Annandale Reformed Church New Life Community

CONNECTIONSWeb Site: www.annandalereformedchurch.org

Our Mission StatementWe are a family in Christ called together by the Holy Spirit to serve God in our community. We

are placed here to worship, to nurture and serve, and to make the joyous life in Jesus Christ more accessible to our neighbors.

October 2015 Vol 25, No 10The Pastor’s Monthly

Column

The Challenge of Christianity

The next 20 years are going to be a challenge for Christians and churches in many places.  We will engage in cultural conversations often as a minority.  How we engage will almost as important as that we engage.

In Biblical terms, we may experience what it means to be salt and light in the midst of an adversarial culture.

We must hold the Word of God in high authority as the Berean Christians did in Acts 17:11.  Christians must become seriously committed to scripture and the gospel in every aspect of our lives. We should also wisely discern the present culture and strategize how to best glorify God.

As I see it, some Christians will go down fighting.  Other Christians will go on loving.  Either way, Christians will increasingly see they are not the moral majority and advocate less for the legislation or traditional values and be more focused on protecting religious liberty.

It is beginning to cost something to be a Christian in America—not as much as in many places in the world or in much of history, but more than it used to.  As living for Christ costs more in our culture, it will mean more in our context.

Churches that are preaching the Gospel and are focusing on biblical truths are going to become more clearly distinct from the culture around them.  The end result? Robust Christian communities are going to get stronger.

These Gospel-preaching churches will have members who are more, not less, committed.  Christianity will become more of a minority in culture, but more refined, more Biblical, and more missional churches will be the result.

The lasting effects of these shifts will force churches to make a critical decision. They will either become a cultural church that allows the societal trends to dictate their ever-changing beliefs.  Or they will become a counter-cultural church that faithfully adheres to scripture and proclaims the gospel in a carefully considered way.

The latter church offers real hope in the midst of an adversarial culture.  It is the only real future for the American church.

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Daylight Savings begins Nov. 1st!

A reminder that on Saturday night, Oct. 31 st you should set your clock

BACK one hour.

Property

Over the summer months the property committee took the opportunity to have a few things taken care of without an inconvenience to the normal usage of the building.

They had new carpet installed in the office and on the platform between the office and the stairs leading down from the narthex. Now the carpeting is uniform throughout. We also got the Pastor a new chair for the office.

We had a new circulator installed on the boiler and now we should again have heat in the kitchen and bathrooms this winter, we had the waste system pumped and the copy machine serviced.

A thank you to all who serve on the committee and for the things that they do behind the scenes that we all take for granted.

Sunday School

Our first classes of Sunday School started September 20th.  

We had a great time getting reacquainted and the children are excited for a new Sunday School year.  

The children had an amazing time at the annual Back To Sunday School Picnic. We are so grateful to Cheryl Mulligan and Lisa Zambito and their helpers for putting together another great picnic for all of us!

We are starting the Pennies For Jesus Challenge! Information is on the Fellowship Bulletin Board and children were given fliers to take home with information on how to participate. This is a great way to get the young generation to learn the love and meaning of giving and also to allow them to work with our Missions Committee.  

We have a fun year planned so please keep the children attending class and remind those with Bibles to bring them to class each week.  

A big thank you to Cheryl and Lisa and everyone who helped make the picnic the success that it was. The weather was beautiful and the food awesome!

Thank you again!

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Sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to

understand.or

Being kind is more important than being right

IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND LIFE...JUST ASK A CHILD

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Wow! ’Have you seen the back entrance to Fellowship Hall?

When a scout has moved through the ranks of advancement and has acquired the rank of Life, he can begin to plan and implement a project that will require him to plan, lead and complete prior to his 18th birthday.

When Hunter Vogel had to decide what he wanted to do for his Eagle Scout Project, it didn’t take him long to make his decision.

He approached consistory with a plan to enhance the entrance and the lighting leading into Fellowship Hall.

Once he had their approval, he started planning. However, time does have a way of getting away from you. Hunter started his planning while he was in 8th grade and now that the project is finished we find him in his last year of high school.

We interviewed Hunter at the scout meeting a couple of weeks ago and once we saw what his schedule looked liked, we began to understand why it took him so long to complete his project. With the exception of being a good student, finding time to eat and sleep, Hunter works part time, is involved in weight lifting, Lacrosse year round and other sports. He is a member of the Patriotic Youth Club, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, at the High School. He is involved with America Grow A Row, is a Congressional Intern for Leonard Lance, and a staff member of NYLT (Boy Scout Youth Leader Training)

His project was to extend the brick walkway to make it more appealing to the eye, add some additional landscaping and provide better lighting with a motion sensor. To raise the necessary money to do his project, he sold bricks that people could have a message engraved in. He has 83 engraved

bricks in the walkway spaced between the plain ones.

He tells us that he spent about 500 hours working on the planning, and implementation of this project.

Once he was ready to start the physical work, he recruited both youth and adults to help him do the work. He had to explain what he needed the workers to do, show them how he wanted it done and basically be the Project Manager. He and his crews worked over a period of about 4 work sessions to complete the project.

His future plans are to be accepted into West Point and make the military his career.

We certainly want to thank Hunter for all his hard work and let him know that the bench in the little garden has been used several times already by leaders who needed a special space to meet with other scouts or scouters. That was a great addition to the garden.

So......if you haven’t seen it, take a minute to either come in that door or go out that door and see how great it looks, and when you see Hunter in church, let him know that we really appreciate his contribution.

The simplest way to slice a bunch of cherry tomatoes is to sandwich them between two plastic lids and run a long knife through all

of them at once!

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October Mission of the Month The Mission Committee would like to ask our congregation to support persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq, who are being forced to either, convert to Islam, pay a submission tax, leave or be killed.  The Islamic State is performing this ethnic cleansing, and it is horrifying.  The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is one of the few organizations helping these Christians through its Refugee Relief Fund. The K of C is a Catholic charity founded in 1882, based in New Haven, CT.

So far, the K of C has distributed about $3 million throughout Iraq and Syria.  The money goes towards building housing and schools, and providing food, clothing, and medical supplies.   As a side note, it also has helped Christians in the unstable areas of Ukraine.  These Christians tend to be poor minorities within their homelands, and so they are easily made victims of violence. You can visit the website http://www.kofc.org/en/christianRelief for more information. 

Please pray for the safety and recovery of these people (and those of all religions who are victims of social persecution), and leave a donation in the envelopes marked “Missions” in your church bulletin.  If you donate by check, please make it out to Annandale Reformed Church, and write "K of C Christian Refugee Relief Fund" in the memo line  In other news, over the summer we collected $250 for the victims of the Nepal earthquake disaster.  At the time of this writing, we have also received two very large containers of socks for our September mission - The Joy of Sox.  We will donate these to the homeless in early October.  Thank you again for your generosity.

Lisa Zambito

Prison Ministry

Once again we will be collecting the following items for the women at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility:

2016 Calendars Christmas Cards All Occasion Cards

There will be a box in the narthex labeled as such for you to simply put your contribution in. If you have any questions or would like to know more about this, please contact Sharon Riddle at 908-735-5743

Keep brown sugar soft by storing with a couple of marshmallows.

Ladies Society

The ladies met for a short meeting and lunch at the Country Griddle on Monday, September 14th.  There were 12 members present including Pastor Ken and Wonza. 

Sharon reported that they made $241.00 selling baked goods and hot dogs at the Annandale Town Wide Yard Sale. 

The next major function will be a better than ever Tricky Tray as part of our 150th

anniversary celebration, probably in April. 

Please help this happen by gathering items and gift certificates for this event.  We have space to put items so let Peg Weightman know if you have anything.

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150 years!(in 2016)

Wow can you believe it! 

Next year Annandale Reformed Church will be celebrating their 150th anniversary.

To help us to commemorate this milestone and share it with the community, we would like to form an advisory board and utilize their creative talents to come up with special activities and events.  Once we have the ideas, small committees can be put together for each event/activity.  Let’s make this a special time for all to remember!

If you would like to be in this group, please see Joyce .

New Jersey(a little long, but interesting)

New Jersey is a peninsula. You cannot leave the state East, West or South without using a bridge or a tunnel.Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi.) than Havana,Cuba.New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US.New Jersey has the highest cost of living.New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to  as the "Diner Capital of the World."New Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club (no, not   Spam):   Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage w/peppers and onions.North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

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“Not Angie’s List”, but “ARC’s List”

Notary Public:Lisa Zambito: 908-268-5340

Auto Repair:Quality Auto Service Center, LLCAll makes & models autos (and

boats and planes)Contact Owner/OperatorRick Lebbing: 908-806-6014

Avon Representative:Peg Weightman908-832-2246

Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you

won't have a leg to stand on

The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production (and here you thought Massachusetts?)Here's to New Jersey - the toast of the country! In 1642, the first brewery in America, opened in Hoboken.New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through  Elizabeth Seaport first.New Jersey is home to one of the nation's busiest airports (in Newark), Liberty International.George Washington slept here. Several important Revolutionary War battleswere fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George Washington. The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory.We also boast the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs.

The first seaplane was built in Keyport, NJ.The first airmail (to Chicago) was started from Keyport, NJ.The first phonograph records were made in Camden, NJThe Miss America Pageant began on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was held there every year, until it was recently relocated to Las Vegas and now back to A.C.The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic City.And, Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world (and it was the world's FIRST boardwalk) not to mention salt water taffy.New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the Watchung Mountains.New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world. (Union, NJ!!!)New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey City. The Pulaski Skyway, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Hudson,   (Holland Tunnel).The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889 (Rutgers College played Princeton).The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden, NJ, (but they're all gone now!).New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S" pro football teams!The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson, NJ.

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The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ, by Maj. Thomas Armstrong.The Great Falls in Paterson, on the Passaic River, is the 2nd highest waterfall on the East Coast of the US.You know you're from Jersey when. .You don't think of fruit when people mention "The Oranges."You know that it's called Great Adventure, not Six Flags.A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.You've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.You know that the state isn't one big oil refinery.At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen, and you know the town Jon Bon Jovi is from.You know what a "jug handle" is.You know that WaWa is a convenience store.You know that the state isn't all farmland.You know that there are no "beaches" in New Jersey--there's the shore--and you don't go "to the shore," you go "down the shore." And when you are there, you're not "at the shore"; you are "down the shore."You know how to properly negotiate a circle.You know that this is the only "New" state that doesn't require "New" to identify it (try . . . Mexico . . York ..! . Hampshire-- doesn't work, does it?).You don't think "What exit?" is very funny.You refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.Every year you have at least one kid in your class named Tony.You know the location of every clip shown in theSopranos opening credits.

You've gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of the mall.You know that people from North Jersey go to Seaside Heights, and people from Central Jersey go to Belmar, and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood.    It can be no other way.You weren't raised in New Jersey--you were raised in either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey.You don't consider Newark or Camden to actually be part of the state.You remember the stores Korvette's, Two Guys, Rickel's, Channel, Bamberger's and Orbach's.And finally . . .You've NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER,pumped your own gas in New Jersey.

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October Ushers

Oct 4 Porambo FamilyOct 11 Weldon familyOct 18 Nancy Gasparetti & Martha

KisielewskiOct 25 Weightman Family

Please remember to insert one of the envelopes for the mission of the month if the box is on the table

Please remove old bulletins, etc. after the service. (See Usher Guidelines on door to closet in narthex and on bulletin board outside of the office downstairs). And please don’t forget to take the count when the service begins (it is easier to do when the children are sitting up front for the children’s sermon)

We look forward to seeing each of you at Bible Study, Sunday mornings, 9:00 am. Come have a cup of coffee and join in on the discussions. You won’t be sorry.

10-02 Rebecca Carvatt10-04 Dana Lotito10-08 Michelle Betza10-10 Jennette Betza

Rick Lebbing10-15 Marc Farley10-16 Bill Betza

Jeffrey Steele10-17 Craig Hughes

To access the Google Group email, the address is arc7218@googlegroups.com

Remember, if you have information about someone sick, in need of some sort of assistance, celebrating a very special event, suffering from the loss of a loved one, or someone who needs our prayers and/or help, call Shirley Waldeck if a card is appropriate. (908-835-1371), Peg Weightman (908-832-2246) or Jill Meyer (908-545-4818) for any of the following:

Meals for someone who is sick, Transportation to and from

appointments Run small errands Or any other need that we can help

with.or

Joyce Murphy(908-963-3346) to request prayers and/or clergy needs.

To send a question to “Ask The Pastor”The email address is:

askthepastor@comcast.net

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Google Group Email for Prayer Concerns

Gift Certificates for Shop Rite are on sale downstairs following worship each

Sunday or call Sherry Howe at 638-6391

Nancy Gasparetti and Sharon Riddle are helping sell the certificates.

Send contributions for Connections to Joyce Murphy at

joyce@murphy.org

Next IssueNov. 1st

Contribution DeadlineOctober 25th

Church Office: 908-735-7218Church Email: arc@annandalereformedchurch.orgChurch Web Site: www.annandalereformedchurch.orgPastor: Kenneth Lobb: 610-837-1330 Email: kennethlobb@verizon.netElders:

Joyce Murphy 908-963-3346Cheryl Mulligan 908-638-0008Lynn Hughes 908-638-8887

Deacons:Rick Lebbing 908-713-4789Barbara Vogel 908-552-6000

ASK THE PASTOR

Caring