December Wednesdays at 6:30 in the Overflow Room of the Sanctuary with John Call

Transcription

1 THE MESSENGER Steele Memorial United Methodist Church 733 Shaw Street, P. O. Box 346 Barboursville, WV Rev. Kevin Lantz, Pastor Web Address: December 2017 ADVENT SMALL-GROUP STUDY: Join This Week! It's not too late to take part in our 4-week Advent Study: "Faithful: through the Eyes of Joseph." There are several group-times being offered across the week as we are just getting started! Wednesdays at 1:00 in the Fellowship Classroom with Jack and Claren Perkins Wednesdays at 4:45 with the Cathy Conard and the All Stars 4 Jesus ministry team Wednesdays at 6:30 with our Young Adults in the Fellowship Classroom with Pastor Kevin Wednesdays at 6:30 in the Overflow Room of the Sanctuary with John Call An alternate study is with the Church Book Club, meeting on Monday December 4, 1:00 pm to discuss the December selection, "The Train," by David Baldacci. CHRISTMAS OUTREACH More people are willing to accept an invitation to Church at and Easter than at any other time in the year! Please prayerfully consider who you might include as your guest to any number of our special events throughout December, especially our Eve worship! Pray for the person who s on your heart to invite! This is the time to ask God to speak urgently to others about the hope and salvation the world needs! You will play a part in the eternal story of those in your circle of influence. Join us Sunday evening, December 24, at 6:30 p.m. for our traditional worship with carols and candle lighting at the end. This time of worship has been a favorite for families throughout the years a special way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! ANGEL TREE Please take time to select angels from the Angel Tree in the Church narthex as an opportunity to play Santa, bringing special holiday happiness to children in our area! The Renaissance Choir, a community choir, will be present on Monday, December 4, 7:30 p.m. to share their Concert at the Church! You will enjoy the sounds and the spirit of the music they bring! Join us and bring a friend! CHURCH CHOIR CANTATA O Night Divine: Dawn of Love s Pure Light is the presentation of musical story-telling and praise on Sunday evening, December 17, 6:30 p.m. Let us join with our Church Choir to celebrate the joyful, glorious birth of our Lord and Savior! The songs encourage us to offer our highest praise to the One known by such magnificent names as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Everlasting Father! Come to the manger, bow down, and worship the King of Kings! HANGING OF THE GREENS So what do all these funny symbols on the Church tree stand for? Join us on Sunday evening, December 3, 6 p.m. in the sanctuary as we learn more about the special symbols that surround us each year at time!

2 perform for the church staff luncheon. We will also have our party this month. Jesus is the reason for the season! Merry! CHRISTMAS CAROLING through The Village! Members and friends of the Church are invited to sing carols throughout the Village on Wednesday, December 20, at 6 p.m. Eddie Smith pulls the flatbed with singers to designated spots as we share in this traditional, family outing! After we return to the Church, singers will be treated to hot chocolate and cookies! CHILDREN S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM Our Children s All Stars 4 Jesus program will be Wednesday, December 13, beginning at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary. The Cherub Choir presents in the Kitchen, leading off the program, and the Celebration Choir follows with Counting Down to : A Special Equation. A reception with refreshments will follow the worship program. CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS Members and friends of the Church can order Poinsettias that will be used to decorate the Church throughout December. Order forms are available in the worship programs or you can call the Church office at to purchase a memorial poinsettia in honor or in memory of a friend or loved one! The names will be published each week in a program insert. AMAZON PRIME Steele Memorial UMC is now signed up through Amazon Prime to receive a small percentage of any purchases you make through on-line shopping with Amazon! This is a great way to remember your Church as the Church benefits from your on-line shopping! Just visit our Church web site and scroll down to the Amazon Smile tab! It's easy! OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD COLLECTION THANK YOU! to all who donated to the SAMARI- TAN'S PURSE Ministry. We delivered 102 boxes from our church! Your donations are helping "to make Jesus Christ known among the children of the world." The gift-boxes will be going to more than 150 countries; with expectations to reach 12 million children. Thank you for being part of the "GOOD NEWS of a GREAT JOY!" STAFF APPRECIATION CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON The United Methodist Women will host an appreciation luncheon on Thursday, December 14, at 11:00 in New Fellowship Hall. Bring a friend and an appetizer, salad, or dessert to share as we celebrate the GOOD NEWS, GREAT JOY of Jesus's birth! Ms. Mary's Busy Bees with join us as will Paula Davis so mark your calendar and plan to attend! The BUSY BEES Pre-School is the Bees' favorite time of the year. We love making special crafts in celebration of Christ's birth, which of course is our Bible story this month. Our Bible verse is from Psalms 100:1 Shout for joy to the Lord!" Our mission project is to continue to collect change for angel tree gifts. We will also have a day when we all wear silly socks! Some of our older bees will take a trip to see Mr. Eddie and Ms. Vickie's House, as well as The LANTZs WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS Pastor Kevin and Kim Lantz want to wish you all a very special! May the Spirit of God speak to you as we celebrate the wonder of God s love! There was a promise for each of us left under the tree of life over 2,000 years ago. The promise was withheld from no one. Some have left it unclaimed. Some have failed to remove the wrappings. Some have opened and received it. But for each of us the promise reads: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It is the promise of for you and me! NEW CONTACT INFORMATION for Rev. Ralph Sager Please make note of new contact information for Rev. Ralph Sager since his move to his daughter's home: 5233 Ohio River Road; Huntington, WV ; is the home phone He who has not in his heart will never find it under a tree. Roy L. Smith

