Northwood Christian Church 4550 Central Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46205

NORTHWOOD CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Disciples of Christ) 4550 Central Ave Indianapolis, IN 46205 317.283.1352 FAX 317.283.2206 Minister: Rev. Ted Nottingham tednottingham @northwoodchristian.com Office Administrator: Traci Willis traciwillis @northwoodchristian.com Music Director: Jack Fox jackfox @northwoodchristian.com Scheduled Sunday Morning Services 8:30 Chapel Worship 9:30 Church School 10:45 Sanctuary Worship

Give and it shall be given to you... For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38

The Lost Gospel of Thomas

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October 2013 Volume LXXII No. 9

These continued efforts in patiently planting seeds, letting Spirit make the connection between our programs and advertisements and the people who need to find us, is a crucial part of our evangelism outreach. This is truly a time of renewal, of new Our Fall activities are in full swing. On Sunday October 13, we experienced the first of our presentations to our congregation and to the wider community. Some of our members are going the extra mile by walking through Broad Ripple with posters and flyers to place throughout the community. You can be a dedicated Northwood Ambassadors as well. Just contact the office to see how you can help place our Church and its activities front and center in your neighborhood. These small gifts of time and energy for our church are invaluable. I hope others will join in these efforts to spread the word, to make Northwood a presence in the wider community. These are the front lines of our aim to reach potential new members, people seeking God in their lives and who need a spiritual home. As you may have noticed, we are blessed with the exceptional privilege of receiving new visitors every Sunday, often in both services. ******************************* Is your special day missing from the newsletter? Contact Traci Willis. Pastor Ted opportunities and growth for this congregation. I hope we will all join together in that common effort to participate in Northwoods future. Such a united front will enable us to be co-creators with Gods blessings and truly make of us a mission post for those who hunger and thirst for the living waters of Christs transforming teachings.

Thank you! Thank you all for the many ways you expressed love and care during my recent illness. The many cards, food, calls, emails, and visits were so much appreciated. Most of all I thank you for your prayers and ask for continued prayers throughout my recovery and adjustment to hearing. Janet Scott

November Birthdays
Angela Escobar Lisa Turner Delaney King David Lamm George Record Mary Adams Jana Whinrey Ron Beatty Paul Crow Beverly Metzger Joan Conway Jonathan Martz Bill Johnson Helen Madinger Sean Brown Nov 1 Nov 2 Nov 5 Nov 8 Nov 9 Nov 12 Nov 12 Nov 14 Nov 17 Nov 18 Nov 19 Nov 20 Nov 26 Nov 28 Nov 29

A Word of Grace by Don Krueger who went home to our Lord on October 1st. Gracious God We pause for a precious moment before your table with gratitude. We live our lives from moment to moment knowing a moment can change the course of our day or even our lifetime. Help us to open the windows of our souls and let the refreshing breeze of your spirit invigorate our lives. Let your sunshine and love flood our hearts and make us alive in Christ. Let it expand our lives with your Grace. Thank you God for each precious moment your love had given us. Help us to use them for love, for laughter, for kindness in the time we have on earth. Give us strength and wisdom to see Gods image in each and every person. Amen
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Anniversaries
Tom & Roxanne Martz Nov 20 Jerry & Fran Leer Nov 22

FOOD PANTRY ITEM OF THE MONTH

Have you noticed the poster on an easel outside the Quiet Room? Its information about another way you can support our food pantry and help stre-e-e-etch our limited financial resources. Each month we are highlighting one item you might buy for the pantry. Some items are most requested foods; others are very much needed items but either cant be purchased with food stamps or are very expensive for a below-the-poverty-line budget. The OCTOBER ITEM-OF-THE-MONTH is spaghetti (1 lb. packages preferred) Looking Ahead to November: mens disposable razors and womens hygiene items.

DOING GOOD FUNDRAISING PROGRAM

Starting November 3rd Kevin and Anne Gardner (many will know them from their time volunteering with the Food Pantry) will set up a booth in the Narthex to promote aboutdoinggood55.com. This is an online store that specializes in gifts and home ideas. When an order is placed, they will donate the difference from the merchant cost to Northwood. Their mission is to sponsor attractive, simple fundraisers for community churches that are doing good work. Please take a moment to look over the gift and home items.

