What’s Happening at Good Shepherd
Financial Statements There are financial statements available at the ushers table at the front entrance of the sanctuary. Please stop on your way out and pick yours up.
A Message from the Missions Committee Thank you for filling shoe boxes for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. 24 Shoeboxes were sent from Good Shepherd to bless 24 children somewhere in the world. Lord, please use these gifts to bring these children to faith in Jesus Christ.
A Visit from St. Nick St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, who, you might remember, threw money into people’s windows at night and punched the heretic Arius in the nose, will be visiting Good Shepherd and giving out chocolate and little oranges on December 4th. This would be a marvelous Sunday to bring children as guests with you to church.
Ladies Annual Christmas Tea will be held on Dec 10 at the Dreher home, from 11-1pm. All ladies are invited, please come and enjoy each other’s company and get to know someone better.
Christmas Outreach: Again this Christmas we at Good Shepherd have the amazing opportunity to celebrate Christ’s birth by helping those less fortunate than ourselves. Needy children from Saratoga Youth Center have provided us with wish lists for Christmas. Please join the Outreach Team in surprising these dear children with some special presents (valued at $15-$20) this holiday. Select a child represented on the Christmas tree in the Parish Hall and record your name, phone number, and the child’s number on the sign-up sheet. Please gift wrap the present and be sure to place the number of the child on the wrapped package. Please bring it to the secretary’s office on or before Sunday December 18th. We will help Saint Nick deliver the gifts to the children on Tuesday December 20th. See Carmen to know the name(s) of the child/children whom you select. Thanks so much!
Greening the Church Traditionally the church is “greened” or decorated on the fourth Sunday of Advent, as close to Christmas as we can get. But this year, as last, Advent Four is awfully close to Christmas itself and we don’t want the whole church to be completely exhausted by Christmas Eve. So this year we’ll green on Advent Three, which is December 11th. There will be a Christmas themed potluck lunch. Everyone is invited to stay and decorate the Sanctuary.
*There will not be a potluck lunch on December 4th.
Christmas Pageant The Christmas pageant will be held on Christmas Eve at 5pm. Please see Anne Kennedy to find out how you can help.
Christmas Service This year Christmas falls on a Sunday. There will be one church service on Christmas at 11am.
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.
Mission Groups Mission groups have returned to their regular meeting times. If you are already part of a Mission Group, check the location and schedule of your meetings with your Mission Group Leader, and in the Week at a Glance section of this morning’s update. See Ben Murphy if you haven’t joined a Mission Group yet and need help finding one!
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.
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. The next meeting is on December 17th at 6pm.
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 was the 18th class session of our Christian education course on the 39 Articles. We discuss Articles 28: The Lord’s Supper.
Last Week’s Sermon: Last week’s sermon was called ‘Son of Man, King of Creation’ and was based on Hebrews 2:5-9. You can listen to or download it here.
Mission Group Discussion Questions
Hebrews 2:5-9
Main Idea:
- Jesus is God, for a time humbled and incarnated, now crowned with glory and honor above all things.
Read Hebrews 2:5-9
1) What is “the world to come” mentioned in verse 5?
- How will “the world to come” be different than the world right now?
2) A section of Psalm 8 is quoted beginning in verse 6. What is the distinction between “man” and “the son of
man” mentioned in that verse?
- Who specifically does “son of man” refer to in this context? How do you know? [later in verse 9]
- Why is this a necessary distinction to see in context of the rest of the quoted Psalm?
3) Speaking about the son of man in verse 7, what does it mean that God “made him for a little while lower than the angels”?
- How does the rest of the quoted Psalm describe the son of man?
- What role does the son of man have over everything?
4) If everything is under his control, why do we not yet see everything in subjection to Jesus?
5) What does the statement “him who for a little while was made lower than the angels” imply about the
position of Jesus from the beginning?
- Why is he now “crowned with glory and honor”?
- Why did he have to be made lower than the angels and become incarnated?
- What would be the state of humanity if Jesus was not God, not incarnated, not crucified, not resurrected, and not raised above all things?
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, ‘Advent, Legalism, and Lots of Guilt to Go Around’ Matt and Anne discuss the wonders of Advent, how we fail every year at being properly Adventish and Christmasy, and a little bit about legalism.
You can catch up on all of the older episodes here.
Tuesday Morning Bible Study ‘Wisdom to Deal with Authority Figures’ was based on Ecclesiastes 8.
This week we moved into Ecclesiastes 8. We live in a culture that values individual expression and independence. The dream is “to be my own boss” and have no one over me. That ideal is rarely fulfilled in actual life. Most of us serve under someone’s authority. But because we live in the culture we do, we often chafe at taking orders, submitting to directives we believe to be unwise or disagreeable, and giving respect and obedience to those we believe are inferior to ourselves intellectually or in experience. Solomon has much to say that undermines the worse aspects of American individualism and replaces it with divine wisdom.
Missed a study? You can catch up on the last month of the Tuesday morning Bible studies you might have missed here.
This Week
This Week’s Sermon is based on Hebrews 2:10-18.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Team Romans is working on the altar this Sunday with Chris Jones.
Shepherd’s Bowl Team 3 with the Warner family will be working this week (12/8).
Altar Guild Christine Osgood is serving this Sunday.
Nursery Carrie Moorhead is serving this Sunday with Evan Dreher.
The readings for this week are: Isaiah 11:1-10 and Hebrews 2:10-18.
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.