December 18, 2013

CHURCH OF THE SERVANTBi-Weekly NEWSLETTER

Issue: 13.25

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Dr. Robert GorrellSenior Minister

It’s popular in some theological cir-cles (especially this time of year) to deny that angels are real. And when folks do, they usually invoke the name of the theologian Karl Barth.

When they do they are completely wrong…

The crafty old theologian did com-ment on the focus some in the church have on angels. He believed that the proper focus for a Christian is God - not God’s messengers. However, he found the role of angels to be vital for people of faith in that they point toward the super-natural power of God:

All genuine witness to God lives by the witness and therefore the min-istry of angels. For by this it becomes in a sense technically possible and real that God is genuinely present and may be genuinely known as God

in the earthly sphere, that he genu-inely and recognizably speaks and acts, and that He is genuinely hon-ored and loved and feared.

In their so utterly selfless and undemanding and purely subservi-ent passing, in their eloquently qui-et pointing to God which is always a pointing away from themselves, heaven comes to earth. …

Without the angels God himself would not be revealed and percepti-ble. Without them He would be hope-lessly confused with some earthly circumstance, whether in the form of a sublime idea or a golden calf (Barth 51.2 and 51.3. pp. 484-486). I believe old Karl was on to

something. This time of year we tend to think about angels. Angels appear throughout the Bible: at Sodom and Go-

morrah, at the ford of the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with an angel of God, and in Psalms where it says “men ate angels’ food.” (Cake, I suppose…).

Angels helped Jesus after his wil-derness temptation. Revelation men-tions angels more than twenty times. Then, think of the angelic appearances to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks. The Bible is literally full of angels!

In Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth there had not been a miracle in over 400 years. Nobody had heard from an angel, or even from God in well over 400 years.

Then suddenly, a very particular an-gel came to make an announcement for God. The angel is Gabriel, one of the seven archangels of Jewish tradition. In Hebrew he is known Gavri’el, which means “God is my strength.” Accord-ing to Jewish tradition, in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the “tree of souls” that blossoms and produces new souls, which fall into the Guff, the Treasury of Souls. Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born.

So Luke’s listeners would have had one common response when Gabe showed up, “Who’s pregnant?”

The angel’s announcement to Mary is astonishing: She will become the mother of God’s son and he will offer salvation to the world.

Angels are part of the biblical story that God has power over all things. And that incredibly powerful God chose to enter our world as a vulnerable baby.

Why? Because he loves us!This Christmas every time you see a

little plastic angel or an angel ornament, remember the angels of Christmas and be filled with the wonder of the story of our savior’s birth!

- Robert

“All genuine witness to God lives by the witness and therefore the ministry of angels.” - Karl Barth

Christmas angels

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missionsJambo (Hello), Church!

Your 10 pilgrims, Robert and Prudy Gorrell, Curtis and Linda Nigh, Nick and Ann Knutson, John and Carolyn Hays, Jennifer Beene and Brian Walker, will depart De-cember 27 for the Methodist Hospital in Maua, Kenya. We say asante sana (thank you very much) for your prayers.

The impetus for the trip came from the close relationship between Stanley and Mary Gitari, now heads of medical departments in Maua, and the Gorrell’s. They met 28 years ago when the Gitari’s were obtaining their nursing degrees from OCU. Robert has been promising Stanley and Mary that he would come to Kenya “some day” and that day has arrived!

Although this trip was planned as a medical mission, interest came from people with many backgrounds. So, thanks to Jim Monroe and his wife, Sue Owen, the UMC missionary couple serving at the hospital, we have been directed to some wonderful projects that we hope to complete while our medical people are working at the hospital.

Because of the financial support of the Encounters Sunday School Class, family members of the team, other individuals and the Mission Council, we are hoping to make a real difference in some lives. We will build a home for AIDS orphans as well as provide school uniforms and food for them. We are also sponsoring a medical clinic in a remote location and will provide de-worming tablets to one elementary school.

If you are interested in learning more about the hospital, please visit the website: http://www.mckmauahospital.org.

Kwaheri, Maua Mission Team

Winter Coats for Skyline Urban MinistriesAll year long we are encouraged to donate clothes to the ministry of Skyline in

northeast Oklahoma City, but especially at this time of year there is a great need of coats. Please look through your closets or pick up a new coat that you could donate to keep another person warm this winter. Coats can be left in the blue bins, marked for Skyline, found around the church.

