DECEMBER 2018 CHRISTMAS AND DECEMBER ACTIVITIES. 4pm - Christmas Concert at Madison First Baptist Church.

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1 DECEMBER 2018 Dear Friends in Christ, This is from a 60 Minutes broadcast from a few years ago. It s an excerpt of what Harry Reasoner said around Christmas time that I want you to hear. Listen carefully he said: Eleven years ago I did a little Christmas piece and it seemed like a good idea to repeat it. The basis for this tremendous burst of buying things and gift buying and parties and near hysteria is a quiet event that Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But you come back to the central fact of the day and the quietness of Christmas morning, the birth of God on earth. It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One is cynically, as a time to make money and endorse the making of it. One is graciously, that s the appropriate attitude for non-christians who wish their fellow citizens all the joys to which their beliefs entitle them. And the third, of course, is reverently. If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe, it is a very important day. It is a startling idea, of course. The whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear his son as a way of showing his love and concern for man. It s my guess that in spite of all the lip service given to it, it s not an idea that has been popular with theologians. It is somewhat an illogical idea and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It s so revolutionary, a thought that it probably could only come from God that is beyond logic and beyond theology. It is a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God and almost nobody has any real idea what he is like, and the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is not necessarily a completely comforting or appealing idea. But everyone has seen babies and almost everyone likes them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared,he moved correctly, for a baby growing up learns all about people. And if God wanted to be intimately a part of man, He moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family-hood is the most intimate and precious experience that any of us will ever have. So it comes beyond logic. It is either a falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It is the story of the great innocence of God the baby. God in the power of man has such a dramatic shock toward the heart that if it is not true to Christians, then nothing is true. So if a person is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it. And maybe on some given Christmas some final quiet morning, that touch will take. The touch of God coming into this world as a vulnerable baby. Merry Christmas everyone, and may the baby of Christmas reveal that innocent love of God for you, Pastor Chuck CHRISTMAS AND DECEMBER ACTIVITIES 4pm - Christmas Concert at Madison First Baptist Church. 4pm (time subject to change) The entire church is invited to go Christmas caroling with the youth. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. 11am worship - MUMC Choir s Christmas Cantata 5:30pm - Christmas Eve Service

2 HANDS OF GOD FOOD PANTRY This Advent season if you wish to do something worthwhile for those in your community who are in need of food use the Reverse Advent Calendar. Each member of your family could contribute in this way. Thank you for considering this. Carolyn Evans; Food Pantry Coordinate Hands of God; Morning Circle UMW. GRIEFSHARE MEETINGS The holidays are often difficult for those that have recently lost loved ones. A church in our community Madison First Baptist Church, provides a support group call GriefShare. We encourage you to take advantage of this community small group if you have lost a loved one recently. See the article below. Submitted by Carolyn Evans Chair of Adult Small Ministries/Small group Committee GriefShare meets at First Baptist Church of Madison on Tuesdays. Meetings are held in the library at 1:30-3:30pm except on the first Tuesday of the month when we gather for lunch at 11:30am. A cycle of GriefShare is thirteen group sessions, however many find such support and encouragement through our group that participation lasts much longer. There is no charge to attend or for materials. If you are grieving a loved one or you know someone who is we will be happy to welcome new members into our group. You can register online at or you can call the church directly at You can even just show up. We love you and will travel this difficult road with you. SOLOMON S PORCH WEEKLY FELLOWSHIP Anyone is welcome to join us for great fellowship and fun We meet each Thursday at 12 noon. DECEMBER 6th - Rio Grande 13th - Chris Elbie s 20th - El Puente 27th - (no meeting) Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