3 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS We are thankful for the generous support members and friends have shared as we completed payment to our building fund, paying off the parsonage to become debt-free! As many of you know, with property the size of our church campus, there are constant demands to maintain our ministry center. Please continue to provide financial gifts that were otherwise designated for the Building Fund as we channel these contributions to a Capital Improvement Fund. Among the projects needing attention are new carpet and painting in the sanctuary, a roof or portico over the handicap ramp where the majority of our people enter the building, and a new storage building for the lawn mower and other mission collectibles. DISASTER RELIEF Did you know you can still make a donation for hurricane storm recovery through our web site at Scroll down to the UMCOR Donation Tab. UMCOR is The United Methodist Committee on Relief, and they are present at nearly every disaster worldwide! VISION TEAM NOMINATIONS The Church Vision Team will be entering its second generation and is open for new participants to take part in the visioning process for VisionTeam.2. If you would like to be part of the Steele Memorial Vision Team and leadership development or you would like to nominate someone, please place a name in nominations by reporting to Pastor Kevin or contact the Church office at DECEMBER 2017 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY :00pm Hanging of the Greens 4 1:00pm Book Club Church Parlor 7:30pm Free Concert Renaissance in Sanctuary pm Singles& More Class Dinner 10 Poinsettia Tree :00pm All Stars Program in Sanctuary 14 11:30am UMW Luncheon NFH :00pm Pennington Class Dinner OFH 17 6:30pm Adult Choir Cantata 24 6:30pm Eve Service 18 TBA Cub Scouts Party 25 CHRISTMAS DAY 6:00pm Caroling :30pm All Stars Parties TBA Blood Drive In Gym 7:00pm Troop 88 Crew :00pm Troop 88 Crew Office Closed 31 New Year s Eve

