Several years ago, the small group my husband and I belong to began an adventure in healing prayer as we made a group decision to follow Francis McNutt’s teaching on “soaking prayer” (McNutt is an internationally-recognized leader in healing ministry). Our son Joel, who has autism, was a teenager at the time. Sky-rocketing anxiety disrupted Joel’s life at home, at school, and in public. Group members came to our home on a regular basis to anoint Joel and lay hands upon him, praying for peace and a healing of his neurological system.

Change came slowly, but after a year of soaking prayer, we began to see major improvements in Joel’s behavior. Anxiety lessened, manic swings evened out, aggression virtually disappeared, and our family began to sleep through the night for the first time in seven years.

Our faith deepened, we decided to continue our adventure by studying Authority to Heal, by Ken Blue. Blue says that the “essential motive” in praying for the sick is that Jesus commands it. He writes, “I had read the Bible for fifteen years but had never noticed that when Jesus told his disciples to preach the kingdom of God, he also commanded them to heal the sick and to cast out demons (Lk 9:1-2; 10:8 -9; Mt.10:7-8; Mk. 6:12-13).” This book was an excellent introduction to the Scriptural basis for healing ministry.

Our group began to branch out by not only laying hands on Joel and on one another, but by praying for others in need of healing who crossed our paths. We met several times with a man with brain cancer. Some of us began attending CHPC’s healing service to pray for people there. One of us traveled to Jamaica with Bridge for Peace, an international healing ministry. The following year, two of us traveled with Bridge for Peace to Uganda, and then to Ghana, laying hands on the sick, casting out evil, and preaching the Kingdom of God.

Like all those before us who have embarked on this adventure in healing prayer, we saw over and over again God’s power working through our prayers. Testimony after testimony spoke to the fact that Jesus does give us, his followers, “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” and sends us out “to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:1-2). We learned you can’t separate the healing from the preaching – they are one and the same!

This winter we’re continuing our study with Francis McNutt’s books, The Power to Heal and Healing. McNutt writes, “Think of what it might mean if the entire church could make the claim to those who honestly inquire about her credentials: “Go back and tell the doubters what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life; the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me (a paraphrase of Luke 7:22-23).” Can you imagine how the world might respond to that claim?

A video was shown on October 26, 2008 at the annual Congregational Meeting with overviews of our various departments: Community Relational Outreach, Children, Youth, Worship & the Arts, 3C's Nursery & Kindergarten, and Care & Counseling.

It was enjoyed so much that by popular demand we are bringing it to the congregation.

Just click on the pink circular icon to the right of the video you would like to watch.

If you click on the Archive tab, you have the option

• to download the video as an MP4
• view the artwork associated with it
• leave a comment and
• email it to a friend

Notice on the bottom of the player that you may also

• subscribe to them as Podcasts
• or view them on your mobile phone

All of these options are available on the sermon player as well.

This church’s fifth and sixth grade Sunday school class is awesome.

In November, Susan Koch had come to the class and told them about the Deacons’ Christmas drive. After Susan left, they agreed to bring in some presents, but they could not agree on the number to which they were willing to commit.

So we asked: “Can we do more than 20?” They said: “Oh yes!”
“Can we do more than 25?” “Oh, yes!” came the answer.
“Can we do more than 30?” “No, no!” Not everyone thought we could.
“More than 26?” “Yes, but no more than 27!” So the goal was 27.

Richard Proudfit, interviewed on CNN last month, was asked why he should take on the mindboggling task of seeing that every malnourished child in the world receive adequate food. At the time, he was supervising delivery of food to Christian organizations in Haiti.

His smiling answer was, “It’s my Nineveh!
I don’t want to end up in the belly of a whale!”’

Remember Jonah? God told him to preach to the sinners in Nineveh, and Jonah hopped onto a boat going in the other direction. He thought Nineveh deserved God’s wrath, not His mercy. God arranged for a mighty storm and sent Jonah into the belly of a great fish, where he had lots of time to think. He got the message: disobedience is not pleasing to our Maker!

What’s your Nineveh? For one group at CHPC, it’s Treehouse Learning Center. We’ve heeded the warning, best expressed by County Coroner O’dell Owens. He said in a speech, “Tell me how many 4th graders are failing this year, and I’ll tell you how many jail cells we’re going to need in 10 - 15 years.” Treehouse volunteers work with 1st - 4th graders from College Hill schools on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to help them with their homework. We want to make a difference!

