When my site crashes three times and everything is lost the update is late...My appologies.

Hello, Friends.

While it was great to have a break, it was nice to get back together this week. There is so much to do around town for the holiday season!

• Newfields Winter Lights are definitely worth a visit 
• Carmel Christkindlmarkt has delicious food and great shopping. Book your ice skating on line, it’s very popular. Ask me about the gluhbier.
• Check out the holiday shows at the Performing Arts Center in Carmel and at Clowes Hall.
• Sullivans Hardware has a Santa Express train for family fun while shopping for a tree. 
• Head to the Indiana History Center Festival of Trees to see 80 beautiful trees.

CLC is having a sermon series that compares the secular stories of the season with the religious stories. Watch live or after the fact to learn  cultural stories and how they blend with the Christian holidays. Christmas is a great season at CLC. Check out the calendar for other events.

• December 7 and 8: Lessons and Carols service (I will be at the 10:45 service; join me!)
• December 8: Living Nativity at the Fishers Campus 5:30-8:00
• Come to CLC for any service during the holidays.

I have contracted with an Indiana certified elementary school teacher with a reading license and experience teaching preschool across all of the ages to write a curriculum specific for our Parents with Children classes. Our class activities are directly tied to Indiana standards for preschoolers. Each week we have a specific American cultural and English lesson for the parents with their children. When our parents are off studying English, we have other lessons that help our children learn and grow in the subjects of Literary/Science, Math, Art and Music and Movement. Find links to the songs and stories that support our classes on our Parents with Children tab on our webpage. Talk to Carolyn for past lesson handouts for your family.

We are suspending our Wednesday Conversation class. Students prefer not to drive in the evening and winter and no one is attending. Please e-mail me at indyintlfriends@gmail.com for more information or if you are interested in continuing.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30, Room 100.
We talked about what to make with our leftover turkey carcass and tasted the classic turkey and rice vegetable soup. We also enjoyed pumpkin bread. All of our classic Thanksgiving recipes can be found on our Recipes tab.

December 4: Let's go thrifting and antiquing and eat at Big Hoffa's. Meet at CLC to depart for the stores at 10:00 and visit the Goodwill, the Main Street Shoppes: 800 East Mainstreet, Westfield.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, Room 100
Jesus’ ministry reaches its peak of popularity in the sixth chapter of John. Crowds of thousands are following Jesus everywhere he goes. After the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men (plus women and children!) the people are ready to make him king by force. Jesus withdraws to a mountain by himself and later walks several miles across rough water of the Sea of Galilee in the dark to join his disciples in their boat (John 6: 16-17). Once the crowd realizes Jesus is no longer in the area, they climb into boats and cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, looking for him in Capernaum. When they find him, Jesus tells them that  he knows their primary interest in him is as a provider of bread. He goes on to explain that he is the Bread of Life, sent from heaven by God the Father, and that anyone who believes in him will have eternal life (John 6: 35-40). The Jews that were there had a hard time believing this because they knew Jesus and his family. Jesus explains in the context of their history and in the context of the required religious practices of the time (John 6: 53-59) and in the synagogue. When Jesus talks about "eating his flesh and drinking his blood" (John 6:53) he is referring to the practices where the holy people responsible for religious laws were fed through the offerings given the church (Deuteronomy 18:1-2) and how the status and "living" of these people would go away through Jesus' teaching and his perfect offering and sacrifice. They could not accept this teaching. The Twelve, the original disciples, stay with him. In Peter’s words in John 6: 68: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

December 4: Join us for our study of John 7 on Tuesday at 9:00 in Room 100.

contracted: entered into a legal agreement
licensed: holding a license; holding official proof of having the knowledge and being able to meet the standards to perform a job or task
standards: 1. level of quality, 2. measure for evaluation, 3. minimum requirements
certified: official recognized for meeting particular standards
suspending: stopping an event with the option of resuming at a future date
continuing: ongoing

primary: first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal