Ferryhill Parish News
Please help us buy a herd of goats!
We'll soon be putting up the Christmas tree in church, and this year we want you to help us decorate it with very special Christian Aid Christmas Stars. During Sunday services you'll have the chance to put your own star on the tree. They are special because each has a prayer on the back. It's ‘a prayer of giving' that tells us what kind of giving Christmas is really all about, and reminds us what each of us really ought to be giving at Christmas. On the front of the star there's space where you might wish to write any topic, local, national or international that you'd like us to pray for in church over the services of Advent and Christmas. You'll be able to get your star in the Foyer from the first Sunday in Advent – 3rd December, before and after services and during the week at the Coffee Shop. And here's where the herd of goats comes in. We'd like you to make a donation (minimum 20p) for each star, and through Christian Aid we're hoping to buy a herd of goats and send it from Ferryhill Church to local farmers in one of the world's poorest countries, where it could transform people's lives. “A herd of goats can go a long way, “says Christian Aid's Present Aid catalogue, “a gift like a herd of goats could go on and on.”. A herd of goats costs just £60 so please help us this Christmas.
And why not add to that .........
“the three little pigs”!
Giving Christmas cards to one another is one way that we let others know we appreciate them but this year we have found a different way of letting others within the congregation know that you care and at the same time share our love with those who have very little. Instead of giving individual cards we ask that you sign one very large card for a minimum fee of 50p. It's in the foyer and hard to miss – silver foil wise men and a manger on black! This money will also go towards buying the herd of goats and if there's enough maybe even three little pigs for a farmer in Nicaragua (£27). Then he'll be able to bring home more than just the bacon!!
We hope that you will support us in this venture and an added bonus is less for your recycling come January!
SERVICES IN DECEMBER
Candles will be lit on the Advent ring on each of the four Sundays in Advent.
Sunday 3rd (1st in Advent)
11 a.m. Worship for all ages.
Sunday Gang and crèche.
Sunday 10th (2nd in Advent)
11 a.m. Worship for all ages. Sunday Gang. Crèche.
Sunday 18th (3rd in Advent)
11 a.m. The Christmas Story for all ages. Sunday Gang and crèche.
Tuesday 19th
12.10 p.m . Mid-week service
Friday 22nd
10.45 a.m. Ferryhill School Service
Sunday 24th Christmas Eve
(4th in Advent)
11 a.m. Worship for all ages.
Words and music for Christmas with the Ferryhill Singers. Crèche.
Make Christingles with coffee and mince pies after the service. All welcome!
6.30 p.m. Christingle Service for all ages
11 p.m. Carols by candlelight ( Please bring a torch to this service )
11.30 p.m. Watchnight service (Please bring a torch to this service )
Christmas Day (Monday 25th )
10 a.m. Worship for all ages (Lasting approx. 35 minutes)
Please bring a Christmas present you have received.
Services in January 2007
Sunday 7th (First After Christmas)
11 a.m. Worship for all ages. Carols. Crèche.
Sunday 14th
11 a.m. Worship for all ages. Sacrament of Holy Communion
Sunday Gang and crèche.
Tuesday 16th January
12.10 p.m. Mid-week service
Sunday 21st
11 a.m. Worship for all ages.
Sunday Gang and crèche.
6. p.m. Informal service with Holy Communion
Sunday 28th January
11 a.m. Worship for all ages. .
Sunday Gang and crèche.
Services in Nursing Homes:
Devanha : 6 p.m. Sundays 10 th December and 14 th January
Mayfield East : 6 p.m . Thursday (N.B.) 21st December and Sunday 28 th January
Cowdray Club : 11 a.m Wednesdays 6th December and 3 rd January 2007
Christmas offerings
The offerings from the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services will be divided between a local charity, The Cairns Counselling Service and the House of Hope (for blind people) in Bethlehem
Items for the Diary:
Stewardship Training for Area Care Teams ; Sunday 3rd after morning worship
Congregational Board: Wednesday 6th December at 7.15 p.m. (Please note date)
Co-ordinating Committee: Thursday 11 th January 2007 at 7.15 p.m.
