Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2013)
I SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 18,2013 Words o f Christmas inspiration... The G od o f Surprise A certain Jewish baby, conceived out of wedlock, born into poverty in a backwater region o f the Roman Empire, is not only remembered but celebrated and worshiped more than 2000 years later. Surprise! The significance of that birth was announced by angels not to his parents, not to the governing authorities, but to no-count shepherds in the middle of nowhere. Surprise! That baby was the creator o f the universe, and yet he chose to put on human skin and experience suffering and insult and betrayal and an excruciating death he had the power to avoid. Surprise! That baby grew up to be an itinerant preacher with a short career and a reputation for hanging o u t w ith d e s p ic a b le characters and engaging in questionable behavior— sitting down to dinner with liars and cheats, feeding the hungry for free, forgiving the undeserving, healing on the wrong day of the week, c h a stisin g re sp ectab le re lig io u s a u th o ritie s , claiming God as father. No surprise: behavior like that got him killed. That baby had no place to lay his head right from the start, and not until the Friday he was laid to rest in a tomb— a temporary rest, followed by the greatest surprise of all: his Sunday eruption out of that tomb, when he burst forth from death into life. Every surprise— his birth, his m inistry, his death, his resurrection— was directed toward the same end: to teach us about God’s love, to free us from slavery to sin, and to restore our broken relationship with the God whose love for us, surprisingly, never ends. T h is C h r i s t m a s , consider celebrating the God o f Surprise with a little surprise of your own Give an unexpected gift The R eal C hristm as to someone who can’t (or won’t) gift you back. Love that Christ Child by loving your neighbor with the gift of a shoveled walk, or a loaf of bread, or a listening ear, or some other creative gift you haven’t thought of yet. Be a surprise, and then experience the surprise of being filled full with joy. “ May Jesus him self and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts o f u n en d in g h elp and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 The Message). Pastor Katy Anderson Hope Lutheran Church and All Saints Episcopal Church The shared ministry of Hope and All Saints will celebrate Christmas Eve at All Saints with a service of lessons and carols, candle lighting and communion beginning at 7 p.m. Luke 1:67-79—“Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand o f all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand o f our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’” (NK.JV) This prophecy, given by Zacharias, is commonly referred to as the benedictus. Zacharias had lost his voice when he doubted the angel of the Lord who told him that he and Elizabeth (his wife) would conceive and have a child in their old age. After Zacharias revealed the name John to the crowd, he was filled with the Holy S pirit and uttered this benediction after being given back his voice. John was only the forerunner to Christ. John was born approximately six months before Christ. Luke’s version of the benedictus reveals the reason why we celebrate the real Christmas. God gave us the gift o f His Son, conceived in Mary by the Holy S pirit (by God), before she knew a man. Jesus, as God’s only Son, would grow up, be crucified, and God would raise Him up on the third day, conquering death and sin and providing a way of salvation to those who put their faith and trust in Him. There are some who say that Christmas can mean many things to different beliefs. Some just call it a holiday. An atheist recently put up a beer cross. (I’m not sure of the meaning.) When I see these different ideas and statem ents, I thank God that we have the freedom to express all of these views. We should pray every day and thank our Creator (Jesus Christ) that we have the freedom to express the real meaning of Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior! Have a j o y - f i l l e d Christmas, Sam Bellamy H ep p n er C h ristia n Church Boardman 4-H club helps with Heppner TSA successful at tree lighting regional competition 20fl4 20t4 TSA TSA FLIGHT E NDURA NC E 201A TSA structural E N G IN E E R '** 0 « tructural e N G I N CBR|N0 Front: Rylee Wagoner, Jake Lindsay, Bryan Fowler, Daichi Walters, Kolby Currin and Kai Arbogast. Back: Kaelyn Lindsay, Tim Jaca, Logan Grieb, Jesse Boyd and Cade Arbogast. -Contributed photo The Boardman 4-H Community Club recently helped out at the Boardman Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tree