12/24/2005

It's been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. The topic for the morning was Peace. We also had someone who had first been to the church a the grand opening open house the week before come back for the first time.

Because the bake sale was being set up in the new part, we showed a Veggie Tale video at Kids' Church in the old section. We had a large group of kids but we made it work.

Once Kids' Church was over we had our annual bake sale. We didn't have as many customers as in years past but those who did come stayed, visited, and seemed to enjoy themselves while they were there. We invited everyone back for the Christmas Eve Service.

Robert got back in town from Graceland University in time for Evening Worship. Many people were worn out by the end of the bake sale so we had a small group for the service. One person who was there was Tammy. Two of her daughters had babies this fall and she wondered if we could have their baby blessings at Morning Worship on Christmas Sunday since the family would all be together. We could definitely make that happen.

After the service, the Young Adult Group wrapped presents. We had been given a selection of gifts to distribute to kids as needed so the young adults wrapped them up.

We had 89 kids participate in SonRisers on Wednesday. That afternoon Ron and Carol dropped off the gifts the Towson Congregation had purchased for a family this year. I then delivered them and the ones the young adults wrapped to the different families in the neighborhood. With this hectic season and many people contacting me during the day saying they wouldn't be there, we skipped the lesson at Adult Disciples and instead moved straight into our prayer time together.

We spent a couple hours on Thursday and Friday distributing fliers about the Christmas Eve service. When I got back to the church there was a message on the machine in response to the fliers wondering if we did weddings. I called back and they wanted to be married before Christmas. That wasn't going to happen. We decided that we would talk next week and see what arrangements could be made.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. We did our annual game where we take elements of the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke and have the kids put them in chronological order. That's always a fun activity and a lot of work as they dig through the scriptures to get the answers right. They're not allowed to eat until they've got everything correct.

Danny, Tamara, and I gathered at the church Saturday afternoon to clean the building and set up for the Christmas Eve service. We swept, mopped, rearranged chairs and tables, repositioned the sound system, and set out approximately 130 candles. We set up 84 chairs and had plans to add more.

That night we did add more chairs as around 80 people gathered for worship at the Christmas Eve service. Charlotte Holiday brought her keyboard and provided the music for the event. Tamara read the scriptures and I provided mini-messages throughout the evening. Afterward people shared in birthday cake for Jesus which was provided by Danny.

Each year at the Christmas Eve service we receive a "Christmas Gift for Jesus" offering in which none of the funds stay in the local congregation are instead sent to projects around the world. This year we raised enough money to buy a water buffalo, a llama, 2 flocks of chicks, and a flock of geese for families in need in developing countries.

Looking ahead to next week we have an amended schedule of activities. On Christmas Sunday, Morning Worship will be our only service for the day. We have two baby blessings scheduled as a part of that service. With schools closed we will not have SonRisers and have cancelled Adult Disciples on Wednesday. We will, however, be finalizing our plans for the upcoming consecration services and the "40 Days of Community" campaign.

Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following persons in the forefront of your prayers:

Jean
Tamara
Jenn
Heidi
Erin
Greg
Trip
Rebecca

Thank you for your continued prayer support.

Jeff and everyone at
The Power House
"Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now"
PowerHouseMD@Juno.com
www.pigtownchurch.org