Would you like to donate your time or goods to Treehouse? If you have the time, perhaps you’d like to tutor or straighten up our supplies or read to the children. Maybe you’d like to purchase some books for the library, or pick up a pack of pencils or erasers for the students to use. Perhaps you could put Treehouse on your regular prayer list. Contact Chris Miller at 541-5676.

Find your Nineveh, wherever it is! ~ Sue Baker

Take a look at these photos; they show people of different races, ages and genders. What you can’t see is that they care for one another and want to live faithful lives dedicated to the Lord.

Over fifty Session elders, deacons and CHPC staff came together last Friday evening and all day Saturday to take a good hard look at CHPC’s Vision. Appropriately, they gathered at Higher Ground, a retreat center in West Harrison, Indiana.

It was definitely “on the upward way” as everyone was inspired by Pastor Drew’s take on the Vision and then spent most of Saturday talking in small groups about their understanding of it - including excitements and concerns. Those thoughts were then shared with the larger group.

Midway through Saturday morning, everyone was invited to The Barn. Prayer stations had been set up which brought key elements of the vision home as folks were challenged to see how it related practically to their lives.

In a real sense, the Vision was lived out during the retreat as it spanned all kinds of natural boundaries. It was a community ready “to spread its dreams of beauty into darkness.”

We are on the journey of becoming a Jubilee Community – connecting with one another in reconciled relationships. I’m excited about our continued growth as we live out God’s Kingdom together. In January and February, we will continue this work through several special events and a sermon series called The Gospel in Black and White. It’s all part of an über-series on Reconciliation.

The Gospel in Black and White will entail sharing worship services with three of the African-American churches in the community: Winton Hills Community(PCUSA), House of Joy, and First Baptist of West College Hill.

This November, the students of CRASH Ministries raised $700 - exceeding their goal of $500 - for the Invisible Children Fund! This is the World Vision ministry that helps children coping with the civil war in Uganda. In December, they were met with another challenge.

The students were encouraged to raise money to buy Christmas gifts for people in underdeveloped countries through another World Vision program. They were also blessed by an anonymous donor that offered to match the money raised up to $100. So the students started bringing in their money.

For five weeks, teenagers sacrificed buying things for themselves so they could help people in need. They gave up the occasional pop or candy bar. They stopped going to coffee shops and getting their favorite drink. They sacrificed in many ways and through their self-denial and generosity and the matching of a generous person, they were able to raise $285!

Through this immense sacrifice, the students of CRASH ministries were able to purchase the following:

• 1 share of a fresh-water well, which will provide clean drinking water for a village.
• 10 fruit trees
• 5 ducks
• 1 goat
• seeds for planting crops

We are proud of the students in CRASH ministries, and we look forward to what God is doing and will continue to do in and through our teenagers. All glory to God!

~ Shawn Smith, Youth Intern

One of the more controversial amendments to come up in General Assembly this spring was the new Amendment B (see text box) which is coming up for a vote in presbytery in February. The wording of the amendment strikes the words “fidelity and chastity” and no longer defines marriage as between a man and woman.

While we must remain true to Scriptures, we should also care about those who struggle with sexual issues. A seminar on January 13 is coming to the Cincinnati area that will focus on the issues of broken sexual identity.

OneByOne exists to provide on-site education and training for Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations. Their goal is to equip church leaders and members to understand and provide compassionate, Christ-centered pastoral care for individuals struggling with their sexuality. Speakers include Presbyterians who have experienced healing of their own sexual identity, behavior, and orientation, as well as PCUSA pastors who have supported such individuals in their quest to live in obedience to the biblical and confessional standards affirmed by the PCUSA.

	Rev. Kristin Johnson Tremba: This daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers is an accomplished young woman having graduated with an Minister of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Seminary after obtaining her BA from Anderson and Columbia Universities. She serves as the Executive Director of OnebyOne and also travels as a speaker sharing the story of her own transformation from sexual brokenness. Read her story here.
	Rev. Brad Grammer has bridged the gap between the Church and the gay community for many years. As director of Face-to-Face Ministries in Chicago from 1992 to 1998, Brad reached out to male prostitutes. Through support groups and personal discipleship, he is helping men and women in bondage to sexual sin and addiction. Brad educates the public on the root issues of sexual dysfunction and the path to freedom often sharing his own story of transformation. Read his story here.
	If you are concerned about this issue - personally, for a family member or for the church - come and receive a message of faith, hope and love.

he CHPC Endowment Fund gives members and friends an opportunity to make a lasting gift that will provide benefits year after year after year. The money given to the Endowment Fund is held in trust in perpetuity, meaning it can never be spent. But it is invested, and the annual income it generates is given away. The guidelines for the distribution of this income requires that it “be used for missions and to aid evangelism and compassion for groups or people outside of CHPC.” In just the last five years, these Endowment Fund earnings have provided over $160,000 in gifts to groups within our local community and around the world.

