Focus 2014 12

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Look, I am sending my messenger before you. He will prepare your way, a voice shouting in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.” -Mark 1:1-3

Mark’s gospel will lead us is worship this Advent. What is different about Mark’s telling of Jesus’ life is that there is no story of Jesus’ birth. There is no manger, nor are there angels, or shepherds, or wise ones traveling from afar. What Mark does say is that there was a prophet-John the Baptist- who tells the people to prepare.

John was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. -Mark 1: 4

December is all about preparation. There is the countdown of shopping days until Christmas. There are gifts to buy, parties to plan, food to prepare, trees to decorate, and lights to hang. There are children’s programs, concerts, and family gatherings all in anticipation of December 25.

Only John the Baptist called for a different kind of preparation. John’s message of preparation has very little to do with our Christmas traditions. The word from John in scripture calls us to straighten up in order to make a space for God to enter our lives. It turns us away from our usual December routines and toward God and acts of justice and mercy.

We would experience Christmas differently if we prepared like this:

-Take time for quiet reflection and prayer

-Seek God’s forgiveness

-Remember those who are grieving and hurting

-Be attentive in all relationships-with family, friends, or strangers

-Take time to worship

We need to hear from Mark’s gospel as we live toward Christmas this year. “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives and trust this good news!” -Mark 1:15

May God bless you in this holy season,

Pastor Lynn

Church Events,

Birthdays, Kids Hope,

Caring Ministry,

2 & 3

Nurture Ministry,

Mitten Tree info

4 & 5

UMW, Finance and

Outreach

6 & 7

VCI, Youth Ministry,

Calendar

8 & 9

Inside this issue:

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December 2014

A SERVICE OF SONG AND SCRIPTURE

FOR ADVENT Find a place for centering in this busy season.

This is a service of quiet reflection Mondays in December

December 1 - December 22, 6 pm in the sanctuary

As another step in preparing for the Vital Church Initiative (VCI) Consultation in January, a special email survey will be distributed December 5, available until

December 16. It is an individual way to provide feed-back to the conference regarding strengths and areas in need of growth at FUMC. Please make sure your current email contact is on file with the church office so you can participate. If you do not have any email access during the available dates, you may contact Beth Peter at 616-335-2015 to arrange a phone survey.

The VCI team is also looking for a few church members that would be interested in joining the VCI prayer team. Our purpose will be giving the congrega-tion ideas and directions on how to pray for the Vital Church Initiative, our church, our church neighbor-hood, and any other ideas that are needed. Once we have a group of members that are interested, we will make a group decision as to when and how often we should meet. Most of our connections will be via the Internet. If you are interested or have any questions, please call Cindy Helder 616-848-7204. If she is not at home, please leave a message and she will return your call. Thank you.

The deadline for article submissions for the January Focus is December 18. Please email articles to [email protected] by that date or earlier. If a hard copy must be used, please bring to main office by that date also. If you would prefer not receiving the Focus in the mail, please let Marj Haney know at [email protected]

Happening this Month

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Come join the Lunch Bunch on Sundays following the 10:45 a.m. service. We will gather at the Good Shepherd window to get a head count and head out to a local

restaurant. All ages are welcome to join including singles, couples, and families. Check the bulletin for the days’ location or contact David Newton.

Epsilon will meet Wednesday, December 17th at 11:30 AM at Beechwood Inn. Please call Dave or Dorothea at 392-3493 by the 15th for reservations.

will meet Thursday, December 4 at 2:00 in the church Fellowship Hall for the annual Christmas Tea. Reservations are needed and can be made by calling Sharon Rocker at 392-1966.

The Family Fellowship event for December will be adults only Christmas Party on the 13th. Everyone is welcome to join!

The Book Club will meet on December 8 at 6:30 in the Conference Room. We will discuss An Invisible Thread, by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski. This is a true story of an 11 year old panhandler, a busy sales executive, and an unlikely meeting with destiny. Join us!

The Alliance for Cultural and Ethnic Harmony (ACEH) invites you and your family and friends to its annual Hol-iday Potluck and Cultural Sharing Party, Saturday, De-cember 6, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in our church's Fel-lowship Hall. Entertainment, music, children's activities, silent auction, great food, fun, and fellowship. Please bring a dish to share from your cultural background and a nonperishable item for a local food bank. Everyone is welcome! Need more information? Call Ann Weller at 396-2201 or email [email protected].

