Breaking DAWN
Newsletter
Adult classes every Sunday at 10 am
Church at 11 am every Sunday
Potluck Dinner first Sunday each Month
December 2005
December Board Meeting
The December Board Meeting will be on Sunday December4th following the Potluck Holiday Feast. All members are invited to attend and take part in discussion and concerns of our church. Your presence is an important part of being a member of Sunset Spiritualist Church. Cabins are available as usual. There will be others staying over so come and join them in fellowship. If you have any questions please contact Norma at 785-823-6118 or norma@tri.net
Holiday Feast
December 4th we will celebrate the holidays with a special potluck after Church. We will have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy we are counting on you being there to provide the rest of the trimmings. You’ve had plenty of time to be thinking about what special dish you will add to the festive dinner. We will also be decorating for Christmas. Make plans to stay for the Board meeting following dinner.
Saturday December 3rd
Join Gary and Patti Nicholson Saturday December 3rd at 2 p.m. in the Church Sanctuary to share in the excitement of their trip to Egypt. Gary has most of the pictures on DVD to show on the television and they will tell about their amazing trip. Later we will be traveling to Longford to eat chicken on Saturday night. It will be great fun and then we will only have to worry about bringing food in Sunday meal. Langford is a little town not too far east of Wells and has a fantastic fried chicken buffet. Later, back at church, we will see what happens, perhaps a circle or game or just fun visiting.
Christmas Day Sunday – No Church Service
After much discussion it was decided there WILL NOT BE Church Services on Dec. 25th at Sunset Spiritualist Church. Most of our attending members will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with family at other locations. Services will resume at the regular time on Jan. 1, 2006. We hope you will join us in bringing in the New Year.
Matthew 1: 20 – 22
Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.”
Healing Work or Private Counseling available after any Sunday Church Service by an attending Minister.
LOVING CONCERN
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The 2nd Row, a little extra for Javene, Irene, & Maxine, Debbie’s Mom & Dad, Gwendolyn, Deborah Becker, Carl, Becky, Chris, Elise, Phyllis, Judy, Evadne.
If you would like prayer requests in the monthly newsletter please contact Patti 402-228-3558.
If you have email and are not getting the computer newsletter online email Patti at peaceseeker@diodecom.net
From President Karen Lyons
The Board of Trustees met in November to discuss the upcoming Workshop with Ted Andrews and Camp 2006. Keep watching the newsletter for forthcoming details concerning the April Workshop. In conjunction with the Workshop the Board would like to have a Homecoming with special events scheduled throughout the weekend.
In other business the Board is investigating the best course of action for planned improvements to the bathhouse and basement. Roof repairs seem to be an unending topic and these need to be done soon as well.
I am happy to report that those who have been experiencing physical ailments are getting those issues under control and we are looking forward to a busy, healthy Spring. Continue to remember those in prayer and in your personal healing work who are still in need of the Masters touch. The Holiday Season is upon us and many will be traveling. Don’t forget to thank the angels for their safe traverse.
The December Board meeting will take place the first Sunday (the 4th) as soon after lunch as possible. The Board thanks those of you who answered our appeal for records and minutes from the past. Many of the immediate past have been reconstructed, but we are still seeking any records we can find. Please notify Norma or any Board member of any records you possess you are willing to share. Based on the records we have been provided thus far, I will be making a report to the Board concerning the 1992 Constitution and By-Laws. If you are interested in this subject or any of the other projects currently before the Board, I encourage you to plan to attend. The meeting will be kept as brief as possible due to the uncertainty of the weather this time of year. We wouldn’t want Windhorst’s or Whitley’s to be snowed in.
The Board of Trustees is in an exciting, challenging time. We ask for remembrance in your meditation and prayer. Our desire is that the Holy Spirit will always be the true leader of Sunset Church. Amen.
Behind the scenes plans are being made for Sunset Camp 2006. If you are interested in sharing your talents by giving a class, working in the snackbar or kitchen, or have any other idea of how you can serve please contact Linda at linda@sctelcom.net 620-663-2988 or 620-727-4329.
From Judy Evinger
This was written by a Hospice of Metro Denver physician:
I just had one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and wanted to share it with my family and dearest friends: I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die – I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn’t even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the “quickie mart” building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay. When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel. At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.