Lighting event held Dec. 4. Pictured are (back) Emily Taylor, Taylor Hamby, Glaya Baker, Rex Neilson, (middle) Brianna Snyder, Isabella Ganvoa, Santa, Jared Snyder, (front) Megan Gilbertson, Makaila Lantis, Will Keefer and Cheryl Taylor. Not pictured: Malyssa Smith and Skylar Wightman. -Contributedphoto Agriculture is more than a business October 17: -Morrow County S heriff’s Office received report o f a dog b a rk in g for tw o days straight on Church St. in Heppner. A deputy checked the area and was unable to locate anything. -MCSO received report of a woman and a heavy set dark haired man in a white SUV with two antennas, possibly with the press trespassing on Depot Lane in Irrigon. -MCSO received report from an Irrigon woman that she was assaulted the previous day by an unknow n man possibly looking for her husband. .-M C SO r e c e iv e d report from someone with Term Loans. Lines of Credit. Commercial Real Estate Loans Hobby Farm Loans Member FD IC the Oregon Trail Library D is tric t th a t som eone had set up a camp on the creek behind the library in Heppner. -MCSO received report from a Heppner subject that dogs were being severely neglected at a residence. The caller said the dogs were tied up with no food, water or shelter. A deputy responded and determined that the dogs were healthy with plenty o f food and water. -M CSO, B oardm an A m bulance, Boardm an F ire re c e iv e d re q u e s t for an ambulance for an 81 -year-old male with chest pains and having trouble breathing in Boardman. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available and that help Is FREE of charge. Heppner 541-676-9125 lone 541-422-7466 w w w .b e o b a n k .c o m The task in Structural Engineering was to build a beam truss that would hold as much weight as possible but be as light as possible. Manufacturing Prototype challenged the students to design and build 20 Christmas toys. H eppner designed and produced a Race Car Board Game. The toys were then divided up among all the team s c o m p e tin g and donated to charity. Students used skills learned in class and spent many hours outside of class time at TSA work sessions to prepare for the events. The next competition is Feb. 27 and will include Architectural Renovation, Lego Robotic, 3D Modeling and Promotional Graphics. T he la s t re g io n a l competition is May 1 with Fashion Design, Dragster Design and Technology Problem Solving. A number of Heppner’s TSA students, along with advisor Dave Fowler, are beginning their plans for attending the National TSA Competition in Washington, DC held June 2014. Sheriff’s Report The fe e lin g you g e t w hen you look a cro ss a f ie ld a t a crop you p u t in th e ground. T h at's th e s p ir it o f a gricu ltu re. We believe in a gricu ltu re. We invest in it. Get you r ag loan s fr o m us. nm Joe Perry Loan Officer The Heppner T e c h n o lo g y S tu d e n t A s s o c ia tio n C h a p te r competed in three events on Thursday, Dec. 12, at Blue Mountain Community College. The Heppner team won first and second place in Flight Endurance, second and third place in Structural Engineering, and second place in M anufacturing Prototype. F lig h t E n d u ra n c e involves building a rubber- band powered airplane and getting it to fly as long as possible. Russell Seewald Loan Officer Bank o f LENDER If Y O U h ave a fam ily m em b er w ho suffers from gam bling addiction, Y O U can also receive F R E E treat m ent even if the g am bler is not receiving treatm ent. If you are a resident of M orrow County and you wish to take ad van tag e of th e services ab ove or d e sire m ore inform ation. P lease call any of the following num bers to set up a L O C A L appointm ent or just to talk: Bobby H arris Q 5 4 1 -6 7 6 -9 9 2 5 or 5 4 1 -2 5 6 -0 1 7 5 Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) <St 541-676-9161 The patient was transported by am bulance to Good S h ep h erd H o sp ita l in Hermiston. -MCSO received report that M ultnomah County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jean Jacquez Blondeau, 43, on a Morrow County Circuit Court warrant for Failure to Appear/Possession of M etham phetam ine. He was lodged at Multnomah County Jail with $10,000 bail. -MCSO received report o f su sp ic io u s a c tiv ity on H om estead Lane in B oardm an. The c a lle r advised that his daughter saw an older white Dodge pickup pull up to their shop and another subject came over and got in the vehicle. A deputy responded, but was unable to locate the vehicle. -MCSO received report from a man in Irrigon that someone hit his car while it was parked at the Irrigon Shell. MCSO responded. -MCSO received report from an Irrigon man that an -C ontinued on PAGE TE1N
