Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 (Job 27)

10:00 AM Hanging of the Greens

2 (Job 28) No Children’s Practice

3 (Job 29) 7:00 PM Ladies’ Crafts

4 (Job 30) 9:00 AM Men’s Bible Study (Lee) Sandwiches for SHAN

5 (Job 31) 6 (Job 32) 7:00 PM Grief Share

Gloucester City Parade

7 (Job 33) 8:00 AM Ladies’ Prayer Noon Retirees’ Lunch 7:00 PM Basketball 7:00 PM Dinner Theater at Ted Osler’s Church

8 (Job 34) 6:00 PM Ladies’

Christmas Party at the Church

9 (Job 35) Children’s Play Rehearsal

10 (Job 36) 11 (Job 37) 10:00 AM Staff Mtg. 2:00 PM Puppets to Mullica Gardens 7:00 PM Men’s Bible St.

12 (Job 38) 13 (Job 39) 1:00 PM Min. Mtg. at Trinity 3 PM Puppets to Elmwood Hill 7:00 PM Grief Share 7 PM Choir to Sing at 150th Celebration Xmas Celebration

14 (Job 40) No Ladies’ Prayer 7:00 PM Basketball Old GHS Gym

15 (Job 41) 11:00 AM Children’s Dress Rehearsal

16 (Job 42) 11:00 AM Children’s Christmas Program (No Sermon)

17 (Psalm 30) 18 (Psalm 31) 9:00 AM Men’s Bible Study

19 (Psalm 32) 20 (Psalm 33) 7:00 PM Grief Share

21 (Psalm 34) No Ladies’ Pr. No Basketball

Winter Begins

22 (Psalm 35)

23 (Psalm 36) 11:00 AM Christ’s Birth-day Observance Offering 6:00 PM Choir Cantata

24 (Psalm 37) 25 (Your Choice) 26 (Psalm 38) 27 (Psalm 39) 7:00 PM Grief Share

28 (Psalm 40) No Ladies’ Prayer No Basketball

29 (Psalm 41)

30 (Psalm 42)

31 (Psalm 43)

December 2018

Church Phone No.: (856)456-3364 Church Fax No.: (856)456-3812

District Website: www.chogeast.org National Website: www.chog.org

Pastor Bill e-mail: revwddilksjr@juno.com Pastor Deb e-mail: debconner824@gmail.com Office e-mail: highlandparkcog@yahoo.com Web Site: www.highlandparkcog.org

Highland Park Church of God A New Life Fellowship

“Connected in Christ, Serving in Spirit, Growing in New Life Together”

*Regular Sunday Schedule: 9:30 AM Adult Sunday School 11:00 AM Morning Worship (Including FAITH FACTORY) 3:30-5:00 PM Youth 5:30 PM Choir Practice

7 PM

Christian Senior Singers Present

“Walking Life’s Road

with God”

November 22, 2018

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Dear Church Family and Friends, Recently, my grandson Nathaniel has taken a shine to watching Disney’s Peter

Pan whenever he comes to our home. I just about know most of the lines from

the movie by heart (it has been a couple dozen times in the last two months!).

It reminds me of his father, My son Bill, – when we lived in Tennessee, he

watched MGM’s The Wizard of Oz about a hundred times – at least it seemed that way! I remember that

when I was a child, my family would watch it every year when it aired on TV. Shows and settings like these

form great memories and annually repeated events become family traditions! I think family traditions are

great things – especially during the holidays. Whether it is reading The Night Before Christmas, watching

Holiday Inn, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, or a Charlie Brown Christmas, family traditions are a

huge part of the glue that generationally keeps families strong and grounded in the important values that are

taught in these movies. Peter Pan stresses the importance of a mother’s love. The Wizard of Oz, the value of

home and being surrounded by persons who love and care about us – “There’s no place like home”. All of

these have positive messages that are important to embrace! Hallmark Channel’s Christmas plethora of

shows capture an increasingly larger market share as they convey the value of love and family in very

positive ways at Christmastime. It begs the question of each of us, what faith traditions are we establishing

in our homes and families as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ each year? The greatest example of

selfless love is found in the Incarnation story of the Son of God – Handel’s Messiah has the words, “became

what He wasn’t, remained what He was!” As believers, we must make a strong and deliberate effort to keep

the Incarnation of God central in our Christmas celebrations. Highland Park Church of God wants to aid you

in this effort. We will be utilizing the Skit Guys video series – The Christmas Dilemma, which highlights the

impact of the Christ Child on one shepherd, an innkeeper, Mary, Joseph, and a Wiseman and how that one

child changed their lives forever. You do not want to miss this series through all of the Sundays in

