Bay Shore Church - Sermons and News from Bay Shore Community Congregational Church in Belmont Shore, California.

Our community outreach project provides hand-made items for the Christmas families, Woman to Woman shelter, and homeless of Long Beach. We have several blankets completed, ranging from baby to adult size, and we need more! There is no set type – each of us chooses our own pattern, yarn, and size.  Some are also making booties and caps for babies and children. We work on our own and gather at Church the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month 10:00 a.m. – Noon. We bring our own lunch and share our progress, help each other, and get new ideas! Some are Church members, some are friends in the community, and some cannot join us on Wednesday but work on their own at home.

Please join us in our “Blessings from Bay Shore” project to bring warmth and caring to those who need it most in our very own community. Riding in a car, boat, or watching TV are great times to knit or crochet, so get those needles out and start stitching! Bring your completed blankets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday or to the church office. Call Linda Landes with any questions. Deadline for completed projects is Sunday, Nov. 30.

Sunday School Lesson for Sunday, November 2
Bible Story: Abram follows God’s direction (Genesis 12:1- 8).
Key Verse: Trust in God with all your heart; in all your ways acknowledge him (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Bible Point: We can always trust God.

Middle School Youth Group – 6-2-8 Thursday Night
Are you in 6th, 7th, or 8th  grade?  If you are, please join us on Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Youth Center for Fun, Food and Fellowship.

Costume party Thursday, October 30th!! Contact Traci Reitz with questions or for details at.

Thursday Morning Bible Study
The last session for the Beth Moore Psalms Bible Study will be Thursday, November 6. Please contact Laura Tschudin to inquire about upcoming Bible studies.

Entertainment Books Benefit Christian Education
We are again selling Long Beach and Orange County Entertainment Books, and all profits support our Christian Education programs. Books are available after church. A few visits to the movies with $6 coupons, and one or two restaurant dinners, and the book pays for itself! Questions? Call Kathy Walczak, or ask her at the sales table on Sunday.

The Bay Shore Church recently received the following thank you.

Pacific School of Religion wishes to express gratitude for your gift of $1000 dated September 29, 2008 and designated toward student scholarships. Please convey our thanks to all the members of your congregation for joining in partnership with Pacific School of Religion to prepare those who will lead communities in transformative ministries of compassion and justice. Your financial support will continue to encourage the work of our faculty and students. Once again, thank you for your support.

Cordially, Paul Extrum-Fernandez
Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Have you been thinking about the holidays coming up? Maybe you have also experienced the loss of a loved one which makes the holidays more difficult. Come join a group of people, who will share their experiences, ideas, hope, and help you with your “journey through grief.” For more information, please call Diane Elledge.

We extend our sympathy to George White and Diane Donaldson on the death of George’s mother in Connecticut.

Rich Elliott, all caregivers, those strug-gling with finances, Liz, Susan, Carmen Sperry, Ted & Billie Anderson, Aubrey, Courtney, peace, God’s love, protection, & healing for all the lost, abandoned, abused & endangered creatures of our Earth, teach us to love & care for them, Scout, Robert A., Brett J., the leaders of our church, Rebecca, Sam Young, Niko, Sasha Svimanoff, Adra Kober, Barbara Joel, Bud Kilsby, all those making personal sacrifices in the effort to  bring peace to the people of Afghanistan & Iraq, Doug Incledon, Molly McCarty, soul of Michael Betts, Pilgrim Pines leadership, equal rights for all people, before & after the election, Lyle Holm, Bob Olson, Mark C., Jim C., Dennis Endert, Kirsten & Drew, Marissa Sill, John Armstrong, Phyllis Johnson, Robert Baker, Betty Outten, Laurie Turley, Ray, Tillie Baker, Martin Dekker, Diane Halverson, Aimee & Derek Nobs, Jason, Ed & Betty, Tracey Condon, Brian Edmonds, Patty Torba, Linda Hoff, Susan Quinn, Liz Carlton, Cody Waters, soul of Kathy Busse, Sam Busse, Jean Glen, Mike Prencavage, Dorothy Wallace, Bill Capstick, Violette Stephenson, Daphne Munzer, doctors treating the ails of our friends & family, thanks to God for answered prayers, God’s Grace, infinite love & the promise of each new day, souls of Uncle Rosie, Al Schilling, Bill Eastman, Lorne Ryan.