Please contact the office to ensure that special events conducted at church are included on the master calendar. The snow plow company will use the calendar when scheduling snow removal in addition to the weekly service.

On December 1, 2014, Walt Garrett will "hang up his broom" and retire as lead custo-dian here at First United Methodist of Hol-land. Please plan on joining SPRC for coffee and refreshments in the Lounge on December 14, between services and following 2nd service, to thank Mr. Walt for his 15 years of faithful service!

Please be in prayer for these congregation members and friends...

Edith Fincher; Courtney Dooley; Marcia Riemersma; Kathy Lindstrom; Pastor Lynn; Mary Ellen Lunderberg; the Kim and Tyler Murphy family; the Scott and Heather Wilcox family; Deanne Williams; Jon Knoll; Dorothea John; Mary Jo Delany; Bob Jaskulski; for new and exciting relationships; for those who have lost loved ones this month and for those who have loved ones who are sick or recovering.

Congratulations to Stephen Minnich and Kathleen (Cain) Minnich on their marriage October 5th in Vermont. Stephen is the son of David and Cindy Minnich. The newlyweds live in Alexandria, VA.

Sympathy to the family and friends of Pat Kirlin who passed away on October 24.

Caring Ministry Sharon Rocker, Director of Care Ministries (ext. 104)

Birthday Wishes! These friends are celebrating at least their 85th birthday this month. Please extend your well wishes!

December

5 Phyllis Bocks 144 River Hills Dr. Holland MI 49424

21 Bill Bocks 29 E. 6th St. #216 Holland MI 49423

23 Paul Klomparens 800 Clarewood Court Holland MI 49423

Notes of appreciation for prayers, cards and visits has been received from Ivy Cammenga, Jim and Barb Bosman, Pat

Kirlin’s family, the Gary Teall family and a family that was helped from the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. These notes can be found on the bulletin board near the lounge in the 9th Street hallway.

Help is still needed for the December blood drive, scheduled for December 14 - from 8:30 until 2:30. Even if you can only help

for an hour or so, contact Tim Haney (772-3936 / tyoungh58hotmail.com). Just think of it as an early Christmas gift to your neighbors!

Here at First UMC, we have a trained group of Stephen Ministers ready to help anyone in need of a friend. If you or anyone you know if struggling with child-raising issues, a down-sized life-style, sadness, poor health or the pres-

sures of change, the Stephen ministers are ready to offer support and help. For that help, contact Sha-ron Rocker (392-1966) or Pastor Lynn at the church.

The Memorial Committee announces the following continuing and new Memorial Projects given to our church in memory of loved ones by family and friends.

Terry Musgrave Three TV/DVD combos for the education wing

Ruth Kirchoff Stephen Ministry

Undesignated Funds One TV/DVD combo for the education wing

Nurture Ministry Marj Haney, Director (ext. 106) Heidi De Moss, Director of Adult Ministry

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We can always use more volunteers as we go through the winter quarter in our Grow Proclaim Serve classes for PK-3rd graders. A sign up sheet is posted on the table in the first floor hallway. All materials are provid-ed and those leaders who have been doing it awhile will be happy to help you with training. Sign up to lead one or more classes today!

The December theme for Grow Serve Proclaim is Hope Is Born and will feature Matthew 1:23 as our theme verse. We will be studying the stories of Mary and Joseph, Mary and Elizabeth, The Birth of Jesus, The Wise Men all from familiar scriptures in both Matthew and Luke. Always room for you!

The Cross Trainer class for 4th and 5th graders will be finishing up the Power of Prayer then moving into some Bible Boot Camp during the month of December, there is always room for you there too!

Kidz Praise Choir continues to meet at 9:00 AM in Room 304. All singers in grades 1-8 are welcome and encouraged to join us. We have a small but mighty group!! We are preparing a Christmas number and after Christmas will begin work on a small scale

musical to be presented along with a potluck dinner in the spring. Watch for more details about that. Hope to see you in choir!!

Due to low attendance for Angelic Choir, Marilyn Kelly will be leading the PK-1st grade class during Jubilant Journey on a couple of Sundays during December. She will teach the class topic in the first few minutes of the hour and then teaching some songs for the rest of the time. There will be no Angelic Choir meeting for now.

Over the last several months, the Nurture Ministry area has been blessed by some gifts paid for from the Memorial Fund. We are very thankful for the new keyboard that is being used with the Kidz Praise

Choir now and is portable so could be used in other settings as well. We also have four new flat screen TV/DVD combo sets that have been mounted in each of the three rooms on the first floor and in the nursery classroom. Our new curriculum uses a DVD compo-nent each week and our old equipment was running out of steam, seemed like each week a different one would fail! Now we have the equipment we need to help make our children understand their faith and become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Thanks so much to all those who give to the Memorial Fund following a loved one’s death or other event. Your gift will help a new generation learn to share their faith to the world around them.

For those of you who like to plan ahead...save the dates of July 26-30, 2015 for our awesome Vacation Bible School!! The theme this

year is G-Force: God’s Love in Action and will fea-ture a skate park as our assembly background!! The puppet is Checkers the Cheetah. Praying right now for leaders, helpers and kids to come and learn and play and have a fantastic time!!

If you have not filled out and returned a Church Christmas Bazar Survey, please do so now. Check the boxes on the survey, and please drop them in the box at the Welcome Center in the back of the sanctuary by December 15, 2014.

THANK YOU Gigi Virta and Cindy Helder

$10-for-10 is beginning again in January! Beginning on January 11 the youth will again tell the story of the impact of church camp and mission trips on their lives and faith. The campaign will run for 10 weeks, encouraging church folks to donate $10 each week toward these important opportunities for youth and children in our church. Thank you for being a church that supports our young people!

Adult Nurture Opportunities The New Year is here! Advent is the beginning of the new Christian year, not on the calendar, we still mark that with January 1. How-ever, we begin our new cycle of marking time, reading scripture, remembering from beginning to death and resurrection, and striving ever forward in our journey closer to God’s promised land each year in Advent. Pre-pare your hearts and minds. Advent study possibilities...2 choices of days After Lunch Advent Bible Study Tuesday Afternoon in the Lounge at 12:50-2:00pm Led by Heidi DeMoss Minnich/Chamness Group Sunday Morning in the Conference Room at 9:40 Led by Dave Minnich & Jim Chamness The Lord Is Our Light By A. Elaine Brown Crawford. This Advent study invites you to explore God’s hope and presence through the scripture readings for Advent and Christmas. Through the readings, we hear the call to celebrate the light of God revealed through Jesus Christ. The season of Advent offers opportunities to prepare for God’s coming in human form in the baby Jesus and for the approach of God’s kingdom with the second coming of Christ. Hope is the focus of Advent worship, study, and prayer. We will discover the light that began in the manger and that continues as we look forward with hope to Christ's return. Cokesbury.com descrip-tion, edited for length by Heidi DeMoss Nov. 25/30~ Mindful Waiting Dec. 2/7 ~ Expectant Preparation

Dec. 9/14 ~ Anointed to Serve Dec. 16/21 ~ Humans Plan, God Laughs Dec. 23/28 ~ In Word and Song Ongoing Classes Pastor Lynn’s Class Sunday Morning in the Lounge at 9:40 Led by Pastor Lynn Sermon based Discussions (Advent series) Pastor Lynn will lead group discussion on the scripture text for the day. This will correspond with the worship for the day. Dec. 7 ~ “The One Who Changes Everything” Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8 Dec. 14 ~ will not meet Dec. 21 ~ “Impossible Promise” Luke 1:26-38, 47-55 Dec. 28 ~ will not meet FaithLinks Class Sunday Mornings in the Filling Station (basement) contact Peg Minert UMC FaithLinks material Leadership will be provided by FaithLinks members. Fellowship Space Coffee and Conversation East end of Fellowship Hall What : A time to gather and visit with each other, or just relax and refresh. Copies of the newspaper are pre-sent, as well as coffee, tea, and often some light refreshments

Mitten Tree is returning for another year! Please thoughtfully consider supporting the West Ottawa's Dunes Alternative High School students as they work to earn their diplomas. This program gives students opportunities to earn their diploma that have not been successful in a traditional classroom. Here's how:

1. Bring in $10 gift card(s) for local businesses like Target, Meijer, Kohls, Walmart, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc.

2. Select a mitten from the tree

3. Write your name and a brief message of support or encouragement on the mitten.

4. Attach the gift card with tape and place in the basket by Sunday, December 14.

We are hoping to collect at least 70 gift cards to distribute, one to each student in each program, this year. The gift cards are paired with a bag of snacks for the students. If you have any questions, please talk with: Traci Howard [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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Finance Update Kent Jagnow, Treasurer (ext. 103)

As we approach the end of the year, please remember that you contributions must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2014 to be included in the 2014 contribution statement. On a year to date basis through October our total actual giving amounted $ 453,032 compared to a budget of $ 481,559 which translates into $ 28,527 or 5.9% lower than expected contributions. For the same period our total actual expenses were $ 459,673 compared to a budgeted amount of $ 480,426. This is $ 20,753 or 4.3% lower than budget.

The recent snow and cold weather if it continues will place additional pressure on the budget. We also have several large expenses that come due toward year end. I would again ask that all of us be as faithful to our pledge commitment as possible. You should have received a letter from the Stewardship Team. Included in this letter were the Commitment Cards for 2015 and an Electronic Contribution Form. Please pray as you consider your Commitment for next year’s support of all our church ministries. If you did not receive your letter, please call me and I will make sure you receive one.

United Methodist Women

Christmas luncheon sponsored by United Methodist Women

All women of the church are encouraged to come to the UMW annual Christmas luncheon on Friday, December 5th. The event begins with lunch at noon, catered by Creative Concepts. The menu is Turkey Pot Roast, Sunshine Vegetable Blend, Roasted Redskin Potatoes, Fresh Cranberry Salad, White or wheat rolls, Various kinds of pie (donated by Hope Circle) The cost is $10. See Mary DeRidder to sign up by December 1st.

Our program will be Kay De Moss showing Mangers of the World and music arranged by Rachel Andrews. Friends welcome-please sign them up by Dec. 1 too.

Thanks to all who helped out with the bazaar in any way. A full report from the bazaar will be in the January Focus.

The Kerstmarkt Food Booth is located at the City Winter Market at the Civic Center one block west of the Church. They sell warm Pig in the Blankets, Soup, Mettwurst, Hot Dogs, Coffee, and Cider. The youth help to serve along with adults. Come for lunch or supper or buy Pigs by the dozen. If you can help out on any of these dates, call Mary Jo Wiswedel at 335-9522. The December dates are 2, 5, 6, 12, and 13. The Tuesday and Friday times are 3:00 - 8:00 and Saturday times are 9:00 - 5:00.

Advent Decorations! Want to help decorate the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas? The Namovich and DeMoss families would love to have your help. This year we are going to do things week by week, getting ready for Jesus to be born anew in stages. Each week more and different things will be added which we hope will add to our understanding of the stories we hear and ponder in this time of waiting. We will gather each Monday at 7pm to add the next layer following the Advent service of worship and prayer Mondays at 6pm.

Monday, Dec. 8th - 7 to 10 pm - Put up the Tree; ‘candles’ up over wreaths and wreaths decorated; roping up. Monday, Dec. 15th - 7 to 9 pm - Decorate the Tree; stars up everywhere; poinsettias; surprise in front of the table. Monday, Dec. 22nd - 7 to 9 pm - Angels, on the treetop and all around; set up the nativity; make everything ‘just so’.

Heidi DeMoss is cooking a crock-pot meal each Monday. She will gladly add enough for you and yours if she knows you’re coming. (616) 307-2585.

Outreach Ministry

Bread Pan Offering for December supports an International Disaster Response:

The Outreach team has decided to give support to the Ebola response in Liberia, Africa. The

Liberian Annual Conference has established an Ebola Task Force head by the Office of Connectional Ministries (UMCOR) and co-chaired by the Departments of Health and Human Services. The United Methodist Churches in Liberia have lost many members and need our assistance.

The church effort involves treatment, prevention, commu-nication and public education. The response is a joint effort by West African Untied Methodist church leaders and re-gional health board, denominational health facilities, mis-sionaries and the denomination's general agencies.

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four in-ternational general program boards of The United Method-ist Church. Prime responsibility of the board is to seek im-plementation of the Social Principles and other policy state-ments on Christian social concerns of the General Confer-ence, the denomination’s highest policy-making body.

The Council of Bishops, in conjunction with the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and GBCS, released a letter Nov. 7 urging United Methodists to “offer compas-sion to our sisters and brothers who are suffering, and sup-port to those who walk with them.” The letter acknowledg-es that fear is understandable in the face of Ebola, yet some-times “leads to unnecessary stigmatization of any persons from or believed to be from those countries or even coming from other parts of Africa.”

The International # is 982450.

The Christmas Eve Offering will go to Imagine No Malaria.

The Campaign was launched in April 2010, with a dual cele-bration in Lubumbashi, DRCongo and Austin, TX. In addi-tion to bed nets (a donation of $10 can literally save a life), our efforts support other areas in the fight against malaria: environmental clean-up (stagnant water and trash), basic sanitation (latrines and water), treatment, education, training more health care workers, and improving our existing hos-pitals and clinics. UMCOR’s role in this campaign is to help UMC health boards and local communities develop strategic plans and propose integrated solutions. All of these efforts will be needed in order to combat malaria and other diseas-es of poverty in Africa; and United Methodists are respond-ing.

The Imagine No Malaria program currently provides grants to UMC Health Boards and UMC-affiliated structures in

Africa. For information on the Imagine No Malaria pro-gram, please contact Dr. Olusimbo Ige, Senior Program Manager for Imagine No Malaria at [email protected] or [email protected].

Gifts to this program via UMCOR Advance #3021190 can make a big difference.

The evening Christmas Eve services will pass an offering plate for this important ministry. The 5:00 Family Service will collect disposable diapers and money that will be given to an organization in Holland to distribute.

Consider a Gift to JFON Today Our Matching Gift Opportunity ends December 31st !

Your gift can provide life-changing blessings to an individ-ual or family starting down a difficult path, and serve as a testimony to the power of community by being a good neighbor! With your support, JFON can continue to grow and innovate to meet the expanding needs for immigration services.

a $30 gift can provide a one-time consult to some-one in need or

a $500 gift can provide many hours of legal work to sort out complicated immigration problem.

This coming year will require additional dollars to support our new clinic in Traverse City; and strengthen our name and organization as we work to become a statewide organi-zation. We also hope to add legal staff to serve the in-creased numbers of unaccompanied youth and the thou-sands in Michigan who will be able to apply for Administra-tive Relief once it is announced. Gifts made by December 31, 2014 will be matched by National JFON. That means a $50 gift from you becomes $100 for JFON West Michigan. Thanks in advance.

Give online at http://grandrapidsfumc.nextmeta.com/go/giving-online

Or checks can be sent to: Justice for Our Neighbors 207 Fulton E Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Made payable to First United Methodist Church with "JFON" in memo line

F OCUS

As part of the VCI process, five surveyors canvassed a several block radius around our church and asked three questions:

1. Are there any needs that you believe our church can help with?

2. If you were looking for a church what would be important to you?

3. What is your impression of our church?

Surveyor 1: surveyed 20 homes, of which five people answered the door. General impressions: of the five homes that I talked with, one attends church elsewhere, one was interested in finding a church, three do not attend. Three of the five families have lived in the neighborhood for less than one month. One gentleman ended the interview upon asking question two. No one declined to talk if they answered the door.

Surveyor 2: 7 people were home. Here are the results by question:

1. 6 said nothing, 1 said get more involved with Neigh-borhood Connections

2. Friendly, warmth of the place, in my neighborhood, Catholic, welcoming congregation (no looking down their nose at you, no cliques, help you to not feel like an outcast), an unbiased message, friendliness of the congregations, good youth group for my kids

3. Bazaar, "eager, but not well connected", a few “nothing” responses, a few had played in concerts when they were a kid, hand bell concerts, not the friendliest people.

Surveyor 3: We had 4 people answer the door. One an elderly man "sitting down" to lunch, who said he "knows some of the Methodists and they are nice peo-ple." He couldn't think of anything the church needed to do for the community. The next open door was a 3-4 year old. We moved on. :) The next open door was a woman in her 50s with a hearing impairment. She said she struggled to go to church because of her hearing impairment, and couldn't think of anything we could do for the neighborhood. The fourth open door was a woman who admitted she "church shopped" FUMC when they moved to the neighborhood, but eventually ended up at Third. Her son DID attend FUN school

and she sees the church serving the community by providing ongoing early childhood readiness options.

Surveyor 4: Able to interview 6 homes; here are the answers by question:

1. Only one person noted a need: This woman has a husband who is a Viet Nam war vet and said she could use help with keeping up their yard. I took her name and number and have asked LuAnne about the youth helping her with raking this fall.

2. People are looking for a church that is welcoming, that doesn’t judge them; others mentioned a church that serves others, the neighborhood.

3. Impressions of the church were either: no impres-sion/neutral or a positive one based on the appearance of the church and grounds; ‘looks like a nice church’.

Mike, a neighbor of one of our rental properties, want-ed to talk about the fence and a tree on the fence line. When I asked about would be important to him about a church he said he didn’t go to church: because they look at you funny- for how you look or your past. Another person said what was important was the teaching of the church and if they pray for healing. He and his wife go to another church, but said they might visit us sometime. One woman said she and her hus-band didn’t go to church because she felt like what you wore made a difference to people. She had an experi-ence where others had looked down on her for wearing pants to church.

Surveyor 5: Answers by question: Knocked on 14 doors. At 3 of them people answered and talked with me.

1. “Keep doing what you’re doing.” “The church helps unite the neighborhood.” “That house two doors down where that man lives is the house that needs the help.”

2. “Faith community” “Outreach” “Community” “Friendliness” “Caring”

3. All 3 said they particularly enjoyed our Bazaar; 2 of the people said we had a “Nice building” or “Facility." 2 of the people said they were very glad that we are located here as part of their community.

2 of these households offered that they were Catholic. One older lady was using a cane, one young family.

Vital Church Initiative (VCI)

Youth Ministry LuAnne Stanley Hook, Director (ext. 108)

Schedule of Events

December 2 Renovation Team 7:00 PM

December 8 Endowment Team 7:00 PM

December 9 Staff Parish 7:30 PM

December 11 Trustees 7:00 PM

Sunday, Dec. 16 5:00 meal, 5:30 caroling

(see below for more information)

December 16 Finance 7:00 PM

December 18 Stephen Ministry 7:00 PM

December 23 Church Council 7:00 PM

Christmas Eve services at 5, 7 and 11 on

December 24

Each week:

Tuesday noon: Senior Meal

Thursday 7:00: Volleyball

The holidays are here, and the youth are getting into the spirit of giving. In the midst of our busy-ness, we are trying to share the love of Christ this holiday season. This month, the youth of our church will be making cookies for shut-ins and hosting the all-church caroling in December, as well as assisting the UMW in the Kerstmarkt booth. Come and see us!

Youth Group December Schedule and into the New Year:

Help at the UMW/Youth booth at the Kerstmarkt this holiday season, or come by and purchase some yummy goodies while you are shopping. The Kerstmarkt runs the first two weekends in December:

Tuesday, December 2, 3 – 8 (Santa Parade 7 pm)

Friday, December 5, 3 – 8

Saturday, December 6, 9 – 5

Friday, December 12, 3 – 8

Saturday, December 13, 9 – 5

Sunday, December 7: Both groups, 5:30 p.m. High schoolers to bake cookies in the church kitchen. Bring your assigned ingredients!

Sunday, December 14: Both groups 5:00-7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join the youth group as we carol to our shut-ins! A light supper will be served in Fellowship Hall, starting at 5:00 p.m. Caroling groups will then be assigned some “carolees” and will go and sing to those folks, before returning to the church by 7:30. Bring the whole family for this fun occasion to bring holiday cheer to some of our church members! Donations welcomed of Christmas cookies to share afterward.

Sunday, December 21 and December 28, No Youth Group—Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sunday, January 4: Youth group, 5:30-7:30. Pizza and a movie in the Eclipse for those who are back already from break. Time to recharge for the new year!

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

December 2014

Pastor Rev. J. Lynn Pier-Fitzgerald

Phone: 616-393-6242

Nonprofit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

Holland, MI

Permit No. 445

Worship Topics for December Sunday Morning 8:30 and 10:45

Pastor Lynn Pier-Fitzgerald, preaching

Theme: Living on the Edge

December 7 “The One Who Changes Everything” The Lord’s Supper Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

December 14 “Pointing to the Promise” Isaiah 61:8-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28

December 21 “Impossible Promise” Luke 1:26-38, 47-55

December 24 Luke 2:1-20 Childcare at 5:00 and 7:00

Christmas Eve 5:00 PM Child Friendly Worship

6:30 PM Festival Prelude Concert

7:00 PM will feature the handbells and the band 11:00 PM will feature the Chancel Choir

Both will include The Lord’s Supper and Candle lighting

December 28 Guest speaker—sermon topic and scripture will be announced in the bulletins and blast

57 W. 10th St.

Holland MI 49423

Return Service Requested

FI RST UNIT ED MET HODI ST CHURCH

Phone: 616-396-5205

December 2014

Visit us online at

www.fumcholland.org

Focus 2014 12

Documents

Transcript of Focus 2014 12