B us i ness Na me

The other day my son and I stopped off at the Garden State Plaza to do some shopping. As we came down the escalator there walking toward us were four young people dressed in holi-day attire with smiles on their fac-es singing Christmas carols. I checked my watch. It read No-vember 21. Much to my surprise I didn’t find the music welcoming but premature. I wanted to leave but the escalator insisted on dropping me off in front of this quartet. Once on solid ground I did my best to get out of ear shot of their jolly tunes.

Contrary to what you may be thinking this is not Mr. Scrooge talking. I love Christmas music. Every year I add to my collection. But my feelings weren’t a result of the music as much as it was the time of the year. For Christians the four weeks leading up to the birth of Jesus is called Advent. Although the pressure is there to jump over the Advent season and

go directly to Christmas, we need Advent.

James White, a scholar on wor-ship, says, “Advent is both a time of thanks for the gift of Christ to us in the past and a time of antici-pation of his second coming. It contains both threat and promise. Christmas rehearses God’s self-giving in the birth of Jesus Christ.” It is in these four weeks that Christians are called to reflect on their lives and their need for God to take action, to come in the flesh, to answer our ‘no’ with God’s eternal ‘yes.’ Advent ought to be a time lived in anticipation and expectation of God’s loving and gracious activity in Jesus. Like many things we shouldn’t rush through these next four weeks. Instead, let it be a time of reflection and anticipation. Gifts given among family are not randomly given but have been thoughtfully prepared with that particular person in mind. Your

Advent Patience Rev. Nathan S. Busker. D. Min. Pastor

December 2016

The Newsletter of Ponds Reformed Church

S I DEWALKS Connecting people to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ

Ponds Reformed Church 341 Ramapo Valley Road Oakland, NJ 07436

Phone: 201-337-6744 Fax: 201-337-7255

e-mail: ponds@pondsnj.org

website: www.pondsnj.org

Genuine, Open, Affirming, Community

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Faith Promise/Gift of Time 2

Poinsettias for sanctuary 2

Blue Christmas Worship 2

Christian Education/Youth 3-5

Property Update 6

Helping Others 7

Christmas Eve and Day Worship/Xmas Music

8

love of that person causes you to take the time to get him or her a gift that is “perfect” for them. Likewise, God thoughtfully and lovingly gave creation and hu-manity a gift. The Apostle Paul writes, “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings. When he found himself in the form of a hu-

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man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 23:6-8 CEB).

During this time of the year that we wait in the sea-son of Advent, let us spend time reflecting on what this gift of Jesus means for us and for the world.

What does it mean when God empties himself and becomes human only to become obedient to death on the cross?

What did God have to give up to become Eman-uel (God with us)?

If this is God’s gift to us, what does it say about us, our condition and our needs?

What is our response to the gift of a Savior?

If you don’t know what the presence of Jesus means for you and this world, then you’re missing out on the much deeper meaning of Christmas. You’ll remain stuck in a life of advent, always waiting, never celebrating because when Advent is done right, Christmas takes on indescribable joy and celebration.

Faith Promise and

Gift of Time Cards

You still have the opportunity to return your Faith Promise and Gift of Time cards that were sent to your family in November. Place them in the offering plates or bring them to the church office. Additional cards are available in the narthex or outside the church office.

Poinsettias

We are taking orders for poinsettias for dec-orating the church for Christmas. Flower envelopes may be found in the pew racks. Plants are $5.00 each and checks should be made payable to “Guild Special Account”.

Please remember to put your name on the envelope and the person(s) you are re-membering or honoring, enclose your check, and place it in the offering plate.

This time of year is associated with happiness and joy, but for some of us it can be difficult to join in the cheery celebrations. We might be struggling with the death of a loved one, dealing with the loss of a relationship, coping with can-cer or a medical issue that raises uncertainties about our future, loss of a job, or any other cir-cumstance that drains our joy. If you are strug-gling with sadness this holiday season, join us Wednesday, December 21 at 7pm for a Blue Christmas service that acknowledges your pain and reminds you of the hope you have in Christ Jesus.

December 21 at 7:00 pm

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December is here – and it’s jam-packed with activity here at Ponds!

First up is the

Intergenerational Advent Event following worship on De-cember 4. What a great time we have together, starting off with delicious homemade soups, then moving on to some Christmas crafts, games, packing up goodies for our hard-working college stu-dents, making a paper chain that we hope is the longest one yet, and exchanging cookies for the holidays. It is good to be togeth-er, sharing food and time, being in community with one another.

Next up is the Sunday School

Christmas Pageant on

Sunday, December 11 , and that is always a powerful time in wor-ship. Watching and hearing our children tell the story of God’s incredible gift of love through the birth of our Savior reminds me how much God loves you and me.

