Lafayette Church of Christ 115 New Ballwin Road Ballwin, MO 63021 636.391.6697 office.lafayettechurch@gmail.com lafayettechurch.org

Gatherings Sunday mornings 9:00am Worship Gathering 10:30am Bible Classes Wednesday evenings 7:00pm The Middle (classes for all)

Shepherds Les Keim Greg Malcom Jackie Roland Dan Roper Jim Zeller

Stats, December 17, 2017 Worship 209 Weekly worship offering $8,909.00 2017 weekly goal $8,600.00 2017 avg. weekly offering $8,645.96 2017 YTD variation vs goal $2,343.98 Ghana missions for December $119.50

Ministry Staff Mike Brown, Youth Minister mike.lafayettechurch@gmail.com Bob Clark, Preaching Minister 636.346.2795 bobtheclark@gmail.com Kyle Johnson, Neighborhood Interaction kyle.lafayettechurch@gmail.com Becki Pulley, Church Secretary becki.lafayettechurch@gmail.com

Lafayette Christian Preschool Anna Weaver, Director lafayettechristian@gmail.com

Chronic disease and pain: pray for those who day after day, year after year, face the pain of chronic conditions. Pray for their bodies, their minds, and their spirits. Mental health: pray for those being tested and treated for mental health disease. As a church we support (without shame) those dealing with mental and physical disease. Addiction: Pray for those suffering from addiction and their loved ones. Mary Lou Sirtak’s nephew, David is mourning the death of his wife. Quentin Crowe (Evelyn Lundy’s father) experienced improvement after a new treatment. Hospice: Carol Schreiner (former Lafayette member). Cancer treatment: Dottie Belden, Deb Leahy (will begin new treatment in January), Barbara McKeel, and Terry Pulley. Preparing for marriage Jordan Noyes and Kendra Stevenson; Luke Uebelein and Julianne Bigham; Rochelle Aston and Josuě Rubio Munoz.

Assisted living, rehab, and homebound Delmar Gardens at Meramec Valley: Steve Velloff 412; Delmar on the Green: Calvin Uhls 338 and Velma Barfield (Pat Beach’s mother; hospice care) 228; Gambrill Gardens: Fern Orme, 312E; Home: Judy Cooper, Phil Wilhelm.

Neighborhood interaction Pray for conversations to occur with the residents of West County Care Center as they process grief and deaths of friends.

International missions Burkina Faso: Pray for Joel who broke his ankle in a motorcycle accident and has not been able to receive needed care. Asia: Pray for acceptance of all our visa and living requirements.—Logan

Students Please remember the students during this time of travel and rest. Azusa Pacific: Jared Pudiwitr; Chamberlain College of Nursing: Anna Crawford; Crowley’s Ridge: Donovan Tritschler; Harding: Samuel Anderson, Eli Andrews, Mariana Andrews, Maleah Brown, Blake Buehrer, Grant Buehrer, Peyton Buehrer, Emma deSambourg, Gabe deSambourg, Emma Fields, Austin Gray, Brendon Noyes, Kaci Noyes, Abby Rezentes, Jeffrey Simmons, Caleb Uebelein, Luke Uebelein, Mary Joy Uebelein, Rachel Uebelein; Jefferson: Brittany Grentz; LaunchCode: Jacob Pudiwitr; Lipscomb: Karl Aston, Aaron Thompson; Maryville: Laci Johnson, Lynda Oppong; Missouri: Ryan Shepherd; Missouri St: Emily Fritz, Emily Shepherd, Olivia Turney; Paul Mitchell School: Alexandra Wren; Rochester Institute of Technology: Marcus Clark; St. Louis CC: Tyler Pudiwitr, Jordan Roland; Truman: Brendan Wren; UMSL: Trent Ruckman, Troy Ruckman, Emma Schwada, Ben Smith; Wash U: MaryKate Riffle; Wildwood CC: Makenzie Gray; Wyoming: Reed Brack

Prayer list Additional prayer requests are in Lafayette Connection

Singing .......................................................................................................... Alan Shepherd When we sing from our hearts and minds we praise God and encourage each other. O Come, Let Us Adore Him #264 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing #1001 Shepherd’s welcome ............................................................................................ Jim Zeller We welcome and accept one another as Jesus welcomes and accepts each of us. You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)* Agnus Dei* Communion ...................................................................................................... Dane Roper All followers of Jesus are invited to participate as we remember and proclaim Jesus in the Lord’s Supper. The bread is the body of Christ. The juice is the blood of Christ. Gluten free bread is available in the kitchen. Here I Am To Worship* Offering ............................................................................................................. Dane Roper We worship God by giving God the first fruits of our income to express both thanks and trust. We seek to honor God as we give joyfully, generously, sacrificially, and dependably. Breath Of Heaven #363 Away In A Manger #1017 Reading of Isaiah 9:2-7 ..................................................................................... Herb Crown We invite God to shape us as we listen attentively to God’s Word. Message: A Light Has Dawned ............................................................................. Bob Clark Preaching is a time of worship: God is revealed and we respond with our hearts and lives. O Holy Night! #1028 Joy to the World #1018 Prayer opportunity .............................................................................. Jim and Kathy Zeller If you would like to pray, exit the back of the worship center, turn left, and you will find the prayer room on the right just past the kitchen. Child care .............................................................................. Pat Beach and Sarah Buehrer To drop off children (up to their third birthday), exit the back of the worship center into the foyer, turn left, and you will find the nursery at the end of the hall. Children may stay in the nursery to attend the cradle roll/toddler class following the worship gathering.

