A Service of Death and Resurrection for Nolan Luhn will be held tomorrow (Thursday, December 1, 2011) at 2 pm in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church.
Christmas is Not Your Birthday — Updates
First, a minor update, more books have arrived, they are in the lobby. The cost to the church was a little under $10. Secondly, the more important update: Jenny will be teaching this class!
Advent Explained in Two Minutes
Jenny came across the above video that attempts to explain Advent in two minutes. We found it both fairly comprehensive and succinct.
Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Hymn Schedule
This link contains a copy of the 2011-2012 Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Hymn Schedule in pdf format. Take a look and be sure and let us know if we left out one of your favorites.
A Psalm for Thanksgiving Day
O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods. (Psalm 95.1-3, NRSV)
85 Attend Great Thanksgiving Dinner
We had a great Great Thanksgiving Dinner this past Sunday with 85 people attending. The food from Lannings was great and many thanks to Dave Larimore and the rest of the clean-up crew.
Christmas is Not Your Birthday
We’ll have a three session Advent Book Study on Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: Experience the Joy of Living and Giving Like Jesus by Michael Slaughter. Cokesbury provides the following description:
Every year, we say we’re going to cut back, simplify, and have a family Christmas that focuses on the real reason for the season—Jesus. But every year, advertisements beckon, the children plead, and it seems easier just to indulge our wants and whims. Overspending, overeating, materialism, and busyness rob us of our peace and joy and rob Jesus of his rightful role as the center of our celebration.
This Christmas, cut through the hype that leaves you exhausted and broke at the end of the year. Instead, experience the peace of knowing that God is truly with us, the joy of giving sacrificially, and the love of a Savior who gave everything he had for us. In five short, engaging chapters, Pastor Mike Slaughter inspires readers to approach Christmas differently, and be transformed in the process.
We’ll begin our discussion on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 6:30 pm in Room 102.
Joint Worship Service on December 4
A friendly reminder that on Sunday, December 4, 2011 we’ll be having a combined worship service at 10:50. It will be a musical service with both the adult and children’s choirs performing and with musical solos by Myron Kelso, Faye Millen and Henry Millen.
Why 10:50? There are reasons for having a combined worship service at the time of the second service, which I would be happy to discuss with anyone who is interested, but the details of which I will not bore you with here.
Advent Devotions by Adam Hamilton
The Journey: A Season of Reflections, a series of Advent devotions by Adam Hamilton, is free for the Kindle today at Amazon.com.
Thanks from the Jubilation Quartet
Received from Myron Kelso:
The Jubilation Quartet would like to thank the church for the use of the building for practices and the concert this past week. The concert raised $502 for the Salvation Army.
Memorial Service for Clarence "Butch" Neese
There will be a memorial service for Clarence “Butch” Neese, brother of Betty Sandon, at 2 pm in the sanctuary today. Apologies for the late notice.
Successful Church Conference
We had a great turnout for the Cluster Church Conference last Sunday afternoon. We hosted the following United Methodist Churches from the area: Angola, Valeda, Chetopa St. Paul, Caney, Coffeyville St. James and Coffeyville Trinity. Many people including some of our colleagues who came to lead the church conferences were impressed with the new carpet and pews in the sanctuary. Words often used included: open, inviting, and welcoming. During the joint communion service, each church presented a brief report highlighting a ministry or project they were excited about. For our report, Nikki Kirk led the Children’s choir in the communion song, I Will Remember You (not the Sarah McLachlan version).
After splitting up for individual Church Conferences we found ourselves with 15 members present (a small number, but not bad for a church conference). Paul Wolf, the pastor at Parsons Wesley UMC, began by complimenting us on the pews and the new carpet. We then we launched into the business meeting finishing our work in 30 minutes, before District Superintendent Janet Maxwell, could make it in to see us (she caught a great many members as we were leaving). Jenny and I want to thank everyone who attended. The Church Conference plays an important role in preserving the democratic nature of United Methodist polity.