3 Wow It don t know about you all but it s hard to believe that it is already December. We have had a great fall season with the youth. Seeing everyone at their games, band events, and our youth meetings has been truly special. As we head into the season of Advent and a time of preparation I want to let you of some events planned for December. On December 2nd we will leave immediately after the 11:00 service for lunch and Christmas Tree shopping. We will have a sit down lunch and head out to select the tree. When we return we will light and decorate the tree. Please invite any friends as I know this is a holiday favorite of ours. On December 9th at 5:00 we will go caroling through Madison. We will have hot chocolate and plenty of blankets. The entire church is invited and encouraged to participate in this very special occasion (even if your not a singer ). We hope to do our yearly progressive dinner on December 16th. We are in need of volunteers to be host. If you would be willing to host some teenagers to eat you out of house and home please let me know. If you have never hosted before it is a ton of fun and the kids have a great time. I know Advent can be a busy time but we would love to have your kids join us for some of these special events. Please be on the lookout for information concerning a possible ski trip in January. Merry Christmas and God Bless Josh Follweiler; Youth Director

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6 HAPPY DECEMBER BIRTHDAY 2nd - Pam TerLinden Myers, Jane Sentelle 3rd - Mike Webster 5th - Aaron Wilkinson 6th - Pastor Chuck Halipilias 7th - Amy Owens, Jake Kemp 8th - Eric Neal 10th- Libby Apple 12th- JoAnn Yow 13th - Anna Casto 17th - Jane Lockhart, Ruth Collins 18th - Linda Foulks, Faith Eaves, Evelyn Tsianiklides 19th - Chappell Whitt, Tim Brown 20th - Maryann Whitmore 21st - Sharon Scott, Billy Foulks 22nd - Mark Casey 24th - Amy Scott Neal 26th - Jim Jenkins, Patrick Rogers, Patrick Myers Michelle Casto 29th - Hunter Foulks 31st - Sally Halipilias PRAYER REQUESTS Cliff Lockhart Paige Carlton Tommy Martin Brady Mitchell Bailey Smith Kami Joyce Kennedy Lynda Coltrane Cindy Jarrett Pulliam Barbara Owens Shay Black Liz Saylor Linda Southern Shannon Richardson Kathryn Scott, Bryan Fox, Ila Hughes, Margaret Price, George Dick **If you know of any name that can be removed and or /added to the prayer list, please call the church office. IMPORTANT REMINDER CALL MULTIPLIER MESSAGE SYSTEM The call system we are using at MUMC is called Call Multiplier. Call Multiplier helps our church improve communication about important events or meetings scheduled for our members. If at any time, you need the phone number called to be changed, Sheryl Eaves at seaves59@gmail.com. Also, if you have Caller ID, the number that will show up is (877) You can also use this number to retrieve a message that was missed. Just dial the number and you will hear the last message that was sent by our church. **Call Multiplier Voice Caller ID & Retrieve Number (877) COPIES OF DVDS OF WORSHIP SERVICE We have DVD copies of each Sunday s worship service available in the church office. If you would like to get a copy, come drop by the church office during office hours and indicate the date of the Sunday worship service you would like.

7 (336) Academy St. Madison, NC Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 8:30am-1:30pm Closed Fridays Early Worship Coffee Fellowship wsackfield@gmail.com Preschool Teachers: 2nd Wednesdays 3rd Thursdays 2 s & 3 s Ashley Peoples & Laura Easter Wonderful Wednesday Meals of Hope 4 s Amy Owens & Nancy Powers 6:00pm 5:30pm Willa Sackfield & Deanna Shreve Nonprofit Organization Sunday Worship Schedule: 8:45am 9:30am 10:00am Sunday School 11:00am Worship Preschool Hours 8:30am-12pm Mon - Thur 9am-11:30pm Fri Church Staff: Pastor: Rev. Charles (Chuck) Halipilias CHalipilias@wnccumc.net Administrative Assistant: Wendy Biggs madisonumc110@embarqmail.com Youth Leader: Josh Follweiler jfollweiler@rock.k12.nc.us Preschool Director: Willa Sackfield Madison U.M.C. 110 West Academy St. Madison, NC OUR MISSION: As the body of Christ we PROCLAIM the Good News of Jesus Christ as Lord, INSTRUCT individuals in the faith, so they can grow spiritually a n d m o r a l l y s t r o n g ; NURTURE AND CARE for one another, to build up the body of Christ; and SERVE those in need, simply because they are in need. Return Service Requested U.S. Postage PAID Madison, NC Permit #47