This Week: Dec. 8th thru Dec. 14th

** Upcoming Events:

**Action Steps to Preparing The Way

Step 1: Repent and Turn To God: Acts 2:38 - “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Step 2: Live A Life of Love: Matthew 22: 37-39 - “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
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Step 3: Serve and Help Others: Mark 10: 44-45 - “And whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

** Pastor Mike will be in the office this Wednesday from 10-1.

** Last Sunday Worship Night - We are going to be experiencing a good old fashioned family Christmas on December 21st at 6:30 pm. We will start the way we usually do with some Christmas cookies and fellowship and then we will begin singing all your favorite Christmas Hymns/Carols. Come and join us.

**Faith Builders is back this week covering weeks 3 and 4. There is still time to join us. Let Pastor Mike know if you are interested in joining and finding out what we believe as Global Methodists and how your gifts and talents can be used within the church.

**Grief Share Group - Our grief group is currently on hiatus. If you would like to be a part of a grief sharing group, please let Pastor Mike know and we can get it back!

** How to find all things Cornerstone Fellowship of DeGraff. https://www.cornerstonedegraff.org/ is online but still a work in progress. You are hopefully using the new [email protected] for the church email.

The active Facebook page is found at: https://www.facebook.com/CornerstoneDeGraff
The active YouTube channel is found at: https://youtube.com/@CornerstoneFellowshipDeGraff

** Did you know that God has blessed you with a special set of skills and gifts? He has also called you to be involved and belong to this body of believers. Be prayerful over the possibilities that God is desiring to use you. 

- We also still need a lay leader for the church, and a lay delegate to the annual conference. Annual conference is an amazing trip and is always good and Spirit filled!

There are many more ways in which you can get involved. Reach out to Pastor Mike with the ways in which God is calling you to be active!

** Cornerstone Fellowship of DeGraff is a Global Methodist Church, and we are in the Allegheny West Conference and you can visit their site at https://alleghenywestgmc.org/ if you are wanting more information!  All of the annual conference videos can be found by following this link: https://alleghenywestgmc.org/startplanting/

** G.R.A.C.E. notes for this week.

G.R.A.C.E. volunteers,

Packing for weekend backpacks are on Tuesdays at 10:00 am at Cornerstone Fellowship of DeGraff. If you are available, help is always welcome!

Next week will be Riverside's final week before the Christmas break and so there will be an additional pack that will help them over the holidays. Be sure to stay tuned for those dates and times.
Would you like a "Food Item Wish List" for items we use every week?  Please reply to Darlene Roll ([email protected]).

** Light Hours is a small group for our college age, if you are a young adult and would like a Bible study for your age group, let me know. We can get something started that fits your schedules! Let us know how we can meet your needs!

** Our Cornerstone Women's group is planning to meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month. The next meeting will take place on December 18th. They will be meeting at the church at 6:00 pm. Come for some fellowship and care, with some fun of course! Feel free to stop in and check it out!

** Our Cornerstone Men's group is breaking for Cornerstone Archery! Cornerstone Archery is back this Tuesday Dec. 9th after an off week due to a snow day. Setup will begin around 5:00 and sessions will go from 6:00 - 8:30 in the auditeria at Riverside Local School. 

** Youth Group Sunday Night!!! There was another great youth group last night!! There will be a serving opportunity for our 7th thru 12th graders as we will be wrapping presents as a way to show love and give back. Gift wrapping will be by donation on December 21st from 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Limited space is available, please contact DeeDee at 937-658-2211.

** Looking for people to join a new small group. Let me know what your availability is and we can find a way to start something new, or get you plugged into something that will fit your schedule!

** Advent Devotional!! - If you have not picked up your copy of the Advent devotional be sure to get one in the welcome are of the church! The first couple days have been amazing!

**Missions Moment - Produce Stand - The free produce stand will be closing down at the end of October. They will be using that space to setup a Nativity for the coming Advent season! 

** If you would like to purchase a Cornerstone Fellowship of DeGraff shirt you can follow this link and purchase your Cornerstone Fellowship swag! -  https://exodus-shirt-company.myshopify.com/collections/cornerstone-fellowship-of-degraff

** We are now collecting boxes of candy canes for the Five Loaves Food Pantry. We need 55 by December 16th. They give out meals and food boxes Wed. December 17th at 4:30 pm. If you would like to help pack and deliver boxes.

This Week at the Church: - December 8th - December 14th

Monday: Church Open 10-12  / Getting Back to The Basics Bible Study at Quincy - 7:00 pm

Tuesday: Church Open 10-12 / G.R.A.C.E. Backpack Packing 10:00 am / Cornerstone Archery is 6:00-8:30 (setup at 5:00) 

Wednesday: Bible Study - 10:00 am / Praise Team Practice 6:00 pm / Choir Practice 6:45 pm / Faith Builders 7:00 pm / Pastor Mike’s Quick Shots 8:00 pm on Facebook or Youtube.

Thursday: Church Open 10-12 / Senior Lunch 11:00 / Ad Council 7:00 pm
 
Friday: Church Open 2:30 - 4:30

Next Sunday - December 14th - 2nd Sunday of Advent - Cornerstone Youth Christmas Program - Sunday School 9:30 / Worship 10:45 / Noisy Coin Offering / Carry-In Lunch after Church

Two years ago we were On Mission! Worship - Reflect - Pray - Study - Serve - you can still use these methods! In 2023 we used the 5-S Method of Being The Church - Surrender - Surrounded - Spirit-Led - Self-Fed - Sent - All of these things are timeless and will always be helpful for us to measure whether or not we are "being" the "church".

Please pray this week for those who are sick and need healing, and those who you can share the love of Christ with! Do not forget to pray for your church, your community, and your pastor.