Update for Thursday, December 28th
Dear Church family and friends,
As it is technically still Christmas, this Church announcement arrives later and remains quite short.
On Sunday evening we celebrated the birth of the Lord Jesus together in our Christmas Eve evening service. If you weren’t able to make it – and you have 15 minutes to spare – you can listen to Pastor Buddy’s sermonette here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rsi4eVs7Fw .
In the New Year there will be lots of details of groups re-starting and events taking place, until then though, we need to get to New Year’s Eve and even New Year’s Day.
New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday this year – this coming Sunday to be precise. While there will be no special service to mark the changing of the year, we will gather at our regular service time of 11am on Sunday morning for a time of reflection, worship and prayer. Should you still be away from Giessen, visiting family or friends, you are more than welcome to be part of our online congregation by writing to office@ibc-giessen.org. If you are unwell, you can also watch via our livestream – and we will pray that you return to full health soon!
Have a blessed last week of 2023!
Update for Saturday, December 23rd
Dear Church family and friends,
Just a quick reminder that there will be no service tomorrow morning, but there will be one tomorrow evening instead. We invite you to join us at 5pm at the FTH to celebrate the birth of Jesus in song, lighting of candles and a small sermonette. You are more than welcome to join us afterward and enjoy a finger food buffet. If you are able to contribute anything to the spread, then we would be grateful for any items that do not need cooking or re-heating before we partake in the meal.
Should you be away from Giessen, visiting family and friends, but would still like to attend the service, you may do so by watching our livestream. Just e-mail office@ibc-giessen.org for a link.
We wish you a Merry Christmas – may you know His peace and His love in this season of joy!
Update for Monday, December 18th
Dear Church family and friends,
It’s always interesting to think of a situation from a different point of view. Yes, Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem, ultimately to give birth to Jesus in a stable, to then be placed in a manger – but what would that have meant for the animals affected? We got the answer to that in the donkey’s narration of the Children’s Nativity.
What about the songs we sing? Even the ones performed in the Christmas Cantata yesterday offered different perspectives and highlighted different areas of the Christmas story. As did Pastor Buddy, who fully embodied the role of a shepherd watching his flock by night, to give an account on what it might have been like for them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hIFjXFit3A
During yesterday’s service, we also lit the Third Advent Candle. The fourth and last candle will be lit during our Christmas Eve service. This coming Sunday is both the Fourth Advent Sunday and Christmas Eve – at IBC Giessen will be holding one service, at 5pm in the evening. Should you not be able to make that, you are more than welcome to join us via our livestream – all you need to do is write to office@ibc-giessen.org for a link. After the service, all attendees are warmly invited to share some time in fellowship with one another around a finger food buffet; if you could contribute to that meal with dishes that don’t require re-heating, than that would be greatly appreciated.
Next Monday is Christmas Day! As celebrations will still be underway, please do not expect the next Church e-mail to arrive until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest. There will be one, as we will be reminding you of our service on New Year’s Eve.
Have a happy, safe and blessed Christmas!
Update for Monday, December 11th
Dear Church family and friends,
What an amazing performance the children put on yesterday for their Nativity play “Willkommen im Stall”! A huge thank you goes out to all involved, and we hope that you enjoyed your well-deserved Birthday Party for Jesus afterward!
Unfortunately we cannot share a video of the children due to protection and privacy rules. Neither are we able to share a recording of the Pastor Buddy’s sermon, but this is due to bandwidth issues leaving both the livestream and its recording audibly and visually inconsistent.
Es ist wieder Weihnachten…
… was the closing song the children sung and is a complete ear worm. It’s by Thomas Klein and can be found on YouTube if you wish to have a song stuck in your head for the rest of the week…
…until Sunday’s Cantata performance replaces it! During Sunday’s (17th) service at 11am, the choir will take to the stage to show us what they’ve been working on. It will be followed by Pastor Buddy’s sermon on a special shepherd. After the service we invite you to stay with us for tea, coffee, dessert, cake and any other easy snack that you’d like to bring. Stay around for a chat! As always, the service will be livestreamed for those unable to attend, just e-mail office@ibc-giessen.org for a link.
While the Mid-Week Meet-Up/Bible Study has stopped for Christmas, YABS will be meeting this week. On Tuesday evening at 7pm the different groups of YABS will be meeting around Giessen. To find out where and what they’ll be doing, please write to yabs@ibc-giessen.org.
During the Christmas season…
On Christmas Eve, there will not be a morning service, but an evening service held at 5pm in the FTH. We will reflect on and celebrate the birth of Jesus in song, with a small sermonette given by Pastor Buddy. If you have been visiting our Church during the Advent season, you may be aware that we are not allowed to use real candles in the Chapel Room where we meet. Therefore, the room will be bedecked with festive lights, and for a particular portion of the service we ask that you bring a flashlight with you, or perhaps make sure you can power the one built into your mobile phone. Once the service is finished, we invite you to spend some time with us and come together as a Church family to continue the celebration. If you can bring some finger foods to contribute to a buffet, that would be great.
On New Year’s Eve, we will have our regular service at 11am.
As the end of the year draws closer, many people are under a lot of stress to finish things off, close chapters or wrap up projects both professionally and privately. It is all the more important then that we show each other a little more patience and keep praying for loved ones going through hard times which might not seem so easy to draw to a conclusion.
We should also hold up in prayer those who are living and suffering through conflict – particularly those in Israel and in Ukraine.
Have a blessed week!
Update for Monday, December 4th
Dear Church family and friends,
Advent and Christmas has a sense of familiarity to it.
Before the birth of Jesus, the world was watching and waiting for a Saviour. They had their ideas of how it might happen and when – but no-one really knew those details. Now, we wait for His return. Yet still we cannot say for certain when, where and how it will come about.
The same, but different, was the basis of Johannes’ sermon on Sunday. To catch it again, or listen for the first time, just click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTA8PC0S6fw
This week in Church…
It’s the first Tuesday of the month, so that means that the Young Adult Bible Study should be meeting as one larger group in the Student Kitchen at the FTH. However, at the time of writing this announcement, this is not confirmed information. If you would like to attend YABS on Tuesday evening, your best option is to write an e-mail to yabs@ibc-giessen.org and find out what’s going on.
Mid-Week Bible Study/Meet-Up will hold its last session for the year on Wednesday at 7pm. The topic of prayer will conclude, but don’t feel that you have to have been at every session – or even since the beginning – to join in now. All late comers are welcome! To attend you will need a Zoom link, which you can get by writing to office@ibc-giessen.org.
To kick off the weekend, the ladies will have a Christmas Brunch in the Student Kitchen of the FTH at 10am on Saturday morning (9th). Preparations for this event are now in high gear, so if you are a woman and would like a place reserved for you, please e-mail office@ibc-giessen.org. All contributions to the buffet are welcome, though you might want to check beforehand just in case what you would like to bring is already covered.
One potential attendee is severally allergic to citrus fruits (e.g. oranges/lemons/grapefruits): it is kindly requested that these are not brought to the brunch.
It’s the children’s time to shine on Sunday morning! They’ve been practising their nativity for weeks now, and are looking forward to performing “Willkommen im Stall” during the service at 11am. Afterward, there will be the annual “Birthday Party for Jesus” with fun, games and food for all children – regardless of whether they took part in the Nativity or were part of the audience. Should you be unable to attend the service, you can watch online, but first you will need to e-mail office@ibc-giessen.org for access to the livestream.
Advent and Christmas at IBC Giessen…
…continues with the traditional performance of the Christmas Choir on Sunday 17th. A re-telling of the Christmas story through song and spoken word, it is a highlight each year. In recent times we have continued the festivities with an extended time of fellowship after the service. Do you feel able to bring a cake, or some Christmas themed snacks – preferably ones that don’t require cooking or re-heating in an oven?
Christmas Eve takes place on a Sunday this year, and as such we will only be having an evening service, starting at 5pm.
By now, mentioning the weather is beginning to get boring. However, with the prolonged colder temperatures and the fresh layers of snow, winter has definitely arrived – and while the snow is pretty, people’s safety is at risk. Should we come to the decision that a service or event that we planned on holding will be cancelled due to inclement weather we will let you know as soon as possible. A notice will be posted on our facebook page, our website, as well as an e-mail sent. We’ll try to cover all bases!
Have a blessed week!