home for the holidays

sunday teaching series

Going home for the holidays is a wonderful experience for most of us. We look forward to  being with family and reacquainting with old friends. 

But for many, going home also means tension and conflict as we're forced into the same room with *that* person. For many it's a time of great sorrow because the person who made the holidays so special is no longer with us. 

We invite you to join us at 9 or 10:3-am each Sunday of Christmas as we learn to navigate going home for the holidays with its array of emotions and experiences. 

  • Relational conflict is inevitable as sinful humans. If that's the case, how do we navigate it in a healthy way that won't destroy the relationship but keep it in tact and even strengthen it moving forward? 

  • We continue unraveling conflict with learning to turn the other cheek. What did Jesus mean by this? Are we supposed to just take the abuse, swallow the offense and passively love others into change? That sounds like enablement. Is that loving? Let's find out.  

  • The power to forgive isn't found in our own strength but in recognizing how much we've been forgiven of. Why live shackled to offense? Let's learn to rise above them and turn them over to the God who's capable of carrying them...to the cross. 

  • Christmas time often hurts because of who is not with us anymore. We need to learn to mourn well; not to dismiss or ignore the pain we feel but also not to let it swallow us. 

christmas eve | 12.24

We invite you to join us for one (or more) of our Christmas Eve services. 


10am | Interactive Family Service

This is a fun telling of the Christmas story including interactive elements, surprises and a grand "Happy Birthday Jesus!" ALL are welcome to join us! Gather your friends and family, come in your PJ's and if you're able, bring a non-perishable food item or a toiletry item for our needs-shelves. The kids will have an opportunity to place them in the manger!


7pm & 11pm | Candle Lighting Service

This is a beautiful service full of singing, learning and reflection. We'll close our time together by circling up and passing the Christ-light as we sing carols of God's faithfulness and goodness while holding our candles. 

cozy & bright

12.6 | 6 - 9pm

Join us for a festive evening designed for you and the girls in your life (6th grade and up)! Enjoy a hot chocolate bar, holiday craft, catching up with friends and a friendly appetizer/dessert competition. Bring a festive holiday appetizer or dessert to share and be entered to win a prize for the best one! Come dressed in your festive best—Christmas PJs to holiday party attire—and compete for "Best Dressed" prizes! Worship begins at 7 pm, along with an inspirational word of encouragement for the season.


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Cancelled due to forecast



congrats!

the hunt is over!!

Team Leggo My Golden Eggo found the candy cane in a tree behind the baseball field at Quaker Penn Park! See below for an explanation of clues.


Congratulations!! 


Get ready, the Golden Egg hunt is only 3 months away!

Golden candy cane: 

frequently asked questions

  • The hunt officially begins on December 1. Clues can be found below. The hunt will end when the candy cane is found.

  • The entire community! The only person who knows its whereabouts is Pastor Ross and Emily so they are the only ones excluded from finding it (but their kids are not). 

  • The candy cane is 8 inches long. Originally it held M&Ms :) It's wrapped in gold duct tape. 

  • Cut it open and follow the instructions inside.

  • The hunting zone is roughly as follows: HWY 1 to the North, the Delaware River to the East and South, 295 to the West. See below for a map of the boundaries. 

  • We are a church IN our community, FOR our community. We love providing fun, family friendly activities to help our community thrive. We (obviously) believe in the work, the hope, the life and the community of Restoration Church so we want as many people to know who we are and what we're about. This is one way to introduce our community to Restoration in a fun way. 

  • Yes. Anyone can access it without trespassing.

  • Places that are publicly accessible :) 

  • As many as are needed. Previous hunts have seen anywhere between 6 and 15 clues be released. 

  • Every couple of days though we release more when people "play along" on social media by helping us share and interact with us. 

  • $500

  • You can do whatever you want but he (and Emily) is sworn to secrecy. But he would love to get to know you so introduce yourself if you see him :) 

  • Well, it's a check. The check will take 7-10 days to process but it will be mailed to the winner :) 

  • Okay. Somewhere in our community there is a tape covered, plastic candy cane. Starting on December 1, clues will start showing up below. Every couple days another clue will appear. Each clue will describe the cane's location in a mysterious way that will demand your deciphering skills. Put the clues together and they'll lead you to the candy cane. If you find it, cut it open and follow the instructions inside to claim your prize!

search boundaries

NORTH - Hwy 1

EAST - Deleware River

SOUTH - Deleware River

WEST - Hwy 95 + the Neshaminy Creek

clue #1

The ghosts of Candy Canes past beckon you to remember. 


There were many similarities to previous locations. 

Year 1 - in a park only accessible during the day

Year 2 - near a baseball field

Year 3 - near a baseball field

Year 4 - in a tree

clue #2

40 of these seems excessive. Where would I even put them? But if they're gifted by my true love on December 29th and each day following, I guess my appendages will be adorned? Or I could stack them end to end and reach the height of that elusive cane.


This is a reference to the 40 rings given days 5-12 of the 12 days of Christmas. Stack a wearable ring end to end and it would add up to about 40 inches, which was roughly how far off the ground the cane was. 

clue #3

Tangled

              Twisted

                                Tentacles

                            Of An Earthen Monster

Breaking Through

Reaching Up

                                  To Drag Me Down

To A Leafy

                                                         Grave


This is a poem about a tree with tangled up branches. It was in such a tree.


clue #4

Just follow Edgin, Poppy, Peter, Mary and Edward and they'll probably get you close. 


These are 5 characters from different movies, played by actors who all starred together in the musical "Into the Woods." It was a prompting to go into the woods.

clue #5

No. 

Don't follow them. 

Follow the

Commander, the

Singer, the

Troll, the

Queen, and the

Wizard.

No...

Don't follow them...

Follow...


This is a helper to clue #4, essentially. These are characters also played by those same actors in yet different movies. 


clue #6

I want to go south.

But I'm driven west. 

When I finally go south, I realize it's not where I want to be.

So I turn back east before returning home.


The baseball field's home plate is in the north. The candy cane was directly south of home plate. In baseball, you have to go to 1st (west), then 2nd (south but not far enough...the cane was beyond the field), then 3rd (east), then home.

clue #7

THis.

This is thE cLue you have been waiting for.


We reaLly hOpe it Helps you.

This goldEn Hunt can't go on forevEr.


"Hello hehe" is a red herring. Sorry. The clue has to do with how many words are in each stanza.

19067, the zip code.

clue #8

You will not need a flashlight to find it.


Because you're not supposed to hunt there at night.

clue #9

If a Trout can't find it, it's probably because it's here.


This is a reference ti Mike Trout, the LA Angel's center fielder. If he can't find it, it's because it was over the fence, a home run if you will. It could also reference a trout out of water...so it was near water, like the Deleware.

clue #10

north north east south west

west south east west south east

north southeast north

south northwest south

east north west north east

south south east north west east north west

south west north

north north east south west southeast

north northwest southwest northeast


If you made dashes in each of these direction, this would spell our "PENNSBURY" admittedly I screwed up on the letter Y.