January 2007
Download a Copy for your Self January 2007

   The religious landscape of our country is challenging to say the least. For many people it is very confusing. How does one know who to believe?

    The Catholics pray to different saints and to Mary. We say, “Show us in Bible where that is taught?” We seek to have a faith that is not the result of years and years of decisions made by church leaders, which at times have contradicted themselves, but rather to have a faith that is shaped by Holy Scripture. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to read what Jesus said and apply that to everyday life.

    One religious group that is growing in Lake County is the Jehovah Witnesses. Unlike Catholics, this group does not stand within the tradition of the historic Christian church. They do not understand God to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Trinity). Most of Christendom for 2000 years would call a group like Jehovah Witnesses a cult, and a rather dangerous one at that. Some of you may have friends or relatives who are Jehovah Witnesses. They may be very sincere and devout people who are doing all they know to be faithful to God. We need to respect their commitment but lovingly explain a more Biblical approach.

    The Jehovah Witnesses look to “The Watchtower Society” for the final word to their faith, not the Bible. The Watchtower Society predicted that

-          in 1874 the second coming of Christ would occur

-          the year 1914 would mark the overthrow of human governments and the full establishment of the kingdom of God on earth

-          in 1925 select Old Testament saints would rise from the grave and come to live in San Diego

-          in 1975 human history would end and the thousand-year reign of Christ would begin

       They do have their own Bible, which is a translation by one person, not a team of scholars. It is a very poor translation with obvious incidents of imposing predetermined beliefs upon the translation. For example, they do not believe Jesus is God. Most Christians would coil at such a statement. I would be quick to turn to John 1:1 where John begins his gospel by referring to Jesus as the “Word” in the beginning of creation. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

    This verse would be an obvious contradiction to Jehovah Witness teaching. They solved that problem by translating the verse to read “..and the Word was a god.” See the difference? It is a minor adjustment in translation but has gigantic implications.

    Another example would be their belief in “soul sleep”. They say people don’t immediately go to heaven to be with Jesus upon death. The human soul sleeps in the ground until the second coming of Christ. (By the way, I wonder how they handle cremation?) Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross presented a real problem to such doctrine. Luke records Jesus saying to the repentant thief, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

    The Watchtower Society translated that verse to read, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise.” Catch that difference? Look again. The only difference is the placing of the comma. This leads the reader to believe that Jesus is simply speaking “today”, not that he was promising the thief he would be in Paradise “today”.

     Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions, which has led to many untimely deaths.

     Once a person is a Jehovah Witness, it is very difficult to leave the organization. Their entire family will shun them and will not view them as a legitimate member of the family. Everyone who has left the Watch Tower Society has paid a very high price.

    Their evangelistic strategy has traditionally been door-to-door witnessing. More recently they are organizing neighborhood studies on the family, attracting many unsuspecting people.

     If you have access to the internet you might check our the following web site for more information 

 http://www.irr.org/English-JW/jwfacten.html  .

CHURCH FINANCES

   Thanks to all who regularly tithe and to all who made special gifts, especially the Lydia Circle! Because of everyone’s combined effort we kept current on all our obligations and commitments for 2006. As we had expected to complete the new building this year with higher electric, gas, and insurance bills, our budget was intentionally high and as it turned out, much higher than needed. We ended the year with a small balance in the checking account with all bills paid. Total receipts for 2006 was $95,987.23 with missions as $7,224.69. This does not include Building Fund contributions.

 NEW IRS RULING FOR 2007: The IRS requires you to have a receipt for all cash contributions in order for you to deduct them.  Community Church of Round Lake provides you with an annual statement as well as a declaration letter for this purpose if you are using your envelope set.  If you do not have an envelope set and wish to have one, please see Marietta Eggert.

 We ask that you fill in the amount you are giving for the fund(s) where you wish the money placed.  The offering envelopes are the document used to record your gift onto your statement of giving record for the year.  If you do not do this then it is assumed your entire gift is for Church Expenses. We are including an explanation of the various accounts for newer members.

 CHURCH EXPENSES: All non-designated offerings as well as those designated for the church expenses are deposited into this account. 

This is the operating fund of the church.  We make our budget each year against this fund, and all expenses that have been budgeted for would be paid out of this account

 BUILDING FUND: All offerings designated for this fund is deposited into it.   The money in this account is used for upkeep and repair of the church building and grounds as well as paying for the construction and the mortgage on the building addition.

 BENEVOLENCES: All offerings designated to this fund are deposited into it. This is our mission budget against this account.  It is not necessary to designate any of the budgeted ministries because in essence you will be supporting all of them with your gifts.  However, if your gift is for a special need offering such as we had for the tsunami or hurricane Katrina victims, you need to designate it as such and those gifts are not considered as received against the budgeted ministries.

NEW BUILDING UPDATE

            Beautiful is the word to describe our new building. What a way to celebrate our 75^th anniversary than to dedicate something that would make those gone before us very proud!  

            Not much is changed since last month. We are looking forward to getting the doors installed soon and the front entrance with the chair lift finished soon.

            We still are trying to get the window issue on the north wall resolved with the village. 

 Our monthly mortgage is $ 1,364.66. I am so amazed at how we have met that amount faithfully month after month.

             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) continues to meet and oversee each phase. Don’t hesitate to ask them questions.

 COUNCIL MEMBERS LEAVING

We are grateful to God for people who give of their time for the nitty gritty details of keeping the lights on and heating bills paid, etc. We are especially grateful for five people who have served us well who feel it is time for them to step aside for others.

THANK YOU!

Katie Margison

Roy Mauck

Jim Lyons

Marcella Manolis

Betty Jones

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

   If you know of anyone who is not on our list, contact Randy Margison.

1: Nina Thiem

17: Christine Lahti

19: Tina Carlson

19: Laura Dietz

31: Jennel Jones

31: Carol Lawrence

WELCOME NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS

   Mike Johnson and Donna Kramer will come on our Council with the first meeting on January 9^th. One of the big items on the agenda will be to elect officers. They will be installed on January 14^th.

 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. 

 COFFEE HOUR

1/7/07              Marge McKee & Rhonda Curry 

1/14/07            Joyce Richter & Nicole Reyes

1/21/07            Christopher & Erin Kramer

1/23/07            Linda Martin & MaeBackovitch

 USHER SCHEDULE

 1/7/07              Bob & Carol Dawson

 1/14/07            Annette Gathercoal & Dawn Brtek

 1/21/07            Chris & Donna Karmer

 1/28/07            Karen Eggert & Anne Lyons

 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."

         Having a Biblical understanding of the nature of God is very important. What is God really like? The obvious answer is to see what God has said about himself in his written Word.

         We can learn some things about God by observing the things he has made. A close look at a beautiful painting might give one insights as to the person who painted it. Another example would be a breathtaking skyscraper. One might ask, “Who designed such a huge and complex building? Surely it must be someone with a very high intelligence.” Thus one can observe nature and make conclusions about God. This is called “natural revelation”.

         The other main type of revelation of God is called “special revelation”. Evangelical Christians believe that God has revealed much about himself through his Son, Jesus, and through his written word, the Bible.

         During the next two months, I will be addressing the two basic attributes of God – his greatness and his goodness. With open Bible in hand we understand God to be great, and we understand him to be good. This is foundational for a Biblical understanding of God. It is like the foundation of the house. The entire house rests upon its foundation. Evangelical theology is built on those two foundational attributes of God.   

JANUARY MESSAGES

 JAN.  7  “God is Spirit”- John 1:18; 4:24; I Tim. 1:17; 6:15-16. We will also share in the Lord’s Supper.

JAN. 14  “God Has Personality” – Genesis 4:26; Exodus 3:14; 20:3.

JAN. 21 “God is Living” – Jeremiah 10:10; John 5:26; Hebrews 11:6; I Thessalonians 1:9

JAN. 28  “God is Infinite” – Psalms 90:1-2; 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Acts 17:24-25. 

 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.         

        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”.

 SUNDAY SCHOOL WORDS

   Thank you so much for your support at the Sunday school Christmas program.  The kids appreciate seeing everyone and they seemed to have a good time.  The Sunday school teachers sure did!

    Special thanks to the “Modern Day Shepherds” for participating, Randy Margison for providing the music, Karen Eggert for her energy and experience, Cindy and Mike Johnson for being awesome, the Sunday School teachers for your commitment, and most of all our Lord and Savior, without him there would be nothing to celebrate.

    Please remember to support the Sunday school program by donating items for the bake sale, February 10^th.   We would like to have you join us at the sale to help out.  Please let Teresa Pillars (847-245-7260) know if you are interested.

 Happy New Year – Teresa Pillars

 2007 SUPERBOWL

 Have you ever been hungry, you know, REALY hungry?  Millions of people each day go without any food.   Come join us January 28^th to celebrate the Souper Bowl of caring, a mission to fight hunger and poverty.  We’re planning a food drive, scavenger hunt, special offering and a “souper” lunch together!  Experience the joy of serving Christ by serving others.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE

    We are were so blessed by our candlelight Christmas Eve service. The attendance was the largest in any of my years here as Pastor. We praise God for our special time remembering the birth of our Lord.

 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, Marcella Manolis at 847-740-4228.