Weekly Witness

November 26, 2025

Sunday, November 30, 2025

1st Sunday of Advent

Thank Offering

Sermon Text: Romans 13: 11-14

Livestream; Bulletin

Interim Pastor: Rev. Frank Yates

Advent Candle: Pitts family

Liturgist: Thom Hinks

Psalmist: Bill Cox

Greeters: Craig Kelley & Ginger Wall

Ushers: Mike & Liz Bushma, Victoria Flick, Steve Sproul

Early Morning Security: Dave Sternberg

November Sanctuary Stewards: Liz Bushma and Sharon Glass

December Sanctuary Stewards: Birgitta Gustafson and Camise Kettner

Hospitality: The treats this Sunday are provided by the Presbyterian Women's Bible Study in gratitude for your support.

Advent Reflection

Advent is a time when we practice waiting. We are waiting for the birth of the Christ child. We are waiting for the time when God’s reign is manifest to us here and now - God’s kin-dom on earth. In some ways, the practice of all of Christian life is waiting - waiting in hope for a time of justice and peace for all, waiting for God’s will to finally be done “on earth as in heaven.”

Some Christians specialize in the waiting - waiting for the Rapture, waiting for their enemies to be punished, waiting to go to Heaven. I would say those kinds of Christians are the “apocalyptic freeloaders” that Frank mentioned on Sunday.  

I believe we are called to a different sort of waiting. I believe that while we are called to wait and watch and be ready, for the kin-dom that is at hand, we are also called to act and live as if the kin-dom is already here with us. We are called as Christians to embody God’s love for the world and all of its inhabitants. We are called to live the kin-dom into reality by caring for God’s creation, alleviating suffering, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, befriending the lonely, clothing the naked … sound familiar? 

In a world that deifies ostentatious wealth and criminalizes poverty, we are called to live in an alternative reality. The reality we are called to live in is the one where we practice hope, peace, joy and love into existence - for our neighbors, for our world, for our future. 

As we enter Advent, let’s imagine this world:

           The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. 

          They will not hurt or destroy

          on all my holy mountain,

          for the earth will be full of the

knowledge of the Lord

          as the waters cover the sea. 

(Isaiah 11:6, 9)

2 Cents a Meal Offering

Sunday, December 7th

Our 2 cents/meal offering, normally collected on the 5th Sunday of the month will be collected on

Sunday, December 7th.

Thank you for all you do to help our neighbors in need during the colder months and throughout the holiday season!

From Finance and Stewardship Committee

"Grace Upon Grace with Generosity"

Thank you for continuing to submit stewardship pledges and time/talent information for 2026. Finance and Stewardship is grateful for your generosity and support of our operational budget. We continue to accept pledges--either via our website (www.rrpchurch.org), mailing your pledge to the church, or putting your pledge in the red box on the counter in the Narthex. Thanksgiving blessings to you and your family."



God’s blessings to all,

Finance and Stewardship Committee

Generosity (part 4) - by Bill Wehner

“What you keep is all you have. What you give, God multiplies.”

-Craig Groeschel

This smacked me across the face when I first read it. I think I saw it right after I opened my yearly bonus check. I do remember it was before I started tithing regularly.

Thinking back over the years, it always seemed that we struggled financially. In fact, we honestly did struggle until I had the realization that nothing was going to change unless I changed…my heart. It was just before my first open-heart surgery that I began to tithe, feeling “the pressure” to obey God’s command to tithe. It wasn’t my wife, pastor, or parents that pressured me, but I knew it was the Holy Spirit and his darned conviction power that was doing it.

I looked at my gross salary, figured ten percent, and I stared at the yearly number divided by twelve for the monthly amount. Dang, that was a lot of money. Could I afford it? I couldn’t not afford it. I wrote the check, dropped it in the offering plate, and thus began the ultimate trust in God to do His work. I didn’t try to rationalize anything. It would be wasting a lot of my time.

Fast forward one year, and I did some reflecting on our financial status.

We weren’t struggling anymore. Things worked out. Besides financially, we noticed that we did not have as many “problems” crop up and drain our lives. We kept on tithing, and even God got a raise every time I did, and still, financially we were doing fine!

What also happened, and this is still true today, I get excited about writing that tithe check every month and then (here’s the kicker) I still find other ways to be generous with my money. Those are the “non-tithe” gifts and offerings we should keep giving. It seemed that the more I kept, the less I had, and the more I gave, the more I received.

This is the starting point of generosity. The heart. Be sure my heart is poised for generosity and wait for the joy to come, the miracles that happen and God’s multiplication (not addition!) of my gifts for others. Now just imagine what that would be like if we all had that heart. Let God guide you to that.

