What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Congratulations! Tyler and Ashley welcomed a new member to their family on December 23rd. Baby Evelyn was born at 6:30am, 8lbs 1oz.! We are all so excited to meet and welcome Evelyn into the Good Shepherd family. Congratulations!
One of the most caring gifts that can be given to new parents is to bring them a meal, so that they can concentrate on their new role as parents, and on that ever-elusive commodity, SLEEP! Christine O. has organized a Take Them A Meal page, if you’d like to help, you can go to www.takethemameal.com and schedule to bring them a meal starting on January 9th. The site lists information like food allergies, preferences, and directions to their home.
Life Choices Baby Bottle Drive With the number of babies that have been born within the Good Shepherd community this year, this effort feels particularly important. Life Choices is a local charity that helps mentor women who are working through the effects of abortion, encourages teens to set boundaries for healthy relationships, equips new parents with the skills to care for their babies, explains options to women who have just found out that they are pregnant, gives young women a chance to see the life inside their wombs, and much more. Last year, the abortion total in the US since Roe v. Wade broke 59,000,000. That’s fifty-nine million children whose lives were taken. Pastor Matt has recently been appointed a board member at Life Choices, so this is a cause that Good Shepherd really believes in. Please be sure to stop at the usher’s table on your way out of the sanctuary to pick up a baby bottle. Give what you can to help this worthy cause, and return the bottles by the end of February.
March for Life, January 27th March for Life is an annual series of events that includes a conference (January 20th), the world’s largest pro-life rally (January 27th), and a march on the US Capitol (January 27th). If you are interested in attending the rally/march, there are still bus groups leaving from Horseheads and Syracuse that have openings. Click here to see the contact information (scroll down to find NYS). For more information about the March for Life organization and event, check out their homepage here.
“Thousands upon thousands of Americans flock to the Nation’s Capital every January to remember the more than 55 million Americans who have been lost to abortion. We march to remember the moms and dads who have suffered from the pain of abortion. We march with the vision of a culture of life, one where every child is welcomed into life, and protected by law.”
Scheduling Reminder If you need to make an appointment with Pastor Matt, please be sure to contact Stephanie directly at gs.binghamton@gmail.com.
Often when people come to speak with Matt after the service on Sunday, he’s already been working for over nine hours, and doesn’t always remember to put it into the calendar. This can cause double bookings, or forgotten appointments. Please keep in mind that the office is closed on Mondays and Fridays, but you can always leave a message. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Update and Announcements If you have an item you’d like to have announced on Sunday morning, or included in the update, please be sure to forward the item to Stephanie by Wednesday afternoon, and specify if you’d like it announced or just listed in the updates. It will then be edited and forwarded to Anne/Ife to announce on Sunday and/or added to the paper and digital update.
Mission Groups The mission group that meets in Vestal on Mondays and is led by Ben Murphy will not be meeting this week. Meetings will resume next week.
Annual Meeting The 143rd annual meeting will be held on January 22nd, 2017 in the parish hall after the 10:30 service. Please make every effort to be present.
New Members and Attenders Class If you’ve decided to become an official member of Good Shepherd, or would just like more information about Good Shepherd, and what we believe, there will be a new members class session starting on January 29th after the 10:30 service in the youth room. Please call or email Stephanie at the church office for more information or to let us know if you’d like to attend. Meetings typically last around an hour.
Concert coming to Good Shepherd On Thursday March 9th of this year at 7pm Good Shepherd will be hosting a free concert by the Northwestern College Symphonic Band. We hope to use this event as an outreach to the community. Northwestern College is a strong Christian college (Jason Carlton’s alma mater) and the concert will include some brief testimonies by the musicians. And the music is excellent. The orchestra includes about 53 student members and we are looking for volunteers who would be willing to open their homes for Thursday evening, providing breakfast on Friday morning and perhaps a sack lunch for their departure. If you are willing and interested in supporting this outreach and opening your home, please contact the church office at 607-723-8032.
Thank You! Many thanks to all who contributed to our Christmas Outreach for the children of the Saratoga Youth Center! On Monday December 19th, Jeanie, Ally, Santa (aka Paul) and I distributed the Angel Tree gifts to the Saratoga children. (I later discovered that some of these children received ONLY our gifts.) We also spoke to them about God’s gift to us at Christmas and how Jesus came to earth to take our punishment on Himself. The children were so receptive and eagerly respond to the message of salvation. We served them cookies which we had made with them, fresh fruit, and pizza.