4 WHAT S WORKING ELSEWHERE? Luke 2 and Matthew 1 are often the sources we use for our story. But what about 2 Corinthians 5:17-21? Hear these words: 17 Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, Come back to God! 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. So I want to share what one Church in Lewisburg, WV is doing to share the gift of God s reconciliation with others. Lewisburg United Methodist Church is reaching beyond their walls with Together Tuesday. Rev. Bev Colombo, minister of youth, families, and creative worship said, Together Tuesday began as a desire to create connection in the Lewisburg community and share the love of Jesus. Lewisburg United Methodist Church made this happen when they opened its walls and widened their embrace. Together Tuesday started on October 3, 2017 as a trial run for 6 weeks. With over 150 people attending each week, they have extended this community driven worship service indefinitely. Together Tuesday is held every Tuesday evening at Hill and Holler pizza restaurant in Lewisburg starting at 6:00 pm. People arrive a half hour earlier for a pizza and wing buffet and then stay for a wonderful hour of worship in song, praise and prayer. Added bonus, it s fun! Each Tuesday brings something new. When asked, What do you like about Together Tuesday? The unanimous answer was, We love the off campus casual worship time together. One woman said, My job requires me to work on Sunday and I miss my church but with Together Tuesday I can still worship with my friends. Each week this gathering grows and remains strong, revealing the deep desire that folks want to connect with each other and be reminded how much Jesus loves them. Judy Pysell, Greenbrier District Communications Coordinator ASSOCIATE PASTOR POSITION at Steele Memorial UMC The following information is circulating to Christian schools and Seminaries in hopes of filling a ministry need that will strengthen our ministry in our Barboursville community. Position: MINISTER OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION AND YOUTH MINISTRIES Job Skills and Qualifications: Good communication skills and ability to relate to youth and adults. Ability to motivate, counsel, and teach youth and adults. Exhibit a passion for leading young people to faith in Jesus Christ and discipleship. Strong administrative skills. Willing to serve as a team member who shares responsibilities and is able to delegate when appropriate. A degree in Christian Ministries relevant to the Description of Responsibilities preferred (however, significant lifeexperiences may be considered in lieu of a degree). Commitment to professional and personal growth and development. Knowledge of group dynamics and listening skills. An ability to teach or coach group facilitators. Passion and experience with small group disciple ministries. Effective communicator and motivator. Knowledge of effective teaching models. Successful completion of criminal background check and drug screen prior to employment I. Spiritual Formation The role of Spiritual Formation will provide dynamic leadership reflecting the Ministry Action Plan at Steele Memorial United Methodist Church. The Minister of Spiritual Formation will work in partnership with church leaders and church staff to plan and organize new and existing opportunities for spiritual growth and spiritual formation, including development and overseeing small group studies. He / She will work closely with leaders and/or staff to research, design, and implement effective ways to encourage the participation of members and friends (both active and uninvolved) into a discipling program. II. Youth Ministry The primary purpose of the Youth Minister position is to build young disciples for Christ by developing and implementing a comprehensive approach to youth ministry (in the areas of group building, worship, discipleship, mission, and outreach) while serving as a spiritual leader and role model. This includes but is not limited to planning, directing, conducting, and evaluating a robust youth ministry, taking into consideration the spiritual, physical, recreational, social and psychological development of youth while sharing Christ with lost and unchurched youth, leading them to faith in Christ, baptism, Church membership, guiding them to grow spiritually, and providing opportunities for their Christian ministry. Of equal importance is to assist parents or guardians in raising their teenagers to a wholesome maturity.

5 FOUR CLUES FOR INVITING OTHERS TO CHURCH EFFECTIVELY by Doug Powe; The Lewis Center for Church Leadership Many people just don t like inviting other people to church, in part because faith is so personal and in part because they fear rejection. Doug Powe provides four clues for inviting that is genuine, specific, honest, and expectant. Many of us have been in conversations about inviting new people to our congregation and somebody always says, Everybody I know already goes to church, which takes them off the hook for inviting new people. Statistically speaking, the range of weekly church attendance is highest for the Silent Generation (51%) and lowest for older millennials (27%). Based on these statistics from the Pew Research Center, even for someone belonging to the Silent Generation, it s likely that only half the people they know attend church. Inviting others to anything is a scary proposition. The goal is an invitation that leaves space for others to say yes and that doesn t paint an overly negative or rosy picture. The challenge comes because we really don t like inviting individuals to church. The fear of rejection is one of the main reasons. Understandably most of us do not enjoy rejection at any level. Yet, if we are serious about sharing God s transforming love, then inviting others to a place where that can happen is important. Clues for Inviting Others 1. The invitation should be about a genuine connection and not staged. It is best to invite individuals to an event that has bearing on their life or appeals to their interests. It comes across as a genuine connection and not something staged that comes out of left field. I might say, for instance, I have an extra ticket to hear that new group you like on Friday at 7. I d love for you to come with me. The connection is authentic because they have an interest in the group. If we translate this to inviting someone to church, then we share with them how the new sermon series on addictions may be helpful as they deal with a child in rehabilitation. The point is the invitation comes across as thoughtful and something that connects with the other person. 2. Be specific. Often, when we do invite, our invitations are very general. If I say to someone, Come to dinner at my house on Sunday, it leaves out important information, like the time of dinner and where I live. A better dinner invitation is Come over at 5 p.m. on Sunday and my address is 123 Main Street, which I will text you so you can Google directions. The same principle applies to church. Simply saying, Why don t you come to my church on Sunday, is not as specific as I would love for you to come to Main Street Congregation at 10 a.m. Our address is 123 Main Street, and I will meet you in the parking lot. Be specific! 3. Be honest about what we know and do not know. Another reason many of us do not invite is that we are afraid someone may ask us questions to which we do not know the answer, such as, Why do bad things happen to good people? It is okay if we do not have all the answers. In many cases others are relieved that we do not know everything. This communicates to others that you are not trying to sell them a bill of goods. We all have been in situations where a salesperson was willing to tell us anything to get us to buy the product. To exaggerate the point, imagine a salesperson saying you need this vacuum cleaner (that works well on shag carpet) when they know you only have hardwood floors in the house. This would leave a bad taste in your mouth. Honesty goes a long way and individuals respect those who are up-front with them. 4. It is important to invite with expectant hope. Do not invite with a defeatist attitude. There are times when we underplay the invitation, it comes across as if we really do not want the other person to come. For instance, a friend saying, My family reunion is on Saturday. It probably won t be fun, but you might want to come if you have absolutely nothing else to do. This is not a compelling invite! But it s equally important not to go to the opposite extreme and be overly effusive. The goal is an invitation that leaves space for others to say yes without painting an overly negative or rosy picture. Inviting others to anything is a scary proposition. This is especially true for church because of the personal nature of faith. I believe it is helpful to make a genuine connection, be specific, be honest and avoid shading the picture too bleakly or too rosily. Ultimately, we are inviting others to experience a transforming relationship with their heavenly Father! THANK YOU: From Tenny Crockett Dear Church Family, I m forever grateful for your love and generous gift and financial help to purchase reliable transportation. Also, thanks for the Food Fair gift card for the Thanksgiving season. It really helps make my life easier. Much love and appreciation, Tenny Crockett 03 Tony Ryder 10 Donnie Barbour 17 Gary Cox 24 Kelly McGuffin 31 Pat Cornwell December 2017 Larry Dickens Pat Cornwell Mike McClung Tony Ryder Larry Dickens

