December 2008

Christmas Celebrations
We invite you to join us each Sunday as we sing the wonderful Christmas songs we hear only at this time of year, light the advent candles, and hear inspiring messages about the hope we have through the birth of our Lord Jesus.

In addition to the worship services please join us for:

• Sunday, December 14 — Old Fashioned Christmas Party, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Come and sing some fun Christmas carols, enjoy the children’s story time, and a special visit from Santa—followed by dessert and hot chocolate or coffee. There is a sign up sheet in the lobby for bringing desserts and/or letting us know you will be here.

• Wednesday, December 24 — Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, 4:00—5:00 p.m.
Our annual Christmas Eve service is for the entire family. There will be a time of communion, and a special lighting of our candles and singing Silent Night together as we close the evening worship. We hope you will bring your friends and family; it’s always a wonderful service.

New Worship Time
Beginning on Sunday, December 14th, we will return to our previous worship time of 10:00 a.m.

Westlake Community Church is no longer meeting in our facilities which is why we changed to 9:30 a.m. earlier this year.

We hope you will like the time change and will be here to begin worshipping right at 10:00 on Sunday, December 14th!

• Randy Olson’s Sunday School class will discuss their start time this week when they meet at 8:30 as usual.
• The worship team will be notified as to what time rehearsals will begin. But this Sunday it is still 8:30 a.m.

From Pastor Dave
I love Christmas lights!! As I drive around the city it is fun to see more and more houses emerge with Christmas lights as we get closer to Christmas Day. The brightly colored lights announce the arrival of Christmas and are one of the unique aspects of the season. Christmas lights signify the great spiritual truth that Jesus Christ is the “light of the world”. The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of a prophecy made by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier. Matthew records this fulfillment…

• When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Matthew 4:12-16

Christmas commemorates the monumental event when God sent His Son to bring salvation to a world that was in spiritual darkness. I hope that as you enjoy the Christmas season you will remember what all the Christmas lights represent – that Jesus is the light of the world and that through His birth we are given hope, joy and peace with our God!

Merry Christmas, Pastor Dave


ELDER NOMINATIONS FOR 2009
The board of elders would like to let you know that the following men have agreed to be nominated for elder for 2009-2011:

Jerry A., Dave F., and Dave G.

We will hold a general congregational meeting on Sunday, December 7th immediately following the service in order to confirm their nomination. We hope you will be here to attend that meeting.

Note: Our bylaws require that you have placed your membership here at CCH in order to vote, and that you are an attending member over the age of 18. If you’d like information about placing your membership, please see Pastor Dave or Associate Pastor Chris.

If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to one of our current elders:

Randy O., Chair, Dave L., V. Chair
Jerry O., Doug S., Adam G., and Dave B.

Children' New, By Amber George

It’s Christmas time! I am so excited for this very special time of year when we can celebrate the birth of Jesus! We have so many wonderful things planned this month that I hope everyone gets involved with.

First, on December 3^rd we have our Hanging of the Greens event and Pizza Party to decorate the church for Christmas from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. We need all the help we can get, so kids, make sure you’re there.

Then on Saturday, December 13^th the Pathfinders will have their first special event! We will be going The Lakes Ice Skating Rink for our holiday event. We will meet at CCH at 10 a.m. and carpool over to The Lakes. Cost is $11.00 for admission and rentals. Please make sure to fill out a permission slip before Saturday the 13^th. Parents, you are more than welcome to join us. We would love to have you there. In the event of rain we will reschedule.

And, on Sunday, December 14^th we will be holding our Old Fashioned Christmas Party. We will sing carols, read The Night Before Christmas and eat dessert. And, there will also be a special surprise for the kids. So, make sure you’re there! The party starts at 6:30 p.m.

Then on Wednesday, December 17^th we will have our Christmas Party with the Youth Group in the youth room. We will have food, games and a unique gift exchange. The party will be from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Plan on being there and invite your friends.

