222 Christmas Party A Success!!

We had a great time Monday night at the 222 Christmas Party. Many thanks to all who came and brought food & drinks (we even enjoyed a deep fried Turkey!). Pastor Jeff shared some devotional thoughts on the Christ of Christmas, we played a few games, and ended the night with a mean game of Dirty Santa.

Three books were the "hot items" of the night - Mahaney's "Humility", Packer's "Faithfulness and Holiness", and Piper's "Counted Righteous in Christ". All being "frozeN" before the game ended. Other coveted gifts were Naomi's shock pen, Elijah Park's poweder puff purse, a sponge Bob calender and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure DVD.

Thanks again, to all who were able to make it. If you missed it, check out the photos by clicking here. And, if you took some digital photos on your camera, email me and we'll try to get them posted as well.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Nuclearity Podcast and Narnia

"Nuclearity Podcast?" If neither of these words mean anything to you, then you've not spent much time in the cyberworld lately. Podcasts are the latest in audio downloads that can be fed directly to your ipod or computer. They're like blogs, but in audio form. Anyone with a microphone and a recording device can create a podcast...and anyone can listen. So, there's a LOT to listen to out there...all at your own discretion!

So anyway..."Nuclearity" is a new podcast offered by Familylife and primarily produced by my good friend (and supervisor/boss, of sorts), Hugh Duncan. Hugh's productions are extremely creative and reflective of his desire to be biblical, while not always...typical.

So, check out this new podcast - "Nuclearity" and Hugh's blog as well. And to further intice you, Hugh's latest two podcasts are all about Narnia - "Narnia: From A to Z". If you like what you hear, please go to and submit a vote for the podcast!

Providence and Prayer: A Practical Purview

If you've looked ahead in your copy of Bible Doctrine, you'll notice that following the chapter on Providence is a chapter on Prayer. Needless to say, this is providential... and purposeful! For one barely gets a grasp of God's divine providence before he is asking the question, "How does my praying fit with God's providence?" Maybe you've asked yourself some of these questions:

• Does God work because of my prayers, or in spite of my prayers?
• Does prayer change God, or change me?
• If God is sovereign, then why pray?
• Does God know what we are going to pray? If so, then do we even need to ask?

These are only a few questions that arise when considering the doctrine of providence and how it relates to the doctrine of prayer. So, upon concluding the chapter on Providence and before entering the chapter on prayer, we are going to consider several possible (some impossible) views of providence and prayer.

Aaron will lead us in this survey, aided by a book written by Terrance Tiessen called (of course): Providence and Prayer. In this book, "...Tiessen presents ten views of providence and prayer and then wraps things up with his own proposal. The result is a book that puts us at the intersection between theological reflection and our life and conversation with God. It prods our understanding, making us better theologians and better prayers." (taken from back cover of book)

We're going to try something a little bit different this Sunday. After Aaron gives a brief summary of each of the 11 views, we will break up into groups, each group will be assigned one of the views, and we will go to the Scriptures to see how God's Word either supports or refutes each particular view. Hopefully this will spark some great dialogue and Scripture searching (Acts 17:11) amongst the class. Several of the undershephers will be faciliating the small groups.

Until then, here's a couple of personal questions to be thinking about for further discussion either this coming Lord's day, or in your Bible Doctrine Study Groups.

• What do I believe about God's providence?
• What do I believe about prayer?
• Is the way that I pray and are the things for which I pray, consistent with what I believe about prayer and providence?
• Are they consistent with what the Scriptures teach?
• Do I ever cheapen God's providence with the way that I pray?
• Do I ever minimize the power of prayer with my views of God's providence?
• How does the Bible instruct me to pray to a sovereign, providential God?

Hopefully the chapter on providence, the questions above, and our plans for an interactive study time this Lord's day (December 11, 9:00am) will stir up your thinking on this subject and be an encouragement for you to join us as continue to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)

CLICK HERE for Aaron's notes and outline study of "Providence and Prayer" by Terrance Tiessen.

Calling All Single Women...