December! We will have a nativity float in the Gloucester City Christmas parade on the evening of

Thursday, December 6th. Our choir will be participating in the Gloucester City 150th Anniversary Holiday

Celebration on Thursday evening, December 13th. Our Children’s musical will be held on Sunday morning,

December 16th during the morning worship service. Our Choir Cantata will be at 6:00 PM on Sunday, the

23rd of December, and our Christmas Eve service promises to be one of the best ever (contact Pastor Deb if

you would like to do a special or be included somehow). There are so many ways that you can make certain

to sow the seeds of faith into your Christmas calendars, so that Christ remains central as you establish your

family’s Christmas traditions! Make the true meaning of Christmas something your children, grandchildren,

and great-grandchildren will cherish throughout their lives and pass on to future generations.

Saved by God Incarnate,

Pastor Bill

Chapter-a-Day Bible 4-Year Bible Reading Program ~ Dec. 2018

Job 27-42

Psalm 30-43

Saturday, Jan. 5 Making Breakfast for Ronald McDonald House Wednesday, Jan. 9 Ladies’ Trip to Keswick See Vicki Kumpel for details. Saturday, Jan. 19 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Monday, Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Day of Service

A New Way to Give

TITHE.LY

Download the app from your app store or click the “Give” button on the church website!

(www.highlandparkcog.org)

It is really simple. Just use your smart phone to download the app and set up your giving through that. If you wish to give using your computer, just go to our church website and click the “Give” button on the top right. This will take you to Tithe.ly where you can set up your account.

When making your gift, please indicate any additional information or the breakdown of your gift in the memo line. You will receive an e-mail confirmation for your gift. As with any credit card or e-transaction, there are transaction fees involved. There is a 30 cent per transaction charge plus a percentage fee that the church will pay. Bank account transactions are assessed a 1% fee, and credit/debit cards are assessed a 2.9% fee. (American Express, 3.5% fee.) These fees are paid by the church unless you click to indicate you would like to cover them. Whatever you decide, you will be credited for the full amount of your gift. If you need assistance, please contact the church office!

Winter Snow Policy If there is snow overnight the evening before a planned morning church event from Monday through Saturday, due to snow removal factors beyond our control, the event will be cancelled. If there is no school or early dismissal for the Gloucester City School District, all afternoon and evening activities will be cancelled. We will make every possible effort to see that the lot and walks are cleared for Sunday School and Sunday morning worship. Sunday afternoon and evening activities will have weather cancellations at the discretion of their appointed leadership.

Ladies’ Christmas Social December 8, 6:00 PM, at the Church

All ladies are invited and encouraged to attend. This is always a wonderful time of fun, food, and fellowship.

Please sign the sheet in the Narthex if you plan to attend and if you would like to bring something to share. We

would like to have a $5 Pollyanna. We would like everyone to participate, so, if this is difficult for you,

please see Pastor Deb, Ann or Sandy.

MOM'S CHRISTMAS EVE MIRACLE

‘Tis the season to be reminded of that special gift that God blessed us with so many years ago, Jesus. But the best part is that He continues to live

today and desires that we all will want to live with him through eternity. Many of us carry the burden of concern for loved ones that do not seem to desire this gift for themselves. So what can we do? Mark your calendars to be sure to attend our worship service on December 16th at 11:00 for the kids presentation of Mom's Christmas Eve Miracle. You will be meeting mom, Molly Miller played by Abby Graham, who will allow us to see into the life of her unsaved family one Christmas Eve night and will show us that there is ALWAYS HOPE with God. Please invite family and friends as you may be helping them to feel the gift of hope as well.

