November event.
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE
The congregational life team continues to host events to build relationships. Everyone had a wonderful time at Christmas Craft Night and the lighting of the Chrismon Tree. We appreciate everyone who hosted a craft table, prepared food, and helped to clean up and set up.
We will gather together for caroling on December 17 at the completion of the special vote. We plan to share a meal together and then drive to several homes to share Christmas carols. Please sign up in the narthex or speak to Gayle Hawkins to join in the fun!
We will continue to host coffee hour weekly, starting at 9:30 on Sunday mornings. Please consider signing up to share breakfast one morning. Signups can be found I the narthex. Feel free to reach out to anyone who has signed up previously with questions you may have.
Angel Tree: The Angel Tree has been trimmed with angels. This year we are partnering with The Nokesville School to provide gifts for local families in need. On each angel, you will find a description of a toy and a general price range for that gift. Please use that to help you choose an appropriate price range and gift for you to support. You can also find tags requesting gift cards. These cards will either be used to purchase unfilled tags or given to the school’s social worker to distribute appropriately. Please return all gifts, unwrapped with angel tags by December 12. You may include wrapping paper to gift the family. Please see Pam Breslin or Clara Nelson if you have questions or would like to support a tag but prefer someone else do the shopping.
Live Nativity: We will be hosting our traditional Live Nativity on the evening of December 10. The event will begin at the conclusion of the Nokesville Christmas Parade. We invite our children and singers to join us in the event and everyone to watch. Please see Pam Breslin if your child is interested in playing a role in the nativity scene.
Following the live nativity, we will invite the community to join us in the fellowship hall for cookies and hot chocolate. Please see to Dianne Nelson or if you would like to contribute cookies for the evening.
GRAND OPENING OF THE 15 YEAR OLD NCOB VBS TIME CAPSULE!
Sunday, November 12, 2023 was a very exciting day as we opened a time capsule buried 15 years earlier during Vacation Bible School. We had a nice crowd with many members in attendance that had helped to fill the time capsule 15 years ago. It was a lot of fun to see what was inside the time capsule – pictures, special trinkets/toys, envelopes containing an “Our Family” and “Kid Questions” that each participant filled out, and information about what life was like 15 years ago. From McDonald prices to gas prices to what it cost for a gallon of milk, we were all excited to see how the Nokesville community had changed. We found 3 small picture albums and a variety of other pictures as well.
Lots of laughter filled the room as the kids read their ‘favorites’ on the Kid Questions form, especially “what I want to do when I grow up” which had a variety of answers: preach, baseball player, dirt bike rider, teacher, pet trainer, basketball player, vet, horse trainer, dancer, police officer, Army, Fire Fighter, neurosurgeon, nurse, farmer, and engineer. It was also nice to read the answer to the “what NCOB means to me” question: a place to learn about God; a place to worship, pray and praise God; a place where I feel very close to God; fun, family and friends.
We had an amazing time catching up with each other over cake, cookies & wonderful memories. Many thanks to the Bear Family for digging up the time capsule…no small feat as it was buried VERY deep!
RAINBOW PRESCHOOL
Thank you to Gayle and Tommy Hawkins for the “indoor yard sale.” We really appreciate the donations to the preschool and the blessings box! Thank to Brenda Ross for the craft items. The kids are having a great time with them.
Our families were very generous with their donations for the Stone Soup Thanksgiving feast. They also contributed many extra items for the Blessings Box.
We will again be participating in the Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive. For every pair of pajamas donated, Scholastic Books will donate a book. You may donate new pajamas in all sizes and they will be given to children in foster care and homeless shelters.
FLOWER SHARING
We have created a Signup Genius so you can order flowers online. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EABAE29A4F94-2023
Your offerings can be made through our website. https://www.continuetogive.com/ncobbudget
SERVING DECEMBER 2023
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Coffee Fellowship 9:30 a.m.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m.
Pastor Janet’s Office Hours
Tues – Fri
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
jcmyers2@outlook.com