Then we have our caroling time

together during “Carol around the Piano” on Sunday, Decem-

ber 18. Such joy is present when we gather around the piano and raise our voices in both sacred and secular Christmas tunes! St Augustine is rumored to have

said that those who sing pray twice. While that may not be completely true, I do love that saying. I think singing can open us up to connect with God in ways that we might otherwise ignore, and give us glimpses of an eternity praising the One who loves us with an everlasting love.

Our Blue Christmas worship

service on Wednesday evening, December 21 acknowledges the pain of loss and grief that some of us are experiencing at this time of year. Here we recognize our loss – the loss of a loved one, of a relationship, of a job, of a dream – and gather to remember that God is with us in our mourn-ing but does not leave us hope-less. In our sorrow, God offers us hope in Jesus Christ. Christmas Eve Christmas Eve Christmas Eve enables us to

offer to God our hearts and voic-es together as we join in grand celebration of the birth of Jesus and the gift of a Savior to a world so loved by God. We rejoice in the wonder that is Christmas!

A time of lessons and carols on

Christmas Day prepares us

for the rest of the day. Whether we are gathering with family and friends, pondering the future, reflecting on the past, or getting some much needed rest, starting the day together in worship is a grand way to thank God for His amazing grace and love.

In every one of these activities, we have the opportunity to see God. We see God in each other as

we feast and create and play. We see God in our children as

they retell this wondrous story of love. We see God in the joy of singing and laughing. We see God in our tears and

our grief. We see God as we lift our

candles and offer our gift of worship.

We see God when we are together.

I hope that you will join in one…three…all of these activities, and my prayer for you this Advent and Christmas is that you will find joy and comfort in being to-gether, that you will once again marvel at the depth of love Christ has for you, and that you can’t help but go and share this love with others who need the re-minder that they are so loved by God.

Christian Education Corner Debbie Pierce, Christian Education Coordinator

December 2016

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Our children, directors, and helpers have worked hard to present a worship service retelling of the birth of Christ. Come support our children and experience a powerful reminder of God’s love and wonder!

INTERGENERATIONAL

Advent Event

December 4

11:20 am

Don’t miss out on this great time of fellowship! Sunday December 4 11:20am, following worship, in Fellowship Hall is our annual Intergenerational Advent Event. There is something for everyone! Homemade soups will be provided by the wonderful friends of the Christian Ed team, and we encourage you to bring a sandwich or salad to enjoy along with that bowl of soup.

Join in on games like Christmas Bingo and Jingle Bell Toss. Make an ornament or a tasty treat to give as a gift – or keep yourself! Package up cookies and goodies for our college students. Attach your link in the longest Christmas paper chain we’ve made here yet! Or swap cookies to get a head start on all your holiday goodies.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Sunday School Christmas Pageant

December 11 10am

December 2016

Junior High

Sunday nights 7-8:15pm at Ponds Church

December

4th-Turn to A Merciful God (Joel 2:12-13,28-29/Luke 11:13)

11th-Spirit of the Lord Upon Me (Is 61:1-11/ Luke 4:16-21)

18th—Christmas Party! Bring a favorite snack and a “regift”

for our White Elephant

25th- Merry Christmas! No meeting

January

1st- Happy New Year! No meeting

8th- Debbie’s Ordination & Installation at Ponds!

She hopes you’ll join her at this afternoon service of worship and celebration.

No regular meeting

15th- Sermon at Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30)

22nd- Great Catch of Fish (Luke 5:1-11)

29th- Healing on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-16)

Senior High

Sunday nights 7-8:30pm at Wyckoff Reformed Church

December 4th- Alpha 8

11th- Alpha 9

18th - White Elephant Christmas Party

12/25 Merry Christmas!

No meeting

January

1st- Happy New Year! No meeting

8th- Debbie’s Ordination & Installation at Ponds!

She hopes you’ll join her at this afternoon service of worship and celebration.

Alpha 10

15th- Jericho Road Serving dinner

20th-22nd Winter camp at Lake Champion

22nd No meeting

29th- Trade Up

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Youth Group Schedule s

Ponds Church Craft Vendor Fair

Saturday, December 10

1:00—5:00 pm Fellowship Hall

All Proceeds to Benefit Ponds Church’s Sabbath House

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Property Update

Ceiling Repairs Completed

This past January, portions of the “drop-ceiling” in the larger preschool room used by the Ponds Valley Preschool collapsed, narrowly missing some of the children assembled in that room. Wires holding the ceiling tiles and light fixtures had loosened and pulled out from the permanent overhead ceiling. Within days the entire drop-ceiling was removed. Temporary lighting was installed and classes re-sumed.

