Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Tapestry this year! Our church is richer and better for each one of you who have been a part of doing life together with us. Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Let's take a moment to thank God for His faithfulness to us over this past year. This has been an exciting year here at Tapestry. We're stronger now as a church than we ever have been. We've had some hard times and some great times, we've seen some people go and others join with us. We've gone from having a senior pastor, to no pastor, to now having a pastoral team, elders, and ministry leaders. The Youth have found a great weekly rhythm with Bible study and random outings, and Kidmo and Lil' K began in September for our children. Many of us have banded together in order to follow Jesus where we live, work, and play. We now have four small groups in four different neighbourhoods, two church plants in the city, two missional tribes committed to living the way of Jesus among specific subcultures, MOPS remains a true gift to Tuscany moms, and our third annual overseas mission team is heading to Ireland this March. We could never have gotten to this place if God had not continued to work in us and through us to accomplish His purpose in Calgary and the world. With all that we've seen happen this year, we can follow God into 2008 together confident in Paul's promise that God really will do more in and through us than we can ask or imagine.

Coming up

• Tapestry's annual Christmas Eve Eve service is this Sunday. We'll have something fun for the whole family. We hope that you'll invite your friends and neighbours to join us in celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour.
• Don't forget to bring canned goods and any gifts you've purchased this Sunday for a family who needs some help this Christmas season. Cash gifts will also be accepted to go towards a Wal-Mart gift card. Everything collected will go into a hamper to surprise this family on Christmas.
• Prayer Night is 7:00 pm this Friday at Max and Lynda's.

The youth went for a mall hunt Saturday night where they looked for people from Tapestry out doing some Christmas shopping. This gave Josh a chance to flaunt his mad skillz as a master of disguise. Would you have found him? You can now keep up with all the great Youth happenings on the main church calendar.



Coming up

• Sign up here and join us for Christmas dinner 6:00 pm this Sunday, 16 December at Thom and Lorie Gordon's. We'll share a meal, the Christmas story, and an evening together. Wrap a gag-gift from around the house and bring it unlabeled for the white elephant gift exchange.
• Tapestry's annual Christmas Eve Eve service is next Sunday, 23 December at the Tuscany Club. Invite your friends and neighbours to come celebrate the birth of Jesus together. Don't forget to bring a canned good for the needy family we'll be surprising this year.

Thanks to everyone who came out for Tapestry's first Discovery Class Friday night. We had a great time talking through our history, beliefs, values, and practices. If you didn't make it to this one you'll want to make sure to attend the next one in time to become a charter member.

Coming up

• We will begin 30 minutes early this Sunday at 10:00 am.
• The Ireland Team will be taking orders for Christmas baking this Sunday.
• Tapestry's Christmas dinner is 6:00 pm Sunday, 16 December at Thom and Lorie Gordon's. If you plan to attend, please sign up here and let everyone know what you will bring to share. Directions are available here.
• We will hold a Christmas Celebration service Sunday morning, 23 December at the Tuscany Club. Invite your friends and neighbours to join us for a reading of the Christmas story, games and treats for the kids, outside fun for dads and their kids, and something Christmassy for the whole family.
• Prayer night is back the first and third Friday of each month, 7:00 pm at Max and Lynda Blazina's. Directions are available here.
• MOPS is having their last meeting for the year Thursday, 13 December, and they need two extra workers so that all the moms can attend the party. If you're available to help 9:00 am - 11:15 am, please contact Sarah Gullacher.
• The Youth are going for a Mall Hunt this Saturday night! Contact Josh and Kelly for info.
• All parents of our nursery kids are expected to volunteer to serve in the nursery. If you aren't scheduled to help in the near future, please contact Janet Napady to find out when you can contribute. When we all pitch in, we all benefit.

In the Community

• The Tuscany Starbucks is holding a Christmas Cheer party 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Tuesday, 11 December. They will be collecting "gently used" books to go to St. Basil's school library here in the community. Bring some books and a friend for a fun time and a hot drink to help a new school.

On the web

• We've been talking a lot about history, ancient Hebrew ways of thinking, and the Messianic expectation that permeated second temple Judaism. If you'd like to read more for yourself, Follow the Rabbi is an excellent online resource, with interactive lessons and a searchable database of Bible history.