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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
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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.
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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
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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!
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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
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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Northkirk Presbyterian Church
9101 19th St
Alta Loma, CA
91701
909-989-4919
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