Newspaper Page Text
December 7, 2022
Page 3B
SSsSSi,
Reporter
CHURCH CALENDAR
Email church calendar news to Diane Glidewell at news^mymcr.net by Monday
at 1 0 a.m. Church information is published free of charge as space permits.
Dec. 11, 18, 24, 25
First Baptist of High Falls
presents "God With Us"
series
First Baptist Church of High Falls,
4408 High Falls Road, invites
everyone to enjoy a specia
series of messages entitled “God
With Us” on Sundays during
December (Dec, 11, 1 8) at 11
a.m. and Dec. 25 at 10 a.m.
plus a Christmas Eve Candlelight
Service at 5 p.m. The Sunday
messages will focus on God
With Us Brings Hope, Love, Joy
and Peace.
A remarkable thing happened
that first Christmas. Jesus was
born as Immanuel - which means
“God with us." The messages
remind us that God is still with
us, bringing hope, joy, love
and peace - in all circumstanc
es. Start a new tradition and
dive deeper into the meaning
behind Christmas and learn
more about God s love for you
and your family!
Dec. 11
Bethany Baptist presents
Christmas cantata with
live nativity
The Adult Choir of Bethany
Baptist Church, 365 Pea Ridge
Road, Juliette will present the
Christmas cantata, “Meet Me at
the Manger’ on Sunday, Dec.
1 1 at 1 1 a.m. and at 6 p.m. The
6 p.m. performance will be out
doors at Prim s Pasture, 40 Pea
Ridge Road and will feature a
five nativity. The event is free to
the community. Call 478-974-
0002 for more information.
Community service at
Christ UMC
Christ United Methodist Church,
417 No. Frontage Road, Forsyth
will have a community worship
service with special music,
including Heartsong & Friends,
and lots of deserts on Sunday,
Dec. 1 1 at 6 p.m.
Dec. 14
Food Distribution
at Christ UMC
The Circle of Care Mobile Food
Distribution at Christ United
Methodist Church, 417 N.
Frontage Road, Forsyth will be
on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 10
am-1 2 noon.
Dec. 18
Lessons & Carols, Com
munion & Candlelight
service at Forsyth Pres
byterian
Forsyth Presbyterian Church,
63 N. Jackson St., will host a
Service of Lessons and Carols,
Communion and Candlelight on
Sunday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. All
are invited.
Dec. 27
St. James Baptist hosts
Food Distribution
St. James Baptist Church, 1 10
James Street, Forsyth will host
a Mobile Food Distribution on
Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 10 a.m.
Ongoing
First Baptist Forsyth has
Lunch & Learn
First Baptist Forsyth, 95 West
Morse Street will begin a Lunch
& Learn program on Thursday,
Sept. 1 that will meet in the
Fellowship Hall every 1st & 3rd
Thursday. All ages are welcome.
Pastor Dr. Hambric Brooks will
lead Bible Study. Gather for
coffee and fellowship at 1 1:30
a.m. Bible study and lunch will
begin at 12 noon. Participants
are encouraged to bring a sack
lunch. It will be an interac
tive study where dialogue is
encouraged, and discussion and
guestions are welcomed. Bring
your Bible.
Bread & Blessings food
pantry is open at Betha
ny Baptist
The Bread & Blessing food pan
try is open at the fellowship hall
of Bethany Baptist Church, 365
Pea Ridge Road, Bolingbroke
every Monday from 10 a.m.-12
noon. There are a variety of
shelf stable items available for
families who need them. For
more information, call 478-974-
0002.
Rocky Creek Bapt.Church
Motorcycle
Ministry Community
Breakfast
The Rocky Creek Motorcycle
Ministry hosts a community
breakfast every 2nd Saturday
of the month at 9am, and all are
invited to attend. Rocky Creek
Baptist Church 225 Rocky
Creek Rd., Forsyth.
Rock Springs Clinic
The Rock Springs Church Health
Clinic in Forsyth is open every
Wednesday from 8:30 a.m.-
noon. New patient consultations
are available at 1 p.m. on the
2nd and 4th Wednesday of
each month. The clinic is near
Monroe County Hospital at
100 MLK Jr. Drive; the phone
number is 478-992-9581.
