December 2015
Second Baptist Church ..................................................................................
ADVENT
Sunday Mornings with Us . . . Welcome Center and Coffee Bar
Kansas Street Entrance (South)
8:30 a.m. Worship Tutt Chapel
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Leonard Street Entrance (West)
SPECIAL DECEMBER EDITION
9:45–10:45 a.m. Bible Study for All Ages 11:00 a.m. Worship Sanctuary
Franklin Street Entrance (North)
DECEMBER | January | February
FAITH COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER
ADVENT 2014 I love the way we celebrate Advent, because our preparation makes it very difficult for Christmas to slip up on us. Robes come on, sanctuary colors change, liturgy shifts, and our worship becomes infused with the songs of the season. Songs crafted to help us remember the holy one who came into our lives so many years ago. Songs crafted to help us sense the holy one who continues to weave our lives together with the thread of His life today. Songs crafted to help us anticipate the holy one who has promised to come again, so that ultimately heaven and earth may be one, just as the Creator and Redeemer are one. This Advent our attention will be focused specifically by one of those songs. “O Come, O Come Emanuel.” The words of this hymn are based on a piece of Advent liturgy known as the O Antiphons.
These are 7 sayings, rooted mostly in Isaiah, that offer us 7 names for the Messiah. They are meant to foster focus, build anticipation, and enrich our understanding of the one we are all waiting for this season and beyond it. In our journey toward Christmas this year, we’ll reflect primarily on the 4 O Antiphons found within the text of O, Come, O Come Emmanuel in our hymnal: O Come, Thou Wisdom; O Come, Our Dayspring; O Come, Desire of Nations; O Come, Emmanuel. As we explore the many dimensions of our Messianic hope, my hope is that we will come to know more fully the one who was and will be as Emmanuel: the God who is with us, and you, still. Watching and waiting with you, Jason
aDVENT 2014
ADVENT 2014
Second Baptist Church
Join Us . . .
November 30 | First Sunday of Advent O Come, Thou Wisdom Isaiah 11:1–9 Worship 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 a.m.
December 7 | Second Sunday of Advent O Come, Our Dayspring Isaiah 58:1–11 Worship 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 a.m.
December 14 | Third Sunday of Advent O Come, Desire of Nations Isaiah 9:1–7 Worship 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 a.m.
Christmas Eve
Candlelight and Communion Services | Dec. 24 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Our traditional Candlelight and Communion worship on Christmas Eve is a very special time to share music, carols, Communion, and a Christmas message. We close with a beautiful congregational candlelight experience. Worship with us at 5:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening, December 24. We hope you, your friends and family will join us for this special worship.
December 21 | Fourth Sunday of Advent O Come, Emmanuel Isaiah 7:1–17
2BC Sanctuary Choir:“Gloria” by John Rutter* Worship 11:00 a.m.
December 24 | Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion Worship Decoding Advent Luke 2 Worship 5:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m. (*See page 4-5 for details)
Advent 2014 Congregational Devotional Booklet Available online at: 2bcliberty.org/devotional
You may also pick up a printed copy in the Welcome Center or entrances to the worship centers. Sign up on our website home page to receive our weekly e-news, and each day’s Advent devotional will come right to your inbox.
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DECEMBER church events `
Church-wide
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CHILDREN
Second Baptist Church
at Christmas
2BC Blood Drive | Dec. 15 | 3:00–6:30 | 2BC Assembly Room Please consider donating blood in memory of Hugo Holland, Rae Moore’s father, and in honor of Teresa Anderson. Book your appointment today at savealifenow.org, enter Sponsor Code: secondbaptist. For additional details contact the church office.