#Songs of Faith and Praise Songbook *Song sheets - available at the Welcome Center

Worship Gathering December 24, 2017

Whether you are a first-time guest or have been gathering with us for some time, we are glad you are with us today. We are a family of Jesus-followers who gather each week to worship God and scatter each week to reflect God. Thanks so much for worshipping with us. Please join us in reflecting God throughout the week.

Please complete a blue guest card from the back of the worship center seats and place it in the offering tray as it passes you. We would love to be able to contact you to say hello. If you would like to know more about being a Jesus-follower, being baptized, or becoming a part of Lafayette, you are invited to meet with those in the prayer room just after the sermon. Turn left as you exit the back of the worship center; the prayer room is on the right just past the kitchen.

1 Angel Tree Thanks to all who have taken angels from the Angel Tree in the foyer. Sally Blackburn was able to deliver all the angel gifts last week. These gifts will bless students selected by counselors at Selvidge Middle School, Woerther Elementary School, and Ballwin Elementary School.

2 Campus improvements Being good stewards of our campus is important to us at Lafayette. We recently replaced the deck at the epiCENTER with concrete steps and patio. Last week we replaced the well-worn carpet in the office. Both of these improvements were much needed and perhaps even overdue. We are thankful for our campus!

3 Congratulations At Lafayette we love rejoicing with those who rejoice! We are rejoicing with and offering our congratulations to Colin Alston, Michalie Brown, Stephen Kernan, and Kendra Stevenson (Jordan Noyes’s fiancé) who were graduated from Harding University last week. Also, congratulations to Danielle Simmons who was graduated from Jefferson.

4 Lamenting With God Studying the Bible is important to us at Lafayette. We are taking a break from classes for the next couple of weeks. Our classes will resume on January 7. We are in the home stretch of our class on the lament psalms. The Sundays in January will focus on lamenting during times of life disappointments, illness, and conflict. And for those wondering, the panel will tackle those disturbing imprecatory psalms.

5 Small groups Small group ministry has been an important ministry at Lafayette for many years. We want to hear from you about your small group preferences for January-May 2018. If you have not yet turned in your small groups preference listening tool, please do so today.

Too often we let over-stuffed schedules get the best of us. We pack every day, every hour to the brim. We cut out any “white space” that would allow us to relax and breathe. As a result, we often end up rushing in and out of our gatherings with hardly a moment to even enjoy small talk. For that reason Lourene an I have always enjoyed Cider Sunday, because it breaks into our routine and gives us time to share conversation. Last week we were thrilled to see so many lingering and talking until almost noon. Take advantage of our holiday schedule and breathe! Don’t forget, God rested on the seventh day. — Bob Clark

Welcome to Lafayette

Reflections

5 Things to know this week

Dec 24 Holiday schedule: Christmas Eve Worship, 9:00am, no classes Dec 27 Holiday schedule: no activities on campus Dec 30 Superset New Year's "Noon Day" Party at the Rolands’ house on Hartshill Lane Dec 31 Holiday schedule: New Year’s Eve Worship, 9:00am, no classes

Holiday schedule Don’t forget that meeting times and office hours vary from the norm during this holiday season. Please remember that if you experience a crisis, you are welcome to call your church leaders at any time, even during the holidays.

Hope, Joy, Peace, Love — JESUS

Area events

Dec 25 West Central Community Christmas Luncheon, 11:00am-1:00pm

Lafayette calendar

Into The Darkest Hour It was a time like this, war & tumult of war, a horror in the air. Hungry yawned the abyss— and yet there came the star and the child most wonderfully there. It was time like this of fear & lust for power, license & greed and blight- and yet the Prince of bliss came into the darkest hour in quiet & silent light. And in a time like this how celebrate his birth when all things fall apart? Ah! Wonderful it is with no room on the earth the stable is our heart. — Madeleine L’Engle Bring Forth Christ “Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith.”

– St. Ambrose

Words for Today Label less, Love more Pace less, Pray more Worry less, Worship more Consume less, Create more Complain less, Care more Grip less, Give more Snap less, Smile more Harp less, Hear more Rebuff less, Reach more Fear never, Forward always. — Ann Voskamp A Prayer for The Church God, in the name of Jesus, grant the people of Jesus the heart of Jesus to do the works of Jesus in the ways of Jesus till the return of Jesus because the church of Jesus is nothing without Jesus. — Beth Moore