first united methodist church focus on...
TRANSCRIPT
Praise Service 9:00 a.m.
Church School 9:55 a.m. Adoration Worship 10:45 a.m.
Mark Finfrock, Pastor
John Fisher, Organist
First United Methodist Church
Volume 8, Issue 12
FOCUS ON “FIRST”
December 2014
Special points of interest: GFS Coupons
Community Lunch Update
Ministry Update
Thanks
4 F’s Lunch
Pastor’s Page 2
Prayer Concerns 3
Church Happen-
ings
6
Birthdays and
Anniversaries
6
Calendar 7
Inside this issue:
Become Part of God's Family at First UMC
December Events
Wednesday, December 17 Assembling of Christmas Bags for community lunch, 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 20 Extra Chancel Choir Practice, 9:00 a.m. (in preparation for Christmas Eve)
Wednesday, December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Music, 9:30 p.m. Service, 10:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 31 Watch Night Service, 10:00 p.m.
Would someone please tell me where this year has gone! It seems like yesterday we were firing off bottle rockets and wearing our Fourth of July t-shirts. I remember little ones at my door begging for candy. Wasn’t that just a few minutes ago? I know I slept through the football games on Thanksgiving but I didn’t think I slept through the whole year. Now my recycling bin is getting full, each week, of catalogues and every store is offering me post Black Friday savings. Wish lists are coming in and shopping trips are being planned. The tree is coming up from its hiding place in the basement and the ornaments are coming out of the box. In my house each ornament has a story - this one is my grandparents first; these ornaments my dad bought when we had no money and Mother did not speak to him for a week; these ornaments were crocheted for us by a friend; and the big blue ball on the bottom was my special ornament my parents bought for me. Each one of us had our own special ornament. As we enter this Advent season, it will be very easy for us to be distracted by our shiny gods and from the real present delivered to us a long time ago by a deeply caring God. It is hard for us, as we whirl around in our busyness, to remember that we are not celebrating our birthday but that of our savior Jesus. Won’t you join us each Sunday this Advent season in remembering whose birthday we are really celebrat-ing? On Christmas Eve, we will have a candlelight service at 10:00 p.m. That is not all. On New Year’s Eve we will be hosting the Watch Night service to celebrate the coming of the New Year. The service will be attended by the churches of the Unity Faith Based Alliance. John Wesley started this service in 1740 to reflect on the old year and pray over the year to come. We look forward to seeing you this Advent season. Grace and Peace, Pastor Mark
Page 2
Pastor’s Page
FOCUS ON “FIRST”
Volume 8, Issue 12 Page 3
Prayer Concerns Those who do not know the peace of Christ. Let us offer Christ, who will heal their souls. George & Nell Bassitt & Family Alan Haid Ilena Cornelius Dwight Pflanzer Gertrude Reed Ruth Stanton, continued healing Lori Ott's mother, Natalie, severe health concerns Dallas, friend of Larry's, fighting cancer Kim & Darren Newcomer and family, Pastor Mark's cousin, as she deals with cancer Jamaal, addiction recovery Alice Stephenson, back issues Leesa Frederick's father, John Camp, health issues Tammy Jones, dealing with MS Sheila Messerschmidt Regan Coleman, recovering from car accident Tom York, recovering from brain tumor surgery Community lunch, missionaries, Peace Corp workers, and those who work for international peace. Mili-
tary members and their families and national leaders. Shalom Neighbor who continues to work for the betterment of the Second Ward. Concerns of the people in places of war, famine and social unrest. Those who are sleeping outside.
Those who have no food. The Imagine No Malaria campaign (INM)(imaginenomalaria.org) as it works to eliminate malaria in our lifetime. INM has made a big difference where it used to be a person died from malaria every 30 seconds this rate has decreased to every 60 seconds. Our goal is zero deaths. Do you have someone you would like us to pray for? Please call or email the office. 513-896-LOVE (8653) or [email protected].
Special thanks to everyone who has sent in their pledges for 2015. If you have not sent your pledge in, please prayerfully consider making your pledge.
Entertainment Book Coupons for GFS If you purchased the new Entertainment Books for 2015, there are GFS coupons included. The Community Lunch would greatly appreciate it if you would be will-ing to donate them to the lunch committee. See Dee Harper if you are able to help.
Page 4 FOCUS ON “FIRST”
For newsletter submissions, contact Stacey Morefield, newsletter editor, at [email protected]
Focus on “First” - ISSN383367-148 Published Monthly, Issue No. 12 Issue Date: December 2014 First United Methodist Church, 225 Ludlow St. Hamilton, OH 45011 JANUARY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: December 20
Copyright © 2011 The Zondervan Corporation.
Our next project is Christmas Bags for the Community Lunch. Sonic bags were donated this year, so we won't need bags, but many other items are needed for those less fortunate! We plan to provide approxi-mately 175 bags this year.