A team of Ken Depew, Jorge Knudson, Tim Milton and Kurt Vierheilig was appointed to investigate the failure and recommend appropriate repairs.

After an exploratory investigation and different op-tions were evaluated, consistory approved to a new drop-ceiling at a higher level, with new LED lighting, and insulation. Contractor bids for lighting, sheet-rock, insulation and painting were requested, evalu-ated, and rewarded for completion during the sum-mer months when the school was not in session.

As work began, it was discovered that the other two preschool rooms never had any ceiling insulation and this was added to the project. All the work was completed by Labor Day except for the attic insula-tion due to the high temperatures (up to 130°). This work was just completed over the Thanksgiving school break.

The total cost of the project was $23,000 with funds coming from insurance ($4,000), our Building Fund, a loan from other investment funds and gifts to cov-er some of the church lighting, the permits and mis-cellaneous carpentry work.

On behalf of the consistory and preschool staff, we thank Ken, Jorge, Tim and Kurt for the many hours they worked on this project, their diligence and ex-pertise in not only correcting a problem, but cre-ating a warm and inviting space for children to learn.

Solar Panels Installed/ LED Spotlights Installed

At its June meeting, Consistory approved the purchase and installation of solar panels on the southeast sanctuary roof from Geoscape Solar, located in Livingston, NJ, at a cost of $84,900. Consistory also approved the cost to in-stall a new roof on the entire sanctuary portion of the property at a cost of $29.900. The other build-ings had new roofing installed a few years ago. To pay for the cost of both the roof and solar pan-els, a loan was secured from the RCA Regional Syn-od for $114,300. The loan will be paid back by using monies that were at one time designated for elec-tricity. Also, for every 1000 kw produced by the so-lar panels the church receives an SREC. An SREC is a Solar Renewable Energy Certificate and is bought and traded as a commodity. It is anticipated that the Ponds’ solar panels will produce approximately 26 SRECs per year generating anywhere from $5000 to $6000 depending on their value

In addition, new LED spotlights were installed on that part of the roof to illuminate the steeple.

The new roof was installed over the summer while the permit process for the solar panels was under-way. The installation of both the frames for the so-lar panels and solar panels happened in November. The inspections for both have taken place and at this writing we are awaiting the installation of the electrical components and a new meter from Rock-land Electric. We hope to be up and running before the end of 2016.

December 2016

Most of us individually contribute to our local fire department. However, as the congregation of Ponds Reformed Church, we would like to show our apprecia-tion for the many hours of volun-teer service provided to us by this dedicated organization. The members of the Oakland Fire De-partment give generously of their time and talents, and provide life saving services for our communi-ty. We recognize our own who serve: Don Hoyt and Lew Thurston.

Page 7

Give a Gift of Hope thru the Reformed Church in America

MISSION of the Month

Oakland Volunteer Fire Department

How do I give?

Pick a gift. A catalog was includ-

ed in the Fall 2016 issue of the

RCA’s magazine, RCA Today sent

to each of your homes, or you can

go online at www.rca.org/gift of

hope to download the 2016 cata-

log.

Place your order. Either online or

use the envelope provided in the

catalog.

Honor someone. Give your gift in

honor of a family member or

friend. When you place your order,

you will receive an ornament and a

card to present to that person.

What is Gift of Hope?

Gift of Hope is a chance to give a

different kind of Christmas gift—

a flock of chickens, a sewing ma-

chine, providing clean water, or a

scholarship– to people around

the world who need it most.

Your gifts go to RCA missionaries

and partners, who deliver them

to the people and communities

they work. By providing re-

sources that empower families

and individuals and enable self-

sufficiency, these gifts have long

impact.

To make a donation:

Make your checks paya-ble to Ponds Reformed Church with the notation: December Mission. Mis-sion envelopes are availa-ble in the pews and your box of giving envelopes.

Go on the church app “PRC” and press “Give”.

Text “pondschurch” to 77977 to make a dona-tion by ACH, debit or credit card.

This Christmas, give a gift that makes a difference

Gifts begin at $20.

Why not consider

combining your

gifts with others?

Page 8 S idewa lks December 2016

Christmas Music at Ponds Church

proudly presents

“A Holiday Portrait”

Wednesday, December 14

8:00pm in the sanctuary

The 45 piece ensemble will perform traditional

holiday favorites and contemporary musical

selections.

Concert is free and open to the public.

“Carol around the Piano”

Sunday, December 18

7:00 pm in the Sanctuary

We will sing favorite Christmas

carols and children’s seasonal favorites

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Worship

Saturday December 24

5:00 pm 9:00 pm

Sunday, December 25 10:00 am

Carols and Readings

O Come let us adore Him, Christ the

Lord!