The Pathfinders Sunday School is wrapping up their latest curriculum “My Awesome Adventure” this month. They will be completing their lesson workbooks in class and will be able to take them home after the last lesson. I hope you will take time to look over their workbooks with them and see what they have been learning about. We will also have some special Christmas lessons during Sunday school as well this month. Then in January we will start our new curriculum for the New Year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Youth:

There is so much coming up in the coming months for youth group. First, youth group is moving to Wednesday nights starting December 3^rd. We will kick off our new night with the Hanging of the Greens event and Pizza Party. We will meet on December 3^rd from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. After that, we will go back to our regular time from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

And, on Wednesday, December 17^th we will have our Christmas Party with the Pathfinders in the youth room. We will have food, games and a unique gift exchange. The party will be from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Plan on being there and invite your friends.

Also, here are some dates for Winter Camps:

• Mammoth Camp with EV Free NP: January 23-26
• Angeles Crest: January 30- February 1^st, February 6-8, February 20-22

Let Amber know which dates you are available ASAP. For more info about winter camps talk to Amber. And, Youth group will not be meeting December 24^th, December 31^st or January 7^th. We will kick off the new year on January 14^th, 2009!

Fuse:

Because of the holidays we will NOT be meeting in the month of December. Enjoy this season and look for new events in the New Year! Merry Christmas!

GO M.A.D. (Go Make a Difference)
• Santa Comes to Agoura—Thank you everyone who brought in peanut butter and jelly for the food drive. The food will be sorted this Saturday at the Do-It-Center if you’d like to help out, 9:00 a.m.
• Angel Tree Gifts — All new, unwrapped gifts are due at CCH this coming Sunday for our outreach toward families in need this Christmas.


Birthdays and Anniversaries
Below are our December birthdays, there are no anniversaries this month. If yours is not listed, it may be because we have never gotten a profile on you or your family. Those are easily printed from our website, there are two pages and you can find them on the Groups page, entitled Member Survey. All CCH attenders (not just members) are encouraged to fill this out. Let send you a birthday card on your special day!!

December Birthdays:

• Drew L.—7th
• Lynn S. — 12th
• Morgan L. — 16th
• Jerry A. — 19th
• Caitlin C. — 29th

Prayer Chain

• Brian & Rebecca T.: Please keep them in your prayers as they grieve the passing of Barbara (wife and mother) who died late in November of heart complications.
• Dale R.— battling with lung disease and recently pneumonia. Pray for healing and comfort.
• Loretta H.— for knee and back pain — the treatments are not helping.
• Lynn S.—Cousin Art has cancer. Please keep him in your prayers.
• Amy F.’s Mom — is in declining health.
• Pat H. — several family members have health issues, please pray for them.
• Thais K. — Prayer for health.
• CCH — Please always keep our church in your prayers for growth both spiritually and in numbers, for wisdom and direction for the staff and elders, as well as future outreaches and events.
• Remember the servicemen:
• Drew L., Scott and Andrew O. and Amber’s brother Ty.

Nancy O. is our Prayer Chain coordinator. Please be sure to let her know of any updates and prayer needs. 706-2124.

“Christmas Packages”
4 Christmas One Acts
Produced by First Light Players

• "Mom's Ashes" brotherly relationships can become complicated, especially when mom is lost in UPS & the mob is involved, but love is the greatest command
• "Roots in the Wind" a struggling actress in Hollywood, goes home to Georgia for Christmas to find that her mom and step-dad have arranged a blind date for her with Tom Cruise.
• "A Little Corner in Nowhere" A place where we are reminded what Christmas is all about
• "A Quiet Christmas Eve" Steve and Roxanne want to spend a nice and quiet Christmas Eve together but family traditions get in the way

DEC. 12-21, Fri & Sat @ 8:00 pm, Sun @ 3:00 pm
ACTORS WORKOUT STUDIO, 4735 Lankershim, North Hollywood
ALL TICKETS $18.00, Limited Seating

Please see Kay Dease on Sunday for tickets or call her at 889-5964

Note: First Light Players is not affiliated with CCH, but their mission is to win non-believers to the Lord through their drama productions. Kay Dease is a member here and the team rehearses in our building.

November 2008

Thanksgiving Dinner @ CCH

When: Sunday, November 23rd at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Here in our Worship Center
What: Full Thanksgiving feast for Everyone!!!!

