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February 2007 |
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With Presidential candidates coming on the scene almost daily now, it is somewhat overwhelming to think of another national election. The past election for Governor of Illinois offered little in the way of a candidate courageous enough to stand for the rights of unborn children. Yes, I voted but not for either major party candidate. Whether it is voting an independent ticket, Democratic, or Republican, I continue to think how our society values the innocent (the unborn, the mentally handicapped, etc.) will determine a lot of other larger issues. The use of embryonic stem cells promises to be an increasingly controversial issue. What does that have to do with valuing innocent life? My friend, Pastor Mark Alvis of Union Congregational Church, N. Aurora, offers some interesting thoughts on this issue. I quote from their recent newsletter. One of the social/moral issues of our day is stem cell research. There are 210 cell types in the human body (skin, blood, nerve, etc.). A stem cell (master cell) can become a wide variety of different cell types. Why is this important to medical science? One reason is because stem cells can be injected into the bone marrow of patients undergoing chemotherapy. The injected stem cells grow into every type of blood cell, thus replacing the cells being damaged by chemotherapy. There are two kinds of stem cells: adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are found throughout the human body (skin, intestinal lining, etc.). One particularly plentiful source is in umbilical cords of newborn babies. Thus far, adult stem cells have yielded that greatest benefit to patients. The other source of stem cells is found in human embryos (this is where the debate gets started). An embryo is a fertilized egg. Embryonic stem cells are harvested from fertilized eggs when they are between 7 to 10 days old. These stem cells have the ability to become any of the 210 cell types found in the human body. What most excites scientists today is the thought of replacing damaged heart tissue or spinal cord nerve tissue with stem cells that have been created from the patient’s own body through a cloning procedure. This is accompanied by taking an unfertilized egg from a woman donor, removing its DNA and then fertilizing the egg by implanting the patient’s DNA into the egg. The fertilized egg is a replica of the patient (a clone). After 7 to 10 days, the stem cells from this fertilized egg can be harvested and then endlessly multiplied in Petri dishes. The hopes are that these stem cells can then be injected in the to damaged liver or spinal cord without the danger of being rejected by the patient’s immune system. The moral issues gravitate around harvesting stem cells from a fertilized egg because it destroys the embryo. Pro-abortion people have no qualms about this procedure because they believe early stages of life are not really life. At present, the most readily available source of embryos comes from in-vitro fertilization. This is a procedure to help infertile couples have children. The wife’s egg is artificially inseminated with her husband’s sperm in a lavatory setting. To enhance the chances of a successful pregnancy, a number of the wife’s eggs are inseminated with the husband’s (or a donor’s) sperm and kept in Petri dishes. The fertilized eggs are then examined and the most viable egg or eggs are implanted in to the wife’s uterus (not all fertilized eggs become attached to the uterine wall). If there are extra embryos, they are frozen in order to be used late for more children at a reduced cost for the parents, or for research purposes (stem cell harvesting being top of the list). Anyone opposed to the harvesting of stem cells from embryo’s is presently branded as “unscientific” (another way of saying brain-dead stupid). The debate of when life begins is obviously at the center of this controversy. Why is it considered “unscientific” to believe that life begins at conception (when the egg is fertilized by sperm)? Actually there is no debate among embryonic scientists that after fertilization occurs, all that is needed for a fully developed baby is – oxygen and nutrition. Universal healthcare is another controversial issue that will take us to the limits. Voting has never been easy. May we openly discuss and debate the issues choosing to vote, not for the candidate or party that puts the most money in our pocket, but the candidate or party that most represents a fair and just society. See ya on Sunday with the joy of the Lord as our common, driving force.
