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News & Announcements for Sunday, November 23, 2025
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS – ORDER TODAY
It’s time to order poinsettias to help decorate our sanctuary for the Advent-Christmas season. You are welcome to donate one in memory and in honor of loved ones. The sign up sheet and order forms are available on the bulletin board outside the sanctuary. They are $10.00 each and the deadline is Sunday, Dec. 7. Please contact Linda Lange if you have questions.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY – TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 3:30 PM
The Bible Study group will meet on Tuesday, December 2nd at 3:30 p.m. We are using the book, ‘Sermon on the Mount” by Jen Wilkin. Karey Garrison is our facilitator and teacher. Please work on pages 21 -35 before you come to class. Also, if you would like to bring a snack to share that would be great! And, as always, feel free to bring a friend.
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 11:30 AM
The Book Club will meet at Depot Grille at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 4th. We will not be reading anything special for December but if you have a favorite Christmas short story or poem that you would like to share, please bring them. Also, please bring a wrapped and gently used book that we will give to one another as gifts. This is an Icelandic tradition that we started last year and will continue this year. See you at our Christmas celebration on the 4th!!
HANGING OF THE GREENS – SATURDAY, DEC 6, 9AM-Noon
You are invited to join us on Saturday, December 6 from 9-noon as we prepare our church to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We will decorate beautiful trees with Chrismons, set up Advent candles, wreaths, and banners as we enjoy light brunch refreshments, Christmas music playing in the background, and above all, each other’s company.
HELPING HANDS OFFERING – NEXT SUNDAY
Each 5th Sunday, any undesignated offerings placed in the collection plates go to Helping Hands, a ministry of churches in the Madison Heights-Elon area of Amherst County to help residents in need. It is administered through Madison Heights Baptist Church. Thank you for helping us meet the needs of those in our community!
MISSION FOCUS FOR NOVEMBER – CHRISTMAS BASKETS
The November Mission Focus is the Christmas Baskets. Please bring items to help bring a little joy to needy families in our area. Details can be found in the November newsletter.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, November 16, 2025
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING – THIS MORNING
The Session has called a congregational meeting for Sunday, November 16 following the worship service to receive the report from the Nominating Committee. The elder-nominees are: June Hedrick (Class of 2026), and Debra Irvine (2028 & Clerk of Session).
WOMENS BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20 @ 10AM
The Book Club will meet on Thursday, November 20 at 10:00 a.m. The book we are reading for this month is The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley. Please join us as we discuss this book and bring a snack to share with the group. Come even if you have not read the book. And, as always, bring a friend!!
MISSION FOCUS FOR NOVEMBER – CHRISTMAS BASKETS
The November Mission Focus is the Christmas Baskets. Please bring items to help bring a little joy to needy families in our area. Details can be found in the November newsletter.
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS – ORDER TODAY
It’s time to order poinsettias to help decorate our sanctuary for the Advent-Christmas season. You are welcome to donate one in memory and in honor of loved ones. The sign up sheet and order forms are available on the bulletin board outside the sanctuary. They are $10.00 each and the deadline is Sunday, Dec. 7. Please contact Linda Lange if you have questions.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOXES
This year our church will again be collecting shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Please see the Operation Christmas Child table in the narthex to pick up a shoebox and learn more. We will be collecting the boxes on Sunday, Nov. 23. What a joy to celebrate Christmas by giving gifts that can change the lives of children throughout the world.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, November 9, 2025
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING – NEXT SUNDAY
FALL 2025 COLLEGE CARE PACKAGES
WOMENS BIBLE STUDY – TUESDAY, NOV. 11 @ 4PM
Join us for the November meeting on Tuesday, November 11 at 4pm. We will be starting our study of The Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkins. Copies of the study guide can be picked up in the church office.
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS – ORDERS BEGIN TODAY
It’s time to order poinsettias to help decorate our sanctuary for the Advent-Christmas season. You are welcome to donate one in memory and in honor of loved ones. The sign up sheet and order forms are available on the bulletin board outside the sanctuary. They are $10.00 each and the deadline is Sunday, Dec. 7. Please contact Linda Lange if you have questions.
