NUMBERS FOR
LAST WEEK

Sun. Morning Bible Class/43

Sunday Morning Worship/73

Wed. Night Bible Class/29

Contribution/$1600.00

ATTENTION!
Men-See Mary Rose Rosenbaum for van scheduling. Please see Charles Waltz for worship service scheduling. Women-See Michelle Buckingham for worship class and greeters.
ALSO!
If you are scheduled twice
on any particular Sunday for worship class and nursery Michelle Buckingham wil gladly cover the nursery for you.

EPHESIANS 6:7

"Serve
wholeheartedly,
as if you
were serving
the Lord, not men."

ENCOURAGING WORDS

THINGS AREN'T WHAT THEY SEEM

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem".

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die." "Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I told him to take the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way we think they should. Just trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not realize it until much later.

Submitted by: Jack Zwissler

REMEMBER IN PRAYER

Nancy Petty
Maxine Potter
Jeanette Nance
James Retter
Nancy Thomas
Sharon Benjamin
Harold Maultsby
Church Leadership


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NEWS AND NOTES

• Eleanora Turner and Rosetta Bryant are both home and not feeling well.
• The Lord blessed us with another great food give-away! Sixty degrees temperature in December, several great helpers and thankfully plenty of food. God truly provides! Our numbers were much more manageable as we served 175 families with 36 of them were new families for a total over 540 individuals.
• On December 25th and January 1st we will have our regular Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. but no Bible Classes. Our Wednesday class schedule will remain the same.
• The Northeastern High School Agriculture class has provided us with our Poinsettias this year at a special discount rate. The plants are $3.00 and can be purchased in honor or memory of someone special. Please talk with Adele Brock to purchase a Poinsettia.
• Anita Reckers, from Milan, IN and a member of the Sunman Church of Christ, is married and has 4 children. She is completing her Masters Degree at IU East. She is in need of housing for 2 Friday nights a month starting in January 2012 - April 2013. If you would be willing to host her either part time or full time please let Mike know so he can work out a schedule. For more information please talk with Mike..
• Make plans now to attend the Tulsa Workshop March 21-24.
• Our Annual Corporation Meeting and a Congregational Pitch-in is set for January 22, 2012.
• Please pray for the sister of one of our youth. That person submitted a prayer card which stated; Please pray for my sister for what she did. I don’t know about you but I am glad that this youngster submitted this card requesting prayers and that this same youngster believes in the power of prayer.

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SONG

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?
This week, I found out.
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol.