First Things First. First United Methodist Church February Calendar, Birthdays, Anniversaries, & Prayer List.

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1 First Things First Sunday Services Worship: 8:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Nursery Care begins: 9:40 a.m. Sunday School: 9:40 a.m. In this issue: Intro to Pastor s Lenten Study Pastor s Lenten Study 1 2 Ash Wednesday 3 UMW 4 Book Club 5 Lenten Coin 6 Calendar, Birthdays, Anniversaries, & Prayer List 9 Dear Friends of First and First Samoan UMC, As the air remains crispy cold and snow continues to fall, the Lenten Season is here. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and this year it also begins on Valentine's Day! Your initial thoughts might be similar to those of other's: "That's quite a contrast of themes." Valentine's Day is named after a third century Roman Bishop, Saint Valentine (Valentinus). From the stories of St. Valentine we learn of his compassion for young Christian couples who were being persecuted by the emperor. We also learn that he was imprisoned and eventually martyred because of his faith in Jesus Christ. Yet while in prison, it is said he healed a jailer's blind daughter and on the day of his execution, St Valentine left the girl a note signed: "Your Valentine." In the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, he is the patron saint of young couples, engaged couples, happy marriages, and love. Today Valentine's Day is associated with expressions of love, romance and renewing warm thoughts for the special people in our lives. It is also a feast day of admiration with roots in the history of the Church. So I encourage you to honor your Valentine with heartfelt love. Then let us all come together for the Ash Wednesday Service (Feb 14, 7:30 pm). Ash Wednesday services emphasize the recognition of our own mortality and remind us of God's reconciling love as we confess our sins and once again renew our lives in relationship with Jesus Christ. As the beginning of the Lenten Season; Ash Wednesday is the beginning of preparation for the celebration of Easter, Resurrection, and New Life! In the Spirit of renewing faith and life, I want to invite you (and your Valentine) to be a part of this year's Lenten Study of the Gospel of John. "JOHN: The Gospel of Light and Life," by Adam Hamilton, will be our text as we journey through a season of spiritual growth and life-changing renewal. As we explore the major themes of this Gospel over a period of six weeks, upon completion you will have read the entire Gospel of John. In this Good News, John says he shares the stories of Jesus "...so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31) Many Blessings In Christ, Pastor 1

2 February 2017 Wednesdays February 21st-March 28th 12:00 p.m. &7:30 p.m. Books are available to purchase from the office for $

3 7:30 p.m. First United Methodist Church of Anchorage will be joining churches all over the world by beginning the season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service. Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, February 14, We will be meeting at 7:30 that evening in the Sanctuary. This service is a time of reflection, setting the tone for the upcoming season of Lent so we want to encourage everyone to attend. See you there! What is Ash Wednesday all about? Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. By the fourth century the Western church determined that the Lenten period of fasting and renewal should correspond to Christ s forty-day fast (Matt. 4:2), and, by counting forty days back from Easter (excluding Sundays, which remain feast days), arrived at the Wednesday seven weeks before Easter. At one time Lent was primarily viewed as a period during which converts prepared for baptism on Easter Sunday, but later the season became a general time of penitence and renewal for all Christians. Thus Ash Wednesday became the day that marked the beginning of the Lenten renewal. The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin. Ash Wednesday worship, then, is filled with gospel truth. It is a witness to the power and beauty of our union with Christ and to the daily dying and rising with Christ that this entails. The imposition of ashes is often a central part of the worship service. Ashes have a long history in biblical and church traditions. In Scripture ashes or dust symbolize frailty or death (Gen. 18:27), sadness or mourning (Esther 4:3), judgment (Lam. 3:16), and repentance (Jon. 3:6). Some traditions also have considered ash a purifying or cleansing agent. All these images are caught up in the church s use of ashes as a symbol appropriate for Lent. In Christ s passion we see God s judgment on evil; in our penitence we express sorrow and repentance for our sins; in our rededication we show that we are purified and renewed. The ashes, which often are the burnt residue of the previous year s palms from Palm Sunday, are often mixed with a little water and carried in a small dish. As the leader goes from worshiper to worshiper, or as worshipers come forward, the leader dips a finger in the moist ash and makes a cross on each person s forehead (the imposition ), saying words such as Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return, or, Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ. 3

4 United Methodist Women February events: (All women of the Church are warmly invited to attend these activities.) 12th Hope~ 5:30 p.m-downtown Hope Center 13th Executive Board~ 6:30 p.m. ~ Church 14th Sunny Friends~ 12:30 p.m. Serving at the Downtown Hope Center We will be serving dinner to the women at the Downtown Hope Center on the 12th. This shelter is able to house 50 women overnight, and serves dinner to women every night. If you would like to volunteer, please meet at 240 East 3rd Ave at 5:30 p.m. on Feb 12th. Magic Yarn Project This year the FUMC UMW selected the Magic Yarn Project as on of the recipients of the Christmas Brunch Auction funds. When we met in January to present these checks we learned about how we could be part of the story of providing self confidence for children who have lost their hair to pediatric cancer. The Magic Yarn Project provides wigs to children all around the world to children who have los their hair, all of these wigs are not at no cost to the family. This amazing ministry is run out of Palmer, AK. For more information you can visit their website at themagicyarnproject.com There are many ways we can assist in this cause. One of the needs that we are hoping to help with is to help make flowers that are used to adorn the wigs. To do this we are in need of fake flowers (that lay flat) and rhinestones. Once we have a stock of these items, we will them schedule a day to come and assemble the flower to ship! You can donate the items to the church office. 4

5 We had a great meeting as we discuss The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. We discussed the many twists and turns of this book. Our next meeting will be on February 26th at 7:00 p.m. at the home of Ann York. We will be discussing America s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie. Book Club It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love with her father s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William s wife and still be a devoted daughter. In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson s eldest daughter, Martha Patsy Jefferson Randolph a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy. From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded. Everyone is invited to join in, share what you have read with the group. We are always looking for new books to read! Our book club is always a great time of fellowship, food, and sharing of books!! Upcoming Books: February America s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie March The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See 5

6 Coins for Lent by Maryjane Pierce Norton During Lent, many of us are reminded once again to examine our lifestyles and ask, "What can we do for others?" Lent is a good time to commit to giving money to a project that helps those in need. One way to involve the whole family is to collect coins during the season of Lent, then donate what has been collected after Easter. Follow our Coins for Lent Giving Calendar as a guide. If you decide to do this as a family or as a congregation, first determine where you would like your money to go. Maybe you have a community food bank that could use funds to purchase food for the hungry. Maybe you would like to contribute to a larger project beyond your local community. Heifer International is an agency that addresses need around the world. You can find out more about Heifer International at Or you may know of another project to which you would like to give your money. Select one for your gifts. Once you have selected a project, decide what coins you want to collect. You may want to contribute a quarter for every item on the giving calendar. You may want to simply collect loose change and give whatever coins you have for each item. Now make a container to collect the money. Use a plastic tub, or a jar, or a coin bank that you aren't currently using in your home. Decorate this and place it where all can see. Items on the daily guide will remind us of all we have and how little others may have. Each Sunday, take time to pray as a family for the project for which you are collecting money and the people who will benefit from your gifts. Our giving begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes with Holy Saturday. In Lent and always, Sundays are for worship and praise to God. 6

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9 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Prayer List 1 Emergency Cold Weather Shelter 2 3 Bridgeway School Fundraiser Our thoughts and prayers are extended to: 4 8:30 am Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 am Joint FSUMC/FUMC Worship 11 8:00 a.m. Bean s Cafe 8:30 am Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 am Worship 1:00 p.m. FSUMC Worship 5:30 p.m. A Place at the Table 18 8::30 am Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 am Worship 1:00 p.m. FSUMC Worship 25 8::30 am Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 am Worship 1:00 p.m. FSUMC Worship 12 2:45 p.m. Roadmap Team Meeting 5:30 p.m. UMW Hope Hope Center 7:00 p.m. Finance Committee 19 Office Closed 26 6:30 pm Peanut Farmers 7:00 p.m. Book Club Mission Wednesday 12:00 pm Bible Study :00 pm Bible Study 12:30pm UMW Sunny Friends Circle 7:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday Service :00 pm Lenten Study 7:30 p.m. Lenten Study :00 pm Lenten Study 7:30 p.m. Lenten Study 8 7:00 p.m. Leadership Board 15 12:30 p.m. Out to Lunch Café Amsterdam Emergency Cold Weather Shelter Rebecca Chaney Family & Friends of Cliff Huston Everyone who can not be with their family or those that they love HAVE WE MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY? PLEASE CALL THE OF- February Wedding Anniversaries Greg & Linda Morrisette 37Years Congratulations to these happy couples!!! February Birthdays Jacquie Braden 4 Louise Lush 4 Sean Walsh 5 Kim Damrill 11 Nonnie Kile 17 Jennifer Oato 20 Carly Campbell 22 Lou Campbell 22 Brian Greenlee 25 Cindy Walsh 25 Allie Huston 27 Sally Brook 29 Terry Lee 15 Sydney Leibach 23 9

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