Weekly Bible Verses: Luke 1:39-56:

Luke 1: ³⁹In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴²and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” ⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. ⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; ⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, ⁵⁵according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” ⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Helping Others Deal with Grief

I originally wrote this for another venue, but I believe it could help you here as well. After the horrible, abominable mass murder in the Sandy Hook grade school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which one disturbed individual wielding military style weaponry killed 20 6-7 year old children and 6 adults, after dispatching his mother, and before committing suicide as the police arrived, grief abounds. Here are some things to know about grief  (courtesy of the Dictionary of Pastoral Counseling) and what you can do to help others.

We've all heard grief has stages. They are, in the current understanding:

• Numbness and denial: involved in the first five to seven days; 
• Yearning intensely and painfully for the one (or ones) who has died, which includes preoccupation with that individual, searching, illusions of seeing that person, dreams, fantasies, hallucinations, self-reproach, identification with the behaviors, activities and illness of the dead, and suicidal feelings and thoughts. This lasts for weeks;
• Disorganization and despair where other emotions dim, apathy and aimlessness set in, and an inability to see a positive future rises like a malign fog. This can last for over a year.
• Reorganization is the final, sought for stage, in which the grieving person shifts their energies from the dead and begins to see a hopeful future without that person in it. After thirteen months most had not yet reached this stage. 

These are stages each grieving person must go through to heal and our job as friends and loved ones for the grieving is to understand and stand by that person. Assure the grieving that they are not losing their minds and that they will come through the process. It is natural. It is a process God designed us to help those who grieve find their way through with our love and understanding. 

Here are a few concrete steps you can take to assist the grieving: 

1. Understand the process and make yourself familiar with the stages
2. Visit the grieving often as love is shown by your presence. 
3. Help the grieving person to express himself or herself by asking about what has taken place and by responding with empathy (don't try to fix the situation, remember Job's friends who got it right by being there silently for 7 days, but then blew it by trying to fix Job's grief with their recommendations).
4. Prior to funerals a pastor will help families talk about the person lost, triggering their memories and allowing the minister to gain information about the dead and the bereaved which leads to a better development and accomplishment of the funeral. You can help your grieving friends of loved ones by encouraging their discussion of and remembrance of the one they have lost (this is a more case specific recommendation). 
5. What is extremely hard today is to allow a person sufficient time to grieve. 
6. Each grieving family member needs to be helped with equal care and love. 

That's a start. This will help you not to feel helpless and to act as a guiding beacon for those who grieve. Do not worry about what you will say. In the midst of grief, the person in pain will not remember what you said, only that you were there and he/she will love you for it. This applies to the funeral and to the long road afterwards. Be present, be loving, offer a listening ear, offer hope that the person is sane and will in time come through this long, painful process, emphasizing that they will do so in their own time. 

God bless you as you seek to help your suffering family, friends, or those you have just met. 

Christmas Events at ECBC, YOU Are Invited

Monday, December 24

Christmas Eve Candle Light Service, 7:00 PM

Sunday, December 31 

Christmas Sunday, 11:00 AM

Advent Themes

Sunday, December 16, Heavenly Joy

Sunday, December 23, Heavenly Love

Weekly Bible Verses: Luke 3: 7-18: Filled with Expectation

⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, 

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath 

to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to 

say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I 

tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children 

to Abraham. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the 

trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is 

cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰And the crowds asked 

him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹In reply he said to them, 

“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has 

none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹²Even 

tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, 

“Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³He said to them, “Collect 

no more than the amount prescribed for you.” ¹⁴Soldiers also 

asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, 

“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false 

accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were 

questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he 

might be the Messiah,¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, 

“I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful 

than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his 

sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing 

floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff 

he will burn with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸So, with many
other exhortations, he proclaimed the good
news to the people.

To the Grieving in Newtown, Connecticut

We the  members of the Exton Community Baptist Church stand with and pray for all the grieving families in Newtown, Connecticut, who have lost loved ones to the terrible events of this week. May God comfort and support you all in your pain, may God give you the strength you need to see this through.

Bless those who mourn, eternal God, with the comfort of your love that they may face each new day with hope and the certainty that nothing can destroy the good that has been given. May their memories become joyful, their days enriched with friendship, and their lives encircled by your love. Amen.

--c 1991 Vienna Cobb Anderson 

[Courtesy of Beliefnet.com]

Revelation 21: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”4

The Jesus Agenda Trailer

 Here's an opportunity for church groups to find their voices and take action to work toward social change. Not a bad way to honor Christmas in your heart all year long (just like ol' Ebenezer Scrooge). It's based on Luke 1:14-21, which reads:

Luke 1: 14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

   because he has anointed me

     to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

   and recovery of sight to the blind,

     to let the oppressed go free, 

¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ 

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

Give it some thought.

November's News from ECBC Missionary Sue Hegarty in Costa Rica

Dear Friends,

It´s the month of Thanksgiving and I do thank God for all the wonderful opportunities He has given me to serve so far in Costa Rica.   The last few weeks have been especially fruitful, so I also thank you for your prayers and support which make it possible for me to serve here..

Hopefully you´ve read my journal about the graduation in the Pastoral Care for Women program.   I have continued to meet with the class in Cartago.   Another privilege I had was translating for a small group of folks from Great Rivers Region.   Included in that group were my MPT members, Jerry and Sheila Fite, as well as the mission-minded John and Syl Grisham and Carol and Dave Matheson.   We visited a number of Baptist Federation churches.   I was impressed by the vision of these churches – all in marginal neighborhoods.   Also inspiring to me is GRR´s partnership commitment with Costa Rica over the years (the Baptist Camp has a plaque commemorating groups from the 1980´s).

This week I jumped in with my first workshop here, giving practical tips on how to lead a group for the new Pastoral Care for Women professors (and as a refresher course for some of the experienced ones).   It was great to get to know these women better, and share all of our experiences.   The next session they will practice presenting different parts of the classes.   In the meantime, we want to begin redoing this Healthy Relationships course before February when the classes start up again (after the kids start their new school year).   I have my work cut out for me!

While you are celebrating Thanksgiving, please pray for our Women´s Retreat against domestic violence which is this Saturday and Sunday.   It is to be both informative, but also healing so we leaders will all need physical and emotional strength.
Thank you for your support!

--Sue Hegarty

Hanging of the Greens Service

Hanging of the Service: 7:00 PM, Sunday, December 2, in Sanctuary.

Consider yourself invited ...

Weekly Bible Verses: Luke 21:25-36: The Kingdom of God is Near

Luke 21: ²⁵“There will be signs in the sun,the moon, and the 

stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea 

and the waves. ²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming 

upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

²⁷Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power 

and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, 

stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption 
is drawing near.”

²⁹Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

³⁰as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that 

summer is already near. ³¹So also, when you see these things taking place, 

you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²Truly I tell you, this generation 

will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³Heaven and earth 

will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁴“Be on guard so that 

your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the 

worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵like a trap. For it 

will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Be alert at all 

times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things 

that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”