Saturday, November 26, 2011

December 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                   December 2011
A Subversive Christmas? 
     - Harvey Yoder

Ever notice how much attention is given to first century political leaders in  the first Christmas story?

In Luke’s gospel the story begins with the familiar words, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed,” followed by his noting that “this census was first taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.”

Then in the gospel of Matthew King Herod, puppet governor of Roman-occupied Judea, becomes a prominent player in the story as well.

These kings and emperors were ruthless despots under whose rule any rebellion was met with brutal force. Like other tyrants of their time they freely ordered people crucified, tortured, beheaded or otherwise eliminated as ways of intimidating their subjects into submission.

Emperor Caesar Augustus, undisputed sovereign over most of the so-called civilized world in the first century, claimed to be a divine son of God, and a god himself, with titles like "god from god," "Lord," "Liberator," and "Savior of the world."

Thus the early gospel writers were taking their lives into their own hands by claiming the divine birth of a king born of a peasant girl in an occupied country, and by announcing the coming of another kingdom ruled by another Sovereign, Yahweh, whose son was Jesus--sovereign Lord, long awaited Messiah and Prince of Peace.

This would certainly have sounded like a form of seditious heresy to the powers of that time, and could have resulted in the Roman military dealing harshly with it, just as Herod did in ordering all the male children in the Bethlehem area to be killed to eliminate any future rival.

All of which makes Christmas more than just about festivity and merry making, but a bold announcement about who--and in the end, what power--is really sovereign, a declaration that still divides the world in two.  

Notes, prayers and praises


 * PRAY FOR MICHAEL RIVERIERA-WENGER, who has been receiving hospice care at his home at 204 Homes  Lane, Staunton, VA 24401.

 * CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSIAH DUMAS who scored in the 94th percentile range in the GED test he recently passed with flying colors.  

 * GUY VLASITS unexpectedly spent most of his 65th birthday (11/21) and the next day undergoing tests at RMH. Thankfully, he was pronounced well and was able to attend a belated birthday party the next evening.

 * BERTHA SWARR has been recovering well at Oak Lea Nursing Home and looks forward to being home soon.

 * DECEMBER BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Karen Campbell 12/26!

 * INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our 12/11 Christmas gathering (below)!

December lectionary readings

4   Isaiah 40:1–11  Psalm 85:1–2, 8–13  2 Peter 3:8–15a   Mark 1:1–8
11 Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11  Psalm 126  1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 John 1:6–8, 19–28
18 2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16  Luke 1:47–55  Romans 16:25–27  Luke 1:26–38
25 Isaiah 52:7–10  Psalm 98  Hebrews 1:1–4, 5–12  John 1:1–14

December services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6 (except 12/11)              

4 Location: James & Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802         574-6141
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: Paul Swarr                        
            
Carry-in Meal

11 Annual Christmas Celebration with other house churches at 12:30 pm
Location:  Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town       908-0391
Meditation: Bill Stultz
Plus carol singing, a children’s story, food offerings for the Food Pantry, and a money offering for Heifer International
12:30 pm Carry-in Meal
     
18 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus 1359 Two Penny Drive                    433-3983
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                      
Carry-in Meal     

25 To be announced

Saturday, November 5, 2011

November 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                            November 2011
 

Selling a Fake Gospel         - Harvey Yoder

One of our problems in America is that we have an enormous capacity for producing goods, but a limited number of people to buy them. So we’ve developed a huge advertising industry aimed at persuading people to buy more and more of what they don’t need and can’t afford.

Christopher Decker, in an article in the Wall Street Journal called “Selling Desire, Why Chastity is Bad for Business," notes that there was a time when advertising emphasized thrift, durability, and economy. Choices were usually made around how good a product was and how long it would last.  But a consumer society has to reverse these values, he notes, because if advertising is to succeed, and business thrive, people have to be convinced that desires alone are sufficient reasons to buy something and that all of our passions are to be indulged now, rather than denied or postponed. So the very notion of chastity has to go, he says, because that represents a mindset that is opposite from a throw away, consumer culture that urges us to get our our Visa cards to buy and use stuff with abandonment, and then simply discard it for whatever you like even better.

According to Dr. Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts, the right question to ask about how a given commercial affects us is not how much it influences whether we buy that particular product, but how advertising as a whole affects our buying into a whole different set of values that are counter to the ones we profess to believe. Modern advertising promotes a magical way of thinking, he says, making fantastic promises about what certain products will do for us, like offer us incredible happiness, gain the gloating admiration of all kinds of desirable people, and transform us into an instant, spectacular success. Consumerism promises all, and as such becomes a kind of religion that replaces the faith we actually claim to live by.
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We need to teach ourselves and our children to talk back to the blatantly false messages we’re all hearing on television and other media every day. Or better yet, just unplug ourselves from the barrage of untruths we're being bombarded with and read or tell them some good messages of our own.  

Notes, prayers and praises

 * OUR PENNY POWER OFFERING totaled $229.29. This year’s Relief Sale sale brought in $301,477 for the worldwide relief and service program of Mennonite Central Committee, up from last year's total of $284,914. Over $7.3 million is raised each year from such sales.

 * PRAY FOR BERTHA SWARR, .who was admitted to RMH October12 with cellulitus, then transferred to Oak Lea (Room 135) October 18. Husband Paul had cataract surgeries October 12 and 26.

 * NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Neal Nelson 11/2, Rachel Stoltzfus 11/5, Paul Swarr 11/10, Emily Zhou 11/11, Michael Riviera-Wenger 11/17 and Guy Vlasits 11/21! And Elly Nelson’s birthday was 10/28.

 * ALMA JEAN AND HARVEY YODER attended the funeral service of brother-in-law Vernon Zehr in Greewood, Delaware, October 20.

November lectionary readings
6 Psalm 78:1-7 Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 1 Thess 4:13-18 Matthew  25:1-13
13 Psalm 123 Judges 4:1-7 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Matthew  25:14-30
20 Psalm 100 Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Ephesians 1:15-23 Matt 25:31-46
27 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Isaiah 64:1-9  1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37

November services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6 (except 11/6)              
6 Location: James & Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802         574-6141
We invite everyone to take in the Virginia Missions sponsored men’s  music service at EMHS at four, then meet for prayer and sharing afterwards.                                                      
Carry-in Meal

13 Location:   Rachel Stoltzfus 1359 TwoPenny Drive                   433-3983
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: James Stauffer                                                     
Carry-in Meal     

20 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town   908-0391
Worship and Sharing: Guy and Margie Vlasits
Bible Study: Roy Hange                                                       
Carry-in Meal     

27 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Dr 22802           564-1524
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell
Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                 
Carry-in Meal