Second Sunday in Advent

December 4, 2022

Service via the Internet on Facebook Live 

and in Candler Park

10:30 PM

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gscccp

 

TODAY’S MESSAGE: “Repent” –Pastor Paul  Matthew 3:1-12 (MSG)

Sermon Verse VS 1-2 “While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”

OWN YOUR FAITH, DON’T RENT IT!

Effective July 1, 2014, until further notice, no firearms of any kind are allowed at any Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta event. This is pursuant to the Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014, which allows Georgia residents with concealed carry permits to bring firearms into churches that give express permission to do so. Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta under no circumstances grants this permission.

*******************************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Church office is open. In-person appointments available. Call the church. Dana will set up an in-person meetings or you have the option of Zoom or Facebook Messenger.
2. Worship in Candler Park will continue to be live streamed via Facebook messenger each Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. 

• Bible Study meeting December 5th at 7:30 PM on Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3833663154?pwd=K2hsWHdjRi80ZkF4L3daTEtRcTVUdz09

 

3. Pastor Paul’s office time Monday-Wednesday 10:00 AM till 3:00 PMThe Pastor will be off on Thursday’s.  Friday’s will be a study day and Saturdays the Pastor will be available as needed or by appointment. For now, Dana’s office time or church time is Tuesday through Thursday 10 AM till 3 PM. She is available via e-mail or text on Monday’s and Friday’s.
4. We thank you for going to the church website to take care of your tithe, gifts, donations and offering.  Just go to gentlespirit.org and click on the donate button and follow the instructions.  Or if you are more comfortable with the US mail then send your tithe, gifts, donations and offerings via a check or money order to GSCC 601 West Ponce de Leon Decatur, GA 30030
5. November 20^th after Church we will be going to First Christian Church of Decatur to help un-load Christmas Trees
6. We are looking for a person to coordinate our Hygiene Kit Ministry, if you can help please contact Pastor Paul 404-604-8124.
7. March 15, 2023, Gentle Spirit Christian Church will be 25 years old!  Stay tunes for celebration announcements.
8. Gentle Spirit Christian Church is in search of a musician for Sunday morning services in the park.  If you are interested or know someone who might be please contact the Church office at 404-604-8124

 

 

Rev. Paul M. Turner in the Gentle Spirit Christian Church office

Pastor Paul’s hours for appointments: 

Monday through Wednesday from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM 

Day off on Thursday, Friday is a study day and Saturday’s appointments and events as needed

Pastor’s Personal Assistant Dana Owings Tuesday through Thursday 10:00 am-2:00 p.m.

Please call for appointments (404) 604-8124 or send an e-mail to:

office@gentlespirit.org

*************************************************************************

Want to know about Pastor Paul?  Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82-5mutxGLM&feature=youtu.be&list=PLTpetkN815QzXtvqYp-6pzKKRDbVMjd6e

**************************************************************************

Cold Weather Shelter Volunteers Needed

Dear Supporter of A Home For Everyone In DeKalb,

We are pleased to announce that after a two-year break, due to Covid, once again AHFEID is able to provide a cold weather shelter to protect and serve our unhoused neighbors. Thanks to the generosity of the Decatur First United Methodist Church, the shelter will be located in their gymnasium. It will be open on nights that are 35 degrees and below between November 15, 2022, and March 15, 2023. On the nights the shelter is open, 20-25 men, women, and children will be able to access a warm, safe place to sleep; a homemade, nutritious meal; and a shower.

Won’t you please join us in welcoming our neighbors during the cold winter months? We are in the process of hiring shelter managers, but we also need volunteers who can play these roles:

1. Serve a first shift from 6 pm to 9 pm, helping set up the shelter and greeting guests
2. Make and/or serve dinner for 25
3. Serve second shift from 8:45 pm to 6:30 am, sleeping overnight (with the shelter manager present) and setting up breakfast.

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these roles, please respond to this email.  ahomeforeveryoneindekalb@gmail.com 

A simple message such as “interested in volunteering” will suffice.  We will place you on our volunteer mailing list and immediately send you more information about how to sign up for specific jobs. You will also need to complete a background check and a Safe Sanctuary Training.  We will send you information about these as well.

Thank you very much for considering how you can help keep our neighbors warm and safe during the coming winter.