You and your friends, family and neighbors are invited to a full-Thanksgiving dinner with a wonderful program of thankfulness here at CCH. We also share the event with Westlake Community Christian Church (who use our facilities for their church services after ours on Sundays).

Please consider bringing turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, dinner rolls, apple juice or pies. We also welcome help setting up or cleaning up. There will be a signup clipboard in the lobby for you to let us know how many people will be attending, and what you will bring.


Encouraging Words by Pastor Dave

Hello CCH Family!!

November is here and so is the Thanksgiving season. We have so much to be thankful for!! I encourage you to use this holiday to give God thanks and praise for everything He has blessed you with.

There was a USA Poll conducted in November of 1999 asking the following question of 1,451 people…”Do you have a lot to be thankful for?” What was the response? 16% answered YES, 84% answered NO!! It’s hard to believe that 8 out of 10 people said they did not have a lot to be thankful for!

The apostle Paul instructs Christians to give thanks to God in all circumstances. He says…Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Not only is it God’s will for every follower of Jesus to be thankful, it’s God’s will to be thankful in “ALL” circumstances! Being thankful should not depend on the circumstances we are in!
Are we to be happy and thankful when someone is injured? If I lose my job? If something evil happens? Obviously we are not to be thankful when those kinds of things happen. Notice that Paul doesn’t say, give thanks “for” all circumstances. We don’t want to give thanks for evil or hurtful things in this world. However, Paul does say...give thanks “in” all circumstances. We can give thanks that even when something bad happens, God can be there to strengthen, comfort, guide, and bring about something good.

The Apostle Paul is encouraging each one of us to have an “attitude of gratitude!” Thankfulness is an attitude! You can’t control situations, but you can control your attitude no matter what the situation! Situations shouldn’t control your attitude!

I hope that you’ll take some time in the next few weeks, especially over the Thanksgiving weekend, to let God know how thankful you are!

Thanking Him for you,
Pastor Dave


Message Series

Pastor Dave’s new message series is “Balancing Life’s Demands”. The following are the sermon titles. If you missed any, you can find them online at www.cchagoura.com.

October 26—How Jesus Handled Life’s Demands
November 2 — How to Capture Control of My Time
November 9 — How to Keep a Balanced Perspective About Work
November 16—How to Have a Healthy Perspective about our Physical Body
November 23 — How to Cultivate My Spiritual Life
November 30 — How to Maintain Healthy Relationships

See you on Sunday!


Life Study Groups

These adult studies are designed to help you get connected to the church family and support you in your walk with God. Please join a group that works for your schedule and not only will you be blessed, you’ll be a blessing to others!!

• Monday Mornings: At Kathy Newman’s Home in Oak Park (and alternately at Joy Silver’s in WLV): led by Kathy. Call for details, 818.706.3215.
• Tuesday Evenings: At Dave Fleming’s Home in Agoura: led by Chris Miuccio, 7:00 p.m. Call Dave at 818.991.9919.
• Wednesday Evenings: At Dave & Lori George’s Home in Agoura: led by Dave Crouse, 7:00 p.m. Call for info: 818.991.8495.
• Sunday Mornings: At CCH: led by Randy Olson, 8:30 a.m. NEW 1John study.

Mission Outreach

What: A collection for the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission of underwear and socks for men, women and children. All items should be in their store packaging.

When: Please bring in all your donations for the drive by November 9th.

Chris Miuccio has partnered with the mission to help with this drive and to help two times a month preaching at the mission. Chris says that they always need canned foods as well. We will repeat this drive a couple times throughout the year.

The blue donation barrel is in the lobby.


Thank yous

The list of volunteers for the Halloween Carnival is too long to mention, but know that every one of you is greatly appreciated. It is wonderful to see how you come out and support our community outreaches. The children from the area enjoyed themselves a lot and their parents expressed their appreciation of the event. There were well over 100 people in attendance. Many of you were here Friday, Saturday morning to afternoon and again on Saturday evening. Bless you all!

