Bethania Moravian Gazette  For the Week of December 20, 2020 

 

Watchword for the Week of December 20 The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 

Luke 1:49  

www.bethaniamoravianchurch.org   www.facebook.com/bethaniamoravianchurch   

Calendar   

Christmas Schedule for 2020   

 

Sunday, December 20 , 10:30 AM, Mini Candle Tea Worship Service (Virtual, more limited in-person. The Vestibule, old Lovefeast kitchen, Fellowship Hall are overflow areas.) 

 

Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve , 4:30 PM, Mini Candle Tea (Virtual ONLY) Details of the Services on the 20th and 24th are given in the updates in the paragraphs below.  

Sunday, December 27 , 10:30 AM , Reading Service -- VIRTUAL ONLY (NO IN-PERSON WORSHIP) The Story of Christmas read by members of the congregation. This service will be offered via Facebook ONLY.  

Thursday, December 31, New Years’ Eve , Remembrance, Hope, and Light Service-VIRTUAL ONLY The service will be a pre-recorded offering with a worship liturgy. We will post the service on Facebook on December 31st so that you may participate at your leisure. The service will incorporate prayer , scripture, and song. 

Sunday, January 3, 10:30 AM, Epiphany Communion--Service details forthcoming 

News of the Church.... Worship on December 20, 24, and 27, 2020… 

On Sunday, December 20th at 10:30 AM, we will gather for worship to celebrate Christmas. Our service will be a “Mini Candle Tea: Celebrating the Blessings of Moravian Traditions in Symbol, Scripture, and Song.” The service will be live-streamed on Sunday, as well as the small group of congregants we can have in-person at this time. Whether you attend virtually or in-person, you will have the same opportunity to enjoy the service. Even though we have named it a “Mini-Candle Tea,” it is a symbolic service in that neither buns, coffee, nor candles will be served. The service will be reposted on Facebook on December 24th at 4:30 PM (The 24th will NOT be live; it will be the same service from Sunday).   

On Sunday December 27th, 2020, our service will be VIRTUAL ONLY. There will be no in-person worship this Sunday. (from the Board of Elders)  Music Offering on Facebook… 

Scott Rainey will post a few videos on our church’s Facebook page over the next week. They will primarily be recordings of his favorite carols from our Christmas Eve ode.   

On Thursday, December 24, Moravian Church Without Walls will offer a collection of Moravian music from around the world (“A Moravian Loop”). You may find this on Facebook at Moravian Church Without Walls. More information can be found at MoravianChristmas.org  

 

Prayer Requests for this Week The family of Lawrence Beall, especially his sister, our Vee Wolff and his daughter Andrea; Craig Bracken; Bob Delp; Jimmy Fearington; Darrel Flippin; Paul Haaf (Dennis and Barbara Ford son-in-law’s father); Peggy Holyfield; Jeff Hooks (mother, Frances); Compton Lane; Jerome Livengood; Duke and Sarah Marley; Dick and Rosemary Mock (granddaughter, Erica); Betty Moorefield; Rebecca Ogburn; 

Nancy Patterson; Edie Rogers’ family; Peggy Williams; Cole Wood; the people in Africa, especially the children; and the people of Nicaragua and Honduras as they continue to recover from the aftermath of the two hurricanes.   Community Prayer Tree - Prayer Concerns 

Update: The following names are in addition to our weekly prayer list: Our church; our shut-ins; Friend Doug-COVID; Stella; Burke; My family, Jamie, Janet, hungry children, our nation, Andrea, Rylee, Chris, Jerry & Noel, Chloe, Logan, Patricia, My Friends @ Bethania and FAMILY, our neighbors, Landon, Heather S; for these next two weeks to go well; pass my permit test; Judy; Stephen L.; Brother Bill A.-COVID; Pop; Jesus L.; Tally; my 90 year old mother who is in a nursing home in lockdown; doctors, nurses, and medical workers; the homeless; Chloe Stuart; Ellen. 

  

Celebrations… Chloe Spieler has been accepted to Savannah College for Art and Design (SCAD). She will begin her time there in Fall 2021. Congratulations, Chloe!    

*If you have a note of celebration that you would like the church to know about and appear in the Gazette, please send them to the church office email (bethaniaoffice@triad.twcbc.com). Please label it as “Celebration for Gazette.”   

  More News... 

Community Prayer Tree Update: Thank you to those who have shared the concerns on your minds and hearts on the Community Prayer Tree. Along with the tree is a container filled with ornaments and a couple of permanent markers. We invite you, our neighbors, and folks in the community to write and continue to write prayer concerns on the ornaments, and then attach the ornaments to the tree with the provisions supplied. The tree will remain as long as possible throughout the Christmas season. Folks from our church check the tree regularly. The pastoral staff will add the concerns to our prayers and share with you here.    

        

Look for a Bright and Shining Star on December 21st Between the evenings of December 15th and 18th, the planets Jupiter and Saturn will be 

moving into what is called the “Great Conjunction” with one another. Then beginning on the evening of the winter solstice, December 21st, 45 minutes after sunset, a crescent moon will be higher in the sky and Jupiter and Saturn will appear to intersect in the western sky closer to the horizon. At the same time of the three evenings following, this double star alignment may be captured as well. In actuality, the two planets are hundreds of millions of miles apart. But for these snapshots in time, they will be the closest they have been in 400 years. In 1623 the occurrence was visible in the day skies, globally. On December 21, 2020, in the night skies around the world, the planets will be 

the closest in that they have been in 800 years, creating the probability of radiating one bright and shining star to be witnessed by the naked eye.   

Some sources say this occurrence is the biblical Christmas Star or Star of Bethlehem, the one that led the shepherds with their sheep to the baby Jesus and later the Wise Men to him to pay homage to his birth. Scientists say that it was the planets Venus and Jupiter (and possibly Saturn), not Jupiter and Saturn, that burst forth on that night of all nights two thousand years ago. Even so, for Christians, this still remains an event of biblical proportions, because we have an opportunity to take in a wonder similar to the wonder of wonders that shone down on the cradle-manger in Bethlehem.   

(This information was taken from various sources, including: NBC, Chicago Tribune, NASA.)  Worship in the Sanctuary  Please be aware of the following guidelines.   

● Masks are required inside the church building. ● Physical distancing will be in place within the sanctuary.   ● If you can answer “yes” to any question, please stay home and attend worship virtually that Sunday. 

■ Do you have any of the following symptoms now :  ● Fever (100.4 or higher)  ● new loss of taste or smell ● new or worsening cough OR new or worsening runny nose/congestion ● shortness of breath or difficulty breathing ● persistent pain or pressure in the chest ● diarrhea/nausea/vomiting ● Chills or muscle aches (not related to exercise or overuse) ● Unusual or atypical ability to awaken 

■ Have you had close contact (less than 6 feet for 15 minutes or more) with a person known to be infected with COVID-19, or received a COVID-19 test result in the past 14 days? 

  Don’t miss… One of Scott’s recorded music selections MIGHT just be from one of our 2019 Christmas Lovefeast services!