Special Night of Worship

Sunday, February 2 at 6:30pm – A Night of Prayer and Anointing

Sisters Retreat

For Ladies and Girls 7th grade through Adult

• Dates: February 14-16
• Cost: $135 per person
• Location:  Walnut Ridge Retreat Center – Morgantown, IN
• Register on our website by February 12.

An opportunity for younger and older (and every age in-between) women to Share Life and Share Christ together.

ETCH

ETCH is a time for all generations to interact with one common purpose: Discipleship. Together we’ll learn, discuss and experience Christ. It’s a weekly place to Share Life and Share Christ.

1st Wednesdays

Starting February 5th from 6-8pm – for all ages

These nights include a meal, multi-generational family activities and age specific breakouts. Everyone is invited!  

ETCH Elective Classes (Begin February 12)

• Beyond Sunday
• Going Public with Your Faith
• Women’s Bible Study: Revelation – Extravagant Hope

Scan the QR code for full details and to register or register on our website.

Tonight’s ECC Family Soup Night as well as the Real-Life Disciple Making Course are canceled due to the cold weather.

Kids Connection Parents Newsletter

Click here to stay up to date with what’s happening in Kids Ministry.

ECC Family Soup Nights

Wednesdays, January 22 & 29, 6-7pm

Come share a “souper” meal with us! It’s a chance to enjoy each other’s company and make new friends. Who knows, we might even have some fun along the way!

Special Night of Worship

Sunday, February 2 at 6:30pm – A Night of Prayer and Anointing

Mark Your Calendar – A Night in Little Italy

Saturday, February 22 from 4:30-7pm

ECC Family Soup Nights

Wednesday’s, January 15, 22 & 29, 6-7pm

Come share a “souper” meal with us! It’s a chance to enjoy each other’s company and make new friends. Who knows, we might even have some fun along the way!

Real-Life Disciple Making Course

Wednesdays January 22 – May 7, 6:30 – 8pm

Matthew 28:18-20 says the responsibility of the church calls us to be disciples that make disciples. We believe it’s important to teach and encourage one  another in practical ways on how to make disciples. Whether you are currently discipling someone or want to, we’d like to invite you to sign up for this course.

Stop by the table in the Gathering Area for additional details, to answer any questions you may have or to sign-up.

Sign-up by January 19 by emailing joellen.driggs@eatoncommunitychurch.org.

Cost for materials – $11

Sisters Retreat

For Ladies and Girls 7th grade through Adult

Dates: February 14-16

Cost: $135 per person

Location:  Walnut Ridge Retreat Center – Morgantown, IN

An opportunity for younger and older (and every age in-between) women to Share Life and Share Christ together.

Register on our website by February 12.

Luke 3:11…

If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.

The Food Pantry is in desperate need of volunteers to receive and sort donated items and clothing and/or to help in the Food Pantry. Please call, 937-456-6560 for more details.

Mission & Outreach Hurricane Relief Project

Thank you to all who generously gave to the Hurricane Relief Project. $2,358.00 was collected and is being sent to Samaritan’s Purse designated for hurricane relief in North Carolina.

Ladies Lunch – Sunday, January 26

11:30am in Rm 101

Mark your calendar ladies! More details next week.

Weather Closing Information

If Sunday service or Etch is cancelled, notification will be made by:

·   Text, LifeShare and TV Channel 7-WHIO (If you have signed-up for texting or LifeShare)

Ministry specific events or meetings will be decided by the chairperson or leader. Notice of cancellation of any events other than Sunday morning or Etch will be by Text or LifeShare.   

Real-Life Disciple Making Course

Wednesdays January 22 – May 7, 6:30 – 8pm

Matthew 28:18-20 says the responsibility of the church calls us to be disciples that make disciples. We believe it’s important to teach and encourage one  another in practical ways on how to make disciples. Whether you are currently discipling someone or want to, we’d like to invite you to sign up for this course.

Stop by the table in the Gathering Area for additional details, to answer any questions you may have or to sign-up.