Pastor Curry POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRITHere is one illustration of the power, which results from the union of the Holy Spirit with the believer: “I have in my hand a piece of lead. I hold it over a pool of water, and relax my grip. The lead is drawn irresistibly earthwards and sinks to the bottom of the pool. It has been mastered by the law of gravitation. I take the same piece of lead, attach it to a piece of wood and drop it into the pool. Now it floats. No change has taken place in the nature or tendency of the lead, nor has the law of gravitation ceased to function, but through its union with the wood, it has been mastered by a stronger law, the law governing floating bodies and has been emancipated from the downward pull of gravitation.” J. Oswald Sanders NEW BUILDING UPDATE Things seem to be at a standstill with the building. We continue to negotiate with the village as to the windows on the south wall. This will make such a huge difference in the usability of the building for many years to come. It now appears some innocent mistakes were made in the approval of our building plans. Bob Churchill, our attorney, is in conversation with the Fire Dept. and the village. We are hoping to have some resolution soon. The doors have kept us from finishing the front entrance for about two months now. Due to an error in manufacturing, they had to be sent back. We are waiting for their return and hopefully this time they will can be installed. In every way possible, the building has been a huge test of our patience. How well do we wait upon the Lord? How well can we keep focused on God’s guidance and trust that he works in ways we can’t fully understand? How well do treat those who don’t always treat us fairly? How well do we work together in times of disagreement? God is using this project to show us things about ourselves that we didn’t know before. Our monthly mortgage is $1,364.66. It is incredible how so many people are so generous in making this possible month after month. We are current on all other obligations. What a miracle! We are hopeful that in the coming year the funds to finish the inside of the building will come. Our Building Committee (Katie Margison, Jim Lyons, Roy Mauck, Mae Backovitch, Joe Martin, Jim Pillars, and Anne Lyons). Don’t hesitate to ask them questions. BIRTHDAYS If you know of anyone who is not on our list, contact Randy Margison. 8: JIM PILLARS 10: JIM LYONS 11: RICK EVANS 12: SANDY BLAKE 22: DICK RAINER 25: BRAD RAINER 26: DENISE DOROGI 27: STEPHANIE WEBER COUNCIL REPORTS from the most recent meeting are always available at the back of the church in the wooden rack at the top of the steps. Don’t hesitate to pick one up if you have interest. Council Meetings are always open to our members. We meet the first Tuesday evening to conduct church business and the third Tuesday evening to pray. Please contact Council President Jim Lyons if you wish to attend or speak at any meeting.
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COFFEE HOUR2/4/07 Ann cortes & Joyce Richter 2/11/07 Katie Margison & Jeanne Knoblock 2/18/07 Cindy Johnson & Linda Ellinger 2/25/07 Sandy Blake & Jenny Rose USHER SCHEDULE 2/4/07 Bob & Carol Dawson 2/11/07 Marge McKee & Rosalie Strickling 2/18/07 Joyce Richter & Dawn Brtek 2/25/07 Jim Lyons & Dan Schlabach PULPIT FORECAST "To regularly avail oneself to the public exposition of the Holy Scriptures is one of the highest and holiest habits one can ever attain in this life." This message series is quite challenging. It is sometimes much harder to address basic questions. It is much easier to say, “God is great”, than it is to explain it. I hope you have somewhat of a better understanding of general revelation (God revealed through the natural order) and special revelation (God revealed through Jesus Christ and the Bible). Does it make sense that if a highly intelligent, moral being created humanity and all life then that same highly intelligent being would want to reveal himself to the objects of his creation? To begin to grasp revelation is almost overwhelming. The first two weeks of February I will be finishing the “God is Great” series. The second two weeks I will move into the “God is Good” series. FEBRUARY MESSAGES FEB. 4 “God is Infinite”- Psalm 139:1-12; 90:1-2; Jer. 23:23-24; Acts 17:24-25. We will also share in the Lord’s Supper. FEB. 11 “God is Constant” – Ps. 46:1-7; 102:24-27; 33:6-11; Hebr. 13:8. FEB. 18 “God is Holy” – Ps. 93:1-5; Ex. 15:1-18; Is. 57:15. FEB. 25 “God is Righteousness” – Gen. 18:16-33; Ps. 19:7-10. ON THE RADIO EVERY SUNDAY 98.3 Know of a shut-in who might enjoy our service? Make sure to have them tune in every Sunday. At the end of each service, Calie Lyons and Jim Pillars make a fast trip to the radio station to be on the air at 12:00 noon. People who live out of the area can tune in on the internet by visiting www.wrlr.fm . Look to the