Happy Midweek Dear Church Family!

I hope that the joy you recovered over the weekend is fueling the new week. Thank you for your worship participation this past Sunday. The JOY in the room was palpable. The JOY of the advent season arrives at just the right time, especially for ministers, as we navigate the journey to Bethlehem for our congregations. A colleague of mine, The Rev. Benjamin Barlow wrote this on Facebook this week, and it is so true: “Joy is eternal and is something that comes when what we want most in life is what we already have in life”. Does this ring true for you? I know it does for me.

           This coming Sunday, we arrive at our last Sunday in the season. The Advent Sunday of LOVE. So question… “What’s Love Got to Do With it?”. So many times, I think that we often look at ourselves in our faith community as driven by so many different things… needs, preferences in worship and music, and what other churches have that we do not. I want to suggest to us all today … We need to always be people who are driven by LOVE. God in our lives is all about LOVE. Everything we experience from God is fueled by LOVE. Everything that Jesus did in his earthly ministry was about LOVE. Our LOVE is what fuels our passions. We all have different passions that can be used in the body of Christ. We run into challenges when we judge others based on our passions, when their gifts and talents do not meet our expectations. 

With this truth in mind, I want to encourage us all to always put LOVE first, then with LOVE firmly grounded, use our passions to find ways to make a difference in people’s lives. If others come alongside us in our work and passions … awesome. If others find their passions elsewhere, maybe look for ways to support them in their work and passions. 

           If we are to be known for anything in this city, I hope it will always be LOVE. Without The LOVE of Christ fueling our every move in ministry, we can be in danger of becoming a social service agency. Indeed, we do provide some limited social service to many in need, but always with, through, and for our LOVE of God in Christ.  Come Sunday and celebrate LOVE with your church community. I love being your pastor.

Holding you close and lifting you high!

Pastor Greg

“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” by Charles Wesley

As I was thinking of music that spoke about love, I remembered this old hymn. A reminder that God’s love excels all other love we experience. I think that can be hard for me to picture as I think about the love I share with family and friends. To know that God loves us even more than that is hard for me to fathom. That divine love of God showed to us through the birth of Christ.



“Midnight Clear (Love Song) by Chris Tomlin

Chris Tomlin takes another familiar carol to us and adds a fantastic new chorus for us to sing with it. The new chorus talks about how Jesus is the love song of God. I love that image as we think of the gift of Christ’s birth.

“Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love” by Joseph M. Martin

We will use one verse of this song each week through Advent as a sung response to the Lighting of the Advent Candle. Each verse speaks specifically to the theme for the week: Hope, Peace, Joy, or Love.

“Light at the End of the Darkness” by Larry Gatlin

We will use the chorus of this piece to be our Closing Song for all of Advent. There’s a light at the end of Advent. The birth of Christ is what we look forward to. We will use this song to point us to the light that is coming.

Prayers for Christmas Love

Lynn Amabile

Sam Wiegert

Sue, friend of Kristie

Joshua, friend of Rosemary

Sue Ryan

Jim Siltanen

Rocelle Melone

Joanne Jonas

Elaine Lemon

Nina Melad

Felicia and Nellie-Felicia’s Sister

The Outreach Ministry

Adopt-a- Family



We will also be adopting 2 Families from our neighbors at Solara. We are also happy to say we are adopting 2 seniors in a nearby Poway retirement facility too!!!

We are looking forward to making the holiday season joyous for others!

With your generosity and gifts, we can make a difference in our community. And as always, We couldn’t do it without you! We wanted to get you this information sooner because their wrapped gifts will need to be returned to the church by, December 18-20th. So look for that special tag on our Christmas Board this Sunday in the Narthex.

Thank You in advance for making this happen!

You all are truly a blessing.

