Get your family ready for Christmas and its deeper meaning. Join our Healthy Families Sabbath School class 10:30 AM. Sabbath Morning in Room 141. We will be showing and discussing the DVD study series, The Christmas Experience.
December 4- Just the Right Time, December 11- Favored One, December 18-Faithful One, December 25-This is God's Plan?, January 1-Immanuel, January 8-Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh.
Thank-you to all who braved the weather on Sunday, November 14 to participate in the Village of Berrien Springs Shamrock Spruce-Up! 18 of the 24 volunteers who came out to show love on the move were part of the Pioneer team. Participants were out for around four hours, raking, blowing, and bagging leaves in yards all over Berrien Springs. It was a blessing for everyone involved!
Local Church Budget
And [Jesus] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had." Luke 21:1-4
Donny and Johnny were the youngest of 7 children. Their family wasn't blessed with an abundance of money, but there was more than enough love to go around.
One Christmas there was no money to buy presents, so each person in the family exchanged something they already had with someone else. Donny and Johnny were chosen to exchange gifts with each other. Neither boy had much, but Donny had a shiny, sliver flashlight that Johnny thought was pretty cool.
It was the only possession of real significance Donny had.
On Christmas morning when the gifts were exchanged, what do you suppose Donny had given to Johnny? That's right, it was his silver flashlight! Rather than just giving Johnny something that wasn't very valuable, he gave him the best that he had.
When we give our offerings to God let us remember that it isn’t the dollar amount that is of greatest importance. Rather, it is the sacrifice we make that renders our gift as valuable in Heaven’s sight. Today’s offering is for the Local Church Budget.
—PMC Stewardship Committee
Andrews Academy will be presenting the 48th annual Feast of Lights program on Friday, December 10, 2021 at 7:00 PM. The community is invited to attend this spectacular night of music, Scripture and drama honoring the King of Kings. It is an evening of lights, bells, instruments, choral singing, congregational singing, shepherds, a Nativity scene, and the retelling of a glorious Christmas story. Chorale and Orchestra will end the program with the Hallelujah chorus. The church sidewalks will be arrayed in Christmas lighting. The program will speak to your hearts of His wondrous love. All are invited to attend this free program held at Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University.
You are also invited to an evening of popular Christmas music on Saturday, December 11, at 7:00 PM at the Howard Performing Arts Center on the campus of Andrews University. Join us as we bring in the holidays with a variety of well-known Christmas songs including a grand finale played by the combined musical groups.
Get in the Christmas spirit as the Andrews University Wind Symphony under the direction of Byron Graves performs its annual holiday concert on Saturday, December 4, at 8:00pm in the Howard Performing Arts Center! Along with classics like Joy to the World, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and Away in a Manger, we will present imaginative transformations of Jingle Bells and the Nutcracker Suite by Julie Giroux, music from Disney’s Frozen, and a mambo version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. You won’t want to miss it!
On Sabbath December 11, during both services, we will have the opportunity once again to give and share with the children in our community. Please bring a new, unwrapped toy to share for ages newborn through 16. These will be given to the children in our community.
ASAP Ministries is looking for an effective communicator with good organizational skills and attention to detail, as well as marketing experience, including social media and proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe InDesign/Photoshop.
Duties will include general office tasks coordinating RWND's day-to-day activities, promoting the RWND training course through social media and other communication channels, and following up to facilitate participants’ completion of the RWND training course.
If interested, please email your résumé, references, and cover letter to Pr. Robert Benjamin at robert.benjamin@asapministries.org. If you have any questions about this position, call Pr. Benjamin at 269-471-3026.
God's Hands 4 Kids is a ministry that grew out of a Grow Group and originated in 2013. It exists to support foster care, adoption, kinship placement and disadvantaged families serviced through Berrien County Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies. We provide a support group for foster, adoptive and kinship families. We also invite families who are interested in fostering, adopting or supporting these families to join us. Their next meeting is November 18. For more information visit GH4K.org and join their Facebook Group, where they share needs presented to them.