Christmas Eve Mission Offering To Benefit Car Seat Ministry

Over the last three years, Church of the Servant has given away 603 car seats to families in the Oklahoma City area in a ministry partnership with Safe Kids Oklahoma. Safe Kids is dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injuries - the lead-ing cause of death and disability for children 1 to 14. Safe Kids educates families, provides safety devices to families in need, and advocates for better laws to help keep children safe, healthy, and out of the emergency room. Through this partnership we have helped in aiding Oklahoma children be safe and shared the ministry of Church of the Servant.

Our Christmas Eve offering will help to continue this ministry through our church. Each week at least one seat is fitted by appointment here at the church and then throughout the year we have events where our church member technicians install and check seats. Our event partner in 2014 will be Infant Crisis Services. ICS will be host-ing several of our events this year alongside the ones we will hold at Servant and at St. John’s UMC.

Please keep this special offering in your thoughts. If you are interested in be-ing a car seat technician in 2014, contact Robyn Goggs at 721-4141 or rgoggs@churchoftheservant.com.

Van Loaded for Bush Clinic

Hurry in and get those per-fect last minute Christmas gifts at Earthglow! There are only a few Christmas decorations left. Merry Christmas from Earthglow! All proceeds go to missions.

More copies of Rev. Tim Travers’ book, Driven, are avail-able for purchase once again in the Earthglow gift shop.

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Women

An Evening of the Life and Faith of Susanna WesleyThursday, January 16, 6pm, Dinner for $8Come for an evening of warming winter soup for your body and an

inspiring story of faith to light your heart’s fire for 2014. Rev. Jessica Seay, senior minister at Ardmore First UMC, gifted speaker and singer, will come to share in dramatic character the life and faith of Susanna Wesley, whom she has been portraying for over a decade. Susanna Wes-ley not only shaped the Methodist Church through her sons, John and Charles Wesley, but she led many people to Jesus Christ herself, right around her kitchen table. Come gather around a table with other women this evening and allow yourself to be inspired to lead others to faith in the year that is ahead. Reservations for this event can be made beginning Sunday, January 5, at the Women’s Offering table or by calling 721-4141 during the week.

Women’s Winter/Spring Offerings

Begin the New Year in a Bible study group. There are studies beginning the week of January 20 that will last 10 weeks - into April. This is a great way to build disciple-ship accountability while growing in faith with a community of women. The brochure for new studies is now available at the Welcome Center, with registration beginning on Sun-day, January 5. All the classes being offered are available to see on our website at www.churchoftheservant.com/womensministry.

If you are returning to a study this winter, let your facilitator/leader know, so books can be ordered.

Start a New Year with Body and Soul FitnessDance Blast! begins Tuesday, January 7, 6:45-7:45 p.m. in the Youth

Center. In its second year meeting at Church of the Servant, Body and Soul offers Dance Blast - a great workout to Christian music and a fellowship for prayer and sharing life together. Dance Blast! is a cardio & toning workout, choreographed with easy-to-learn dance combinations that everyone can do, whether you have a dance background or not. The class has a mixture of dance and exercise steps to give women a full body workout. There are classes meeting at churches all over the city so that you can find days and classes that work for your schedule. For more information, contact instruc-tor Darah Henley at 816-8639.

“We care about the health of your body - and your soul. Our goal is to encourage you to pursue both physical and spiritual fitness, wherever you are in the world.”

- Body and Soul Fitness

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adult

Celebrations Pre-School Fruit Sale a Success!My name is Lynda Barnes. I’m a member of the M.V.C. Sunday School Class. M.V.C. stands for “Made Victorious through

Christ.” Our class handles the annual fruit sale benefiting Celebrations Pre-School. The M.V.C. Class would like to thank Church of the Servant for your loyalty and support of the fruit sale each year.

I want to share with you how special the fruit sale is to me, our class, and a lot of other people. Please picture the image of tossing a stone into a perfectly still body of water and watching the ripples expand in ever-widening circles.

First ripple: The profits from the fruit sale go to Celebrations Pre-School. Celebrations Pre-School teaches Spanish speak-ing 3-5 year olds the English language. The ripple effect of this alone is astounding. First, these children can enter public el-ementary school with a better command of the English language. Secondly, it eases the load of the teacher in the elementary school they enter. Finally, it changes the lives of the individual student and their entire family.