WOMENS BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20 @ 10AM
The Book Club will meet on Thursday, November 20 at 10:00 a.m. The book we are reading for this month is The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley. Please join us as we discuss this book and bring a snack to share with the group. Come even if you have not read the book. And, as always, bring a friend!!
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOXES
MISSION FOCUS FOR NOVEMBER – CHRISTMAS BASKETS
The November Mission Focus is the Christmas Baskets. Please bring items to help bring a little joy to needy families in our area. Details can be found in the November newsletter.
Read more...
News & Announcements for Sunday, November 2, 2025
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:00-10:00. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
FALL 2025 COLLEGE CARE PACKAGES
YOUNG LIFE PARENT MEETING – THURS. NOV 6, 6:30pm
Whether you are the parent of a student who currently attends Young Life, or one who would like to know more about what Young Life is, this is for you. Join us for an informational meeting where you’ll have an opportunity to meet the Young Life staff and leaders, learn more about the mission and vision of Young Life, and hear updates on how God is using this ministry in Amherst County. We look forward to seeing you there.
WOMENS BIBLE STUDY – TUESDAY, NOV. 11 @ 4PM
Join us for the November meeting on Tuesday, November 11 at 4pm. We will be starting our study of The Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkins. Copies of the study guide can be picked up in the church office.
MISSION FOCUS FOR NOVEMBER – CHRISTMAS BASKETS
The November Mission Focus is the Christmas Baskets. Please bring items to help bring a little joy to needy families in our area. Details can be found in the November newsletter.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOXES
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS – ORDERS BEGIN NEXT SUNDAY
It’s time to order poinsettias to help decorate our sanctuary for the Advent-Christmas season. You are welcome to donate one in memory and in honor of loved ones. The sign up sheet and order forms will be available beginning next Sunday They are $10.00 each and the deadline is Sunday, Dec. 7. Please contact Linda Lange if you have questions.
DOWNLOAD THE CHURCH CENTER APP
Search for “Church Center” in your favorite app store on your phone to download our app! In the app are the church calendar, small group and volunteer opportunities, the online church directory, and more.
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November 2025 MILLS’ MUSINGS – FOR ALL THE SAINTS
On Sunday, November 2, Northminster will add an extra element to our usual order of worship – a necrology. Names of church members who have died in the past 12 months will be read aloud and followed by a single chime. It’s a simple but meaningful ritual, a practice that reminds us of two important truths about our faith. But first, a bit of history.
In the Roman Catholic Church, All Saints Day is annually celebrated on November 1st, while All Souls Day is November 2nd. In many Protestant denominations, the first Sunday in November unites these celebrations on what we call All Saints Sunday.
While there are understandable differences between Catholic and Protestant traditions, a central theme in each is celebrating the transition of believers from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, that is, recognizing and rejoicing with all those Christians who have finished their work on earth and now abide with God in heaven.
The first truth this celebration brings to our attention is that all Christians are saints. Both the Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) words translated “saint” come from a root that means “holy.” To be holy is to be set apart by God in order to serve God. Paul describes saints as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2).
Here Paul shows us that sainthood, which is also called sanctification, (being made holy), is both a position and a process. As God’s chosen people, we have been made holy through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We are being made holy through our cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us. And one day we will be made holy as we reunite with the saints who reached heaven before us.
As in our worship on All Saints Sunday we remember the saints of this congregation who now worship God in heaven, we are also reminded of a second truth – that our Christian faith is built on a firm historical foundation.
I affirm the observation made by church historian Bruce Shelley, who writes: “Many Christians today suffer from historical amnesia. The time between the apostles and their own day is one giant blank. That is hardly what God had in mind.”[1]
I suspect not many of us could cite chapter and verse of the history of Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Church. I’m quite sure vast numbers of Presbyterians have little knowledge about the ecclesiastical developments that followed Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Even more know less about the first 1,500 years of Christian history and theology. Such knowledge gaps impede our growth as individual Christians and as a congregation. For if we don’t know how we got to where we are, where we go next is anybody’s guess.
This All Saints Sunday, let’s rejoice with the souls we have known who now rest from their labors. And in the year between this celebration and the next, let’s spend some time looking back so that we might more clearly see the way ahead.
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