MERRY CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST

Mark your calendars and join us for our Christmas Breakfast Potluck on December 24th at 9 am. No Sunday school classes on that Sunday, but the breakfast will be followed by our regular worship service at 10:30 AM.

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THANKS!

Thank you to all members of the congregation who contributed Christmas Gifts for the Central Avenue Center for Hope. Thank you Robin Payne for directing the children to make nametags for all the gifts. And thank you Mary Reichenbach for providing the children an opportunity to decorate gingerbread houses (made of graham crackers) yesterday morning. A big Thank You to Dennis & Sharon Wood, and Dorothy May and the Saints Chorale for a wonderful Christmas Vespers service. And to Karen Birkby and her team of helpers who provided refreshments after the Christmas program. I think the thirty plus kids had a great time talking to the jolly guy in the red suit. The Pastors were seen posing for a photo op with the big guy. As usual everyone had a great time.

REVISED ADULT CLASS SCHEDULE FOR REMAINDER OF 2017

The Adult Sunday School class study of the epistles of Paul will resume on January 7, 2018. No Sunday school classes are scheduled for the next two weeks, but don’t forget to join us for the Christmas Breakfast Potluck at 9:00 AM on Sunday, December 24 (followed by worship at 10:30 AM) and the 10:30 AM worship (only) on Sunday, December 31, 2017.

JUST JESUS TEMPLE SERVICE

At 7 PM on Sunday, January 21, you’re invited to attend the “Just Jesus” Temple Service with Stassi Cramm and Matt Frizzel at the Independence Community of Christ Temple. It’s a celebration of Jesus’ message and mission. The service includes performances by the Graceland University Choir.

DONATE MONEY FOR TOYS IN MEMORY OF ALISTER KOSMICKI

Roxanne is collecting money to purchase Christmas toys for needy children. If you would like to help, please see Roxanne.

PRAYERS FOR THE HEDRICK FAMILY

We’re saddened to announce the passing of Grant Hedrick. Grant, the grandson of Janice and Paul Hedrick, lost his battle with Cancer recently. Please pray for the entire family who are dealing with a great loss.

VERY FEW YOUTH HISTORIC CARAVAN SUMMER TRIP SEATS REMAIN

Please encourage your teenagers to register for the 2018 Youth Historic Caravan. Students that are currently enrolled in 9, 10, 11, and 12th grades can attend. The Caravan will be held June 7-16, 2018 (9-1/2 days) with an additional pre-night orientation at Mission Road Congregation on June 6, 2018. Please see Clint for a registration form and additional information about this wonderful experience. The seats are filling fast for this historic event. Get your registration in soon while space is still available.

You can also help support this experience of a lifetime with your donations. The caravan will visit Palmyra, NY; Kirtland, OH; Plano, IL; Nauvoo and Carthage, IL; Lamoni, IA and Independence, MO. Fundraising efforts will insure that none of our youth are left behind, but it does require raising $40,000 ($13,000 of the goal already met).

All donations are tax deductible and checks should be made payable to Midlands Mission Center and noted for the Youth Historic Caravan. You can mail your donation to Midlands Mission Center, Attn: Historic Caravan, 7615 North Platte Purchase Drive, Kansas City, MO 64118. Questions? Contact Clint at 913-484-0651 or Kyle at 913-708-5950.

HMA HONDURAS NURSE PROGRAM PLEDGE

In the continuing effort to support our full-time nurse (Saira Giron) in providing healthcare to the villages in the area near La Buena Fe, Honduras, we are collecting pledges for 2018.

All pledges are fully tax-deductible as HMA is a 501c3 organization. No checks are needed at this time but donations can be made before December 31 if you want a receipt for 2017. Paul Bennetts will let you know when it is time to submit the payment for your pledge for 2018. Thanks again for your help with this very worthwhile project.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WITHOUT EMAIL OR FACEBOOK ACCESS?

If you know someone in the congregation who does not have email and does not use Facebook, please let Jonathan Bacon know. We’re trying to be sure everyone in the congregation has access to periodic news updates and information on congregational activities.