Kirk Session: January 18th 2007 at 7.15 p.m.
Christmas Message
Christmas, at least for me, is often an anti-climax. All that waiting, all those presents and parties give way to January and the long steep climb out of winter with the next holiday somewhere in the far distance. But if Advent is a time of waiting, of anticipation, of expectation then it must be about something more substantial than empty bottles and rubbish bins overflowing with wrapping paper. But then how do we get to the place where what we have waited for doesn't end with disappointment?
I think the answer is to go to the mystery of God with us. Jesus, the Son of God, coming to earth as a baby is a staggering event. This story, that is so well known, has a remarkable durability. We know that Christmas is a time for friendship and for family reunions. It is a time for a holiday, a rest from work and it is very good for retail businesses. Yet these things do not seem able to be able to displace the story itself. They surround it, they complement it and sometimes they can distract us away from it. But they never seem to meet our longing to reach out and touch the part of the story which is ‘out there' and ‘beyond ourselves'.
There is a beauty and a wonder that Jesus, the Son of God, came as a baby – God with us . This is what we sing about; this is what we are celebrating. It is a mystery and in our longing to find ourselves we can find hope and strength in the story of the baby.
Now how might this help avoid the apparently inevitable anti-climax? It is because the baby grew up. This makes the story much more of a beginning than an end. Jesus lived, he laughed, he healed, he died and he rose. The birth reminds us of his life and how in that life we have been given hope. We can reach out beyond ourselves to this hope by faith in him…… and this faith is not a delusion rather it is a wholly different way of seeing. To be filled with this hope is a wonderful thing because it endures. It says that what we wait for at Christmas is only a beginning of a much bigger story.
Ian McEwan
The Brunch 'n Buy event run on Sat 18th November by the Fundraising Taskgroup was a great success, thanks to all who made donations, and to all who came along. But a special note of thanks must go to all the volunteers who worked so tirelessly in the kitchen, in the Coffee Shop and at the stalls..... and by public demand, the chili con carne and rice will definitely appear on the menu again!! The splendid sum of £1630 was raised for the Hall Development Fund.
TGIFF ( Thank Goodness it's Friday @ Ferryhill ) is now up and rolling. We meet on Fridays at the church, 7 - 9 pm. Anyone of secondary school age is welcome to come along and check out what is on offer. We have pool, snooker, table tennis, space to sit and chat, air hockey, darts and big screen Xbox. The last TGIFF before Christmas will be on the 8 December. The week before this a car treasure hunt is planned. TGIFF resumes on 12 January. Tel: Terri Bruce on 07834 837242 or Ian McEwan on 07985 006538.
This month's Malawi Container request is for NEW TOYS and NEW PICTURE BOOKS - books which could be used in Sunday School particularly. The children in Blantyre have NO toys. All sorts of balls are requested for playing football, tennis, hockey and basketball. Board games, where the children play against each other, are needed as are toys for young children. Let's make a huge effort to give the Malawi children some fun. We are also looking for MOBILE PHONES and COMPUTERS with a minimum spec. of Pentium 3 or better. Everything you give will make a difference to someone's life. Thank you all so much for everything you have given to date. Our appeal for new white and coloured hand and bath towels still continues.
Dates for your Diary
Friday 15th December at 7.45 p.m The Aberdeen Chorus of Sweet Adelines proudly presents A CHRISTMAS CRACKER. An evening of fun, music – and a few surprises! Suitable for all ages. Entrance: Adults £7.00 - children and concessions £5.00
Monday Fellowship 15th January 2.15 Mission Aviation
Guild 13th December Christmas Meal Inn at the Park
17th January Rev JHA Dick Theme Discussion