Holiday Cheer from the Outreach Ministry

^{ADVENT 2022}

^{“There’s a Light at the End of the Tunnel”}

^{The advent season began on Sunday, November 27th. This year, we will focus on the truth that, “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” The days of advent are dark; a time to ready your hearts for the glorious light of the Christ child on Christmas. As we travel together through the four weeks to Christmas, we are all called to embrace the darkness, while at the same time, striving forward toward the light at the end of our darkness}

IT’S A BOY

Baby Shower of Mary and Baby Jesus

Every year, your Board of Trustees plans a special party to honor the birth of Jesus and our dear congregation. On Sunday, December 18th, following worship, they will host a Baby Shower for the new mother and her beloved offspring. This event gives us all the opportunity to catch up on our tithes/offerings or make a special Christmas gift, as we approach the end of the church fiscal year. There will be cake and shower party games. You won’t want to miss it. Bring your checkbook and help us all reach our goals for 2022. You are a blessing.  

 Christmas Eve Worship 2022

Mark your calendars for Christmas Eve Worship. 

This year, Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday. CCPUCC will offer ONE worship service on December 24th, at 4:00 p.m. Make your plans now to be with us on this amazing day. 

NOTE: There will NOT be a Sunday morning worship service on Christmas Day.

Homemade Pie Celebration and Thanksgiving Dinner Baskets

Blessing of the Scarfs

Adopt- A- Family

The Past Three Weeks at CCP!

Wow, the glorious work of this Church is always something that can make you feel like you are using God's hands as your own. 

On Sunday, November 20th we had a Homemade Pie Celebration with eighteen delicious pies and then continued onward to assemble ten Thanksgiving dinner baskets for our community.

 The following Sunday, November 27th, our congregation blessed homemade scarfs that we then brought to Ladle Fellowship, serving San Diego's homeless community with hot meals and clothing, that afternoon. Everyone wore one or two scarves during the service and each one received many prayers.

 And to continue the work of God, we are adopting families again this year for Christmas. There is a board in the Narthex full of ornament tags with the family's wishes. These gifts for Adopt- A- Family, need to be returned to the Church by this coming Wednesday, December 14th. 

We love doing God's glory and sharing his love. It is a blessing to have a Church that is proactive in every way. This is The Community Church of Poway. 

The JOY of FOOD!

Each week there will be a “Recipe of the Week” for the Buzz!

There will be a red basket in the Narthex where you can drop off your favorite recipes or please email them to julie@ccpucc.org. It can be any recipe from family favorites to ones recently discovered! We will be encouraging you to share your thoughts after you made the dish too. 

Unfortunately, I have not received any new recipes this week, so I am keeping up the last week until I receive more! - Julie

This week's recipe is Oh-So Easy Apple Bread!

Sent in by Mina Foster, thank you! 

Click Here for Oh-So Easy Apple Bread!

Adult Scripture Review:

Sunday’s following worship in the fireside room!

Email Susan Gurriell

at sgurriell@gmail.com

Books & More

In January we will read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.   

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less-than-ideal circumstances. A trip to Paris to visit her brother sounds like just what she needs until she arrives and discovers he’s missing.

Books & More will meet at our regular meeting place, the Fireside Room on Tuesdays at 10:00 am.

This is the Books & More meeting schedule for December:

We'll meet at 10:00 am in the Fireside Room on Dec. 6.

We'll be off-site on Dec. 13.

No meetings on Dec. 20 or 27.

ZOOM LINK:

https://zoom.us/j/98440622539pwd=aG1mRjlXVDVoRHhWTWpBaHA3QXZkUT09  

All are welcome to join us.  

Centering Prayer:

Tuesdays at 6:30 Contact Colleen Clementson

at powclem@yahoo.com or on

her cell at 858-663-6584, for the ZOOM invite

Thank you for checking out our BUZZ! Here is what you were waiting for! If you have a favorite joke or any tips to make the BUZZ even better, please send emails to julie@ccpucc.org :)

Joke of the Week:

J: What did one snowman say to the other?

A: I couldn’t hear them, so I have snow-idea... 

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