Jan. 26
Monroe Co. Ministerial
Association
The Monroe County Ministeria
Association meets monthly at
Christ United Methodist Church,
417 N. Frontage Road, Forsyth.
The Ministerial Association will
meet at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday,
Jan. 26. Ministers at all churches
in the Monroe County area
are welcome. The Ministeria
Association meetings are an
opportunity for ministers to share
information about opportunities
in the community and to work
together on projects that ben
efit the community, like aiding
travelers who need assistance,
sponsoring the Mary Persons
baccalaureate, organizing the
annual National Day of Prayer
program, contributing weekly
articles to the Reporter’s Pastor’s
Corner and working with King
dom Builders to assist with home
repairs.
Nooks named to national board
By Karolina Philmon
GSC Marketing Manager
Gordon State College
President Dr. Kirk A.
Nooks has been selected to
serve on the 2023 Amer
ican Association of State
Colleges and Uni
versities (AASCU)
Board of Directors
where he will
play a significant
role in guiding its
strategic direction.
President Nooks
was introduced
and voted into the
full membership
during AASCU’s
2022 Annual
Conference in
Carlsbad, Califor
nia on Nov. 13-15.
Nooks lives in
Monroe County,
has children in
Monroe County schools
and is a graduate of the
2020 Leadership Monroe
Class.
“Our Highlander Nation
at Gordon State College
believes in the values
that AASCU represents.
I’m honored to serve as
director for AASCU where
I will continue to provide
stewardship that empowers
regional economic devel
opment, foster innovative
strategies, and be proactive
in working to understand
the
needs of
our stu
dents
and
com
munity’
Nooks
said.
Ac
cording
to its
official
website,
AASCU
elevates
and
trans
forms member institutions
through effective public
policy and leadership to
enable its members to drive
regional economic mobility
through student access and
success while helping to
solve their communities’
most pressing challenges.
Their mission includes to
expand student access, suc
cess and opportunity, pro
mote world-class teaching
and experiential learning
tied to career advance
ment, and support applied
research and service that
advances economic devel
opment and quality of life
in communities across the
country.
President Nooks has
partnered with AASCU
on several projects and
programs in the past
including serving on the
Millennium Leadership
Initiative (MLI) board. The
MLI is a premier leader
ship development program
that provides individuals
traditionally underrepre
sented in the highest rank
of higher education the
opportunity to develop
skills, gain a philosophical
overview and build the
network needed to advance
to the presidency.
AASCU represents and
is the voice of nearly 400
public colleges, universities
and systems.
Dr. Kirk A. Nooks
CHURCH PAGE MA
Spotlight on Local Churches
PASTOR’S CORNER by Rev. Marilyn Tucker-Marek
Fatherhood is about
providing love, support
& presence to children
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah
took place in this way. When his mother
Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but
before they lived together, she was found to
be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her
husband Joseph, being a righteous man
and unwilling to expose her
to public disgrace, planned to
dismiss her quietly. 20 But just
when he had resolved to do this,
an angel of the Lord appeared
to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David, do not
be afraid to take Mary as your
wife, for the child conceived
in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will bear a son, and you
are to name him Jesus, for he
will save his people from
their sins!’ 22 All this took
place to fulfill what had
been spoken by the Lord through the
prophet:
23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and
bear a son, and they shall name him
Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with
us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he
did as the angel of the Lord commanded
him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had
no marital relations with her until she had
borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
- Matthew 1:18-25
k "^hat must a good father
% / provide? Based on my
1/ 1/ own experience I would
V V suggest a good father
provides love, support and presence.
I know not everyone has experienced
love, support and presence from their fa
thers, and I know many people who have
received these things from men who
were not biologically related to them.
Fatherhood is about so much more than
passing on genes.
Joseph’s betrothal to Mary meant the
two were already legally married, even
though the marriage would not be
complete until the day of the wedding
feast when Mary would move from
her father’s house to Joseph’s. But what
was supposed to be simply a matter of
formality and cultural practice has now
turned into a big fat mess. Joseph is a
righteous man, and righteous men in his
day didn’t marry women already preg
nant by someone else.
Joseph, as a righteous man, had op
tions: he could divorce Mary quietly, re
fusing to marry her with as little fuss and
Rev. Marilyn Tucker-Marek
humiliation for them both as possible.
He could have charged her with adultery
before the entire community, and de
manded her death according to Levitical
law. What Joseph probably didn’t think
of as an option for a righteous man was
mari T in g her anyway and
omnK choosing to become a father
^ ' to her child. In his time he
wouldn’t have been respected
for that; he would have been
shamed and humiliated.
But God knows that father
hood is about much more
than passing on genes. Fa
therhood is about providing
love, support and presence; in
a word, fatherhood is about
being in relationship
with a child. So God
offers Joseph some
comfort, you haven’t been betrayed, for
the child conceived in Mary is from the
Holy Spirit.
And God offers another option: take
Mary as your wife, she will bear a son,
and you are to name him Jesus. By
naming the child, Joseph will take on the
role of the child’s father. By naming the
child Jesus, Joseph will fulfill God’s will.
By naming the child Jesus, which means
“the one who saves,” Joseph will give
the world the first sign that this boy will
fulfill the words of the prophets of old,
he will save his people from their sins,
starting with his own father and mother.
By naming him Jesus, Joseph let faith
in God save him from his fear, his hu
miliation, his shame. By naming the boy
Jesus, Joseph showed God was doing a
new thing among the people. God was
calling men to be righteous by adopting
children as their very own, by refusing
to allow their culture to dictate the only
righteous options open to them, by
standing with the oppressed, instead of
continuing the system of oppression.
We celebrate Joseph as the father of Je
sus, because Joseph, like all good fathers,
chose to be a father, and his choice had
nothing to do with passing on his genes.
Rev. Marilyn Tucker Marek is pastor of
Forsyth Presbyterian Church, 63 N.
Jackson Street. The Pastors Corner is
sponsored by the Monroe County Ministe
rial Association. The Ministerial Associa
tion meets on 4th Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
at Christ UMC, 417 N. Frontage Road,
Forsyth.
Forsyth student competes in
Disinformation Chal
Natalie Pippin of Forsyth was part
of an 11-student team from the Universi
ty of North Georgia (UNG) that won its
topic stream in the international Coun
tering Disinformation Challenge hosted
virtually Oct. 21 by the William & Mary
Innovation Challenge and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The UNG students crafted potential
solutions for battling disinformation in
the Russia-Ukraine War. UNG won the
Alpha Stream against teams from Oxford
University, Keele University, the Ameri
can University in Cairo, and Nottingham
Trent.
DE POSSIBLE BY:
UNG's team nad a strong mix of
students pursuing degrees in political
science, international affairs, and strate
gic and security studies, Team members
included Gabriela Ocasio, Ella Reid,
Natalie Pippin, Autumn Coan, Odahia
Carrasco, Michelle Borosak, Avery John
son, Mohini Devadath, Jessica Case, and
Nathanael Hines.
"We turned a simple idea into a full-
fledged proposal," Bartlett said. "It was
interesting to see how everyone could
collaborate and look at the pros and
cons."
AVOID BACK SURGERY
•8 DISC
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• FORSYTH
DR. GARY BIGGS
Voted Best of Monroe County 2022 Best Chiropractor by readers of the Reporter
255 Tift College Drive • Forsyth • 478-994-1562
www.ForsythDiscCenter.com Bi
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BE SEEN TODAY!
We cater to PRE-SURGICAL
Back Pain Patients
that are considering spinal
injections OR back surgery.
Freeman Funeral home
A name that can be trusted for funeral and burial arrangements
26 Brentwood Place • Forsyth
994-6483 • 994-6576
“Servicing Each Family With Equal Respect”
Lee’s Haircutting
Lee Smith
994-1666
Mon - Fri 10 to 7
...Unless Playing Golf
WBIB-FM 89.1
Forsyth-based Christian Radio
Believers in Broadcasting
478-957-9164
www.wbibfm.com
We are here to serve the
local church and community.
Sunday morning local sermon schedule:
9 a.m. Dayspring Presbyterian Church
10 a.m. Rock Springs Church
11 a.m. New Providence Baptist Church
facebook.com/believersinbroadcasting
r ANIMAL^
MEDICAL
CLINIC
w r
Dr. Brandon Pinson
Ready to Meet
Your Pet Needs
• Boarding • Bathing
• Medical Management
• Wellness & Preventive
• After Hrs. & Emergency
60 S. Jackson St, * Forsyth, GA ♦ 478-994-4986
Voted 2014 Best Veterinarian by readers of the Reporter
Quality & Compassionate Care
Owned & Operated
by a Licensed Nurse Practitioner
CAROUSEL
HOME CARE
PERSONAL CARE HOME FACILITY
"Care with dignity and love"
478-994-3694
173 S. Lee Street
Forsyth, GA 31029
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