Happy Advent!

Here is your Advent devotional created by you,

the congregation! 

Advent Devotional

Advent Devotional - Large Print

From the Worship Committee

December's Book:

The Woman in the Library

by Sulari Gentill

We will be meeting at Nancy Henriksen's home on December 16th at 2pm. Her address is: 507 Cherish Street, Rio Rancho, NM. Feel free to contact her at nanscott4413@msn.com.

Please join us! All are welcome!

Let's gather together for Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 27th

11am-1pm

Fellowship Hall

There is always room! If you forgot to sign up, join us anyway!!

We look forward to celebrating together!

Church Calendar

November 30 - December 6, 2025

December Birthdays

03 Ruthie Mitchell

06 Remi Strommen, Diane Wakashige

09 Kathy Hallquist

13 Paige Furlano

14 Bob Pierce

17 Beth Miller, Joy Sternberg

18 Hadley Furlano, Kim Mishos

19 Amanda Ball, Georganne Mellen

21 Dede Denham, Mark Kilgannon

23 Roberta Pierce

25 Liz Bushma, Wesley Smith

25 Nancy Henriksen

26 Bill Cox

28 Birgitta Gustafson

Donations Received

In the last three weeks, we have collected $304 from the coin jar and 422 pounds of food!

Storehouse West and the Board are doing all they can just to meet the monthly needs and the client list is growing and growing.  

ALL donations now are for their daily needs.  

Current needs:

• Soup
• Fruits & vegetables
• Meat or meat pouches
• Tomato products
• Pasta Sauce & Pasta
• 1 lb. or 2 lb. bags of Rice
• 1lb. bags of Dried Beans
• Ramen noodles
• 16 oz. plastic jars of Peanut Butter
• Breakfast Cereal
• Shelf stable Milk of all types No GLASS JARS, please!

Please consider donating food or money for our neighbors in need. The Mission Committee thanks you for your gifts.

Storehouse West Food Pantry: 1030 Veranda Road SE, Rio Rancho, NM (505) 892-2077 www.storehousewest.org

Presbyterian Women’s

Thank Offering

THIS SUNDAY, November 30th, we will be inviting our church family to participate in the Thank Offering. This offering has been part of Presbyterian Women’s mission since the 1880s.

In 2025, the Creative Ministries Offering Committee of the Presbyterian Women received 37 Thanks Offering applications. After prayerful consideration ten projects were awarded funding. These projects will provide funding for such services as housing, much needed food, health care, and children at risk. The ten projects are located in many parts of our country, from Alaska, to New York, to Nebraska, to Louisiana, and Kentucky to name a few.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated. We thank you in advance for your participation. Remember, on November 30th, there will be special envelopes for this offering. If you have questions, please contact either Liz Buzhma or Leah Gerlach. We are so thankful for our most generous church family.

RRPC Presbyterian Women

Calling all bakers!

Let’s provide cookies for the

Guardians of the Children

Annual Christmas Party

Saturday, December 6^th

Please bring your cookies to the nursery and place in the refrigerator any time before December 5^th.

Thank you very much!

Men's Breakfast - Saturday, Dec 6, 8:00 am

Do join us for our traditional hearty breakfast, Fellowship, 

and a very special program provided by Sheila Malmo and Leah Gerlach: "Understanding Loss - Our Journeys in 

Becoming Grief Counselors" This you don't want to miss!

Come See

An Interfaith Children's

Christmas Choir

Monday, December 15, 2025

5:30 pm

Cottonwood Mall

This performance will help promote the new Giving Machine (in the mall) to help those with needs around the world.

  A Note from Karen Payne

 Thanks so much for all of your cards and notes. I am having a better experience than I thought I would! As I suspected, the post-op pain is ‘easier’ to deal with than the pre-op. (Or, could it just be that the drugs are better? 😆)

I am so blessed on that score and in having my wonderful church and its rich cast of characters praying and pulling for me! I appreciate all of you!

Karen

With Our Deepest Sympathy

Genevieve Dykehouse's brother,

Robert Workman, passed away

this past Monday in a nursing

home in Temple, TX.

Please keep the family

in your prayers.

Prayer Concerns

“And whatever you ask in Prayer, you will receive, if you have Faith.” Matthew 21:22.

Sharon Yates, prayers for her continued recovery

Genevieve Dykehouse, on the loss of her brother

Sheila Malmo's daughter, Alice

For DR Congo, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

For all victims of gun violence, war, and unrest.

 Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church

1004 24th Street, SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124

505.892.6664

Office Hours

Monday – Thursday | 9am–3pm