Don't get excited...we're not starting a 222 Dating Service :o). There is, however, a fairly new blog for single gals by Carolyn McCulley. She's been a recent guest on Revive Our Hearts as well as FamilyLife Today.

Carolyn McCulley is the author of Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?, Trusting God with a Hope Deferred (Crossway, 2004), a contributor to Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor (Crossway, 2005), and she is a contributing author for Crosswalk.com's single channel. She coordinates church and ministry relations for Sovereign Grace Ministries, based in Gaithersburg, MD, where she has worked since 1998. Prior to joining Sovereign Grace, Carolyn was a freelance writer whose work appeared in publications ranging from Christianity Today to the Washington Post. She has also worked in corporate communications, and as a television and commercial film producer. Carolyn studied at the City of London Polytechnic (England) and received her B.S. in journalism from the University of Maryland in 1984. She is a member of Covenant Life Church, and is the proud aunt of six nieces and nephews (to whom she dedicated her book).

So ladies, enjoy reading Carolyn's blog, Solo Femininity.

222 Christmas Party - You're Invited!

222 Christmas Party
Monday, December 19th at 7pm

Hosted by Aaron & Anita Wilson
in their home at 4805 Westwood Avenue
click here for google map

Pastor Jeff Crotts will be sharing a Christmas Devotional with us
We'll be playing "Dirty Santa", so bring a $5 gift
There will be plenty of Christmas music,
sweet fellowship and great food (*see note below on what to bring)

Hope to see you there! Merry Christmas!

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, The cross be borne for me, for you.

Hail, hail the Word made flesh, The Babe, the Son of Mary.

~What Child Is This, Will­iam C. Dix

*Please look at the list below, then see Anita, email her, or give her a call (562-7008) before Sunday, December 18 to sign up for a food item

Food Sign Up List (contact Anita and let her know what you'd like to bring):
2 Liter Drinks: 6 total
3 bags Tortilla Chips
2 Cheese Dips
4 Desserts
4 Finger Food/Appetizers
2 Coffee Creamer

What Child Is This?

Has this "standard" Christmas carol become meaningless over the years?
As I was pasting it into this blog entry from Cyberhymnal, I realized that this version is different than the one I've always sung.

Try reading it....slowly. Notice the first two verses are in the forms of questions, the last verse being a command. Then the chorus - the answer - the response - the proclamation using such language as: "THIS, THIS IS CHRIST THE KING...HAIL THE WORD MADE FLESH...RAISE A SONG ON HIGH"

Next time you sing it, may the chorus be your proclamation to the world - your "song on high", of the Christ child, the King, "the Babe, the son of Mary".

May your "loving heart enthrone Him".


What Child Is This?
Words: Will­iam C. Dix, The Man­ger Throne, 1865.
Music: “Green­sleeves,” 16th Cen­tu­ry Eng­lish mel­o­dy


What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

CHORUS:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
CHORUS:
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
CHORUS:
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

For more Christmas Carols and Hymns, go to Cyberhymnal.

New Worship Blog from Sovereign Grace Ministries

This excerpt taken from the latest Sovereign Grace Enews. To subscribe, click here.

The world of blogs is expanding every day, but few bloggers write about biblical worship and the local church. That's why we're pleased to announce the debut of Worship Matters, a new blog by Bob Kauflin, director of worship development at Sovereign Grace.

In his posts Bob discusses a variety of worship-related topics and recommends resources for a biblical perspective on worship. He kicked off the blog with a discussion of definitions of worship. A series of posts on worship and suffering, called "Songs for the Hard Times," featured a free download (still available) of "God Moves" from the Worship God Live CD. On Mondays you'll find posts about devotions, and Fridays feature a Q&A format.

Bob's current series addresses "Idolatry on Sunday Mornings."Worship Matters has already won praise from Justin Taylor at Desiring God, who says, "I expect it to become a must-read." Although the site is targeted primarily to pastors and musicians serving in the church, any readers who want to grow in their love for the Savior will benefit. Check it out at www.worshipmatters.com.

Also, for you ladies, Carolyn Mahaney & her daughters have their own blog, GirlTalk!