Merry & Bright: Children’s Christmas Party (AKA: Annual Parents’ Night Out | Dec. 5 | 6:30-9:00 p.m. | It’s Free! It’s time to celebrate the season for children and parents! Our annual Parents Night Out is a free gift, ready for you to accept! Children birth through 5th grade can join us for a Christmas party with games, crafts, and snacks while their parents enjoy a night to themselves to shop, have a date, sit in the tub, or vegetate! You must register your children by Dec. 3 so we can plan for workers and supplies. Register online or pick up a form in the Welcome Center and turn it into the Welcome Desk.. Please let us know on the form if there are ANY allergies we need to know about as we plan snacks.
STUDENTS 2BC Christmas Party | Dec. 21 | 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Jason And Christy’s Home Jason and Christy Edwards and our Deacons will host a church-wide Christmas Party and Open House on Sunday, December 21, at 6:00 p.m. at Jason and Christy’s home, 431 Arthur, Liberty, MO. Parking is available in the Second Baptist Church parking lot with a shuttle running throughout the evening to the party and back to the lot. Everyone is invited for a grand evening of fellowship. Annual Church-wide
New Year’s Breakfast annual Church-wide New Year’s Breakfast | Dec. 28 9:30 a.m.
(There will NOT be an 8:30 a.m. worship service or Bible study this morning.)
Please join us for a casual continental breakfast featuring fresh pastries, muffins, fruit, juice, and specialty coffees. Breakfast begins at 9:45 a.m. followed by our 11:00 a.m. worship.
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Student Christmas Party Dec. 14 | 6:45 p.m. Students 6th grade through 12th grade are invited to the annual Student Ministry Christmas party on December 14 at 6:45p.m. in the Student Ministry Room 609. Bring a white elephant gift and wear your favorite Christmas pajamas!
senior adults Christmas Senior Luncheon | Dec. 15 | 11:30 a.m | Social Room 3
Join us for soup, salad, and sweets and enjoy music by Bill Stillfield. We will have lots of table fun, sign Christmas cards, and pick up gifts for visits to our “Seldom Seen” friends! All are welcome. Please RSVP to the church office by December 12. Suggested donation of $3 is requested.
SPECIAL ADVENT WORSHIP event
By John Rutter
Gloria
by John Rutter presented by the Sanctuary Choir Sunday, December 21 as part of the 11:00 am worship service John Rutter was born in London in 1945 and studied music at Clare College, Cambridge. His compositions embrace choral, orchestral, and instrumental music and he has co-edited various choral anthologies including four Carols for Choirs volumes with Sir David Willcocks and the Oxford Choral Classics series. From 1975– 1979 he was Director of Music at Clare College, and in 1981 formed his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, a professional chamber choir primarily dedicated to recording.
He now divides his time between composition and conducting, and has guest-conducted or lectured at many concert halls, universities, churches, music festivals, and conferences in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America. He is an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, a Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians, and in 1996 was awarded a Lambeth Doctorate of Music. In 2002 his setting of Psalm 150, commissioned for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, was performed at the Service of Thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral, London. Choral settings of the Gloria, which has been set by hundreds of composers through the centuries, appear most frequently in the context of the Mass —as the hymn following the Kyrie in the Roman Rite—but Rutter wrote what has become his best-known composition as a freestanding concert work, scored for chorus, brass, percussion and organ. Its premiere, in May 1974, marked the occasion of his first appearance in the US. The Voices of Mel Olson commissioned the work, and the composer conducted the performance by that chorale in Omaha, Nebraska.
