Do they still publish the

Neiman Marcus Christmas

catalog? Do you remember

the outrageous gift selections

for the very wealthy? His-and-

Hers submarines, hot air bal-

loons (not a ride, but the bal-

loon itself), an Egyptian sar-

cophagus, even a trip to outer

space…

Maybe these are not on the

top of your list this year, but

don’t we all have an expecta-

tion of hope that doesn’t go

away with age? If our hope is

in Christmas, we most likely

will be disappointed. If our

hope, though, is in Christ, this

truly can be the “most won-

derful time of the year.”

Wise men brought unusual

gifts to Jesus at His birth.

Have you stopped to think,

though, that the very first

Christmas gift was not some-

thing for Jesus? The first

Christmas gift was Jesus Him-

self!

At its best, Christmas is a

promise of something no holi-

day or earthly gifts can satisfy.

Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But

when the time had fully come,

God sent His Son, born of a

woman, born under law, to re-

deem those under law, that we

might receive the full rights of

sons (and daughters).”

What has God given us in the

gift of Christ? Isaiah 9:6 de-

scribes the gift better than any

TV ad or newspaper circular…

even better than anything

Neiman Marcus could come up

with:

“For unto us a Child is born,

unto us a Son is given;

and the government will be

upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

Each of these names for Jesus

deals with an important area of

our lives. They are like five

Christmas gifts we can open,

and each is special and unusu-

al!

1. Wonderful: This takes care

of the dullness of life. The word

used here could also be

translated “awe-inspiring,” the

heart-felt devotion of knowing

what God did for us.

2. Counselor: This handles the

decisions of life. The God who

is wonderful wants to give us

counsel and direction. He

has a unique plan for each of

us.

3. Mighty God: This deals

with the demands of life. God

desires to give us the

strength necessary to live life

His way, according to His plan

for each of us.

4. Everlasting Father: Regard-

less of our earthly relation-

ships, God lives out the per-

fect parental role of care and

love, forgiveness and grace

that we all need.

5. Prince of Peace: Life is

filled with disturbances and,

to be honest, Christmas can

be one of the most stressful

times of the year. But Christ

comes to each of us with the

peace that passes all human

understanding. Whatever gifts

may be under your tree this

year, they cannot match the

beauty and necessity of God’s

gift for you. Better than any

Neiman Marcus purchase is

the free gift of life, abundant

now and into eternity. Don’t

just celebrate Christmas this

year. Celebrate Christ.

Blessings,

RevLon

IT TAKES GRACE

BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS AT CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS SHOE BOX MINISTRY

As this newsletter is going to press,

the shoe boxes are coming in from

across Hopkins County! It’s always

so exciting to see the gym fill with

people and shoe boxes as this week

progresses, especially knowing that

children around the world will be

receiving Christmas gifts and a mes-

sage of Christ’s hope!

CHRISTMAS JOY OFFERING

This Advent and Christmas season, we

celebrate the gift of Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior. By giving to the

Christmas Joy Offering, we recognize

the wondrous gift Christ has given us,

not only in Himself, but also in raising

up leaders

within the

church. The

Joy Offering

supports the Board of Pensions by provid-

ing financial assistance to support current

and retired workers in the church. Our

offering will be received on December 18.

First Presbyterian Church

www.newfpc.com

Special Dates

of Interest:

● December 2, Agin

Christmas Party

● December 4, The

Messiah

● December 5th, Nor-

ma Siria Circle

● December 6, Ses-

sion Meeting

● December 7th,

Church wide Talent/No Talent Show

● December 11, Let’s

Go Caroling!

● December 18, Choir

Cantata

● December 24,

Christmas Eve Com-munion worship

● December 25, Joy to

the World!

Our Wednesday night WOW (Women of

Worth) group is organizing a “crèche”

display for our birthday Party for Jesus

on Sunday, December 18th, during the

Sunday School hour at 9:00AM. We hope

that everyone will bring their favorite

Nativity set or sets to display.

