Church ChaJletfanuary 2009

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rockand my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken."(Psalm 62:5-6)

Vrews nro Revrews"RESoLUTIoNS"

I 've never been al l that big on New Yearsresolutions, How long do most of thoseresolutions really last? I f igure most of themdon't even make it to Martin Luther King Day acouple of weeks later. But I recently heard areport on a study of people who made NewYears resolutions. It turns out that they reallydo make a difference! Sure, most of them fal lby the wayside. Sti l l people are 40olo morel ike ly to make changes in the i r l i fe i f they makeNew Years resolutions than if they don't makethem,

Perhaps you are already so perfect you haveno need to change in any way. If so, praiseGod! However, i f you are l ike most people, youcan probably f ind a number of ways to grow andimprove, But before you start making a l ist ofresolut ions about a l l the th ings you don' t l ikeabout yourself and want to change, STOP. Stopand thank God that you have been b lessed in a l lthe ways God has blessed you, Stop and thankGod that you have already grown in importantways, Stop and thank God for the people thatGod has placed in your l i fe to aff irm yoU,support you and encourage you, Stop andthank God for the ways God has already usedyou for good, no matter how great or small theymight be.

Who you are is not a l l about theshortcomings you might address in New Yearsresolutions. Above al l , you are beloved by God,Right now before you make any changes, youare already beloved by God. You need toembrace this marvelous truth before youconsider l ist ing your resolutions. Otherwisemaking New Years resolutions can just becomeanother way of beating yourself up, especial ly i fyou don't st ick with your resolutions.

Here are just a few brief suggestions aboutmaking and keeping New Years resolutions.First, spend t ime in prayer/ asking God toident i fy the th ings that should be on your l is t .Second, sett le on just a few; don't come up

wi th a long l is t , Th i rd, wr i te them down andpost them in a place where you wil l see themoften. Fourth, tel l some other people aboutyour resolutions and ask them to keep youaccountable, Fifth, i f you stumble, don't staydown; get up again and recommit to theresolution,

As we begin the New Year, let 's support eachother in faith, love and service, so that we canall grow in the way God wants us !o grow. Godwi l l be doing some marvelous th ings in us,among us and through us th is coming year .

Grace and Peace,Craig

WrLcoMeJudi th Nembhard and her two daughters,

Andrea and Nichole, jo ined RPCC on November23, 2008, Nichole started attending over a yearago, and she introduced her mother and sisterto us, They came from Jamaica to the UnitedStates eighteen years ago and have beenresidents of Coral Springs for ten years. TheNembhards love everything about the church *the Pastor, the music and the people who are"very n ice, welcoming and genuine." RPCC isdel ighted to have Judi th , Nichole and Andrea asmembers, and we extend an embracingwelcome.

We also open our enibracing arms to MichelleHi l l who jo ined and was bapt ized on December21" . Michel le has l ived in Cora l Spr ings for s ixyears and feels that the Lord led her to RPCCwhich she descr ibes as a "warm communi ty ofvery caring people." Baptism was a "profoundexperience of deep renewal." Her son, Matthew,loves the church so much that he wants toat tend dai ly . Michel le lost her husband lastyear, and while she has a good support systemof f r iends, there is no immediate fami ly in thearea, She now considers RPCC her fami ly .Special thanks to the Chung family, Betsy, Al iceand Pastor Craig who have made her feel "verymuch at home" here.

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PRescnool Nrws FRoM SuznrnrAs 2008 comes to an end I want to say how

grateful I am to al l of our famil ies, staff, andmembers of Royal Palm Christ ian Church. Eachday many fami l ies br ing us the i r prec iouschi ldren and t rust us to prov ide a lov ing, car ing,nur tur ing envi ronment . This is a hugeresponsibi l i ty and we are truly blessed with astaff that brings so much tenderness,enthusiasm and dedicat ion. Combined togetherwe have provided 200 years of dedicatedchi ldcare to fami l ies in Cora l Spr ings and thesurrounding area. Wow! You a l l are t ru lyinst ruments of His peace. Wishing you a l l aNew Year f i l led with love and peace. God Bless.

