This week at church

Hello everyone!

Please plan on attending the Budget Information meeting this Sunday immediately following church. Erin Rollins will be providing childcare after the service to enable parents to attend this very important session.

No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey,
You are ALWAYS welcome here!

three kings sunday, communion

liturgist Loie Hanscom
scripture Genesis 1:1-5
sermon In the Beginning

Help! A plea from Beryl Charlton concerning coffee hour She asks us all to PLEASE donate cookies, cakes, fruit, cheese or juice, even if not able to help with serving and clean up. There are a good number of us looking for refreshments following church so we need contributions to come in each week. And remember, store bought is just fine! There is a new sign up sheet is on the opportunities table.

Fri January 13 • Annual reports due (via email) to Nan in the church office.

Thurs January 19 • Women's Potluck 6-8 pm. Come celebrate the new year with friends! This month's supper will be at the home of Vicki Worden. Don't forget to sign up so we can set a place for you. Please see Cate if you need a ride, or have any questions.

Fri January 27 • Fantastic Friday! 5:30-8 pm.It's an evening together. We'll start the evening with a potluck and then spend a little time together. You're invited to bring your favorite board game, learn to play bridge, or cribbage, perhaps just sit together and share a knitting or craft project. The ping pong table will be set up as well, so bring the family and some friends and come on in from the cold! Please sign up so we can expect you, and see Cate if you'd like to help make the evening a success!

Sun January 29 • Annual Meeting immediately following church.

Sat February 4 • UCC Ski Day at the Snow Bowl! 11 am-4 pm. Middle and High School Youth, their families, friends and church family are invited to join us for a day of winter fun and the youth group hosts the larger Maine Conference. We'll start with lunch at 11 and then enjoy and afternoon of skiing, snowboarding or tubing from 12:30-4. Please sign up by Jan. 20th if you would like to attend and see Cate with any questions.

VBS??!! It's not too early to start planning! Vicki would love to expand our very successful Vacation Bible School program and she is looking for help to make it happen. Join her in planning everything from decorating to snacks, to help in the morning sessions. With just a small group of helping hands we can offer this wonderful program to many more children. If you would like to help make it happen, please see Vicki or sign up on the Opportunities Table today by Jan 22!

Blessings to you all,

Debbi

P.S. This devotional from the UCC's Still Speaking Daily Devotionals struck me as comforting as we all approach this new year. I hope that you too find it meaningful in your lives.

Steve Jobs and the Bible • January 4, 2012

Excerpt from Proverbs 3:1-12 Trust the Lord from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; God's the one who will keep you on track.

Reflection by Rev. William C. Green Why worry about the future? We can't do anything about it anyway. Few can get away with this attitude anymore. Too much is at stake with our children's future, our financial well-being, and our national and personal safety and security, not to mention that of those far less fortunate than we are.

These are the circumstances God's people often faced. Resignation was unnerving and optimism was no option under the dominion of Pharaoh, Babylonia, and Rome and their recent counterparts in systems of slavery and ongoing discrimination.

What keeps God's people on track, or gets them back on track, is trust. This is something like what Steve Jobs meant when he said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards and trust that the dots will connect again. This approach has never let me down." The trust the Bible commends is based on "looking backwards." Memory is the basis of hope.

Overwhelmed right now it's easy to forget what our own life shows us. How many times have we faced hard times, hard feeling, or loss; how many times has the world itself been on the brink of one disaster or another?

There's no guarantee that somehow things will work out. We're not spared responsibility to help make sure they do. But the memory of God's faithfulness in the past is also the promise of God's faithfulness in the future, whatever it holds. It's our "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."

Prayer God, our trust and hope are in you. When our faith falters may your faithfulness make us strong. Amen.