THE ADVENT SEASON AT ETNA COMMUNITY CHURCH

I figured it was about time to write another blog. Several months have passed and we are now in the fourth week of Advent. Everything has been great and God has been so good to His church here in Etna. We had a nice Christmas Season Program Saturday night featuring the "Over the Hill Gang", a Gospel trio on guitar and banjo with great singing. Our Youth Group did a fantastic skit and several newer versions of some favorite songs such as "Who Am I" and "Amazing Grace". We had wonderful snacks which disappeared after the Program. Sid and I finally got home at 11:00pm in time to go to bed.

UPDATE ON OUR LIFE AND TIMES

I figure it is about time to enter some more of our life and times. We finished VBS and it was a wonderful time with many young people. Had a good turn out of staff and loads of fun and learning. The theme was "Creation vs Evolution" and it was a good topic with DVDs each day along with everything else.
I prepared breakfast for everyone to start the day off right with eggs, bacon,and toast. Today the ladies of our family, Brittany, Chris, Pennie, and Sid are repainting our living room and hall area. They ripped everything apart last night and early this morning and are making fantastic progress as of this writing at 10:00am. They picked out the colors and doing all the work while I do the fetching. They researched colors yesterday and Chris bought the paint on her way here this morning. They decided to paint my varnished doors and frames white per my wife's wishes. No use fighting the decision of all the ladies.
Everything else is going great around here, lawns mowed, odds and ends packed in my truck awaiting Gary to help me drive it to the recycling and collection place down town. Gary and Kay are on their way here for getting together and helping where needed. Cheers!

SPRING SPRUNG AND FACEBOOK TO!

Well we did get Spring (cold and slow) and now heading toward Summer. The trees and grass are so green and beautiful. Flowers bloomed and died but were so nice this year. Seems there is always so much work to do around here when Spring hits. Sid wants everything done at once. I like one step at a time and boy my steps are slow and hesitant, to say the least. Oh well, such is life when one feels pain in every joint and the feet don't want to work. But one must get up and get at it or suffer the consequences.
It was a pleasure having Kay & Gary & Andrea & Tim here for Sid's birthday. They all pitched in and did a lot of work and cleaning up that needed doing. They replaced around 15 deck boards that had rotted, cut down a dead tree,put up the new deck swing and shelter, and took a load of junk to the recycle place. We had a big dinner and a good time chatting. Wonerful having the kids help out as well as celebrating Sid's birthday.
Sid and I planted the front flower garden and cleaned out the weeds around the sides of the house. We also planted ground coveer plants over next to the line of pines. Things are looking better and we have hired a neighbot guy to clean the walk downstairs around the lower deck. Busy days getting things in shape after winter.

I started on Facebook after a neighbor saw my son Bob on his and got me excited to try it. I like it but it is sure a time taker trying to keep up with the system. I already have 19 friends and made 2 groups, one for family and one for friends. I suppose it will give me something more to do, ha ha ha.

DIRECTIONS TO ETNA COMMUNITY CHURCH

I was looking on the Google Search Engine to see if Etna Church directions were on there yet from our new web site. It is there about fourth blob down and right under it is a reference to "A Bob's Life" blog which has the directions to our Web Site, http://etnacommunitychurch.org. Well the article that had it on is no longer there after my last blog. So now it is on there with the addition of this blog.

I also notice that Yahoo Search doesn't have anything up yet on the new website for Etna Community Church, but if you post our website on Yahoo search they say they can't find it on the first line and then give another line that says try this with a statement it might not exist. Click on the name and the website comes right up. Funny how these search engines work. The easiest is to just type it into your Browser and it comes right up: http://etnacommunitychurch.org
by: Pastor Bob Doan

ALL THINGS NEW

I sometimes wonder if this long cold winter will never end but something deep inside tells me that the season of change is drawing near. I call Spring the season of change when all nature seems to revive and wear a new wardrobe of beauty. We feel the difference within ourselves and take on a new attitude towards the outdoor world. Trees will start to bud and spring forth leaves and the flowers in my garden will push up their green tips of first growth. The Master Gardner is at work renewing life and putting on a show of beauty for all creation to witness. Do we take time to notice what God has created for our pleasure and use in our daily lives?
There is another change which is drawing near that we pay little or no attention to. The time is at hand which Christ said that we would know by seasons and the signs. I am speaking of the time when He will come on clouds of glory to call us into the air to be with him and the saints who have gone on before us. We spend little time actually even paying attention to all the signs that have sprung forth in the past couple years. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars, that the creation itself would rumble and tremble, and we have seen major earthquakes, flooding, windstorms and all sorts of unnatural disasters. Evil is rampart in the world, especialy in this country with all sorts of major thefts, greed, murder, lying and cheating. I think that we are witnessing the turning away from God and the steady sinking of this great country of ours.
The change that is needed is the one we can make in our daily lives by living what God has told us to do and not just reading and speaking abiout it. The biggest change will be for those who don't know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They will either change from death to life, darkness to light, and turn to Christ for salvation by repenting of their past sinful ways or they will spend eternity in the place reserved for those who did not come to know him. All things become new to those who decide to spend eternity with God by seeking salvation throiugh Jesus Christ.

DIRECTIONS TO ETNA CHURCH WEB SITE

There are so many listings under Etna Community Church on the Web that the easiest way of finding the "Etna Community Church" in Etna, NY, township of Dryden is to use
the web site: http://etnacommunitychurch.org
or
Just Copy and Post into the Web Browser.

If you have a question and can't find the site you may send an e-mail to:
etnacommunitychurch@yahoo.com or
pastorrmd1@etnacommunitychurch.org
God Bless,

Pastor Bob Doan