Northkirk Presbyterian Church

Message from Pastor Karen

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thess. 5:16-18).
When the calendar page turns to November, I automatically think….TURKEY! Football! Pumpkin pie! Evening walks in the brisk air…crackling leaves underfoot…a fire in the fireplace…perhaps these are some of the things you think of as well when November rolls around.

It may seem surprising that “giving thanks” isn’t on the list above; after all, Thanksgiving falls in November. I am glad to live in a country that sets aside a day to remember to give thanks to God for His providence and mercy; however I am also saddened that, for many, giving thanks to God is a rare event indeed. Hopefully, we have come to a place in our lives where we do not need a holiday to remember to give thanks, but rather experience the blessing of a grateful heart each and every day. Not that there’s anything wrong with Thanksgiving – I am all for family and friends, fellowship and feasting – yet giving thanks is foundational to our lives as followers of Jesus.

Scripture tells us that we are to give thanks in all circumstances! “Um, what now?” you may be saying to your-self. “Give thanks for all circumstances?!?” But I lost my job. My spouse has cancer. My son doesn’t talk to me. I don’t have any friends. How am I supposed to give thanks? The key is found not in giving thanks for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. There’s a big difference! We are not told to give thanks for everything that happens to us, but we are told to give thanks in every circumstance – because we can trust that God is present with us, that His grace is sufficient for us, that His peace surpasses understanding, that He is indeed a very present help in trouble. We can give thanks in all circumstances because we have a God who is faithful to keep His promises, and like the Apostle Paul we are convinced “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39). We can give thanks in all circumstances because we know the God who loves us is greater than our circumstances, He is able to deliver us from our circum-stances and He has the power to not only work in the midst of our circumstances, but to work in us in regardless of our circumstances. That’s a lot to be thankful for!

How thankful I am for all of you! Thank you for celebrating with me through a wonderful installation service, thank you for a beautiful reception, and thank you for your generous gift of a GPS system to keep me from getting lost in my new community! Most of all, thank you for being such a wonderful family of faith – you are such a blessing to me! Oh, and of course…Happy Thanksgiving!

With love and thanks –
Karen

Love is in the Inn

C HRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM
“Love is in the Inn”
Our music director, Saw Shein, has envisioned a wonderful new Christmas experience this year for our church with a reenactment of Bethlehem. This event will take place on Sunday, December 13th and will be a combination of our Family Christmas program and regular Christmas programs we have done in the past. He plans to have a town/market place with food stalls, arts and crafts booths, “street performers” and musicians. All in attendance will be encouraged to “register” as in Biblical times and partake in the fes-tivities.
As with any new project, we need creative ideas and lots of volunteers. If you are interested in any of the following and/or would like to head up one of these committees, please see Saw:
* Decorations - creative ideas to transform our courtyard into Bethlehem. Decorating will take place Friday, December 11th and/or Saturday, December 12th.
* Food - we picture having lentil soup, bread, cheeses, drinks. This committee would be plan-ning, preparing, serving and anything else that needs to be done to make it a success.
* Arts and crafts booths - ideas include woodworking, beads, Christmas ornaments and anything else we can come up with! If you have any craft ideas that would be inexpensive, fun and easy, please let us know! If you have old craft supplies that can be used for this event, bring them in!
* We need street performers and musicians that will wander and sing during the hour before the performance in the sanctuary.
* Costume coordinators and designers
* Set-up and clean-up volunteers
May your help be a gift you can give to our church family at Northkirk this holy-day season.

Birthdays And Anniversaries

November Birthdays
Nancy Rash 11/01
Yewmeng Lee 11/08
Priscilla Flores 11/18
Andrew Howard 11/25
Ed Rugh Jr 11/25

Anniversaries
November 8
Yewmeng and Sandra Lee

Spotlight on Missions

Sharing the Blessing
On Oct. 12, our church presented a check for $7,000 to the Salvation Army. The money was designated for their Disaster Relief ministry.
From the Salvation Army web page:
"The Salvation Army was founded in 1867, by William Booth in London and was brought to the U.S. in 1880.
Their role in the Disaster Relief activities of the Salva-tion Army goes back to 1900, and was reaffirmed in the U.S. when they were specifically authorized for this role in the legislation that created the Federal Emergency Man-agement Agency (FEMA) for the U.S. government.
The role of the Salvation Army has been to provide aid and assistance, not only to victims of the disaster but also to first responders (firemen) by providing meals, sanitary facilities, sleeping accommodations, and in severe cases, cash grants. Repayment of these grants is neither sought nor expected.
Disasters in which the Salvation Army has provided assistance and support are as follows: 1900 -- Galveston Hurricane; 1906 -- San Francisco Earthquake; 2001 -- 9/11 Terrorist Attacks; 2004 -- Indian Ocean Earthquake; 2005 -- Hurricane Katrina; and recently -- California Wildfires, Midwest Floods and the Samoan Tsunami.

MISSION PROJECT JULY 12
SECOND SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH
Northkirk continues our mission project of feeding the homeless at Calvary Presbyterian Church. This is an ongoing commitment on the 2nd
Sunday of each month. Please consider volunteering on Sunday,
September 13, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
Calvary Presbyterian Church is located at 4495 Magnolia Ave,
Riverside. We will be serving meals to the homeless. Instructions
will be given by Calvary Presbyterian Church. Please
call Marion Mildon, 909-948-9649 for more details.

THE FOOD OF THE MONTH - Canned Meats
In support of Inland Valley Hope Program, we will have a FOOD OF THE MONTH . You may bring your donation any Sunday. We have selected SOVA to receive our donations.

Please join the fun, and help feed people that are
in need!

Foothill Family Shelter Presents:
WASTE RECYCLING FUNDRAISER

1501 Ninth Street D Upland
Call for date of next event
Bring your used or non-working electrical
equipment down for FREE recycling.
All of the following items will be accepted:
Computers, Monitors, Laptops, Printers, Scanners, Phones/Cells, Fax machine, Servers, Televisions, Appliances Speakers, Air conditioners, Vacuum cleaners, VCRs/Tape recorders, DVD/CD players, Microwave ovens, Refrigerators/Freezers, Sound systems, Washer/Dryer(s)
Drop-off locations:
Golden Eagle Moving Services/United Van Lines
1450 North Benson Avenue, Upland, CA 91789
1-800-328-4367
Monday—Saturday 8 to 5:00 PM
Stor-n-Lock
10975 Arrow Rout, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
909-476-7100
Monday—Saturday 8 to 5:00 PM
Call 909-931-1732 for more information

SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS
Northkirk is blessed with many teachers who daily instruct and interact with children and youth. You can help them acquire needed materials and resources by using the scissors in your house!
Just clip off specially marked packages, the coupon which is identified by this phrase: “Box Tops for Education.” Drop off these box tops in the basket so labeled on the table to the left of the entrance into the Fellowship Hall in the back of the sanctuary. Interested teachers will then receive their fair share, which they turn in at their place of service for cash that will be spent to augment their school’s spending money for needed educational resources.
for a complete list of participating products got to:

http://www.boxtops4education.com/AboutBoxTops/Products.aspx Happy Clipping!

Other Mission Projects

NEWS FROM THE PRESBYTERY
1st Presbytery Mission Saturday
held at Yucaipa Presbyterian Church

On Saturday, October 3rd, six members of Northkirk (Walter and Carol Entler, Jeff Paulus, Dean Collins, Rev. Karen Greschel and Margaret Merhoff) joined about 40 other people from around the Presbytery for the Presbytery Work Party at Yucaipa Presbyterian Church. This is the first Presbytery Mission Work Party to ever be held. The purpose was to provide ways that the entire Presbytery can help member churches accomplish specific projects that the individual church cannot do on its own. In the case of Yucaipa, the exterior of the church needed a lot of work. The parking lot needed cleaning and restriping. Shrubs were overgrown and needed pruning. Weeds needed to be pulled and several rooms needed painting. Finally, Yucaipa Presbyterian Church operates a day care center. When the State inspected the Day Care Center, they found that playground needed to have the sand re-spread to eliminate “holes” where the children could fall. Tree limbs needed to be pruned. The play equipment needed to be sanded and repainted. And finally, an old gas pump had been put into the playground and was deemed unsafe. This had to be removed.
Approximately 40 people came from a number of churches in the Presbytery to help with this work. The people from North-kirk worked on three areas. Walter and Carol worked with a group that focused on the outside. That group cleaned up gravel, trimmed, pruned, and did general maintenance on the outside. Jeff Paulus helped to re-paint the Youth Room while Dean Collins, Rev. Greschel and Margaret Merhoff helped in the playground. They sanded and painted playground equipment.
According to Mario Janesin, the Office Manager of the Presbytery, many of the churches in the Presbytery who couldn’t send members donated funds to help pay for the paint, brushes, mulch and other equipment needed to complete the projects. Over $1,000 was donated. While not everything on the “to do” list got completed, a lot of progress was made and the Presby-tery hopes to hold more of these events. To see some of the before and after photos, go to the attached email link. Be sure to check out the “train” as Karen and Dean really worked to give it “character.” For more pictures go to
www.riversidepresbytery.org/MissionSaturdayOct3rdPictures.dsp

Session Highlights

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS FOR OCTOBER
* After prayer and discussion, the Session approved changing the church
fiscal year to July 1 – June 30th. 2010 will be the transition to this new
fiscal year. (See page 4 for details).
* Dave Baird provided an update on the work being done on the rear of the church. If you’ve been “out back”, you’ll see that the overgrown plants are gone. Concrete walks and raised planters are being installed. New gravel will also be delivered to give us a new look and better ways to access the building. Watch this area to see the “new look” for the rear of the building.

.SEPTEMBER FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The following is a summary of the finances of the church for the month of September 2009.
Please note, the income received is NOT sufficient to pay all of the bills including the monthly mortgage. Every month, we pay two mortgages that total $4,125.66. To pay the mortgages, we take $2,500 from the Building Fund, and the rest is budgeted in the General Fund. We realize that many people are struggling in this economy, but we also need to faithfully trust in a God who faithfully provides for us.
In September, giving improved but it still wasn’t enough to cover the expenses. We try NOT to take money from the Mary Frances Green Trust so that those investments will grow. But in September we had to transfer funds to help pay all of our bills.
Even though our church has been given a wonderful gift from the Mary Frances Green Trust, we, as a congregation, need to be faithful in covering the monthly expenses of our church on our own. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Margaret Merhoff (909) 946-1720 or Emily Scholz (909) 985-7150 .

Recycling Program
We are starting a recycling program to help defray some of our office supply costs. We will have a box available for your used printer ink cartridges or toner. Please bring only HP, Dell or Lexmark brands. They will be taken to the local office supply store for credit. Old cell phones will also be accepted for recycling. If you have any questions about the program see Dean Collins after service on Sunday.

