WHAT'S HAPPENING AT GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH

Good Afternoon!

We are about ready to put the 2012 Annual Meeting folders together for
you to receive on Sunday. This will give you a chance to review all
of the information, including the proposed budget, before the Annual
Meeting on January 27th. We hope you will all attend the Annual
Meeting and help guide your church into 2013.

Here is What's Happening at Good Shepherd over the next few weeks. . . .

1. TONIGHT-Thur. Jan 10-FLY (Finally Loving Yourself) Lady meets at
7pm at Lydia Faber's. Start 2013 out right by getting organized and
learning to love yourself as well.

2. Fri. Jan 11-Friday Study will meet at 7pm at the home of Laura Voruz

3. Fri. Jan 11-Crafters Night from 6pm at church. Bring your craft
projects and join us!

4. Sat. Jan 12-Shepherd's Food Pantry will be open from 9:30-11:30am
at 2 Belmont Dr. at Rt. 53. Helpers are always welcomed!

5. Sun. Jan 13-Worship at 8am* and/or 10am with Connection Café
between services (*new time)

6. Sun. Jan 13-Sunday School meets in the office at 9:15am for youth
age 4 to 5th grade

7. Sun. Jan 13-Deadline for submitting January Manna order forms

8. Sun. Jan 13-Radical Book Study meets from 4 to 6pm at Lydia Faber's home

9. Mon. Jan 14-Monday Bible Study meets at Suchomel's at 7pm

10. Tue. Jan 15-Open House at Romeoville Recreation Center from 5:30
to 8pm with a Growth Team meeting there at 7pm. (see information
below)

11. Wed. Jan 16-We will serve a light supper beginning at 6pm then
will begin the Wednesday Study at 6:30pm. Please let us know ahead of
time if you will be there so we have enough food. All are welcome!

12. Thur. Jan 17-Church Council reports are due in the office today
for the Council meeting on Saturday.

13. Thur. Jan 17-G2R (Genesis to Revelation) Bible Study meets at
Stoughton's at 7pm

14. Fri. Jan 18-Christian Unity Prayer Worship at 7pm at church (see
information below)

15. Fri. Jan 18-Friday Study meets at Laura Voruz' home at 7pm

16. Sat. Jan 19-Church Council meets at 8:30am

A Winter Vendor Fair is coming to Good Shepherd on February 9, 2013!
Anyone who is a direct selling vendor and interested in a table should
contact Carrie Worthington via email carriejo.worthington@gmail.com
for more information
Manna cards order forms need to be turned in by this Sunday, January
13, with delivery Sunday, January 20. Consider using these cards for
routine purchases and also to have on hand at home for "extra" gift
occasions that may come up.

Sunday Book Study-The Sunday Book Study will meet January 13 and 27
from 4-6 p.m. Lydia Faber will be hosting the group on this Sunday
and Pastor Suzanne will host on 1/27. We're continuing to read "The
Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Clairborne and soon will be deciding
on the next book we'll be studying. Feel free to join us at any time
or get in touch with Pastor Suzanne to be alerted as to when our next
study begins.

Recreation Center Open House-The Romeoville Recreation Center will be
hosting it's annual Open House on Tuesday, January 15 from 5:30-8:00
p.m. We will again have a table there to advertise our various
ministries. We're looking for 3-5 people willing to serve as hosts at
our table, along with people to help set up and take down the table.
Because this is also the date for our Growth Team meeting, we will
need people to serve who are not on this team. If you'd like to help
out, please be in touch with Pastor Suzanne, Council Liaison to the
Evangelism Team.

Growth Team Meeting-Our next meeting is scheduled from Tuesday,
January 15. Please note that we will hold the meeting at the
Romeoville Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m., as the church is hosting a
table at their Annual Open House. People interested in serving on
this team or being a part of it in any way should meet at the church's
table a little before 7p.m. and we will try to find a place to meet.
This "team" is fluid and welcomes all members and attendees interested
in growing our church - financially, numerically, and spiritually.
Questions? Please contact Pastor Suzanne, our Council Liaison to the
team.

January Ministry Night - We had a great ministry night with several
new ideas on the horizon. You'll be hearing more about them soon.
Missed us? Had other plans? Please talk to a Council member - Sue
Hattimer, Cami Garcia, Judy Jordan, or Ronn Young-Black to find out
what you missed. It looks to be another great year of ministry for
all of us and the larger community! Thanks to everyone who attended.

Worship for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Pastor Suzanne will host a brief prayer service for the start of Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity. The service will be on Friday,
January 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the church. If you have a friend or
family member who attends church elsewhere, invite them to join you
and come worship together that night. Help spread the word. All
are welcome!

Music for Malaria Planning Meeting
We will once again be doing our Music for Malaria event. Our first
planning meeting will be on Saturday, February 2 at noon at the
church. If you are interested in helping with this event, please plan
on joining us. As we saw last year, all kinds of help is needed -
performers, speakers, pray-ers, listeners, sellers, greeters,
carry-ers, etc. More information will be shared on the date and venue
at the meeting. Questions? Please see Pastor Suzanne.

A Lenten Book Study and Worship is planned for the Wednesdays of Lent
and will begin at 6pm with a light supper, followed by the study
(about minor Prophets) at 6:30pm and Lenten Worship at 8pm. Please
sign up so we know how many are interested as we will be ordering
books soon. Please see Pastor Suzanne if you have any questions.

Recap from last Sunday: Our theme was, "Epiphany" and we talked about
"light bulb moments." At the 10am service, Chris D had a revelation
moment that she shared with all of us, as we asked the question, "Why
does God talk to people in their dreams in the Bible...and does He
still?" Chris said that we all need sleep to restore our bodies and
we especially need REM sleep, which stands for "rapid eye movement."
This is the deepest time of our sleep and, interestingly, according to
some, dreams most vividly recalled by sleep study subjects happen
during this REM sleep. This makes Chris' revelation even more
interesting...she said REM stands for Revealing Epiphany Moments (or
something like that). Pretty cool! Chris, please correct us if we
got this wrong. Pastor challenged us to think about the "lightbulb
moments"/epiphanies we have in our lives and how they can help us
along our spiritual journeys. Great discussions and learning last
week!

Preview of this Sunday: Our theme will be, "You Are Mine." We'll
hear the story of Jesus' baptism and think about God's words, spoken
through the prophet, Isaiah, "I have called you by name. You are
mine." At times we struggle to find our identity in life. Perhaps it
is easier than we think? Join us for what will likely be another
lively discussion/message/sermon on the subject of Whose we are.
Invite a friend to join us too.

If you didn't get your Rod and Staff newsletter last Sunday, be sure
to get it with the Annual Meeting folder this Sunday.

Wishing you peace, faith, hope, love and health.

Renea Horn Johnson
Pastoral Assistant
Good Shepherd Church