I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying “I don’t want my kids to see me crying,” so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, “And you were praying?” That made her back away from me a little but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, “He heard you, and He sent me.” I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling walked to the next door McDonald’s and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn’t have the money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there. So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.
I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, “So, are you like an angel or something?” This definitely made me cry. I said, “Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.” It was so incredible to be a part of someone else’s miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I’ll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won’t find anything wrong. Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings…
Psalms 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” This prayer is powerful and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. “Father, I ask You to bless my children, grandchildren, friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Amen.”
You have all heard of this story, here is the actual article.
Forty-three years ago, September 21, 1897, there appeared an editorial in The New York Sun which has since become a classic of American Christmas-lore. It was headed “Is There a Santa Claus?” and was written by Francis Pharcellus Church, who was born in Rochester, New York, on February 22, 1839, and died in New York on April 11, 1906.
Is There a Santa Claus?
We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says ‘If you see it in The Sun it’s so’. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood Yes fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see that makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this would there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
What some of our members did for Thanksgiving.
Polly Ulmer
Has not cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for many years but this year she is getting out all her pots and pans. You go girl!!
Kate Copp
Aside from going to my mother’s house for Christmas – I always get together with my kids and now my grandkids on Christmas Eve and we all watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” – it’s been a tradition since my kids were small. We love Max (the dog reindeer) and when the Grinch’s heart grows! Merry Christmas everyone!
Bonnie Smith
Actually, I think we’ll probably start a new tradition and have pizza if the kids want on the way down to ARK. I decided to drive on TG day instead of rushing down at night the night before. You all have a blessed time with your kids if they are coming and if not, then the two of you. I’m disappointed because the stores haven’t celebrated thanksgiving, instead in October Christmas decorations popped up. I love thanksgiving and what it means.
Patti & Gary
Thanksgiving Day at our home with children and grandchildren then off to Kearney, NE to spend with Patti’s siblings at her parents home, that will be houseful with all the cousins. Christmas will be a repeat of Thanksgiving.
Church Services
November 27 Mike Bourke
December 4 Rev. Evadne Tuxhorn
December 11 Rev. Mary Brown
December 18 I apologize for not getting
the information for this service from Norma before she left town for the holiday.
Please call Norma for further information, to make any changes, or to add your name to schedule
A Christmas Quiz
1. What country started the tradition of gift giving on Christmas?
2. In Syria Christmas gifts are delivered by who? One of the Wise Mens camels
3. In the poem Twas The Night Before Christmas what food item referred to Santas belly when he
laughed?
4. How many reindeer does Santa have?
5. Name 2 states that have cities named Santa Claus?
6. Who comes “dressed in a snow white gown” ?
7. What time of year is it believed that Jesus was actually born?
8. Which book of the bible tells the most about Christ’s advent?
9. What is the all-time best-selling Christmas recording?
10. What oceans do you find Christmas Islands?
11. What was the name of the angel who appeared to Mary?
12. What were the names of the three kings that went to see baby Jesus?
13. What did frosty the snowman say as he was melting?
14. What is the 12th day after Christmas called?
15. In what Christmas Carol do the words “remember Christ The Savoir was born on Christmas day” appear?
Answers are at the bottom of this newsletter.
If there were no others to share our lives with, life would be meaningless.
…. Carlotta Posz
The Date of Christmas
Did you know that in colonial times the celebration of Christmas was banned by law in Massachusetts because they considered it a pagan ritual?
The rest of the story: It was during the 4th century the Catholic Church decided that the festivities of a rival pagan religion held on December 25th threatened Chrisitanity’s existence. In order to compete with the pagan celebration of the birthday of Mithras, the Roman sun god, the Catholic Church ordered a festival in celebration of the birth of Jesus (the actual season of Jesus’ birth is thought to be in spring). It is hard to believe that the celebration of Christmas on December 25 was slow in catching on.
Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching. – George Van Valkenburg
Answers to Quiz
1. Italy (Romans)
2. One of the Wisemens camels
3. Jello
4. 8, 9 if you count Rudolf
5. Indiana, Georgia
6. Suzy Snowflake
7. Spring
8. Isaiah
9. White Christmas
10. indian and pacific
11. Gabriel
12. Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar
13. I’ll be back again someday
14. Epiphany
15. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
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