Pastor Darcy
To start off this New Year and our three-year focus on making
New Connections, I offer these two invitations to you:
1. Nurture your own spiritual life and encourage others through the six marks of discipleship -
- Daily Prayer
- Weekly Worship
- Daily Bible Reading
- Serving in and beyond the Congregation
- Nurturing Relationships
- Giving a Tithe and Beyond
These Six Marks of Discipleship are from the book: "Living the Six Marks of Discipleship - Real Faith for Real Life" by Michael W. Foss.
2. Be intentional about inviting others to the various ministry opportunities that LCOC offers. According to churchgrowth.org, 86% of people start coming to church because a friend invited them. YOU will make a difference in someone's life because you took the time to invite them.
Take a moment and read through this newsletter to learn more about current plans for you to be nurtured in faith and opportunities for you to invite others to come and see what it means to follow Jesus.
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Introducing the 2020 council:
President - Randy Beattie
Vice President - Denise Wilder
Treasurer - Doug Strack
Secretary - Marlies Smith
Worship - Sonya Wichelt
Stewardship - Daniel Owusu
Evangelism - Patti Beattie
Youth - Diane DeGroodt
Property - Sherman Basinger
Thank you to the outgoing Secretary, Lorelei Ditton
for her faithful service in this role!
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Cou
n
cil President
It is hard to believe that 2019 is over and amazing to look back over all that took place in the world and here at LCOC. If you missed the opportunity to see the highlights of our ministries in the Year in Review and New Connections videos, I would recommend checking those out on LCOC's own You Tube channel. It is a great way to see what a difference your love and service have made and how God has blessed those efforts. My thanks to all of you.
It is always a good idea to look back and not only appreciate what has been accomplished and learned in the past, but to look forward, seek opportunities and set goals for the future, such as our New Connections goals for 50 newly engaged people at LCOC and $250,000 raised for education, technology, and enhancing our facility to invite and help others grow in faith. We have a little under one fifth of that goal pledged thanks to many of you and know that all of the LCOC family will be making their commitments to make this possible over the next three years.
As I wish you all a Happy New Year, full of joy for your families and even more amazing service to others, I thought you might like to hear about a few interesting New Year's customs from other countries. In Spain, people eat one grape for each stroke of the clock at midnight to bring luck for each month of the new year. In Scotland, they practice "first footing" where the first person to cross the threshold of a home in the new year brings a gift for luck. In the Philippines, round shapes are common all over-from fruits to coins to clothes patterned in polka dots to symbolize prosperity. Whatever tradition you may have in your home, I know that it includes prayer not only for your family, but also for LCOC, our community, our nation, and the world that we will seek God's will and peace and serve Him.
Happy New Year!
Randy
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GATHER
to worship God and fellowship with the community
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| Prayer Breakfast |
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Men's Prayer Breakfast
Striving each week to look to the past, present and future watching and waiting for the return of our savior.
The next Prayer breakfast is scheduled for January 11th at 7:30 am. All are welcome!
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Community Prayer Group
The LCOC community prayer group meets the seco
nd
Saturday of each month from 7:30 am to 9 am in the Work Room. All are welcome to this time when joys, concerns and hopes are lifted in prayer.
Next gathering: January 11 at 7:30 am.
Matt. 21:13 - My house will be called a house of prayer,.....
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Worship Committee
We begin the 2020 church year with the season of epiphany. A definition of epiphany is "the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2: 1-12)."
January 12 is the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord.
February 5 LCOC will have a Taize worship service at 7:30 pm
This is a simple, short, contemplative service that offers a quiet time to connect with God.
At one time the anchor was a popular Christian symbol. It was thought to represent hope in Christ. Another theory is the anchor may have been disguised as a cross. It lost popularity in the 4th century and returned use in the 17th century and is becoming more popular today as a Christian symbol of hope.
The search continues for a new choir director. If you know of anyone who may be interested in this position please have them send their resume to [email protected].
NEXT WORSHIP PLANNING SESSION: January 4th at 9 am
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EPIPHANY SERMON SERIES
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January 5 - The Gift of Unexpected Gifts
January 12 - The Gift of Committed Community
January 19 - The Gift of Unbridled Curiosity
January 26 - The Gift of Bold Action
February 2 - The Gift of Poetic Challenge
February 9 - The Gift of Public Witness
February 16 - The Gift of Outrageous Grace
February 23 - The Gift of the Unpredictable Jesus
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GROW
in our relationship with God through prayer, Bible Study, and service
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YOU ARE INVITED
To a special series
to become
THE INVITATIONAL CHRISTIAN
Which in turn will support LCOC's mission to
MAKE NEW CONNECTIONS!
This series will include prayer, scripture, and practical ideas!