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SPECIAL ADVENT WORSHIP event
Sunday, December 21 11:00 am worship service
presented by the Sanctuary Choir
Insert Gloria Graphics and format pages
Rutter divides the Gloria into three movements, adapting one of the many Gregorian chants to which the text was originally sung to his unmistakingly forthright sound. He begins with a rousing instrumental prelude from the brass and percussion. Stacked-up harmonies and rhythms lay out the material that reappears as commentary between the chorus’s chant-like lines of praise and “call for peace” on pax. The slower middle movement—the longest —takes an introspective turn, with extended instrumental passages (first organ alone, playing filigreed figures, and later accompanied by a mournful brass choir). After a triumphal passage recognizing the “king of heaven,” the music subsides and darkens to describe “the sins of the world.” Vigorous rhythms reintroduce the brightness of the opening for the final movement, but now characterized by more profound syncopations—this is joy that evokes a physical response. Rutter enlivens the music further by alternately writing call-and-response and contrapuntal textures for the chorus. The first
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movement’s chant theme returns for a final triumphant statement, punctuated by pealing fanfares bound to leave the performers and audience breathless. The Sanctuary Choir presents this exciting work as a bridge between Advent and Christmas. Choir members rightfully describe the work as frenzied joy, reminiscent of a Judean hillside 2000 years ago, that was suddenly filled with the sights and sounds of the heavenly host announcing the birth of Christ. Gloria in excelsis deo: Glory to God in the Highest!
A Choral Celebration of Christmas
2BC in the loop Keeping You
church conference report
The Quarterly Church Conference was held on November 9, 2014, following lunch in the Social Room. The usual staff and committee reports were presented and approved as well as a financial report from Lyndell Brenton. It was reported that the finances of the church are in good condition and that we recently paid off the renovation loan and burned the note. The total receipts from Catalyst which ended October 31, 2014, were $2.36 million. The Catalyst 2.0 ministry plan was approved unanimously in the amount of $2, 279,202.27. The twoyear Catalyst 2.0 ministry plan runs from November 1, 2014 to October 31, 2016. The next Church Conference will be held January 26, 2015.
2012-2014 Requested Committments : 2.7 million 2013-2014 Total Received : 2.3 million 2014-2016 Budget Goal : 2.3 million 2014-2016 Commitments received : 2.3 million
Church holiday office hours December 22–January 2, 2014 Office hours when the office is open will be abbreviated to 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. each day. December 24, 2014—office closed December 25, 2014—office closed December 26, 2014—office closed January 1, 2015—office closed January 2, 2015—office closed As last year, the emergency/on call phone line will be monitored by staff members who will be in town during that time.
end of year contribution reminder Contributions for 2014 must be received in the office in the drop box (located in the entry hall of the Welcome Center) or postmarked by 12/31/2014 in order to be included on your 2014 contribution statement. Sunday, December 28, is the last Sunday in 2014. To ensure that your contributions are tax deductible, do not file your 2014 income tax return until you have received written acknowledgment of your contributions from the church. These statements will be mailed by the end of January.
2BC winter weather policy reminder Please be aware that when Liberty Public Schools are closed due to inclement weather, our policy is to cancel all normal afternoon and evening activities at the church. If the weather event occurs on Wednesday, this does include the evening Second Servings meals and activities. In the event of cancellation, every effort will be made to send an e-mail to those subscribed (go to our website to sign-up), post it on our website calendar, and send notices to the local broadcast news media outlets. Also, please be aware that the ministry team and office staff have the capability of logging onto our computer network and our telephone voice mail system remotely and working from home in the case of inclement weather. Therefore, the church office being open during bad weather is contingent on the staff’s ability to travel safely to the church. If you need to reach a staff member during inclement weather, you may e-mail a staff members or call the church and leave a message. If you receive the church auto-attendant message, please follow the prompt to dial a staff member’s extension by name, or use the church answering machine prompt to reach the on-call ministry team member (emergency call only) at the prompt.
816.781.2824 On-Call Extension 350 6
OPPORTUNITIES AT ADVENT: THE GIFT OF GIVING TURNING CHRISTMAS UPSIDE DOWN The weekend of December 12–13, we will offer a “Christmas Store” in our church. People from the community will be invited to come shop for Christmas gifts for their children or grandchildren. We will offer a variety of new toys at prices ranging from $1 to $4, a station for stuffing stockings, and a gift wrap station. You can be a part of the Christmas Store this year Here is a list of the many ways you can help.