You may bring them to the Wednesday

Night Supper on December 14 and take

them home after church on the 18th. We

will have information cards to fill our for

each set that will tell your name and a

little bit of the history of your crèche. We

hope everyone will participate!

The Birthday Party for Jesus will actually

be a breakfast this year. Bring your favor-

ite breakfast treat (coffee cake, cinnamon

rolls, fruit, sausage/egg casserole, etc)

and come out to really celebrate Jesus’

birthday. After the breakfast, the choir

will be leading worship with their canta-

ta. A great day of celebration!

Sunday, December 4:

10:15AM “Anticipating the Gift

We Already Have”

7:00PM “The Messiah” Com-

munity Concert

Sunday, December 11:

10:15AM “A Thrill of Hope”

3:00PM Caroling our Home-

bound and Shut-Ins

Sunday, December 18:

9:00AM Potluck Breakfast/

Creche Display

10:15AM “O Night Divine”

Choir Cantata

Saturday, December 24:

7:00PM Christmas Eve Com-

munion/Candlelight Worship

Pastor Marvin High-

tower, guest preacher

Sunday, December 25:

10:15AM “Joy to the World!”

There will be no Sunday School

on Christmas morning.

Page 2

The Session has called a meeting of the congregation, during worship on December 11, for the purpose of electing four elders and one trus-tee to serve three years as the class of 2019. The Nominating Com-mittee offered the following slate, which was approved by the Session for presentation to the congregation: Elders: Trustee: Ruth Hendrix Ed Moore Shirley Michael James McClain Becky Moore

Our church is once again hosting the

Messiah on Sunday, December 4th at 6:00 pm. We will have a reception following the perfor-mance and we need your help! We need cookies or other sweet snacks. There is a sign up sheet in the narthex. If you have questions please contact Becky Moore 270-821-6297 or Susanna Lee 270-821-1456.

SOMETHING NEW... ADVENT WORSHIP SERIES

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

TIDINGS

4th Pat Lorton

10th Mark Griffith

Shirley Michael

13th Amelia Barker

14th Cheryl Bushong

15th Yvette Ramsey

18th Bob Cruce

19th Rob Wilson

20th Dakota Miller

21st Carroll & Delores Steinfeld (A)

Corey Goodwin

24th Michael & Connie Skultety

26th Fronie Maddern

Tom McLean

Larry Peyton

Ed Moore

Page 3

30th Roscoe & Cookie Porter

(A)

Tammy Walker

31st Calvin & Teresa Griffith

(A)

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4

6PM The Messi-ah

5

10:30AM Norma Siria Circle

6

7PM Session Meeting

7

5:15 Fellowship Meal 6:00 Activities 7:00 Choir Rehearsal

8 9 10

11

3PM Caroling

12 13 14

5:15 Fellowship Meal 6:00 Activities 7:00 Choir Rehearsal

15 16 17

18

Choir Cantata

19 20 21

22 23 24

Candlelight

Worship Ser-

vice

25

10:15 AM “Joy to

the World”

26 27 28 29 30 31

December 2016

Because you have rejected the

word of the LORD, he has rejected

you… 1 Samuel 15:23

Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire con-

sumes stubble and dry grass col-

lapses into the flame, so their root

will become like rot and their blos-

som blow away as dust; For they

have rejected the law of the LORD

of hosts and despised the word of

the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are put to shame,

they are dismayed and caught; Be-

hold, they have rejected the word of

the LORD, and what kind of wis-

dom do they have?

Zechariah 7:12 They made their hearts like flint so

that they could not hear the law and

the words which the LORD of hosts

had sent by His Spirit through the

former prophets; therefore great

wrath came from the LORD of

hosts.

John 12:48 There is a judge for the one who

rejects me and does not accept my

words; the very words I have spo-

ken will condemn them at the last

day.