O God, Father of military persons as well as civilians, on this Sabbath following Veterans’ Day, we pray for all those who have served in one of the branches of the Department of Defense-Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy, and have separated or retired. We realize that not all were God-loving or even God-fearing, but all were serving their country selflessly. Many have been very seriously wounded, some physically, some mentally-lifelong wounds. But, wounded or not we ask for them your bounteous grace and mercy-lifelong. Touch with generous and caring hearts those who have caring responsibilities, official and unofficial, to provide gracious and comprehensive care as Good Samaritans. Today, we also pray Your merciful care for all veterans, world-wide, through Jesus, Who has all authority in Heaven and Earth, till He comes again. Amen.
First Advent Calendar 2021
“Reflections on Christmas Hymns”
December 1-25, 2021
This Christmas season, Pioneer Women’s Ministries is delighted to share with you a Christmas Hymn Reflection each day through Christmas day. A daily email and/or a text will be sent to those who register. To register, text HYMNS to 269-281-2345.
The World Service Organization (WSO) is part of the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries Department. The WSO is the church entity that supports Adventists who serve their communities, militaries, and local, regional, and national governments.
In order to support you, we need to know who you are and what you do. We have created a system to collect this information and store it securely. Now, we need you to create your profile.
WHO SHOULD CREATE A PROFILE
Any Adventist who serves in:
YOU CAN CREATE YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE AT PORTAL.WORLDSERVICEORGANIZATION.ORG.
Once you log in, choose the Adventist in Uniform/Government registration platform. You’ll be asked to provide your name and contact information, government service information, and church relationship.
Be sure to complete the section on subscriptions to receive your complimentary For God and Country magazine subscription, occasional email updates, and texts from the World Service Organization. Don’t forget to click submit.
You're invited to our Wednesday morning prayer meeting which meets at 7:00 AM on Zoom. This is a fantastic group that meets to share and pray together once a week. We are about to head into the holiday season, we are going to begin a series that you are not going to want to miss. Over the last year, we have explored biblical characters who shared their faith. As we begin our next chapter, I would like to invite you to join us as we explore 5 steps to intentionally sharing our faith. This series will run from November 10 – December 8.
We at Pioneer have been celebrating with Don and Trudy Starlin over his recent successful double-lung transplant. He had days to live when the donor's lungs became available. And the good news is he is recovering very well, having been moved from his transplant hospital to a nearby rehabilitation hospital. The last text message from Trudy reports he walked 1,650 steps a couple of days ago, his chest and feeding tubes have been removed, his spirits are strong—and we join them in praising God for this miraculous (how else can you describe a double-lung transplant?) intervention.
Family and friends of the Starlins have started a GoFundMe account to raise monies to offset the immense costs of this transplant operation. Insurance simply does not cover the myriad of expenses—room and board in the city, loss of employment during the recent months of waiting, continued unemployment until recovery is complete, rehabilitation, et al. While Pioneer cannot publish every worthy GoFundMe project, we can rally to the needs of this hometown couple who have faithfully served this congregation and are facing monumental financial challenges.
May our prayers surround these two Pioneer Family members on their road to recovery—"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in [them] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
Due to excessive lead in the water in Benton Harbor, Harbor of Hope serves as a distribution site for cases of free bottled water for Benton Harbor residents. Volunteers are needed from 4:00 – 6:00 PM every Sabbath afternoon.
Pioneer's new Collegiate Sabbath School meets in the Pioneer Commons! This is a place for interactive connections with Collegiates and with God, to study the stories of Jesus and what they mean for us today. Breakfast snacks will be provided.
Weekly on Sabbath, 10:30 AM
Location: Pioneer Commons
Pioneer cares about the health of our community and our congregation. We monitor the spread of COVID-19, especially the delta variant, closely. Berrien County's level of transmission is now High, as classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In alignment with Andrews University (AU), masks are now required indoors at Pioneer, regardless of vaccination status (AU guidelines).
Please:
If you feel unwell at all, even with symptoms of a cold or flu, please do join our online worship at https://www.pmchurch.org.
We pray for God's continued protection to keep our church community safe and healthy,
—Pioneer Safety Committee
Join us for our Sabbath afternoon prayer walk on campus! We meet at the stairs behind the statue, and it starts at 4:45 PM and ends by 5:45 PM. We would love to have you join us. If that day/time does not work for you, there are other days that people are
prayer walking, as well. Questions? Contact: Ildiko at igyeresi@andrew.edu; Andrew at tidwella@gmail.com; or Andrea at gibbsak777@gmail.com.