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