Second ripple: Many of you purchased boxes to be donated to Skyline Food Pantry. It is so nice to deliver fresh fruit to the food pantry. For obvious reasons, most donations to the food pantry are canned and packaged foods that have long shelf lives.

So, fresh fruit is a real treat!Third ripple: The joy our class experiences on the

day of the sale. The fruit sale brings out our entire class and our children. It is definitely a group project. Many of you may not know this, but if we don’t sell the fruit, our class gets to buy the fruit. This is a stress our class talks about every year. And every year, God says, “Trust Me!!” One year, we had the fruit sale on the icy day that Bishop Hayes was preaching. The parking lot was a sheet of ice. Attendance was very low. Miraculously, we sold all the fruit. So once again this year - we had terrible weather - and the ever-faithful Church of the Servant bought it all!

It is a blessed and beautiful experience to watch God work through His church!

Thank you and God bless you this Christmas season,Lynda Barnes

Pictorial Directory UpdateProgress is being made toward finalization of Church of the Servant’s pictorial

directory. For years the Olin Mills Company has been the gold standard for provid-ing this service to congregations, but sadly they went out of business in the recent past. The new group that was recommended to the church in their absence has experienced a number of “growing pains” in the interim, causing a significant delay in the delivery of the finished directory. However, we have received a final draft and our staff is in the process of proof-reading the material to be certain that it is accurate and acceptable. We hope to have the completed product ready to distrib-ute in the early months of 2014.

If you purchased photos from the directory company and they have not been delivered or if the quality was unacceptable, please contact the office of our Ex-ecutive Minister, Rev. Randy Shrauner. Church of the Servant will work to ensure your satisfaction with your purchase or seek the return of your money. Thank you for your patience!

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adult

Dear Church Family:I would like to take the opportunity to

say a word of thanks to Robert and Prudy Gorrell and the Church of the Servant Care Team. After having surgery on November 15, I experienced love and kindness from many from the church. Although I am not a member of Servant yet, you prayed for me daily, made many calls to check up on me to see how I was doing, and sent cards and notes to me to encourage me in my recovery time. Surely I have seen the hand of God through your caring ministry. Bless you church family for being a blessing to me. In Jesus Love and Care!

Nancy Harris

Job Opening…Church of the Servant is seeking qualified applicants for an Ad-

ministrative Assistant position primarily serving Women’s Ministry and Mission within the life of the congregation. Interested applicants are asked to provide a current resume and three references (two professional and one personal). Applications can be submitted to Rev. Randy Shrauner at rshrauner@churchoftheservant.com. A job description detailing the position is available upon request.

PRIME TIME Birthday Celebration

Join other Prime Timers on Thursday, January 9, 10:30 a.m. in Com-munity Hall as we celebrate Prime Time’s 27th birthday with our special guest, guitarist extraordinaire, Edgar Cruz. Edgar always delights his audiences with a variety of styles from classical to flamenco to pop to jazz - just about anything his audience wants! Edgar has recorded over 16 CDs and 2 DVDs which include such popular favorites as Malaguena, Classical Gas, Bohemian Rhapsody, In the Mood and many others. He has been named Oklahoma’s Top Performing Artist for over ten years by the Oklahoma Gazette, and has received numerous civic acknowledg-ments for his contributions to various charitable events. We are indeed fortunate to have Edgar with us, since he has an extremely busy sched-ule performing at over 200 concerts each year throughout America, Eu-rope and South America, plus many other private bookings. Edgar holds a Bachelor of Music Performance from Oklahoma City University, the very first person to do so.

Following a short business meeting, we will be served a meal of stew, fruit salad, cornbread/cheese biscuits, birthday chocolate/white cake and ice cream!

If you can stay for the program only, the cost is $2.00. Hopefully you will play to stay for this yummy meal and continued fellowship with old and new friends for a total cost of $10.00.

Make your reservation at the Welcome Center or call the church of-fice, 721-4141, by 4:00 p.m., Monday, January 6. If you make a reserva-tion and later find you cannot attend, please call your cancellation, as Prime Time must pay for all reservation.

SEE YOU AT PRIME TIME!

