This Past Weekend's Announcements...UPDATED

Please Keep the Following People and Concerns in Your Prayers This Week

Seek healing for: Lois Simmons; Mel Simmons; Brittany Smith; Paul Niehaus; Tessie Witkowski; Alberta Collingwood; Charlene Hauke; Vic Feine; Ruth Fiegenschuh; John Krueger (uncle of Jan Witkowski); Alena, granddaughter of Dara and Pete Wagner; Jerry Rogers; Franny Bishop; Bonnie (a friend of Carol Barrett’s); Allyn; John Clough; Sarah Russell; Susan Frejofsky; Ross Hudson; Angie Satterfield (Vic Fay’s sister); Nick Wimmers; another Angie (friend of Carol Barrett); Courtney DeMoss; Cheyann Fletcher; Jim Tenbrink (father of Betsy DeVore); Eileen Martin (sister of Tim Toerner); Kristina Erdmann; Sheron (a friend of Judy Toerner); Veldonna Agee; Gracie Cress; Jason Hauke; Brian Collins; Allie Meckstroth; Jessica Niehaus; Pat Sidwell; Doug, who needs protection from addictions; and Lindsay Bond. (If you have names to add to or delete from the list, let Mark Daniels know via email or by telephone.

Please pray for all in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ask God to bless the efforts of our youth group as they plan and prepare for their Week of Hope misision trip in June, 2007.

Ask God to bless Sinanzinkosi Moyo, the Zimbabwean girl our congregation sponsors through World Vision. Our sponsorship helps Sinanzinkosi and her fellow villagers to have schools, clean drinking water, and the opportunity to know and follow Jesus.

Pray God’s guidance for all world leaders and that their wills will be open to that guidance.

Pray for Friendship, asking God to help us to be faithful in our mission of reaching out to others with the love of Jesus and thereby experience growth in faith, love, unity, outreach, prayer, discipleship, giving, numbers of disciples, numbers of worshipers.

Pray for our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asking God to grant the same sort of growth to our entire denomination that we seek for Friendship.

FRIENDSHIP FOLKS HAVE BEEN A BIG HELP TO CLERMONT CASA FOR KIDS! Our help is needed again. We’re conducting another drive for items to go into diaper bags. But only a few items are needed at this time:
diaper bags
sleepers
baby shampoo
baby lotion
baby wipes
baby wash
age appropriate toys (0-12 months)
small rolling suitcase
large onesies (24 months and up)
age appropriate toys (18-36 months)
Please bring in your items over the next three weeks, no later than February 18. Thanks so much. You can ease the transitions of children taken into foster care by creating these wonderful care packages!

The staff of Clermont County Counseling Center are deeply moved and grateful to the people of Friendship for so generously allowing them to once more use our building facilities for their quarterly staff gathering. When they hear that we’re grateful that God has given us this building to share with the community, they marvel at how grateful Christian people act. You’re to be commended for sharing Christ’s love in so practical and meaningful a way!

LENT, A TIME FOR SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, BEGINS WITH ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP at 7:00PM ON FEBRUARY 21. We’ll once more have our Wednesday Soup and Salad gatherings during Lent. Daily devotionals will be provided, built around the theme: Making Room for Jesus. Thanks to Rochelle Feine and Betsy DeVore for coordinating these gatherings! (By the way, if you’d like to help pay for the materials used during the Lenten season, add another $1.00 to your offering. That should cover costs and shipping.)

What shape are YOU in?

What do you know about your personality “shape”? Are you a good at reading body language or do you like for people to be direct? Do you get excited by new ideas or do you prefer to finish old business first? Do you make quick decisions or do you like to work by group consensus? Do you like to be busy or would you rather see your “in-box” empty at the end of each day??

People have different styles that they use when interacting in teams, when working one-on-one with others, and when making decisions. On February 4th, after our Sunday Worship Service, Tim Vogel will be presenting a fun and light-hearted workshop to help you discover the Shape of Your Personality. This is the first of several workshops the Servanthood Team is arranging to help us find our niche in the greater community and as a member of this serving congregation.

This workshop will end by 12:30. Refreshments and childcare provided!

Holy Communion is now offered at Friendship at least three times a month. It happens during worship celebrations on the second Sundays of each month and every other Saturday. This is part of our long-time vision of having multiple worship services each week, eventually affording the opportunity to share the Sacrament during at least one of them each week.

What is GoDeep? It’s a worship celebration that consists of a brief time of prayer and an indepth look at a passage of Scripture. It takes place at 5:30 P.M. on most Saturdays. Make sure that you invite friends who might not be able to make it on Sundays or who want to go a little deeper in their faith.

We need folks to help every Sunday morning as greeters, Bible lesson readers, fellowship refreshment providers/servers, and ushers. We also need Holy Communion assistants. Judy Toerner has the sign-up sheets for our Sunday morning ministries.

You can find Mark Daniels’ Sunday messages, Community Press columns, and other writings on his web log (blog) here.

Youth ministry news can be found on The Friendship Youth Blog. It's here.

Want to know more of the background behind the Bible lessons used in Sunday morning worship? Want to get more out of the Sunday message and worship experience? Mark Daniels meets each Sunday morning at 9:00 A.M. to delve more deeply into the Biblical passages and themes around which Friendship’s weekly worship is built. Plan on being with us.

Those wishing to use Friendship’s building facilities are asked to fill out the yellow, half-page request forms you can find in the lobby, tacked to the church activities bulletin board.

Friendship’s Mission Statement:

Friendship Church is a welcoming and caring people who seek to share the kindness of God so that all metropolitan Cincinnati may grow in the faith, hope, and love of Jesus Christ!”

Friendship’s Vision:
1. Exalt the Lord
2. Each One Reach One
3. Engage in Service
4. Expand Your Vision