Topics include:
A Changing World;
Why Should Anyone Come?;
Quality Matters;
Knowing Our Story;
Address their fears;
Give them tools;
The Importance of With;
Following Up
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Tuesdays Morning Bible Study
Begins January 14 at 10:00 am
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Explore a fresh and timely interpretation of Jesus' most popular teaching parables.
Jesus knew how to tell a story. He knew that in order to get his message across he needed to relate to the people who gathered to listen-first century Jews-who lived in a very different world than the one in which we live today. In Short Stories by Jesus, author Amy-Jill Levine takes you back in time and explains how original audiences understood Jesus' parables. You'll learn how new interpretations of the parables continue to challenge and provoke contemporary readers two thousand years later.
All are welcome!
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GIVE
of our resources, time, and talents in response to
God's extravagant generosity towards us
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Stewardship
Thank you to all those who have already pledged and/or donated to the New Connections Campaign, getting us on our way to bringing in 50 new people to be actively engaged in God's work and raising $250,000 to allow us to share God's love, invite and connect with more people, and help all who come through LCOC in their faith development.
Funds will be used to enhance our facilities to make them even more welcoming and accessible, as well as to upgrade technology to help support education, worship, and faith growth, and to support our synod in building and serving congregations.
Thanks also for those who have helped with mailings, creating displays, and developing videos and support processes for the New Connections Campaign. Please continue to be in prayer for this campaign and what God is leading you to commit not only in pledges, but also in sharing your time and talents to fulfill the ministries.
A link for New Connections Campaign giving through Vanco is in place along with the regular online giving option.
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GO
forth to serve others and share the story of God's love for all
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Youth Group
On December 7th, LCOC hosted the youth from LCOC, St. Matthew's and Good Shepherd.
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Evangelism
Thanks be to God for his blessings in 2019 and to all of you for your love and generosity to each other and our community through your service in worship and community outreach. With God's strength and your love and support we were able to make a difference in many lives from those of students and families at Neabsco Elementary, to neighbors in need through ACTS, to brothers and sisters far away that we may never meet through Rise Against Hunger.
Let us redouble our efforts to follow God's commandments to love Him and love others even more in 2020 by committing to our New Connections Campaign and the ministries both old and new that open up.
Most of you know that I volunteer as a tutor with Literacy Volunteers of America-PW, teaching a writing class to adults who have English as a second language. At our last class we were discussing the word resolutions and how Americans make New Year's resolutions. Here are some thoughts I wanted to share on resolutions for our church family as I wish you and your family a happy, healthy, joyous New Year!
R
each out to those in need
E
ngage in prayer and Bible study
S
hare God's love and serve
O
pen up to new connections and possibilities
L
isten and love
U
se talents and resources in service
T
hank God and be thoughtful
I
nvite others to take part
O
ffer up our hearts/voices in praise
N
etwork and connect
With thanks,
Patti
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Prayer Opportunities
Prayer Chain Ministry:
or call the Prayer Chain Lead at 571-210-1979
Free Ceaseless Prayer App:
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Birthdays
4 John M
6 Mary S
9 Brayden J
13 Roger W
18 Gwyneth H
24 Sarah G
28 Gwen B
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Baptisms
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1 Troy S
2 Heather G
25 Annmarie B
28 JoAnn E
28 Joshua M
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Members in the Military
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Tyler R
Tom M
Ryan L
Samuel B
Xavier D
Please remember to keep our service members and their families in your prayers as they serve our country. If you have someone to add to this list, please contact the office.
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Flower Calendar
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The altar flowers for this month are given to the glory of God and contributed by:
January 5
The Rose family in celebration of Mary Seikel's birthday.
January 12
The Burrough's family in celebration of the birthdays of their grandchildren Beth and Alex.
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January 18 -
Chili Cookoff
February 2 - Feeding the Homeless-Hilda Barg Shelter
February 25 - Shove Tuesday Pancake Supper
March 28 - Rise Against Hunger Event
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Breakfast with Santa
&
Mrs Claus
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FELLOWSHIP |
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One way that we connect and have fun at LCOC is through Fellowship opportunities. Dale Gallentine and I are developing a Fellowship team and we invite YOU to come, have fun and meet to plan some upcoming events. Sign up in the Narthex to be a part of this team or email us at
[email protected]
with questions or ideas. We would greatly appreciate your support for this team! We look forward to working together to create new connections through fellowship. Thank you!
Blessings on you,
Darla Ferris
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Learn more about how LCOC is already making connections and the plans to make more connections over the next 3 years...
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Feeding the Homeless
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It is our turn to provide meals on February 2nd and 3rd for the residents at the Hilda Barg Homeless Shelter. Please prayerfully consider a monetary donation so that we may purchase the food. We will do all the cooking.
Blessings, Sandy Strychowski
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OTLWB Book Club
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The next meeting of the book club will be on January 13th at 12:30 p.m.
If you would like more information,
please see Sandy S. or Diane D.
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Office Hours:
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Monday - Friday
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
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