• Donate new, unwrapped toys to stock the Christmas Store! • You can be a greeter • help take care of children while their parents shop • be a cashier or a store clerk, • help with the gift wrapping station.
There are one-hour shifts available Friday, December 12 from 6-9 PM and Saturday, December 13 from 9 a.m.–noon. Contact Susan Miller (slmiller76@sbcglobal.net) or Christy Edwards (christysedwards@gmail.com) or sign up in the Welcome Center.
shop living zoe for the holidays! With the holidays drawing near, now is the perfect time to consider how you will shop. Driving to stores is still fun for some, but shopping online through LivingZoe is easy and has a humanitarian impact. You can feel good about shopping LivingZoe as a percentage of what you spend goes back to support Second Baptist Missions. This year proceeds will help buy gifts for our Christmas Store!
HOW TO SHOP LIVING ZOE? VISIT:
2bcliberty.com/livingzoe
CLICK:
Shop for our Cause Button
FIND:
The store you are looking to shop with.
ng zoe i v i l p o sh idays! l o h e h for t
(i.e. Ebay, Target, Home Depot, Amazon...)
SELECT: The store of your choice. START:
SHOPPING!
It’s simple. There are no hidden costs, obligations, fees or codes to enter. Prices are not increased for humanitarian shopping, and you won’t realize you are shopping through LivingZoe. It’s amazing how a simple shift in your shopping habits can make a huge difference for the causes that you feel are important.
To learn more about Living Zoe visit: 2bcliberty.org/livingzoe 7
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calendar
PRAYER REQUESTS
Mid-week sanctuary Second Sessions
Adult Wednesday Evening 4-week sessions +GaPs We’ve restructured our adult offerings into the new Second Sessions. These sessions are in blocks of four-week offerings with a “GaP” (Gather and Pause) week in between, where we’ll all get together for one special session before we begin again. Here is a sneak peek at the first two GaP and Session blocks.
Mid-Week Retreat @ 2BC
Join us weekly from 6:30–7:15 p.m.
Second Servings
Sessions 4.0 (Dec. 3, 10) Advocacy Panel | December 3 | Social Room w/ David Fulk, Susan Miller,
Christy Edwards, Mike Lassiter emceed by Jason Edwards (December 3)
This is my God story | December 10 | Social Room w/ Loulla Efstathiou, emceed by Jason Edwards
MEAL & FELLOWSHIP
Our 2BC Cooking Teams are back for Wednesday night meals. How does home cooking sound? Five teams of Second Baptist talent have been assembled to rotate the preparation of our meal. It’s going to be good, so join if you can on Wednesday nights for a time of great food and fellowship before moving to the evening formation options.
GAP 4.0 | Jan. 7
Join us weekly from 5:45–6:30 p.m.
Sessions 5.0 (Jan. 14, 21, 28 Feb. 4)
MEAL COSTS
Hospitality Ministry w/ Greg Mees
Yoga w/ Kathy Benavidez | Room 611 Luke w/ Joshua Smith | Room 304-305 Senior Gems w/ Vivian Bunch | Room 505 Bullying w/ Beth Dusin | Room 308
$5: adults | $3: children age 4–12 No cost for birth–3 year olds $15/family maximum We are requesting reservations by Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. each week.
To make a reservation:
The Art of Writing W/ Sue Wright | Oak Room
GAP 5.0 | February 11
Stephen Ministry w/ Sara Langford
• Visit 2bcliberty.org/secondservings • Use the 2BC Mobile App: events/RSVP • Contact the church office: 781-2824 or mhenderson@2bcliberty.org
Second Baptist Church is committed to fostering: > Meaningful, Christ-centered community
.................................................................................. ............................. 2bcliberty.org 816-781-2824 300 E. Kansas | Liberty, MO 64068
> Whole-life faith
................................................................................................................ > A transforming missional presence
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MISSION STATEMENT