A Prayer of a Stewardship
Lord God, you alone are the source of every good gift, of the vast array of our universe, and the mystery of each human life. We praise you and we thank you for your great power and your tender, faithful LOVE. Everything we are and everything we have is your gift, and after having created us you have given us into the keeping of Your Son, JESUS CHRIST.

SAVE THE DATE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd Monumental Marathon waterstop again on our corner. Enjoy a fun morning with fun people & help earn money for our church! More info: Denise Rogers
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Yarn for knitting hats is needed

Please drop off yarn donations at the church office or in the Food Pantry bins.

Fill our minds with HIS truth and our hearts with HIS love, that in HIS Spirit we may be bonded together into a community of faith, a parish family, a caring people. In the Name and Spirit of Jesus, we commit ourselves to be good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, to share our time, our talent and our material gifts as an outward sign of the Treasure we hold in Jesus. AMEN

Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 All of us have the same concerns and desires for the future of this Church. This is the all-important annual drive to keep our Church solvent in acquiring resources to help those who have greater needs than we do. I know that we may be looking at our own situation and say to our selves, who could possibly be in greater need than me? Or under other circumstances we may look at someone elses situation and say, but for the grace of God, that could have been me. Nevertheless, wherever we are in life, high, low or in the middle, the one thing that we know for sure is that our true spirit of giving never seems to leave us. Perhaps a little history lesson here can put this in perspective. A few years ago, Congress changed the Federal Tax Code. This put additional restrictions on tax deductible charitable contributions. Some people said that this would significantly reduce the giving spirit that America is so well known for and it would be a disaster to entities like churches and schools. Well we were certainly in for a surprise. In the following tax year, charitable contributions actually went up. Why was this? This is because America is one of the most giving nations in the world,
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Stewardship Campaign 2014

both at home and else where. This Church and all others like it are a major part of the giving effort. Do not think of this just in terms of money. An immeasurable amount of sweat equity in the form of volunteerism is the backbone of the giving spirit. We can see that right here, right now, from this congregation. Today, we are asking that you and yours join all of us in the giving spirit to continue the life of this Church. We often talk about the spirit of the embodiment of Jesus Christ. This building, the Pastor, the services rendered through the Church and all the personal time and efforts given by this congregation are part of the Spirit. But to continue this year after year, we do have to pay the piper so to speak. The maintenance, the supplies, the upkeep are a large part of the whole. With out all of that, the entity known as the church becomes weak, and so does the ability to support all the causes that are so dear to us. So when the Covenant cards are available for your consideration, please give with your heart and ability to support this Church to its fullest. Then if you can, give a little more. After all, the Church is as much a reflection of us as we are of it.

more than any other topic. In fact, he mentioned money and possessions four times more than the second most popular topic, prayer. Jesus consistently taught that our responsibility as his disciples is to recognize that God is the provider of all that we possess and that our call is to be generous givers of our financial resources.
WHAT IS CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP?

What does it mean to be a "generous giver"? It certainly does not mean to give more money than anyone else. Jesus never taught that we were to give that which we did not have to give! Generosity is a spiritual gift. Paul stated, "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us . . . the giver, in generosity." (Romans 12:6-8) A generous giver has adopted a lifestyle of giving. A generous giver contributes his or her time, talent, prayers, and financial resources with a willing and joyful spirit. I have known people from millionaires to homeless people who were generous givers. Being a generous giver is a spiritual response to God's goodness.

By David Bell, Director of the Center for Christian Stewardship Clarence Stoughton said, "Stewardship is everything you do after you say, 'Yes' to Jesus." In other words, stewardship is a lifestyle choice that recognizes that everything is a gift from God. Our responsibility as Christian stewards is to manage all the gifts that we have received from God. God is the true owner of all that we have in life. This concept is very difficult for postmodern Americans to grasp. Our culture implies that we deserve the things that we claim as our possessions. We have earned our money, and any decision that we make about our money is strictly our own decision. The writings of the Old and New Testaments teach us something different. Jesus talked about money and possessions
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