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our life together

u Midge Bray as she deals with health is-sues and undergoes rehab.u DJ, Amanda, Slayton, and Harper Bruner as DJ deals with health issues and faces surgery at the OK Spine Hospital.u Donald Bybee as he deals with health issues.u Clive and Beryl Cadle as Clive deals with health issues.u Don and Doris Cline as their great-grandson, Gavin Tate, deals with health issues and undergoes tests in Tulsa.u Art Collins as Art’s great-aunt, Joan Novotny, deals with health issues and is a resident at Tuscany Village.u Don and Judie Ellis as their daughter-in-law, Jerrianna Ellis, recuperates from surgery.u Kathryn Greene and Johnny and Donna Powell as Kathryn’s sister, and Donna’s aunt, Susan Goldstein, recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized in Cleveland, OH.u Denene Harper as she deals with health issues and undergoes tests.u Morris and Gretchen Hatley as Gretchen recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized in Colorado.u Hank and Becky Kittrell as Becky recuper-ates from injuries from a fall and undergoes an MRI. u Ed Latham as Ed deals with health issues and recuperates from surgery.u Joe and Pam Lovell as their niece, Susan Kersey, deals with health issues, recuper-ates from surgery, and is hospitalized at the Norman Heart Hospital.u Melissa Marshall as she recuperates from an illness and undergoes treatment.u Nonna McCorkle as she deals with health issues, recuperates from surgery, and is hospitalized at Mercy Rehab Hospital. u JoAnn Pace as JoAnn deals with health issues.u Dale Putnam and Jolene Ingram as Jolene’s son, Scott Ingram, deals with health issues and recuperates from surgery in Texas.

uTawanna Barrett and Family at the death of Tawanna’s husband, Russ Barrett.u Jim, Leni, Travis, and Taylor Burrow and Family at the death of Leni’s father, John Whitney.u Bob and Jan Green and Family at the death of Bob’s brother, Jim McAbee.u Daphne Hale and Ashley and Preston Hale and Family at the death of Daphne’s brother, Ashley’s uncle, and Preston’s great uncle, Jeff Killam.u Fred and Sue Knight and Family at the death of Fred’s sister, Pauline McGee.u Todd, Andi, Hillary, Megan, and Rachel Neaves and Family at the death of Andi’s sister, Todd’s sister-in-law, and Hillary’s, Megan’s, and Rachel’s aunt, Sarah Adams.u Amber Shoun and Family at the death of Amber’s mother, Maria Harrison.

uJordan and Erin Page at the birth of their son, Hutchinson Marshall Page. The big sis-ter is Addison Page. The proud grandparents are Bob and Debbi Marshall and Tom and Susan Page.uApril Stonestreet & Allen Armstrong were united in Christian marriage on November 23, 2013 at a 2 p.m. ceremony in the indoor Courtyard of our church. The ceremony, of-ficiated by Rev. Tim Travers, was attended by a host of family and friends.

our Prayers

our symPathy

Celebrating

Celebrating memories

uA contribution has been made to The Ser-vant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Dorothy Adams by Cal & Terry Moser.uA contribution has been made to The Ser-vant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Dorothy Adams by Barbara Eskridge.uA contribution has been made to The Ser-vant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Dorothy Adams by Don Coody Pharmacy.uA contribution has been made to The Ser-vant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Dorothy Adams by Geraldine Cheney.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Memorial Fund in memory of Dorothy Adams by Prime Time.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Memorial Fund in memory of Bruce Jackson by Prime Time.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Prime Time in memory of Bruce Jackson by Carl & Jo Robinson.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Earthglow in memory of Bruce Jackson by Carl & Jo Robinson.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Music Ministry in memory of Dorothy Adams by Robert & Opal Warren.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Music Ministry in memory of Dorothy Adams by Pathfinders Sunday School Class.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Music Ministry in memory of Dorothy Adams by Pat Norton.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Memorial Fund in memory of Dorothy Adams by Chuck & Pat Dollarhide.uA contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Memorial Fund in memory of Dorothy Adams by David & Sandy Jensen.

uBob and Ann Soper as Bob deals with health issues and is hospitalized at Mercy Rehab Hospital.uEric, Jeanna, and Amelia Stewart as Jeanna deals with health issues and under-goes tests.

Our Prayers continued...

CARE MINISTRIESWhen a family is faced with an illness

or crisis, it is sometimes difficult to remember to inform Care Ministries

of that special situation. As a church family, all of us can help. If you know of a member who would benefit from our specialized care or our prayers through Care Ministries, call Care

Ministries at 728-4738 or 728-4735.

ChurCh of the servant14343 N MacArthur BlvdOklahoma City, OK 73142-9725

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED