Dear Church family and friends,
We humans are complicated creatures. We try our hardest to make a façade, pretend that everything’s going just swimmingly, and yet we get hurt if people don’t understand us when we do decide to open up. Somebody breaching that wall that we put around us is both something we strongly desire and something we desperately want to avoid. It’s not easy to put words to our feelings, and even if someone has experienced something similar, it’s not exactly the same. God sees past all that, though, and can see our emotions so precisely that we can only praise Him, thank Him and acknowledge Him as our Creator… and yet we don’t often do that. God saw our most specific need and sent us a baby in a manger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtZSJ9UjBg
A big ‘Thank you’ also goes out to all those who donated, collected or gave their time toward this year’s shoebox appeal for the Seafarers! 25 boxes will be going to the collection point by next Sunday. We look forward to taking part in supporting this special part of Felix Henrich’s mission again next year!
This Week in Church…
Our Young Adults meet in their smaller groups on Tuesday at 7pm. To find out what they are studying and where they are meeting, please write to yabs@ibc-giessen.org
Mid-Week Bible Study continues its delve into the book of Galatians at 7pm on Wednesday evening in the Israel Room at the FTH. There is of course, a link to a Zoom meeting in case you can’t make it for that time, just e-mail office@ibc-giessen.org for access.
The Women’s Brunch takes place this Saturday (30th) at 10am in the Student Kitchen of the FTH. If you are a lady and have not yet done so, please sign up as soon as possible! Every attendee has a place set for them, no-one is an after-thought! You can get your name on the guest list by writing to office@ibc-giessen.org.
The first candle of our Advent Wreath will be lit on Sunday morning at 11am. The countdown to Christmas begins in earnest! If you are unable to join us in person on Sunday morning, may we suggest that you also gather the necessary elements for the Lord’s Table – some juice and bread – and log on to our livestream? You can get a link by writing to office@ibc-giessen.org
December Details…
The children will have their traditional Birthday Party for Jesus during the service on Sunday 8th December. Here, there will be crafts, games, presents and music. Everything you’d expect when celebrating someone’s birthday! There’s no need to register your child, but if they plan on bringing friends with them, it would be nice to have an idea of how many we would be having.
In place of our Christmas Cantata, we will be having a Christmas Carol Service on the Third Advent Sunday (15th December 2024). This event has been in the announcement for some weeks now, but we are still looking for people willing to perform or request songs! After the service we will have a time of extended fellowship in the Student Kitchen. So, if you don’t feel you can contribute to the main service, perhaps providing a Christmas treat is something that you can do instead? It can be sweet or savoury, but not something that you would take to a pot-luck: definitely not something that needs to be re-heated.
On Christmas Eve (Tuesday 24th December) at 5pm, we will be having an additional service to celebrate the birth of our Lord. There will not be a Christmas Day service. As part of this evening service we will be singing songs and reflecting upon this life-changing event. Afterward we invite you to stay with us and enjoy a bring-and-share style buffet. Again, we ask for contributions which do not need re-heating, but can be enjoyed as they are, either sweet or savoury.
If you have any questions about any of these events please write to office@ibc-giessen.org.
May God bless you richly this week!