Sign-up by January 19 by emailing joellen.driggs@eatoncommunitychurch.org.

Cost for materials – $11

Luke 3:11…

If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.

The Food Pantry is asking for the following items:

• Peanut butter
• Canned chicken
• Kidney beans
• Baked beans

Please place all items in the grocery cart in the entryway.                                

2025 Tanzania Mission Trip Meeting

Sunday, December 29, 11:30am in Rm 101

We are planning a mission trip for the summer of 2025. This meeting is for those who are interested and would like more information about the trip.

End of the Year Gifts to the Church

Sunday is the last day to have all end-of-the-year gifts to the church to be included on your 2024 Giving Statement. Thank you for your generous living!

Men’s Breakfast

Saturday, January 4, in Rm 101, 8-9am. Doors open at 7:30am

Ethan Moles will be telling about the path that brought him to his new relationship with Jesus.

 

Theme of Love
This week we relit the first three candles of the Advent wreath. The candles of HOPE, PEACE and JOY. Now
we light the candle for the fourth Sunday in Advent. This is the candle of LOVE.

Scripture and Reflection
Jesus demonstrated self-giving love in his ministry as the Good Shepherd. Advent is a time for
kindness, thinking of others, and sharing with others. It is a time to love as God loved us by giving us
his most precious gift. The apostle John says it like this,

John 3:16, NIV
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This is probably the best-known verse in the Bible. “John 3:16” is flashed in ball parks and memorized
in Sunday school classes. Why is it so beloved? Because it tells us about God’s love – the reason
that the Father sent his Son on Christmas day. “He gave his one and only Son” that Christmas morn.
Why? Because he loved the world so much – not the physical globe, but the people whom he had
created. Struggling, confused, exuberant, depressed, striving and sinful. He loved them. He loves us!
That is why Jesus came.

In the way Jesus relates to hurting people, we can see that love, that compassion. His gentle words –
“my daughter” – to the woman who touched the hem of his garment. His encouragement to Peter who
had betrayed him – “Feed my sheep, Peter, I haven’t given up on you.” His
compassion for the crowds whom he saw as “sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus came on Christmas
morn out of the Father’s love. And in spite of persecution and crucifixion, even a history of saints and
sinners inside and outside of his Church, his love for us is undiminished this Advent season.

Bible Project Video: LOVE

Reflection Questions

1. When Jesus arrived, God’s love became an embodied reality in our world. The God of the
   Bible doesn’t merely express love through Jesus; he is love. As a triune God—Father, Son,
   and Spirit—he always has been and forever will be an others-centered, self-giving, communal
   being who thinks, feels, and acts with pure love. Read 1 John 4:16 and John 15:9-13, taking
   note of the triune relationship and the theme of living and abiding. What do you observe?
2. Read Mark 12:29-31 and take note of how Jesus quotes the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Leviticus 19:34). How does loving God relate to loving other people?
3. The Hebrew Bible records the history of the ancient Israelites as they struggle to follow the commandment to love God and others. If Israel had difficulty with this, how can we hope to do any better? Jesus helps us when he adds a new commandment to empower the greatest commandment. Compare John 13:34 with Mark 12:29-31. What is the difference between these two commands? How does Jesus enable us to follow the greatest commandment?
4. Agape love is not primarily a feeling that happens to people. This kind of love is a choice to act in ways that offer well-being to others. Using Paul’s definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13:1-7, consider how Jesus loves us. How is Jesus patient, kind, humble, and selfless toward us? How does this kind of love challenge more popular, modern notions?
5. Jesus says that the ultimate standard of authentic love is how well you treat the person you can’t stand—your enemy. Let that settle in as you read Luke 6:27-36. Notice how God shows kindness to ungrateful, dishonest, and violent people. What does this say about God’s character? Consider how Luke 6:36 describes God. How do you think love and mercy relate to one another?

