Hosanna Cyberline - December 15, 2006

Good afternoon/evening:

Link to This Week at Hosanna: http://www.welcometohosanna.com/weekly_news.pdf
Link to December Hotline: http://www.welcometohosanna.com/monthly_news.pdf

Notice to Team Leaders, Please submit Year-End Annual Reports. So far I have received six and they are posted on the Hosanna website. Based on what what submitted in 2005, these have not been received as of today:

Budget Report
Care Team Annual Report
Congregational Numbers
Family Life
Financial Summary
Pastor Tart's Report
President's Report
Seniors Group Summary
Special Designated Funds
Spiritual Life/Cantor Gay

Please email completed reports to: dale@welcometohosanna.com.

Here is the service schedule for Christmas Eve:

Sunday, December 24 (Christmas Eve) 9:30 AM - Contemporary Worship with Faith Journey (ONE SERVICE ONLY; no Bible Study)

4:30 PM - Service of Holy Communion with Candlelight (includes special sermon and other things for children)

7 PM (NOT 7:30 as in past years) - Festival Service of Holy Communion with Candlelight

9:30 PM - Christmas Eve Contemporary Worship with Holy Communion

No Services Christmas Day

Wednesday, December 20, the Wednesday Morning Bible study with see the movie "The Nativity Story" at Cinemark Tinseltown in The Woodlands. Show time is 10:55 AM. Everyone is invited.

Coming Saturday, January 20 - Men of Hosanna Annual Breakfast at Luby's on FM 1960 @ 8 AM. Cost $7 in advance. Sign up in the Narthex.

Make sure you look at the back side of this week's green "Welcome" insert regarding our IHN rotation during Christmas week. The families will be staying at the nearby InTown Suites, but we still need to furnish lunch, snack and meals for two of the days. Bring items (juice, breakfast stuff, milk, lunch items) to the Hosanna kitchen and leave them in the refrigerator. That's all! No driving or moving beds.

Some interesting stats regarding the Hosanna Web Site: In January 2006 we head 400 unique visits recorded. So far in December 2006 there have been over 1400 and counting. The number of users has more than quadrupled over the last year!

A little humor:

As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?" The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my E-mail?"

Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs. "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE... I PRAY FOR A NEW NINTENDO... I PRAY FOR AN IPOD..." His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf." To which the little brother replied, "No, but Gramma is!"

In a small Southern town there was a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. One small feature bothered me. The three wise men were wearing fireman's helmets. Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, I left. At a "Quick Stop" on the edge of town, I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets. She exploded into a rage, yelling at me, "You northers never read the Bible!" I assured her that I did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible. She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage. Sticking it in my face she said, "See, it says right here, 'The three wise man came from afar.'"

That's enough of that for one week. I'll be back next week, God bless this coming week, Dale Bargmann, Hosanna Parish Communications