Sunday, December 23 6:00 PM

7:00 PM

Coming in January…

THE STORY FINDING YOUR STORY IN GOD’S STORY Our church will be going on a 31-week journey through the Bible! “THE STORY” is a book of selections from the Bible, arranged chronologically, that reads like a novel. During this unique 31-week experience, every member of the family will be able to read their own, age-level-appropriate version of “THE STORY.” Together we will journey from Genesis to Revelations. There will be a variety of small groups available for you to connect with including Faith Factory, Adult Sunday School and Youth. It is our hope that many of you will lead/participate in other small groups. Pastor Bill will be aligning his messages with the stories we are learning about in our small groups. Across the church and out in the community we can be talking about what we are all learning to-gether from God’s story! And perhaps along the way we will also see our story in God’s story. Watch for more information and sign-up sheets. If you are interested in leading a small group, please see Pastor Deb. I am SO excited to take this journey with ALL of YOU!

To Pastor Bill & Kim, Pastor Deb and Don, Pastor Al and Gerry and all the Church of God Family, Thanks so much for prayer, well wishes, and flowers. It meant so much to me, my mom, dad, and Cassandra. I really appreciated Pastor Bill speaking at my sister’s service and members of my church family for showing support for my family and I. I want to send my new family at Highland Park Church of God a really big, heart-felt thank you . God bless you. Love, Joseph Kammauf Dear Highland Park Church of God, Thank you for your gift given in loving memory of Ruby Gehret. God bless you. Love, Rev. Richard Gehret and the First Baptist Church Dear Highland Park Church of God, Together we did it! Thanks to your generous support, Church of God Ministries has been able to pro-vide life-changing resources to those in desperate need. Because you seized the opportunity to support Church of God Ministries, lives have been transformed, families have been reconciled, the bondage of addic-tion and human trafficking has been broken. Thank you for making a gift which will impact lives for a life-time. Thank you for “giving life.” Blessings, Church of God Ministries, Anderson, Indiana

Highland Park Church of God YOUTH

Look What’s Happening in DECEMBER!

December 2nd, 2:30 – 5:30 pm TREES WITH TEENS!!

Bringing a little Christmas to Elmwood Hills! We have been asked to come and help them set up their

trees, do a little decorating, and spread a little Christmas spirit. We will meet at the church at 2:30

and head over in the bus, volunteer from 3-5 and then head back.

December 9, 2018, 3:00-4:30 p.m. YOUTH FELLOWSHIP!

Bible study: Colossians 2 “Living in Christ”

December 15, 2018 – 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. The Lights of Christmas!

Meet at the church at 6:30 p.m. and we will head to Creamy Acres to enjoy their light displays…I

promise it will be open!! Dress warm…hot chocolate afterwards!

December 16, 2018 MORNING WORSHIP:

The Christmas play will be part of our morning worship this Sunday. Thanks for being a part of this

special presentation!

December 23, 2018 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. “Christmas Party”

Let’s meet after church in the youth house and celebrate Christmas together with our youth family!

Yes, there will be FOOD! Everybody bring a pollyanna gift for $5. Make sure it is something anybody

can enjoy (male/female…)

December 30, 2018, 3:00-4:30 p.m. CHRISTMAS SUNDAES!

Bible Study: Colossians 3 “Be YOU” Following with ice cream sundaes. (You’re welcome Krista!)

with all things Christmasy! If you have fun toppings or Christmas cookies to share, please bring them

along!

DECEMBER CHALLENGE:

“The Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising

God for all the things they had heard and

seen…” --Luke 2:20

Don’t miss any opportunities to praise God and

share the Good News…A Savior has been born!

Save the Date: January 9, 2019 Guest speaker: Verna Bowman

Topic: “Come as Un-Perfect As You Are”

Cost: $12.00

It’s time to have some “Girl Talk!” Join us as we worship, learn, eat

and talk together.

December Outreach December 4th Making Sandwiches for S.H.A.N

Each day in December you can do something to show the love of Jesus!

Choose someone each day and pray for them, spend some

quiet time with God, reach out to the community.

Invite someone to church

Send a Thank you note

Post your favorite scripture

Visit a senior

Finish the year with acts of kindness!

a kind note for a friend