Needed items: Socks (new/gently used) Disposable razors Hats, gloves Toothpaste Toothbrushes Shampoo
Items should be sent into church by December 14th. They will be distributed at the Community Lunch on December 20th. Anyone interested in helping assemble bags, you may join us, Wednesday, Decem-ber 17th, 1 p.m. at Church. For those who cannot/choose not to shop, donations can be sent to church and someone will gladly shop for you!
As a member of the Unity Alliance, First United Methodist Church has been asked to host Watch Night on New Year's Eve. This night marks the anniversary of the night President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Decem-ber 31, 1862. Black Churches throughout the country celebrate this night. If you would be willing to help provide cookies for that night, please mark LOF cards.
Thanks to everyone for helping spread God's love throughout our community!
Ministry Update
Volume 8, Issue 12 Page 5
Community Lunch News The good news: the Community Lunch ministry has been running now for almost 4 ½ years – give yourselves a big hand! The ministry started the last Saturday in June 2010, with First Church serving lunch the last two weeks of the month. In January, both Park Avenue UMC and Trinity Episcopal became partners and we started serving lunch every Saturday. We’ve picked up a couple of other partners over the years (Jacksonburg UMC and Zion Lutheran) that serve a meal each quarter, as well as some community groups that volunteer their time. The less good news: as most of you are aware, serving a meal every month (First Church still does two) can be a challenge. It has become harder and harder for all of the regular partners to find enough volun-teers. Trinity Episcopal has given us notice that they will no longer be able to serve each month starting in January. In order to be able to continue serving each week, we’ve come up with an idea to try to solve this problem – finding new partners! Seem simple, right? If we can get enough partners, we can reduce the number of times each one serves throughout the year. Why are we telling you this? While the Lunch committee is working on this, we thought it would be a good idea to ask the congregation for suggestions also.
Partners are responsible for: providing the food and cooking the meal, providing the volunteers (minimum of 12), and setup and cleanup. We (FUMC) always have someone at church on the partner’s week to provide support.
Do you have connections with a community group or church that might be interested? The above infor-mation is a general description; we will meet with potential partners to share the details before they have to commit. Please contact either Dee Harper or Leslie Jewett for more information or to share the names of suggested (or interested) potential partners. Dee: 513-863-4923 [email protected] Leslie: 513-737-7974 [email protected]
Thank You To All Who Helped in any way on the Sauerkraut Dinner, A BIG THANK YOU. It was a success from those setting up the dining area, donating desserts, fixing pork loins, serving, cleaning up, taking the tickets, and selling the tickets. Our God is an awesome God. May each of you have a Blessed Christmas and Blissful New Year!
The nut sale is winding down, or maybe over, by the time you read this. A huge thank you to all who pur-chased and sold nuts. Our sales were down slightly over last year, but it was still a productive fund rais-er. A large THANKS to Pastor Mark for helping move 95 boxes of nuts into the elevator room when the delivery driver couldn't get them in due to snow. A heartfelt thanks to Nancy Puckett and Harriet Itkoff for helping to sort orders and to Harriet Itkoff and Kathy Thompson for helping to deliver orders. The UMW thanks you all for helping to raise funds that go to local and global missions.
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Game Night Friday, December 19, 2014
7:00 PM @ the Harper’s
The fun and fellowship continues for any and all fun-loving adults. Join this merry group for lots of laughter, pizza, games and loving fellowship. Just bring $5 for dinner, your own beverage and a favorite board game.
Pocket Change Sunday
December 21, 2014
During worship services a special collection of pocket change (dollars, too) will be taken as an offering for the Saturday Community Lunch Program.
UMW Circles
Dorcas Circle Tuesday, December 9, 10 a.m.
What’s Happening in December at First Church
December Birthdays 12/3 Robert Bernhardt 12/4 John Trent George Trimyer 12/6 Steve Bossert 12/12 Sadie Slavey 12/15 Nancy Hamilton 12/16 Genna Morefield Alice Stephenson 12/18 Henry Floyd 12/27 Daniel Wurst 12/30 Becky Huff Olivia Schubert 12/31 Leslie Jewett
December Anniversaries 12/24 Jack & Karen Whalen 12/27 Terry & Georgetta Spurlock 12/28 John & Teri Trent
December Worship Leaders
9 a.m. - Praise Service 12/7 - Larry Bell
12/14 - Jim Sebastian 12/21 - Alice or Dave Stephenson
12/28 - Kerry Bossert
December Worship Leaders 10:45 - Adoration Service
12/7 - Kathy Conrad 12/14 - Mary Alice Hensley
12/21 - Emily Fuhrman 12/28 - Lynn Kinkaid
4F's will be lunching at Olive Garden, 7179 Dixie Hwy (Rt. 4) in Fairfield on Thursday, December 18, Noon. Contact the church office if interested in meeting at First so no one is left behind!
Volume 8, Issue 12 Page 7
Kids Klips
Phone: 513-896-5683
Email: [email protected]
Website:wwwfirstumc-ham.org
225 Ludlow Street
Hamilton, OH 45011
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First United Methodist Church