Worship Each Week & Daily Prayer | |
Attending weekly gives you the opportunity to re-center your life,
give God honor and glory, and remember what is really important in life.
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Everyone may have a different definition of home and the places where we belong. Some people may find home not in physical spaces, but instead in belonging to a community that accepts us for the entirety of who God created us to be. The Advent and Christmas seasons are a sort of homecoming. God found a new home among us in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. God will find this home again in the second coming of Christ as we await that return. The dwelling places where we find Christ today can be in our mangers, surrounded by parents, shepherds, magi, and a variety of animals--and also through the moves of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes those dwelling places can take us by surprise; sometimes those dwelling places can also be where we experience the most comfort and joy, where we truly belong in creation. | | |
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This Week's Prayer Calendar
Congregations: First Christian Church Centralia, UniPlace Champaign, Chandlerville Christian Church, Burt Lake Christian Church, MI
Community: Decatur Public Schools Galloway, Nelson, and Clokey Park neighborhoods
Global Ministries: Dominican Republic
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Pray with the Dominican Republic, December 10, 2023 - Global Ministries | Lectionary Selection: Isaiah 40:1-11 Prayers for the Dominican Republic Prayer for Children Lord God, who is Father and Mother, I thank you, I bless you, I praise and glorify you for having taken me by the hand to tread a difficult ... Read more | | | |
Grow in Faith
through listening, paying attention, and reading 5 verses a day
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Take a class, as you make friends and grow to know what learning, loving, and serving God and neighbor means in everyday life. | |
Use Your Gifts by sharing five acts of love and kindness each week | |
Serve God and neighbor by using your gifts and talents both inside and outside the walls of the church. Each of us have spiritual gifts and natural abilities to use to serve others and glorify God. | | |
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Worship Assistance Needed
The worship service slides are prepared. Coffee is hot, and donuts are served. Pastor Jason greets you at the door.
What's wrong with this picture? These tasks are handled and cared by Pastor Jason's family members in a majority of the situations. Every Sunday.
Help with Coffee Fellowship? Your duties would be to prep the coffee urn with water, coffee. Plug the perculator in around 8:30 am (it takes about 20 minutes for the full perculator to brew). Pick up the donuts from Good Samaritan Inn on Sunday morning (they are usually ready by 7 am) and deliver. Clean up after worship.
Help with Door Greeting? Your duties would be to arrive at the church no later than 8:50 am. Greet those at the entrance. Remain at the door until 9:40 am (about the time for "All God's children section of worship) for late arrivals.
Help with Worship Slides? Arrive in the balcony about 5 minutes before worship (9:25). Advance slides appropriately. Additional duties will be checking livestream when up and running.
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Birthdays/Anniversaries
December 10-16
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Birthdays
None
Wedding Anniversaries
None
Membership Anniversaries
(When you joined Prairie Avenue!)
None
If you know of a birthday or anniversary that has gone "Missing" from our list, please contact the church office at 217-428-3327. Thanks.
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Give Regularly through five acts of generosity each month | |
Giving regularly not only supports the work of the church,
but also is your way of giving God priority in your life.
What we love is where we will spend first.
When we are able to give, it always deepens our faith
in loving and serving God.
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Thank You for your generosity! | |
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2023 Christmas Special Offering
Sunday, December 17 & 24
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Our gifts support the work of Christian Church in Illinois-Wisconsin. The CCIW (in partnership with Michigan region) works to:
- Connect congregations to each other
- Foster faith development
- Gather Disciples in camps, conferences, and assemblies
- Nurture the development of a new generation of pastors
- Assist churches in calling new ministers
- Interpret the global mission of the Church
- Represent the Church in ecumenical gatherings
- Counsel and pray with those who are troubled of spirit
- Lead the Church to address racism
- Inspire leaders to experiment and create
- Witness to the power of God to make things new
The Christmas Special Day offering supports all of these and many other ministries of our regions.
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General Fund Supports Operations & Ministry | Donations given to the Prairie Avenue Christian Church General Fund support the year-round ministries of the church. Your generous support keeps our building, staff, and operations working for the mission of the church. The mission of Prairie... | | | |
Building Fund Supports Repair & Updates | Announced at the State of the Church address on June 30, 2015, the reFresh capital campaign has two improvement/update priorities: updating HVAC equipment and internet/network accessibility. | | | |
Energy Audit Completed
Through our partnership with Faith in Place, we received a free Level 2 Energy Audit with Energy for Purpose. Recommendations included upgrades to thermostat controls and scheduling operations, replacing the sanctuary boiler (circa 2004), retrofitting LED bulbs in lighting fixtures, and replacing aged water heaters with either tankless, on-demand, or scheduled heating. Some grants and rebates are available for these projects. Our existing solar array has impacted our payback on these smaller investments, but we would save as much as $7,049 annually through these proposed improvements.
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Women's Restroom Repair Update
53 years of faithful service ended with the failure of the service valve in the first stall of the first-floor women's restroom. Labor and parts were $223. Consider donating to the building fund to offset this cost from the general fund.
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For instructions in registering your Kroger Rewards Card, Click Here.
The Organization code for Prairie Avenue Christian Church is: BY235.
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Kroger Community Rewards Program News | |
$30.06 was raised by 14 households who have linked their Kroger customer reward cards to support Prairie Avenue Christian Church. The quarterly contribution is for shopping at Kroger from July to September 2023.
Joining to support the ministries of Prairie Avenue Christian Church is FREE. Any transactions moving forward using the Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Kroger donates annually to participating organizations based on your percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending associated with all participating Kroger Community Rewards organizations.
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Share Your Faith by inviting 5 people to church this year | |
The God you worship is always revealed through your words and actions. Awkward conversations (i.e. "Are you saved?") are not necessary when your words and actions reveal the God you seek to learn, love, and serve. | | |
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The Wise Men Continue Their Journeys...
Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior continue their annual seasonal journey to see Jesus starting this week.
To remind ourselves of the journey to meet Jesus during the season of Advent, our Wise Men figurines travel to various places in Central Illinois on their journey. Each week during Advent we will post photographs of our wise men on their journey. Try and figure out where they have visited.
If you would like to "adopt a wise man" to take on a weekly journey, please sign up with Pastor Jason.
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