6 MISSION NEWS One thing I ve discovered during my time at Steele is that our people have hearts of gold! I have the privilege of seeing donations and money pour in to support those less fortunate. I watch as people spend countless hours doing the work of our Lord in sometimes difficult circumstances and places. I am thankful for this opportunity. CELEBRATE RECOVERY - Our team sponsored a Thanksgiving Dinner for more than 126 men, women and children. After dinner, Pastor Kevin spoke about thankfulness. We sang, we played games and we watched people laugh and play in ways some of them had not done in a very long time. I am thankful for the outpouring of love, food and helping hands that came to help us cook, serve and clean up on this special evening. The clothing give away was a huge success! Nearly all men s items were taken. There are still many nice women s items in the yellow classroom that are available to anyone who can use them. HOLIDAY FOOD BASKETS - Thanks to your generosity, we were able to donate $850 to families from ECCHO, our church family and Celebrate Recovery families to help with Thanksgiving meals! Thank you! We are now collecting for food baskets. You may give your donation to a mission team member, or place in the offering envelopes. CITY MISSION - Thank you to ALL who placed coats on our tree! It has been emptied many times! What a blessing it is to see someone so happy wearing an item you donated! Thanks to Roger Call for being our delivery man! ANGEL TREE - Watch the narthex! Very soon, our tree will be filled with angels! Parents, this is a great opportunity to share with your children what it means to give to someone they may never meet as you allow them to shop for another s wish. Please return in a gift bag by December 17th with the angel card attached. A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord. Billy Graham Thankfully, Gina WEEKLY EVENTS Sunday--- 8:45 Early Worship 9:45 Sunday School 10:45 Morning Worship 6:00 Youth 6:30 Evening Worship Monday---- 6:30 Sea Scouts 6:30 Cub Scouts 7:00 Boys Scouts Wednesday--- 5:30 Youth 5:30 All Stars 6:30 Bible Study 7:30 Choir Practice Thursday--- 7:00 M. Call Gym Saturday--- 8:00am Men s Bible Study Tuesday--- 6:30 Celebrate Recovery DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS 01 Alissa Stewart Megan Turman 03 Jim Pickett Kay Ratcliff Maridel Witten 08 Mike McClung, Jr. 11 Gregg Childers 13 Delores Donahoe Betty Miller Joyce Stull 14 Chris Jarvis 15 Elijah Smith 18 Penny Saylor 19 Eric Fetty Glenn Smith Dustin Stewart 20 Bode King 21 Sue Nichols Marvin Staton 22 Kenzie Fannin 25 Terry Wooten 27 Ryan Coburn 28 Carolyn Jenkins Zenaida Prichard 30 Carson Blower Irma Shy DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES 07 Cindy and Kevin Ballengee 10 Jack and Jenny Black Julia and Larry Dickens 17 Amy and Jim Reiter 18 Charlotte and Jack Crandall Harvey and Peggy Morrison 19 Maridel and Russ Witten 20 Jim and Sandy Boggess 22 Jack and Sue Nichols

7