The Trustee Administrators oversee the Endowment Fund and are responsible for ensuring that the Fund is properly invested. They are elected by the congregation, one candidate a year, to serve overlapping five-year terms of office.

The current board consists of Ken Watts (Chairman), John Wendt, Kim McCracken, Tom Seith and Bill Stothfang.

While it is possible to make contributions to the Endowment Fund at anytime, most of the money, in the past, has come from bequests of members through their estates. If you have any questions about the Endowment Fund, or would like to know more about how to contribute, feel free to ask any of the Trustee Administrators listed above. The Endowment Fund is a forward-looking option for gifts to the church, designed to grow over time so that its resources will continue to carry out CHPC’s mission to the world.

Our children at CHPC are given all sorts of opportunities to become loving, giving, caring people. They are also learning how to share the love of God in some very creative ways.

Last week, the children’s Sunday School spent their morning at the Llanfair Retirement Community. Maggie Smith, Director of Family Life for Children, and her volunteers had worked many hours to prepare a morning that would bring both children and older adults together.

Smiles lit up the faces of residents and students as they had created multicolored, Christmas paper chains to decorate trees and rooms. Each strip was imprinted with a little part of the account of Jesus’ birth. The entire chain told the whole story.

Sat., Jan. 3 will be our first Fasting Day at CHPC for 2009. We will be encouraging all to participate in our collective fast every Saturday before we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together in worship on the first Sunday of every month. All are encouraged to participate in some way.

Our first fast for 2009 will be a creative fast offered by the devotional magazine, Alive Now:

The Point
is not
Punishment
but
getting
Another View
of how
you
spend your
Time

Total Media Blackout
Can you imagine no movies, no television, and no radio, videos, recorded music, video games or Internet use? Also no magazines, newspapers, or other recreational reading? The point here is not punishment, but getting another view of how you spend your time, and where you express your values. Is media a helpful tool that you control, or a demanding presence that controls you? If the idea of a media fast depresses you, it might be a sign that your media habit is a dependency that needs examining. A media fast would be a positive way to examine these habits. To get ready, try rearranging the furniture in your family’s favorite room so that the television is not prominent.

• Bring out board games, or an art project.
• Visit neighbors or friends.
• Plan a garden.
• Bake some bread.
• Pull out family photographs and tell their stories.
• Write letters.
• Spend the evening at the King’s Party (Sat., Jan. 3, 5:10 p.m. in Fellowship Hall)

Along the way: Especially concentrate on using this experience to become closer to God. Develop a breath prayer to say whenever you are tempted. Copy a psalm (19 is a good one) on a piece of paper, small enough to fit in your purse or briefcase. Take it out and reread it each time you feel discouraged. Keep a journal of your experience. Spend some time reflecting on what makes this hard or easy. After you break your fast, note any differences in how you feel about the things from which you fasted

. Are there any lasting changes you’d like to make in your patterns of consumption?

If a total media blackout just isn’t going to work for you but you still want to participate, then try another creative form of fasting. Instead of refusing food – refuse to pass judgment on yourself or others, refuse all negativity, avoid all impulsive speech, or avoid one form of media for the day like background noise or video screens.

Whatever fast God leads you to choose, we will celebrate our feast in the Lord together at communion in the Sunday worship services.

Start the New Year off right at The Kings Party, a special church-wide potluck feast on Saturday, January 3, 5:10 p.m. This is an early celebration of Twelfth Night or Epiphany, a day to remember the adoration of the Magi (the Wise Men) for the “shining forth” or revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ.

Mark down the date and time for this unique experience. Last names: A-G (Entrée), H-L (Sides/Salads), M-Z (Desserts). Bring a friend and a dish to share in the wonderful, free, fellowship event! Tom, the Space Painter will entertain and inspire all ages with the tale of “The Fourth Wiseman.”