A Home For Everyone In DeKalb  A Collaborative Initiative On Homelessness

ahomeforeveryoneindekalb.org

**************************************************************************

Greetings! It’s the time of the year to sign-up to volunteer for the FCCD Christmas Tree Sale! This is a fun opportunity to meet people in the community and help benefit church and community missions in the City of Decatur, including the church’s Decatur Toy Park. We have a need for volunteers!

On Sunday, November 20 at 12 Noon – help unload the the Tree Truck. Between 11/25 to 12/4 we need tree lot volunteers (in 4 hour-shifts) and meal providers (each meal for about 15-20 people). You can sign up for 1 shift or multiple; you could sign up with a friend or come on your own! Please use the link or scan the QR code below to access the sign-up sheet. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094ca4af2ea0ffc34-fccd

Tree Lot Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

Call 404-378-3621 or email our church office fccdecatur@gmail.com for information on how you and your organization can serve for a four-hour time slot. Volunteers who serve 4 hours receive a meal and a free t-shirt.  Thank you for your support!

**************************************************************************

Whosoever.org is a ministry of Gentle Spirit Christian Church  

Founded July 1, 1996, by Rev. Candace Chellew to be a safe place for the LGBTQIA Community. Over that period Whosoever has not only been a safe place but a place of in depth, profound and honest challenging of those spiritual issues that the traditional and mainline churches have used to shame, tell lies and used distortion to leave our community drowning in shame and fear.

Through 2.5 decades Whosoever have brought the best and most knowledgeable writers to the table. At our best Whosoever.org received more than 500,000 site visits a year — and many wrote to say how it had either changed or literally saved their lives. For 25 years Whosoever’s mission was to stay on the cutting edge of the LGBTQIA movement for acceptance in both church and society. We are here to stay, and we hope you will join us in this exciting journey! God Bless, Rev. Paul M. Turner Editor in Chief

The Mission of Whosoever

Whosoever exists to publish resources, primarily in the form of curated content, for those who seek a deeper understanding of the truly loving God, whose unconditional love is experienced as boundless grace.

Our Vision

We aim to present a true diversity of voices that allows for the perspectives of those of various faiths, traditions, creeds, cultures, abilities, sexualities, ethnicities, socio-economic levels, geographies and gender expressions. Whosoever doesn’t limit itself solely to what Christians call God.

We aim to do this in a way that finds questions more interesting than answers, that values individual prayer and discernment over interpersonal argument, and that values real-world interaction over digital discourse.

We give ourselves permission to walk away from negativity, particularly online – and as necessary, to remove that negativity if it crosses the line into abuse and/or isn’t done in the spirit of true mutual understanding.

Our Core Values

A core value of Whosoever is that the individual has been granted by God the free will to pursue their own faith journey. Because of that, nothing is more important than an individual’s own relationship with their Creator, which is where the best work in the Omniverse takes place. This is opposed to having that relationship defined, controlled, mediated or disrupted by any person or institution.

Whosoever rejects all forms of fear-, guilt- or shame-based religion. We support the view that human beings start from a place of original blessing, not original sin.

Taking the example of the radically inclusive Jesus; Whosoever supports an infinitely expansive view of God that values inclusion over exclusion.

Whosoever defines as spiritual violence anything that attempts to disrupt an individual’s relationship with their Higher Power.

Founded by one of our founding members and 2nd person to be ordained as clergy by us, the Rev. Candance Chellew. She is our Editor Emeritus with Pastor Paul as the current Editor in Chief, Dr. Robert N. Minor Assistant Editor, Mr. Lance Helms service as the Communications Director and a host of members of GSCC write for the magazine including Branden Mattox, Alyce Keener, Rev. Dr. James Brewer-Calvert, Jennifer Hasler, Darlene Wagner

Feel free to check us out at: www.whosoever.org

********************************************************************

Consider donating to Gentle Spirit Christian Church. Your gift is fully tax deductible.

Checks and Money orders can be written to: Gentle Spirit Christian Church and sent to 601 West Ponce de Leon Decatur, Georgia 30030

Or you can go to the website and click on the Donate button. www.gentlespirit.org

Your generosity and gifts will allow Gentle Spirit Christian Church to continue to do what it has done for the last 18 years…to be a life changing helpful hand to those in desperate need.