Mission & Outreach Hurricane Relief Project

We are supporting Samaritan’s Purse in their efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene. You may give by checking the box “Hurricane Relief” on Simple Give, listing “Hurricane Relief” on your envelope on Sunday, or by visiting the table in the Gathering Area. Sunday, December 22 is the last day to give.

End of Year Gifts to the Church

Please have all end-of-the-year gifts to the church by Sunday, Dec 29 (or SimpleGive by Sunday, Dec 22) to be included on your 2024 Giving Statement. Thank you for your generous living!

2025 Tanzania Mission Trip – Info Meeting

Sunday, December 29, 11:30am in Rm 101

We are planning a mission trip for the summer of 2025. This meeting is for those who are interested and would like more information about the trip.
 

Theme of Joy
This week we relit the first two candles of the Advent wreath. The candles of HOPE and PEACE. We
also lit the candle for the third Sunday in Advent. This is the candle of JOY.

Scripture and Reflection
As the coming of Jesus, our Savior, draws nearer, our joy builds with our anticipation of his birth.
From the Book of Isaiah we read the words of our Lord:

Isaiah 65:18, NIV
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create
Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.”

From the Gospel of Luke we read,

Luke 2:10-11, ESV
“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.’”

The shepherds hear the angel’s proclamation, and indeed are filled with both awe and joy. They are
mere shepherds, considered by some as the lowest of the low. But the angel comes to them. No one
else, but to them and gives them the news of a momentous event, the birth of the Messiah. Filled with
joy they careen down the hills into the town, find the stable and manger, and kneel before the Christ
Child.

Joy is an emotion of exaltation that comes from a new realization, an event of blessing, a state of
blessedness. And surely the shepherds feel that. But as the years progress and they tell the story to
their children’s children, the sense of wonder and joy remains. An angel has spoken to them! The
angel spoke of a physical birth. But there is also a spiritual dimension – the joy that breaks upon us
when we finally grasp that Jesus loves us in spite of ourselves, forgives all our sins and past failings,
and takes up residence in our lives. Then the initial joy melds into an enduring joy of companionship
with the Lord.

Bible Project Video: JOY

Reflection Questions

1. The Israelites choose a path apart from God. As a result, they get exiled from their land and
   dominated by foreign nations. But the prophet Isaiah knew that sorrow would not have the final
   word with these people. He looked forward to the day when Yahweh would end pain and
   corruption to lead them into endless, joyful living. Read Isaiah 49:13 and Isaiah 51:11. What
   does Isaiah tell us about God’s character in these passages? What does Isaiah say will
   happen to God’s people?
2. The prophet Isaiah looked forward to the coming of Israel’s redeemer. His prophecies were fulfilled with the arrival of Jesus. Read Luke 2:9-11. Why were the shepherds afraid? What reasons did the angels give for them to rejoice instead?
3. Joy can persist in the harshest of circumstances because it depends on God and his promises. Read Matthew 5:11-12, Acts 13:50-52, and Hebrews 12:1-3. According to these passages, what specific truths about God can sustain joy even through painful or dire situations?
4. When we see how Jesus’ loving way of life has overcome death itself, joy starts to become strangely reasonable. But this doesn’t mean it is wise to ignore or suppress sorrow. Read 2 Corinthians 6:3-10. How did Paul integrate both joy and sorrow?
5. Take time to discuss any other themes, questions, or key takeaways from what you learned together.

Mission & Outreach Hurricane Relief Project

We are supporting Samaritan’s Purse in their efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene. You may give by checking the box “Hurricane Relief” on Simple Give, listing “Hurricane Relief” on your envelope on Sunday, or by visiting the table in the Gathering Area.

End of Year Gifts to the Church

Please have all end-of-the-year gifts to the church by Sunday, Dec 29 (or SimpleGive by Sunday, Dec 22) to be included on your 2024 Giving Statement. Thank you for your generous living!

Sisters Retreat

Save the date! February 14 – 16, 2025. For all ladies and girls 7th – 12th grade.