We Have Over 130 Pillows!

Terri Clark has announced the pillow need has been met. Thanks to many donors from all over (around 30 from SBC) she and SuJoy Spencer will now have to make a couple of trips to the Casa De Elizabeth orphanage in Mexico to deliver them. Praise the Lord! These kids are in for a treat to sleep on a nice, cushy pillow every night.

The Saga of the Church Paint Color Continues

It seems not everyone is as excited about our new SBC ASU worship center as Dick Shott. We've recently spied a fairly large and important-looking posse moving about the exterior of the building with serious looks on their faces. Is the pillar color too cool for the warm gold? I couldn't hear the rest the conversation but I'm hoping this was followed by a voice of reason yelling, "What about all the starving children in Africa?" Just my opinion, but I think we should be more worried about reaching the lost than paint shades. Btw, sad news. These beautiful poinsettias are history after last night's 28 degree chill. Boo hoo. They were even covered.

Palisades Apartment Inventory-Do You Have Any of This Stuff Lying Around?

This is a continuation of the previous posting of the Ministration Kormos Missionary Project from Jim Taggart. Here's a specific list of needs. I know I have some of these items I could donate. Do you have any of these items you could give up or purchase for the missionaries on furlough? The list was originally a table and when I pasted it into blogger it turned out kind of funky. Just overlook the spacing issues please--I'm losing the patience to sit and fix it up.

Palisades Apartment Inventory
· 3 bedrooms, 2 bath (1360 sq. ft.)
· Equipped with washer, dryer, refrigerator, stove/oven, dishwasher, microwave, window coverings

Can You Name These Two People?

a. this person arranged the flute/horn Courtyard from Dec. 10th--wasn't it good? have you ever heard such a combination?

b. this person had to bow out of the Christmas musical due to a bad back and is on a medical leave from work (I'm sure prayers would be appreciated)

answers a. Robert ______ b. Bob _____

I Wonder As I Wander

Well, there it is. The song sung by the poor, tattered girl who was wandering the streets of North Carolina. Our winning streak has ended here but do not despair--let's keep trying for more winners. Here's Clue #5:

• This carol was originally written by Charles Wesley in 1737
• The main phrase was ".....how the welkin rings"
• When published by George Whitefield, he misquoted the Scripture, referring to angels singing (nowhere in the Bible did angels sing--it was the heavenly hosts)
• The melody was written to honor the man who first printed the Bible (Gutenberg)

More Parties! Come to Chuck and Marsha Bush's New Home

A small delegation of choir and orchestra members and their families attended Betty Beran's party last Sunday. How fun! Betty has a horse ranch in the middle of Scottsdale where I heard she boards 52 horses and teaches riding lessons up the wazoo! We finished the musical performances on Saturday night and Betty turns around a throws a party with at least 150 in attendance. I told you she's a work horse. There were ribs, brisket, chicken, pork, shrimp--you should have been there. Our family rode the hay wagon down Larkspur and didn't even get hit by a car! Betty tells me she passed out musical tickets right and left to her riding students, many of whom don't attend SBC. What a mission field!

Anyway, to get to the point of this article, Chuck and Marsha Bush have been building this house (mostly themselves) for 4 years. I guess they've got a ways to go to catch Noah. They say it's time to roll out the red carpet and get some people over for the inaugeration or maiden voyage, if you will. I'm sure we could help out in providing the first stain on the carpet. The open house is scheduled for Sunday, December 30th (happens to be my birthday if you want to send a card) from 1-4 pm. The address is 7029 N. Via de Amor (Hayden and Indian Bend).

The Pillows are Rolling in--Keep Them Coming!

We have a collection of pillows in the orchestra room--I'd say about a dozen. We're trying for 100 so let's keep bringing them in. Can you imagine sleeping without a pillow? We really take the small things in life for granted. Also, don't forget the pillowcases. They're always important too!

7:30 AM on the Platform This Sunday (24th)

Be there or be square! We will run the service all together with choir and orchestra from 7:30-8:00 am. It's our last time together this year. Wear your Christmas clothes or sweaters, if you have them. We will sing "Go Tell It On the Mountain" from the musical plus a group of carols--with the organ, no doubt. This never ceases to make a group of people happy. Auld lang syne I say!

Whew! We Made It!

I'm falling behind on this blog but a big THANK YOU to everyone for the successful Christmas musical. The many pieces came together beautifully and the Lord took our offerings and magnified them as He always does. The comments have all been so great. I will post a picture as soon as I get one. Look for a full page article Kelli Taggart is working on for the January Compass. The weekend was also enhanced with the addition of "This Hope" on Sunday morning. Did you all get to hear them? I was also thrilled to be able to stay in bed until 8:45!

Pillow Project for Casa De Elizabeth Orphanage

If you have been reading this blog for awhile you will remember an article about Sujoy Spencer working with an orphanage in Mexico. Sujoy has now recruited fellow string player and the two of them have another project. Here's the article they are circulating. The need sounds great and it seems like something easy for us to contribute to. Hopefully our choir and orchestra can jump on the bandwagon and supply these pillows ASAP!

Sujoy Spencer (Viola) and Terri Clarke (Cello) are heading up the Pillow Project. We need 100+ new or gently used bed pillows for these children. If donating gently used pillows, please give pillows that do not have rips or stains. If you can include a pillowcase or two, it would be greatly appreciated.

These children currently do not have any pillows whatsoever! We are going down on December 23rd and again in January. As soon as we have enough pillows for each child to have a pillow, we will make the delivery! If we get them all by December 23rd, we will take them down on that trip.

See Sujoy or Terri for more info. You can bring your donations to us in the SBC orchestra room when you come to church or we can meet you someplace to pick up them up.
Thank you and Sweet Dreams !

Terri: jntclarke@aol.com
Sujoy: sspencer@susd.org

Isn't Abeer Doing Great?

Abeer Cordova (soprano,missionary from Jordan) did a great job last Sunday on the Advent reading. Consider this--her native language is Arabic! She's also doing a fantastic job on the "Let All Mortal Flesh" solo for the musical. Abeer and her husband celebrated their 1st anniversary this month, having been married by Fred Beasley one year ago. I think the wedding was in Abeer's hometown of Nazareth but I'm not completely sure. She and Barry will be leaving Arizona to make another 6-week stop before going back to the mission field. As always, I'm sure they could use your prayer and financial support. Thanks for being here, Abeer!

How About Those Kids?

I'm a little partial to the boy in the yellow shirt.
We have the same last name.




Katherine fiddles away!

Wasn't it nice to hear the kids last night? They always add a new dimension to the sound with their angelic voices. And how about the fidder, Katherine Messer? She's all of eleven-years-old. She has quite a lot of huzpah for eleven (I don't know how to spell this word).

Ron Fisher Made Another Guess

Unfortunately....this one wasn't correct. Shucks. He guessed "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" for the last clue. That's a good guess but I'll give a clue that will totally give it away: the answer is actually a song we're doing in the musical. That certainly narrows it down, doesn't it? Keep trying!

Spread the Word--We're Taking a Group Photo on Saturday Afternoon

Just wanted to let you know Lloyd Price will be taking our group photo on Saturday after the
4 pm performance. Everyone needs to stay in place at the end of the program so we can get the photo taken quickly and get right over to the gym for dinner. If your neighbor starts to get up and leave, pull 'em back! We need everyone!

1 Down--4 More Nights to Go--Keep Praying

I thought the music went very well last night at rehearsal. It was nice to see it come together with solos, etc. Here's more of Kim Shoup's prayer list:

Family
· That God would instill gracious, understanding hearts within family members not directly involved in the performances and that He would encourage and strengthen them in supportive conduct.
· That God would bless each family member in such a way that they recognize the importance of their supporting role in the performances.

Leadership
· that God would personally encourage and bless the leadership of the Worship Ministry, and of the whole church, during this preparation and performance time.
· That God would protect the leadership from distractions, frustrations and attacks as all the details begin to come together.
· That God would protect and preserve the unity, love, respect and trust which He has built in the leadership team.
· That God would send words and actions of encouragement and support from many sources to the leadership during the performance season and beyond.

Pray for Ed Gravel

Ed Gravel is the construction supervisor for our new buildings on campus (he also oversaw our worship center remodel). His wife died this morning of a brain tumor which she has had for a year or more. Pray for Ed as he will bury his wife in Vermont this Christmas season as well as juggle his construction duties here at the church. Ed has become one of us since he's been on campus almost daily. When I think construction supervisor I think uptight and bossy. Ed is just the opposite--he's very easy going (maybe because I'm not a subcontractor!) and friendly. This must be a very traumatic time for him and his family and I'm sure he could use our prayers to the Great Comforter.

Betty's Having a Christmas Party

Betty Beran (soprano) has invited us to her annual Christmas party at her ranch--I think it's on Cactus east of the 101. She says there will be many festivities including some kind of carriage rides for the kids, etc. It's this Sunday night and if any of us have any energy left it sounds like a fun night. I'm going to try and take the kids because I know they would enjoy the horses. Betty is a work horse (no pun intended), btw, and came in yesterday to put up the orchestra stand lights. If you want something done, call Betty--she'll get it done! Sorry I'm a little sketchy on the party details but I'll try to get more later. I just wanted to get this on your calendar.

We Have A 3rd Winner--Matt Yokoyama

Way to go, Matt! This was the most difficult clue so far! The Latin "gloria in excelsis deo" in the chorus of "Angels We Have Heard on High" is what lead historians to guess this carol was written by a monk or Catholic priest. Anyway, I'm falling behind on the clues. Here's #4:

• This folk song was discovered by a famous musician in the 1940's
• The lyrics are deeply spiritual, incredibly thoughtful, yet obviously composed by someone of little means and education. They embrace the joy and wonder of Christmas but also linger on the sacrifice of a child grown into a man that died on a cross.
• Here's the story of the song's discovery:

On a cold December day in North Carolina, this folk song transcriber observed people from a poor community going about their daily lives. From his own experience, the transcriber knew that just a few hundred miles away in NY, people crowded the gaily decorated city streets, stores could not hold all the eager shoppers armed with lists, and holiday music blared from long rows of loudspeakers. Yet in this village he could hear the sound of snow crunching under feet and spy children in ragged clothes looking longingly into windows where a few small toys were displayed. It was as if the modern world nad never found this unspoiled place. When the transcriber took in the pastoral scene that surrounded him, a solitary voice beckoned ever so faintly. Searching the street, his eyes honed in on a small girl sitting by herself on a bench. Unaware she had an audience, the child was softly singing this song. The girl's mother had taught it to her, like her grandma had taught it to her mother before her.

Have You Noticed the New Paint?

We're pulling it a little close with this one. The exterior of the worship center is being painted this week. If it goes according to schedule they will finish on Wednesday but......have you ever known a building project to be completed on time? That would put us into Thursday which--you know what that means! They haven't taped the entry doors shut on the north and south yet so I hope that's done by Thursday night! Add that to your prayer list!

The Show Must Go On

Here's a snipet of the latest action at church. Busy, busy, busy! You'll see the 6 flats that our painters completed are on the stage and ready to go. Georgia Dolph is posing in an action shot as she and I (Tammy) painted backgrounds on the flats to be used outdoors for the pre-service musicians. And last but not least, I captured the think-tank session between Don Baltzer and Kim Larson planning the lighting and technical aspects of the program. Don is our Director of Technology and I know you don't interface with him much on Sunday mornings but let me just tell you what a blessing it is to have him around. Don retired from Qwest a few years ago to live the cushy life until the Lord (with the help of Dave Walls) plucked him up and set him down at SBC. He grew up Mennonite Brethren (like me) in Oklahoma and just returned 2 days ago from laying his mother to rest. She was a great example of being a joyful believer and she has passed that on to Don. This will be his first Christmas without his mother and I haven't had to experience that yet but I'm sure it is rather poignant. If you run into Don this Christmas season you can offer him condolances and thank him for his many contributions to our ministry.

Musical Prayer Calendar Numero Tres

Here's the third installment of our prayer list for the Christmas musical:

Enemy banishment
· That God, if He wills, He would see fit to banish Satan from the campus during the week of the performances
· And that, if God allows the enemy’s presence during this time, He would empower us to immediately spot the presence and employ the weapons of praise and thanksgiving.

Health
· That God would grant good, strong health to each participating individual, their families and each guest before, during and after the rehearsal and performances

Friendly Fiddlers Mightily Blessed!

Last Friday the Friendly Fiddlers from Scottsdale Bible Church loaded up their sleighs--music stands, sound system, fiddles, music, Santa hats, and candy canes--and made their way to the Weyrich Care Center at 90th and Cactus. It was a joy-filled morning of classical, pop, fiddle music and Christmas carols and I'm not sure who had more fun, the fiddlers or the residents!

This was the group's second visit to Weyrich and we recognized many faces in the crowd. One gentleman in the front row was a violinist in junior high and high school and eventually went on to play french horn at the University of Alabama. He must have been the one who knew the words to and sang along with all of our carols!

Becky Nichols told the story of the candy cane and how it symbolizes the birth and death of Jesus. Beth Benson-Swain read from the Christmas story. Katherine Messer, our newest fiddler, plugged in her electric violin and peformed several short fiddle pieces. What a delight this talented young lady is!

As we passed out candy canes and donned Santa hats to greet our guests, we once again realized what a blessing it is to us to be able to bring music to those who cannot travel to hear it. The nursing home surprised each of us with a treble clef pin to say thanks--and we promised to see them again in the spring.

Ron Fisher is the Latest Winner

The contest continues. We have two winners so far. Also note, these aren't strictly Christmas carols--they can be any Christmas song. Here's clue #3:

• While the writer of this song is unknown, songologists are almost certain this writer had professional knowledge of the Bible and a great gift for taking Scripture and reshaping it into verse
• Due to the language in the chorus, it is also surmised that a monk or priest from the Catholic church was likely responsible for the writing
• The melody used in this song never strays more than one octave and the verse covers only six notes. This simplicity seems to tie the melody to early chants used by monks
• Though the tune is simple, few Christmas songs fully describe the joy that the world felt when a Savior was born in Bethlehem. The lyrics don't just ask the singer to lift up his eyes and heart in wonder, they demand it

Good luck!

An Early Christmas Gift

We have more new offspring in the choir. That's one way to recruit new members! Tyler and Christine (Comstock) Fox are proud to announce their new addition.

Michael Keith Fox
December 7, 2006,
4:38pm
8 lbs. 14 1/2 oz, 21" long

Grandmothers are Kathleen Comstock and Kathy Fox, both altos. Kathleen and family are now attending the north campus to be with the new grandchild.

Name That Carol Contest-We Have Our First Winner

Okay, Sharon Sanders beat everyone to the punchline. The answer to the last quiz is "Go Tell it On the Mountain." I don't know if the rest of you are sleeping or what but I have heard that Sharon is a bit of an overachiever. Her husband Kenn wanders into my office once in awhile and tells me all the things Sharon does to keep busy and--WOW--for someone who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, she could run me ragged. Anyway, from now on, when you sing the song you can picture the slaves singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain" in those cotton fields. You can imagine how much soul they had belting it out in the open air at the top of their lungs.

Here's clue #2. I read this for my family last night and no one guessed it (even though it was playing on the stereo right at that moment!):

• This carol was written by a classical composer who was forced to join the Nazi army in WWII but defected to his native France, fighting to bring peace back to his country
• Battling the depression brought on by his days as a Nazi soldier and praying for peace in the world, this composer wrote these lyrics about the first Christmas to put his pain into perspective
• With the lyrics focused on the newly born lamb and peace on earth completed, the poem was given to his wife to compose the tune
• Due to recent Christmas hits storming the market (Little Drummer Boy and The Chipmunks), the composers did not believe the song would ever be recorded
• In 1963, this song became a Christmas standard when it was recorded by Bing Crosby

Good luck!

Musical Prayer Calendar Numero Dos

Here's the second installment of our prayer calendar from Kim. Please pray for:

Guests
· That every person God would have attend the performances will respond to His call.
· That every single roadblock the enemy would try to keep someone from coming would be divinely thwarted
· That God would have hearts completely prepared, open and soft, to personally experience the Story of a lifetime.

Can You Name this Carol?

This is the first installment of the All New Name That Carol Contest. All clues are taken from Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins (thank you Susan Tuten for the book!).

• This carol came from the fields of the South, born from the inspiration of a slave's Christmas
• While most Negro spirituals centered on earthly pain and suffering with only heaven offering joy and happiness, this song embraced the wonder of lowly shepherds touched by God on the first Christmas
• This carol was first taken to the world in the 1880's by the Fisk Jubilee Singers
• At that time, it was compared to two other Civil War songs, "We'll March Around Jerusalem" and "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys are Marching"
• I have one more clue that will totally give it away but I'm saving it for a desparation move.

You can click on the comment button and leave your guess. As always, expensive gifts await the winner of this contest.

Desert Bells Concert

Those of you who were in choir last night heard Lyn Haberstock's announcement about the upcoming Desert Bells concert. Lyn is the proud mother of one of the bell players. Evidently these are some serious ringers because she said each member is required to raise $5000 towards their travel expenses. The concert is Sunday, December 17th at 4 pm at Camelback Bible Church. The tickets are $15/$10. For more information, you can email Lyn at haberstock@cox.net

Silent Entry Devotional

He arrived so silently, it was almost a secret. Only a privileged few knew in advance Who was coming. Had the Father not allowed a burst of heavenly celebration to intrude into that quiet night, no one would have even known, save for His parents, that Messiah had come. That was just the beginning of the blessings from heaven that God was to impart upon willing recipients of His greatest Gift. God had just taken up residence on earth, eager to live as one of us, so that we might eventually become one with Him.

In a way, it makes sense that He came so silently. He was here to teach of saving grace, of heavenly blessings and sacrifice for eternity. But in order to receive the blessings of His heaven, I had to learn silence long enough to hear the persistent, quiet voice of His calling. The world of sin reverberates in and around my life, but when the moment of His choosing comes, my soul calms long enough for Him to slip quietly into my heart so that I then experience his birth intimately for myself, in myself. I become a witness to His birth. And He has become not only the Emmanuel of the Scriptures, the Emmanuel of the world, He has become my Emmanuel – God with me.

Food for Thought:

1. Reading through the following verses, summarize in a few sentences what blessings and truths belong to the one who is dwelling with Emmanuel.

Psalm 62:1
Psalm 119:11
John 15:7
Ephesians 3:17-19
James 1:17
2 Peter 1:19
1 John 4:12

2. What has Emmanuel imparted to your heart during this holiday season?


Copyright (c) 1999 by Kimberly Hannay Shoup
All Rights Reserved

Cheers to the Volunteers!

Hopefully you all had a chance to sign up for our volunteer needs last Wednesday night. I know some of you have been asking about the kormos situation because you haven't been contacted. I'll give an update on that soon. As for the volunteering, I know many of you are swamped in work and family commitments. I'm thankful for those whose schedule permits them to donate their time to our ministry. Here are the people who signed up to help with the odd jobs and orchestra stand lights:

• Warren Soberg (chairman of the elder board, no doubt--this is servant leadership!)
• Carol Nahm
• Mark DeJong
• Betty Beran
• Karen Mustoe
• Shane Mustoe
• Jacque Surrett

Thanks everyone--your help is greatly appreciated!

Prayer Calendar Numero Uno

Kim Shoup has brilliantly come up with a specific prayer list for the upcoming musical. What a great idea, Kim! She has broken the list down into categories so I'm going to post a section every couple of days from now until the musical. This is a great way to focus our thoughts and prayers so we're all "Lifting up Jesus" in one accord. Here's the first prayer list:

Lifting up to the Lord --

Production details
· that every detail from largest to the smallest would be timely completed
· that everything in the facility would work properly at each rehearsal and each performance
· that everyone God calls to the ministry of creating an honoring performance will respond to the call, regardless of the task
· that each and every support person, technician and performer will keep the Guest of Honor in the forefront of our minds and prepare for the performance accordingly

Christmas Musical Details

Attire for the Christmas Musical:
All black (that includes nylons for women if they choose to wear a skirt), no coats/ties required
Sleeves need to be at least ¾ length on women; men need long sleeves

Rehearsal Schedule:
Tuesday, December 12
Orchestra begin rehearsal at 6:30 p.m. in Worship Center
Choir begin rehearsal at 7:00 p.m. in Worship Center
There is no specific attire required
Wednesday, December 13
Orchestra begin rehearsal at 6:30 p.m. in Worship Center
Choir begin rehearsal at 7:00 p.m. in Worship Center
WEAR BLACK CLOTHING outlined above. We will be pre-filming some portions of the program. Choir, please plan to not use any music.

Performances:
Thursday, December 14
ALL begin rehearsal at 6:00 p.m. in the Worship Center
ALL join for prayer at 6:30 p.m. in the choir room
Friday, December 15
ALL begin rehearsal at 6:00 p.m. in the Worship Center
Saturday, December 16
Orchestra meet at 3:30 p.m. in orchestra room
Choir meet at 3:30 p.m. in choir room
We will provide a light dinner for participants between performances in the Gym
ALL meet at 6:30 p.m. in respective rooms

Upcoming rehearsals/Sunday schedule:
Sunday, December 17 – choir/orchestra OFF (guest worship leaders This Hope)
Wednesday, December 20 – NO rehearsal
Sunday, December 24 – choir/orchestra serve together in three morning services
Choir joins orchestra at 7:30 a.m. for rehearsal in the Worship Center
Wednesday, December 27 – NO rehearsal
Sunday, December 31 – choir/orchestra OFF
Wednesday, January 3 – NO rehearsal
Sunday, January, 7 – choir/orchestra OFF
Wednesday, January 10 – resume regular rehearsals
Sunday, January 14 – choir/orchestra serve together in three morning services