Wednesday December 21st, the Outreach Team hosted a Christmas Party for the children of Future Faces. I was again blessed to recount the true meaning of Christmas. The highlight of the party was the arrival of Santa who was photographed with each child. Needless to say, all the children from both Saratoga Youth Center and Future Faces expressed much joy, amazement, and appreciation. May God use our efforts for the furtherance of His kingdom! May God bless these children!
Scheduling Reminder If you need to make an appointment with Pastor Matt, please be sure to contact Stephanie directly at gs.binghamton@gmail.com.
Often when people come to speak with Matt after the service on Sunday, he’s already been working for over nine hours, and doesn’t always remember to put it into the calendar. This can cause double bookings, or forgotten appointments. Please keep in mind that the office is closed on Mondays and Fridays, but you can always leave a message. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Update and Announcements If you have an item you’d like to have announced on Sunday morning, or included in the update, please be sure to forward the item to Stephanie by Wednesday afternoon, and specify if you’d like it announced or just listed in the updates. It will then be edited and forwarded to Anne/Ife to announce on Sunday and/or added to the paper and digital update.
Annual Meeting The 143rd annual meeting will be held on January 22nd, 2017 in the parish hall after the 10:30 service. Please make every effort to be present.
Ongoing Ministries
Children’s bulletins are available to help your children follow all parts of the service today. Please pick one up from an usher.
Bread and Wine If you are interested in joining a group of moms for a monthly supper and discussion of women in the bible, please contact Liz Hull.
Health and Wellness Our bodies are “the tents” that the Lord has given us to house our souls. Begin to take care of the body which God Has given you. Check your blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight every Sunday in the Parish Hall 9-10AM. Please see Dolly Shaller or Carmen Swoffer-Penna for more details.
Last Week
Last Week in Christian Ed This is a class session of our Christian education course on the 39 Articles. This week’s class was Article 34: Church Traditions and the Bible. We discussed the role of church ceremonies and traditions in the Christian life and the distinction between the authority of scripture over the conscience v. the authority of the church. You can catch up on all of the older classes here.
Last Week’s Sermon, ‘The Waters of Meriba’ was based on Hebrews 3:6-12. It can be listened to or downloaded here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Main Idea:
- Believers are faithful to Christ because Christ is faithful to believers.
Read Hebrews 3:6-12
1) How do verses 5 and 6 compare Jesus and Moses?
- What distinction is made between them?
- Why is this distinction significant?
2) To whom does the pronoun “we” refer in the second half of verse 6?
- What does it mean that “we are his house”?
- What does it mean to “hold fast”?
- What is our hope?
3) What is the warning that is quoted in verses 7 through 11?
- Who is this warning for?
- What is the result of a hardened heart?
- How were the children of Israel in the wilderness a classic example of unbelief?
- What does it mean for believers to enter into God’s rest?
4) How is an “evil, unbelieving heart” different than a heart justified by Christ?
- How does an unbelieving heart respond to the word of God?
- How does a believing heart justified by Christ respond?
- What shall we as believers do for each other to guard against unbelief?
Preventing Grace Podcast Did you know that Matt and Anne have a podcast? They talk about everything from church polity to rustic breads. In this week’s episode, ‘Fitness, Faith and Technology’, Matt and Anne discuss Anne’s “fitness” program, perseverance of the saints v. once saved always saved, and cell phones and the curse/blessing of technology.
You can catch up on all of the older podcast episodes here.
Tuesday Morning Bible Study ‘He Who Quarries Stones is Hurt by Them‘ was based on Ecclesiastes 10.
We are in chapter ten and the theme is twofold, the “fragility of the good”(Pastor Chris Roadie) and the presence of the tragic. The fallen world is such that good things are easily spoilt and ruined whereas evil and chaos take no effort to maintain. And yet God has set himself into the world as a fragile infant, who growing to adulthood, by the “tragedy” of his death, broke the power of sin and death and chaos. By that one act, God has brought about a “new thing” under the sun.
You can view the last month’s videos here.
This Week
This Week’s Sermon is based on Hebrews 3:12-19.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Team Corinthians is working on the altar this Sunday with Melissa Boeker.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 1 with Carmen Swoffer-Penna will be working this week (1/19).
Altar Guild Stephanie Warner is serving this Sunday.
Nursery Lauren Kirst is serving this Sunday.
The readings for this week are: Isaiah 49:1-7 and Hebrews 3:12-19.
The PDF Bulletin for this Sunday’s 10:30 service can be downloaded here.
Have an item for the Update or an Announcement?
Email the secretary at:
gs.binghamton@gmail.com
by Monday night.