BOOK CLUB ON WINTER BREAK

The All Good Books group will not meet in December 2017.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 7 PM in the Church Library. The group will have two options to discuss. We will discuss both “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood as well as “Mrs. Saint and the Defectives” by Julie Lawson Timmer. Readers may read either or both books and come prepared to discuss what you’ve read.

Discussion questions for both books will be posted soon on the book club website at allbooksclub.wordpress.com.

2018 CAMP DATES

June 7-16 Historic Caravan

June 7-22 Middle School Camp

June 24-29 Doniphan Reunion

July 5-7 Youth Quest

July 8-13 Chihowa Reunion

July 20-21 International Youth Forum

July 21-28 Spectacular

July 22-27 MITIOG

July 29-August 2 Junior Camp

MISSION ROAD CALENDAR

Wednesday, December 20, 2017, 6:30-7:30 PM – Saints Chorale Rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017, 7:35 PM – Prayer Circle meets in the Church Library.

Sunday, December 24, 2017, 9:00 AM – Christmas Breakfast Potluck (bring your favorite breakfast dish or side to share) and join us for conversation and fellowship.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

• No Sunday School Classes, join the Christmas Breakfast Potluck!

Sunday, December 24, 2017, 10:30 AM – Ron Millard will speak onthe theme "He Will Be Called the Son of God" with Larry Birkby presiding and serving as the worship planner. Enjoy a Piano Duet by Sharon Wood & Richard Emsile and aFlute and PianoInstrumental provided by Sydney & Beth Thompson and Jonathan Bacon will provide the PowerPoint slideshow.

Sunday, December 31, 2017, 10:30 AM – Worship service only, no breakfast or Sunday School Classes.

Monday, January 8, 2018, 7:00-8:30 PM – Next Mission Bells rehearsal in Church Sanctuary.

Thursday, January 11, 2018, 7:00 PM – All Good Books group meets in Church Library to discuss “The Hand Maid’s Tale” and “Mrs. Saint and the Defectives.”

MISSED LAST SUNDAY’S SERVICE?

Would you like to hear the message from last Sunday or a Sunday service from 3 years ago? Audio recordings of many of the last several years’ worth of worship services are available online at https://goo.gl/wREl03. Note this is a new shortened URL that will take you to a Google Drive with many of the recordings from the past.

Recordings are located in folders corresponding to the year (2015, 2016, and so on). If you missed a Sunday, this provides you a way to hear the music and the message.

The beginning numbers of each filename indicate the date of the service.

The first 4 digits represent the year; the next two digits indicate the month and last two digits represent the day of the month.

In most cases, the date is followed by a dash and then the first initial and last name of the speaker. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you experience problems playing these audio files be sure you’re running the latest version of your browser or try a different browser. In some cases, you may be required to download the audio file before playing it.

The following list includes some recent audio recordings:

17 December 2017 Christmas Vesper Service, filename 20171217-Vespers.mp3

17 December 2017 message by Jennifer Libeer, filename 20171217-JLibeer.mp3

10 December 2017 message by Jonathan Bacon, filename 20171210-JBacon.mp3

3 December 2017 message by Steve Holben, filename: 20171203-SHolben.mp3

CONCERNING PRAYER REQUESTS

Please know that any member of the congregation can post prayer requests or share information about members and events on the Mission Road Members Only Facebook page. You do not need to send the information for approval to anyone. In fact doing so may slow down the dissemination of your request. Be sure to include the person needing prayers and what situation has occurred (if you wish to share that information). If your post concerns an event or news item, be sure to include the basics in your posting (such as who, what, where and when).

For prayer requests, if you do not have access to Facebook, then please call Paul Bennetts or John Trinkl Sr., our Congregational Pastoral Care Coordinators.

IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL LINKS

The Mission Road Congregation hosts the following social media sites:

Congregational (public) website at www.mission-road.org

Facebook Page (public) at https://www.facebook.com/MissionRoad.CoC

Facebook Group (open only to congregational members) at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissionRoad/

The All Good Books discussion group website at https://allbooksclub.wordpress.com/

Visit and "like" each of these sites to keep up-to-date on congregational news.

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS EMAIL

If you have news items and calendar additions or changes that need to be included in the congregational news email please contact Larry Birkby. His email address and phone number is both in the Church Directory.