*************************************************************

Pastor Paul has a twitter account.  If you would like to follow him, go to:

https://twitter.com/PastorPaul55

Get to the previous week’s sermon by going to:

https://gentlespirit.org/announcements/latest-sermon/

Read the most recent blog of our pastor go here:

https://gentlespirit.org/if-only-this-were-fake-news-but-its-not-even-alternative-facts/

*************************************************************

Gentle Spirit Christian Church’s Response to the Coronavirus/COVID-19

We are encouraging these common-sense precautions to help protect our community while we are in the park.

First and foremost, we encourage you to follow the CDC’s recommendations about preventing the spread of the virus

• Continue practicing these preventative measures to help protect yourself and others:
• Get the full series of Vaccination including the booster.
  • Stay home when you are sick, except to receive medical care.
  • Wear a mask correctly (covering nose and mouth) when you are at work or out in public.
  • Maintain a 6-foot distance between yourself and others.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
  • Avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, then throw the tissue in the trash.
  • Avoid close contact with others that are sick.
  • If you have not been vaccinated, consider and pray about getting one.

  Additional information can be found here:
  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html

The challenges are great, but our God is greater, and we will come through this together stronger than ever.

God Bless,
Rev. Paul M. Turner-Sr. Pastor

*************************************************************

Resources for you or friends who need Free Immigration Help all over the US, just click on the appropriate state https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/index

*************************************************************

Volunteer Services, Atlanta, VA Medical Center needs volunteers to help prevent missed appointments by our Veterans, this is a loss for the veteran and a dollar loss for the facility. The hours of operation for the call center are Monday-Thursday, 4:30 – 1:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  The call center is located on the ground floor (RM GC 233A) across from the Peter Wheeler Auditorium. Can you help? Should you have any questions, contact Mr. Franchi Clark at (404) 728-7728 or by email VHAATGVoluntaryService@va.gov.

*************************************************************

Help Connect is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans and the disadvantaged by providing basic computer skills at shelters. Volunteers teach homeless vets and other disadvantaged people basic computer and internet skills which help them reconnect with family and friends and find employment on their way back onto their feet. They also help veterans with resumes and job search. If you are interested in helping, contact Tom Chernetsky at (404)791-8534 or tomchet2@mindspring.com. Tom is a member of the St Ann’s Catholic Church VFC Military Ministry team.

*************************************************************

Jewish Family & Career Services operates the only full-time free dental clinic in Atlanta. The Ben Massell Dental Clinic has been in operation for 100 years and serves individuals and families that are at or below 12% of the poverty level. The clinic is in midtown. Please refer folks who need this service to the website to obtain instructions for securing an appointment, at http://www.benmasselldentalclinic.org/patients *************************************************************

Help Watch over Our Seniors. If you know seniors who spend all or part of their day alone, you might be interested in telling them and their families about a new service. The State of Georgia has partnered with ADT Home Health Division to provide a personal emergency response system, 24/7. Seniors 55+ are eligible thorough Medicaid for this service, free. Find out how this program operates by calling Audrey Railey, Georgia Governmental Program Coordinator at 404.629.3386 or 770.889.8887 *************************************************************

Emergency Utility Assistance Program! Here’s to Life, Inc has acquired funds to pay past due utility bills and will start accepting applications for eligible clients. Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements: Provide proof of positive HIV sero-status (Examples of acceptable documentation include HIV-positive Western blot test results, medical providers diagnosis and/or medical therapies prescribed by a medical provider) Reside within the twenty-county eligible metropolitan areas (Must match bill address or name must be on lease agreement) Have an income no greater than 300% of federal poverty level (Proof may include pay stubs, Department of Labor statement of income, SSI/SSD benefit letter, DFCS Summary, Unemployment initial statement) Be enrolled in primary medical care (examples of documentation include a letter from your physician or copy of prescriptions) This temporary assistance is provided on a first come, first serve. Funds provided through Ryan White Part A Funding. (Thanks Tracee McDaniel, Certified Peer and HIV/AIDS Assessment Counselor, Juxtaposed Center for Transformation, inc. for providing info on this resource.)

*************************************************************

Most Recent Job Opportunity listings: For job descriptions, details and qualifications; follow the contact or application instructions included below.

 

**********************************************************************

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK:

The Clock Has Arrived