Two men are standing before God

on the Day of Judgment. One, an

unemployed father of four, went

into a grocery, stuffed a ham under

his shirt, ran out into the street and

was hit by a truck and died. The

other robbed a bank and was killed

in a shootout with the police. As

they stood there, did God see a man

who was trying to feed his family

and a man who stole money and

tried to kill the police officers? No,

He did not, He saw two sinners.

As I write this a local man has been

arrested for horrendous crimes

against a child. According to the

evidence against him it is rightly so.

If convicted he may never get out of

prison. When God looks upon him

on judgment day who will He see?

When the ordained practicing ho-

mosexual minister and his monoga-

mous marriage partner stand before

God will they be judged the same as

the as the child rapist?

“Oh No!” we say. “Oh, Yes!” says

God.

If we do not REPENT, we will

serve a life sentence in Hell.

Sometimes we like to pick and

chose what we want to follow in the

Bible. However, we can’t be a

Christian and go against what God

says. We can’t be half Christian.

We have to be a whole one.

Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV): For I testify unto every man that

heareth the words of the prophecy

of this book, If any man shall add

unto these things, God shall add

unto him the plagues that are writ-

ten in this book:

And if any man shall take away

from the words of the book of this

prophecy, God shall take away his

part out of the book of life, and out

of the holy city, and from the things

which are written in this book.

John 1 In the beginning was the

Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. 2 He was

with God in the begin-

ning.3 Through him all things were

made; without him nothing was

made that has been made. 4 In him

was life, and that life was the

light of all mankind. 5 The light

shines in the darkness, and the

darkness has not overcome[a] it.

Matthew 10:33 But whosoever

shall deny before men, him will I

also deny before my Father which

is in heaven.

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my

voice; I know them, and they follow

me.

Are we following Christ?

On the Inside, Pete

Page 4

FROM THE INSIDE

TIDINGS

The Session has sent out questionnaires to all mem-

bers, seeking your help in assessing the ability of our

church to meet your spiritual needs and to reach out

to those beyond our walls. A vision for the future is be-

ing developed and the Session would like to better

understand how you evaluate your own church life,

the programs currently in place, and where you

would like the church to be in the years ahead.

Please take the time to complete and return your sur-

vey in a timely matter. Your thoughts and ideas are

important.

per. Our church family is

loaded with stars! So let

your light shine this Christ-

mas season! See Pastor Lon

or Janet Agin for details.

Singers, dancers, comedians

and actors...The 4th annual

Talent/No Talent Show is

set for Wednesday evening

December 7th at 6PM fol-

lowing our fellowship sup-

Page 5

LET THE FUN BEGIN...AGIN!

SURVEY SAYS...

CHURCH WIDE TALENT—NO TALENT

SHOW

ber 2 @ 7PM. Bring a favorite

appetizer or sweet and “Have

Yourself a Merry Little Christ-

mas” party!

The Agin’s

730 Lakeside Drive

O Little Town of Madisonville

Friday, December 2, 2016 @ 7PM

270-824-8073 (if you have any

questions)

“Do you hear what I hear?” It’s

time for our 4th Annual Christmas

Party, which comes but once a

year. So” Come All Ye Faithful”

to our “Home for the Holidays”

We will be “Rockin around the

Christmas Tree” and drinking hot

cider cause “Baby, it’s cold out-

side”. Let’s “Deck the Halls” for

“One Holy Night” Friday, Decem-

The holidays are right around the corner

and what an awesome way to help others

during the season. Let’s come together

and help several families celebrating the

season by giving to others. Several of us

will be going shopping in December for

food baskets. We will accept monetary

donations now through December 11th.

As we open our hearts up this Christmas

season let’s us not forget the reason for

the season. Let’s be good servants as

God’s hands and feet to help others in

our community. Thanks be to God for

your giving hearts.

Please mark your checks/envelopes

“Food Baskets”.

P O Box 568

260 W McLaughlin Ave

Madisonville KY 42431

First Presbyterian Church