JANUARY HAPPENINGSL/s First Day Back1/13 & 14 Chi ldren 's Shar ing wi th Pastor Cra ig

nY.:n\rffiUg Barbara Wolff t tq Lucas Ortizl lA Sharon Shuster UA Sybi l Campbel lL /L3 Michael O'Shea 1/13 Ann Por terL/L4 John Gordy 1/16 Trace JohnsonL/L7 Roger Tharp t /20 Dan Wi l l iamsLl21 Moira Surgeoner t/23 Mary Bookert /23 Amanda Emerson 1/23 Mason PrunerL/24 James Surgeoner 1/25 Sarah Espi r i tuLl25 Kevin O'Shea 1/28 Tony Masell iL/28 Lisa Travers U31 Favor Pate

'T;^.;iil'r'tr'jTfi,.", ffiL/0 Douglas & Loni Skipper qffi

[We apologize if your name is not on thelist. Please call the office to update your information!l

Gooo News oF BLESSINGSo Throughout this year our t ime together at

RPCC & RPCCP has been truly blessed..,mostespecia l ly dur ing the Chr is tmas ce lebrat ions,Candle l ight Serv ices, Chr is tmas Dinner andthe T ime of Shar ing dur ing Worship onDecember 28th. God has an amazing way ofl i f t ing sp i r i ts when we wi l l ing ly openourselves to sharing his love with others.

. The people who come to our food pantry inneed of help got a l i t t le bit extra thisChristmas. We extend special thanks toeach person who gave of themselves, Thefood drives were joyful ly orchestrated; thestockings were laughingly stuffed; andChr is tmas Dinner was prepared and sharedin an embracing manner . May God cont inueto bless this ministryl

. Marlene Ramondetta has shared worshipwi th us many t imes over the years, and sheand her off ice have helped our food pantryon a number of occasions. She wr i tes,"Passing on my b less ings to a beaut i fu lchurch, God b less."

New SuruoAY MoRNING ADULT CussTxe GospEL oF Lure

Start the year r ight by gett ing involved inBible study. Get to know Jesus better and learnmore about God's wil l for your l i fe by being partof this study of the Gospel of Luke. Even morethan the other Gospels, Luke points out howJesus reached out to outsiders and thedisenfranchised and offered them new l i fe andjoy in God, F ind new l i fe and joy for yoursel f asyou engage in th is s tudy. Beginners arewelcome! Our minister, Craig Watts, wil l beleading the s tudy at 9 :40 each Sunday morning.

Staf f Meet ing @ 6:00 p.m.Planning Day - Preschool Closed

Ful l T ime Care OpenPreschool Closed

Ful l T ime Care OpenPreschool Board MeetingMs, Rita - Dramatic Story TellerClass Photos

Manr Youn CeurnonnsAl l School Fami ly Bingo

Friday, February 13th(more info to fol low)

New Mro-Weer CussDn. MlntrN LUTHER Ktnc, Jn,lPnopuer oF PEAcE AND JusrrcE

Beginning on Wednesday, January 21, a s ixweek class on the l i fe and teaching of Dr. MartinLuther King Jr . wi l l be led by our min is ter , Cra igWatts. Few Christ ian leaders have had moreimpact on the modern wor ld than Dr . K ing.Whi le he is f requent ly pra ised, h is th ink ingdeserves to be better known. In this class thebackground and ear ly in f luences of h is l i fe wi l lbe explored. His commitment to equal r ights ,h is understanding of c iv i l d isobedience, h ispract ice of nonvio lence and h is ant i -waradvocacy wi l l a l l be examined dur ing the weeksof this study. Readings from King's works wil lbe suggested. All are welcome to come to thisimportant study.

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