left side of the page and click on “on-air audio stream”. ELDER TRAININGJim Pillars, Mike Johnson, and Linda Martin are meeting weekly with Pastor Curry in training to function as Elders. Presently Jim Pillars is our only Elder. Here at Community Church, Elders work with Pastor Curry in setting the spiritual direction of our church. They could possibly be used in a pastoral way as associate pastor and do weddings and funerals. Elders are members of the Council and especially focus on the spiritual life of our church. HOLY SPIRIT HISTORY CLASSES?Many people don’t know much about how God through the Holy Spirit has worked over the last 2000 years. They might have heard about the Reformation or maybe know that Protestantism is the result of a split off the Roman Catholic Church but actually know very little of church history. Starting Saturday, February 17th, 10:30 A.M., Pastor Curry will be teaching a 5 week series on the growth of the Christian church in the world. The Confirmands will be there plus any other interested folk. We will meet in the large room by the church office. NEW MEMBERS It is always a special joy when people profess their faith and make covenant with us in membership. Sunday, January the 21st, was a day of rejoicing as several people shared their journey of faith. In coming Chimes editions we hope to spotlight one or two of these precious folk. Dan Schlabach, Manny Reyes, Nicole Reyes Donna Langal, Chris Sybrandy, Jenny Sybrandy Helen Morrison USE OF CHURCH BUILDING AND CHIMES CALENDAR?? The calendar in the Chimes each month only contains the events of our church life. It does not list all the groups using the church facility on different dates. If you wish inquire about using the facility, please call our Facility Coordinator, Jim Pillars. LOVE INC.On December 11th, 2006 Carl “Sparks” Ball wrote a letter of thanks for the $40.00 contribution we sent in to Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC). He stated the excitement he has about seeing God moving in His ministry. WORDS FROM OUR LIBRARY…Thursday morning we added a few more items to our ever-growing library. The book and movie: End of the Spear, more of the “Angels” magazine, along with the guide post. Also, a great movie with James Earl Jones called “Alone. WHAT SHOULD I PRAY FOR?When I first joined our dear (at that time) little church, I was afraid to read the Bible. Every time I did read it, I became so confused and upset. I actually got real headaches. Then we had the Bethel series bible study. What a joy! Thanks to Linda Molidor, our wonderful teacher, I learned how to ask for help of the Holy Spirit when I read the word of God (for this most of all, I will always love Linda). Suddenly everything changed – I was free to explore the history of God’s people as they tried to be Holy. More important, for me, I learned it is impossible for us to be Holy on our own. Total freedom. No longer was I doomed to abject failure! Truly, I could lean on the One in charge. Oh! Thank God, it wasn’t me! So began my adventure in praying for wisdom. Not that I was ever wise, I was more discerning than wise and that was a good thing! But slowly, I began to realize that all human wisdom is an illusion. As with anything, we tend to mess up wisdom. We take things too far – we twist to the side – we lose track of what’s really important. Once again I was confused and upset. Not only was my goal unobtainable, it was also undesirable! Then I discovered Ravi Zacharias on Moody, Sunday at 5:00. Here is real wisdom, and yet he is down to earth. He has the right priority, God. One Sunday Dr. Zacharias talked about King Soloman and wisdom. King Soloman was so wise that he was the only King without a prophet. He was his own prophet. He was in fact too wise – and his wisdom became perverted, it became his goal. Wisdom is not the goal, it’s just a gift! The goal is God. Wisdom can fool itself. All the time I was seeking wisdom my heart was hardened, I thought people could not hurt a hardened heart. I was wrong, a hardened heart is no protection from pain- it actually makes the pain worse. A pure heart feels pain (“Jesus wept”*) but also feels joy and is closer to Jesus. Purity of Heart, by it’s very nature, must be pure – “Create a clean heart in me, O God”**. I actually cry sometimes, something I almost never use to do. My heart is touched be the suffering of others and by kindness and beauty. I no longer see the praise of others as being criticism of me, (when I was a child). Now I am learning real joy! I can tell that it will take the rest of my life to become pure in heart, even longer! Sometimes I get scared and try to backpedal, but He is always there to rescue me. He has, in fact, sent me a guide – her name is Nettie – I can always rely on her, too. Her heart is already pure. In his love, Roberta Vilmann *John 11:35 **Psalm 51:10a
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