MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

We send you greetings of hope, love, peace and joy for the Christmas Season and all the days beyond! May the Spirit of Christ remain in your heart throughout the coming year.

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THANK YOU TO ALL!

The Pastors would again like to thank the Congregation for your generous Christmas gifts. We never expect anything and are always pleasantly surprised when we are presented with your gifts. We feel very blessed to be your Pastors and are very appreciative of the support of everyone. So many step forward when there are projects that need many hands. It is truly a team effort and you are all so generous to help in so many ways. Thank you again for your support of our efforts to lead.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE SERVICE

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Mission Road for Paula Stewart Webber on Saturday December 29th at 11 AM. Paula was a member of the Mission Road congregation a few years ago and has passed away.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS REMOVAL

We will remove the Christmas decorations next Saturday morning at 9:30 AM. Plan to help us put everything back in storage for another year. Many hands make the job go fast.

YOUTH HISTORIC CARAVAN MATCHING DONATION OPPORTUNITY

A generous Donor in our Mission Center has made an offer and a challenge to the entire Midlands Mission Center. For every $1 donated between now and February 15, 2018 they will match the total donations up to a maximum of $4,000! As we close out 2017, please consider this opportunity to double your donation and help make the Sr. High Historic Caravan a reality. 48 teenagers so far have sent Interest Forms into the MMC and we anticipate more. We expect this to be one of the largest, if not the largest, Caravan in recent history! Thank you Midlands!

Donations should be made payable to the Midlands Mission center and given to your Congregational Financial Officer or mailed to the Midlands Mission Center at 7615 N Platte Purchase Drive, Kansas City, MO 64118. All donations are tax deductible. Please note your donations are for the Youth Historic Caravan.

TAX DEDUCTIONS

With the new 2018 tax code changes it may be beneficial to make donations in the 2017 tax year. Check with your tax preparer for advice on what is best for you. Matching funds are available for both of our major funding projects (HMA Honduras & the Youth Caravan). Mission Road Congregation has pledged to help fund both of these worthwhile projects. We also support the Norton Heights Road Congregation youth with the Youth Caravan and the other Youth Camps. Norton Heights has 5-6 youth that have expressed interest in attending the Youth Caravan. Mission Road has truly been blessed as a congregation and I want to thank you for your continued support. I know it has not always been easy.

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 week, 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.

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. 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 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 6-16 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 27, 2017 – NO Saints’ Chorale Rehearsal. Rehearsals resume on Wednesday, January 3, 2018.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017 – No Prayer Circle. Will resume on Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Sunday, December 31, 2017

• No breakfast!
• No Sunday School Classes!

Sunday, December 31, 2017, 10:30 AM – Paul Bennetts will speak onthe theme "Blessed in the Temple" with Kennetha Kuttler presiding and serving as the worship planner. Ministry of Music by Pennie Bunkers and Jane Landrum and Robert Sindt will provide the PowerPoint slideshow.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, 6:30-7:30 PM – Next Saints’ Chorale Rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

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

24 December 24, 2017 message by Ron Millard, filename 20171224-RMillard.mp3

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.