We will NOT be reading blue prayer cards this Sunday. Instead, we will be reading from white cards the names of those who have died in the past year.

9:30a.m. Worship – Sunday School – Nursery

The Rev. Charles Ensley’s Sermon:
“HOW ARE MOURNERS BLEST?”
In the Beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” How are they blest,  by whom, and what does this say to the memory of their loved ones on this All Saints’ Sunday?

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 5:1-12
Lay Reader: Nancy Forsberg

Early prelude by Ellie Choate – harp
Chancel Choir anthems: Give Me Jesus and Cantique de Jean Racine

Memorial Prayers and Sacrament of Communion

5:00 p.m. All Saints’ Vesper Service
A quiet service in Gabrielson Chapel with evening hymns, in which you may light a candle
for anyone who has died.

Megan O’Toole’s solo: Abide With Me

Bay Shore Community Congregational Church
5100 The Toledo
Long Beach, California 90803-5539

Rev. Charles E. Ensley, Jr.
Senior Minister
revcee@bayshorechurch.org

Church Office: Tel (562) 433-0401 Fax (562) 433-5078
Bayshorechurch@aol.com
www.bayshorechurch.org

This Sunday’s Activities
8:30 – Chancel Choir Rehearsal
9:30 – Worship, Sunday School & Nursery
10:45 – Alternative Christmas Market at Fellowship Hour
11:00 – Sunday Ringers Rehearsal
11:00 – Children’s Choir Rehearsal
11:00 – Bay Shore 2010 Committee
5:00 – All Saint’s Vesper Service

Flowers on the altar are given by Ruth Hauser in loving memory of her husband John Hauser, who left to join our Lord on January 19, 2007. John is home at last.

Greeters are: Silvia Barger & Marjorie Rivera

Lay Reader: Nancy Forsberg
Nancy has attended Bay Shore Church for 10 years and has been a member for 6 years. She has lived in Long  Beach 30 years. Nancy enjoys the Sunday worship services and serving on the Parish Outreach Commission. Her family includes her husband Eric, sons Kevin and Cameron, daughter Keri, and granddaughter Hope. Nancy is a homemaker, and she enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, walking her dog, KC, and spending time with her family.

Date: October 5, 2008
Minister: Rev. Charles E. Ensley, Jr.

Lesson: Matthew 21:33-46

 

 "We Are the World" [10:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (18)

Date: September 28, 2008
Minister: Rev. Charles E. Ensley, Jr.

Lesson: Philippians 2:1-13

 

 "Regard Others as Better Than Yourselves" [12:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10)

Last week in this space I was going to write about our experience looking for a church to worship in while on vacation.  However, Laura Tschudin’s letter she sent me about looking for a church in Las Vegas was a thousand times more compelling than my story.

I look forward to sitting next to my wife in worship three or four times a year when I am on vacation.  And I look forward to being led in worship, versus being the one “up front” leading the service.  In the “old days” I would phone a church, but nowadays I type the church name into Google and look for their website.  While we were in Palm Desert earlier this month, I checked the websites to two churches I was interested in attending.  We had been to both previously, but I couldn’t remember the worship hours.  One church still had its summer worship times posted, though it was the second week in October.  The other church did not specify the difference between the services—traditional, blended or contemporary; choir singing or not.  One church had a link to the newsletter, but it was the summer issue; the other had only the September issue.  One church had biographies of all the staff, except for the senior minister, who had been there a while.

This is a good lesson for all of us who have some responsibility for websites.  My responsibility is posting my sermon online each Sunday after worship, making sure the listing of services on the calendar tab is up-to-date, and sending the Carillon to the webmaster.

Websites are how people look for information nowadays for nearly everything, including churches.  Our website received 604 hits in the past month.  I noticed an uptick just after the weekend.  Maybe that was persons looking at the sermon online.  Many of the couples who call for wedding information have already looked at our website.  For a memorial service last week, the family suggested people look for directions on our website.  In August, when we had church members die over two weekends, I announced their deaths in worship on Sunday before I could meet with their families to plan their services.  So I told the congregation they could click on the calendar tab, where I would post the time for the memorial service as soon as I knew it, which would be earlier then when folks received the Carillon.  And I imagine many of the candidates we are considering for Associate Minister have already checked out our website to learn about our church.

Almost all websites need some updating, ours included.  But they are sure more current than most anything else we can use to tell our story!
Senior Minister