Fiscal Year Change

At the October Session meeting, the Session approved changing the church fiscal year from January 1 through December 31 to July 1 through June 30.
Why change the fiscal year? This change in our fiscal year provides our church leadership the opportunity to present a more comprehensive presentation of stewardship of our time, treasure and talents during the Spring, rather than the Fall – a time of year that already has the many demands of back to school, holiday planning and budgeting, etc. This broader steward-ship presentation will include information about receiving tithes for our annual budget as well as how to participate in our Building Fund campaign which is held every three years for the purposes of paying off our mortgages and to fund future expan-sion. The Building Fund is separate from our Annual Budget.
Furthermore, by having a new fiscal year begin in July; our Elders can use the late winter months to plan for the budget. This gives new Elders more time to become familiar with the teams they are leading (i.e. Membership, Evangelism and Out-reach, Worship and Arts, etc.) and the needs of those teams and thus provides more effective budget planning. This also will give our congregation more time to prayerfully consider their giving for the upcoming year.
For those of you new to Northkirk, or for of you who are not familiar with how our church budget is set, we are committed to being obedient to the Word of God. We believe that Scripture is clear that every good gift comes from God, and we are called to give offerings to God as a joyful response to His faithful provision. We give offerings of our time, talent and treasure. In order to help our Session to be faithful stewards of the fi-nancial gifts given, we ask each person or family in our congre-gation to annually make a “pledge” of what amount their yearly giving will be; this helps our Session to develop an accu-rate budget and helps to guide us in our plans for ministry and outreach into our community.
The change in the fiscal year means a six-month transition period beginning in January 2010. Rather than altering our budget for six months, we are asking our congregation to extend your 2009 tithes through June 2010. We recognize that in the current economic climate, some of you may need to adjust your tithe, while others who did not have the opportunity to tithe in 2009 may want to prayerfully consider beginning tithing in January 2010. Pledge cards will be made available in November to do so. We will also be sharing more information during our Sunday morning service on November 15 regarding the changing of the fiscal year.
Thanks for your faithful giving to the life and ministry of Northkirk Presbyterian Church!

Northkirk's Extreme Makeover

Don't you just love our new pews and carpet? Tile in the fellowship hall too! Check out more photos here.

Fundraising Opportunities

TAI PAN TRADING FUNDRASIER
Tai Pan Trading is a wholesale home décor company. They have a 70,000 sq. ft. store on Fourth Street across from the Mills Mall next to COSTCO. The coupon gives you a $5.00 discount off a $25.00 purchase. They will also donate $5.00 to Northkirk Church for every coupon redeemed. They have many items that are under $5.00 so use the coupon to buy Christmas gifts for that hard to buy for person and help out the Church at the same time. I have 500 coupons to distribute so give them to your friends and co-workers who you know will use it. If we can redeem all 500 coupons we can raise $2,500.00. The funds will go to the Renovation committee and the Bell choir.
The back of the coupon has to be filled out completely for us to receive the donation so please be sure to complete all the information. The coupon will be good until November 17, 2009. You can pick up coupons on Sunday from Dean Collins ( the sound and video team ) or at the church office.

CLOTHING DRIVE
We are in the process of gathering used clothing, purses, belts, hats, and linens. We have a company that will pay us per item, so this is a great fundraiser. You can bring your clothing in any time between now and November 4th. If possible, please put the items in large black trash bags and place them in Room 4. The proceeds will be used in the renovation of our facility.

Small Groups

WEDNESDAY NIGHT SMALL GROUP
If you have never participated in a small group study before, or if you have been out of a group for awhile, or if you are just looking for a new Bible study we would like to welcome you to come and check out our Wednesday night small group. We meet every Wednesday night at Dave and Diane Vaughn’s house at 11843 Modena Drive in Alta Loma from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm.
This new Bible study will begin on Wednesday October 7, 2009. We are focusing on the Old Testament and the Book of Esther. “The Book of Esther tells a straightforward story. It takes place in Persia, where Jews were to be found after the return to Palestine had taken place. One of the main points is that ordinary life is not or-dinary but filled with eternal significance. Events fit into a normal pattern of cause and effect, but woven through it all are the hidden purposes of God. Human choices are of great importance and have profound consequences, whether for good or evil. The Book of Esther says in effect: Watch what goes on and do not be deceived by appearances. More is happening than you think.”
Small Groups are an excellent way to spend time with God during the week, study the Bible, pray with and for one another and of course enjoy some delicious refreshments and coffee. Small Groups also make it possible for those with different levels of previous Bible Study experience to share their knowledge with one another.
If you are not currently in a small group, please consider joining us. If you have any specific questions about this particular study, or how small groups work, please call Dave or Diane Vaughn at 980-3012. We hope to see you on Wednesdays at 7 pm. There is always room for you.