The elders and staff want to especially thank Amber for her diligence and hard work organizing the Carnival!!!!
Thanks to Jerry Adams for spearheading the project of re-striping our parking lot. So far Jerry has had Lela Adams, Judy Leese and Jerry Olson help him out! Thank you all for your time and hard work!!


Kids News by Amber George

November is here! October is over! And that means we survived the Halloween Carnival! I have to thank everyone who was a part of the Carnival. Thank you so much to all the fantastic volunteers who set-up on Friday night and Saturday! And, also to all the volunteers who worked at the Carnival, thank you so much! Also, thank you to everyone for the wonderful donations and pumpkin banks. Honestly, none of this could have happened without all of you! Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart! You guys are awesome. Thanks for going “M.A.D.”!

And, now that November is here (and hopefully the cooler weather will soon follow) our annual Thanksgiving dinner is coming up. This is a great night of fellowship and a wonderful opportunity to invite friends. So, kids… invite some friends! The Thanksgiving dinner will be at CCH on Sunday, November 23rd at 4 p.m. Don’t forget to sign up to bring a favorite dish for everyone to enjoy.

The Pathfinders Sunday School is making their way through their new curriculum. They are a little more than halfway done with this series and will be able to take home the workbooks they have been doing in the next couple weeks. Please, take a minute to look over what your kids have been learning and discuss it with them when they bring their workbooks home.

And, the Pathfinders will soon have a special holiday event planned. So, keep a lookout for that.

With Christmas coming up soon, there will be lots of Go M.A.D. opportunities that I want the kids to get involved with this year. It will be such a rewarding experience. And, we will also have our end of the year Christmas party as well. So, look for details on all of those coming soon.

Have a wonderful November everyone and remember all that we have to be thankful for!


Youth News by Amber George

Youth Group will soon be changing nights. Our Sunday night meetings will likely be moving to Wednesday nights. The details are being worked out right now, but keep your eyes and ears open so you know what night youth group is on.

We are still continuing our study through “The Case for Christ”. If you haven’t already, please bring in $7 to purchase a copy of the book. This is a great study and I think everyone will get a lot out of it.

And, I will soon be sending home a calendar of upcoming events after the New Year, including camps, conventions, events and special activities. So, watch for that. There is a lot of very fun stuff coming up.


Fuse (young adults)

Once again, Fuse will not be meeting the last Saturday of November since it is Thanksgiving weekend. Instead we will meet on a date TBD. Details are still being worked out. But, we are trying to organize a dinner after volunteering at a local soup kitchen in the Conejo Valley. This will be a great time to hang out, get to know each other better and also give back to our community a little during this season of Thanksgiving. Watch for more details.


Upcoming Go M.A.D. Events (Go Make a Difference)

• SFV Rescue Mission donations: Please bring new packages of socks and underwear for men, women & children to church on or before Sunday, November 9th.
• Santa Comes to Agoura—donations of food and help needed on the event day in December.
• Angel Tree Gifts — Help a family in need this year byselecting a child from our list and purchasing Christmas presents for them.

Details coming soon.


Prayer Requests

• Loretta Hicks — for knee and back pain — the treatments are not helping.
• Dale Rickards — battling with lung disease. Pray for healing and comfort.
• Lynn Sweeney—daughter Marie was in a car accident and recuperating from her injuries.
• Patti Pape’s former student — lost his mother-in-law who was struck and killed by a motorist. Pray for the family.
• Amy Fechner’s Mom — is in declining health.
• Pat Henkel — several family members have health issues, please pray for them.
• Thais Klembara — Prayer for health and grief.
• Financial Market—keep praying for the Church and the church families during this difficult financial time.
• CCH — Please always keep our church in your prayers for growth both spiritually and in numbers, for wisdom and direction for the staff and elders, as well as future outreaches and events.
• Remember the servicemen:Drew Lewis, Scott and Andrew Olson, and Amber’s brother Ty.
  

Nancy Olson is our Prayer Chain coordinator. Please be sure to let her know of any updates and prayer needs. 706-2124.

New Newsletter Format

Beginning with the November 2008 issue of the CCH Newsletter, each monthly newsletter will consist of a new entry on this blog. Please check back regularly for the latest at Christian Church of the Hills. Thanks and see you at church!