MEN’S FELLOWSHIP
All men are welcome! Join us Wednesday evenings for study and fellowship. This group is led by Don Smith and meets Wednesday evenings, 7:00 PM at the Church.

THURSDAY MORNING
BIBLE STUDY FOR WOMEN
Bible Study for women of all ages and stages of life-Thursday mornings from 9:30-11:00 AM
We welcome all women who want to learn more about God's word and enjoy fellowship with other women. We sing, pray for each other and discuss biblical concepts and commentary in an open learning environment (we enjoy good food too!). We have just begun studying the minor proph-ets of the Old Testament using the book "Be Amazed" by Warren W. Wiersbe.
We meet at the home of Bree Noble (2 blocks south of Northkirk off Beryl) at 9130 Mignonette St. Women with young children welcome.

Goodshop Your Next Trip & Help Northkirk

Use GoodShop and help Northkirk at the same time you plan your trip!

Did you know that you can book airlines, cruises and hotels through GoodShop?
You can, and every time you use GoodShop, Northkirk gets a percentage of what you spend and these funds go into the fund for the Extreme Makeover.
For example, you can book a cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines and Northkirk will get 1.25% of the value of the cruise. Or you can rent a car from Avis and the church will get 1.5% of the value of the rental. Some of the merchants that participate in GoodShop include Alaska Airlines, Avis, Best Western,
Budget Car Rental, Crowne Plaza, Delta Airlines, Expedia, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Sheraton, Thrifty Car Rental, Travelocity, and Westin Hotels and Resorts, The prices that you get for going through GoodShop are identical to those that you get from the specific vendor’s website.

The only thing that you must do is go through GoodShop. It’s really easy.
1. Go to www.goodsearch.com
2. At the main page under who do you search for? Enter –
Northkirk Presbyterian Church and press “verify”
3. You can then go to “Good Shop” by pressing the “shop now” button.
4. Then you can shop by category or by store name.
Literally hundreds of stores have now joined GoodShop. So if
you’re planning a vacation or a business trip and can use Good-
Shop, please do this…you pay the same price and benefit the
church at the same time!

Refreshments for Coffee Hour

Thank you to everyone who donates cookies for our freezer for the after church coffee and cookie time.
We appreciate your generosity.
We want to remind everyone that our after-service social time is a great opportunity to celebrate the
events in your life—birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. We ask that beforehand, you sign
your name and event on the Sunday you would like to celebrate and it will be posted on our screen and
in the Sunday bulletin. Please bring your refreshments by 9:15 to give us the opportunity to have everything
ready for after the service. And, just a reminder, you don’t have to be celebrating anything if you
want to bring refreshments! We appreciate the donations!
The Membership and Fellowship Committee sincerely requests that if you volunteer to provide refreshments
on any Sunday, we ask that you sign up on our Volunteer Refreshment Sheet ahead of time so we
don’t double the work of preparing refreshments and then have you walk in with your donation. The
sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board located in the fellowship hall. By signing up ahead of time, this
gives us the opportunity to recognize who brought refreshments by placing a thank you on our screen in
the sanctuary and in the bulletin.
One last request from our committee…we all love sheet cakes to celebrate
your occasion! If you bring a cake to serve after service, we ask that you plan
on helping to cut and serve the cake and take any leftovers home with you!
Our small freezer does not have room to store leftover cake and all of our
cookies too! And we love it if you can bring forks and small plates to serve
your cake.
Thank you for supporting our ministry.
Sincerely,
The Membership and Fellowship Committee

Flower Calendar

2010 FLOWER CALENDAR
Would you like to honor the memory of a loved one, or share a special occasion with the church?
The 2010 Flower Calendar is on the back wall of the  sanctuary. You may sign up for several Sundays of the year. Cost is $25.00.
Be sure to note your event so it can be put in the bulletin. Please fill out the forms letting us know if you would like to take home the flowers or have them delivered to those who would be blessed by their presence in their home at this particular time.