T R I N I T Y TRANSFORMER

Transcription

1 T R I N I T Y TRANSFORMER A publication of Trinity United Methodist Church Our Mission: To Be Lovingly Obedient To Christ Vol. 8 No. 12 December 2017 What Will You Find at Christmas? What do you want for Christmas this year? If you were to ask a typical little boy, he d probably give you two words: video games. There s a little boy I know named Brian. For weeks he bugged his parents about getting a watch for Christmas. Finally, his dad told him, Brian, if you mention that watch again, you re going to get it. Quit bugging us! One night, Brian s parents asked him to lead in prayer before dinner. Brian said, I d like to quote a scripture verse before I pray. Mark 13:37; I say unto you what I have already told you before watch Now that is appropriate use of Scripture! Now let me ask you: What are you going to find this Christmas? I ll tell you what you re going to find: you ll find what you are looking for. At times we think we can work our way into heaven. Oh God, my good works are so high, and my bad works are so low. Look at the difference! The only problem is that God doesn t grade on a curve. God says, Only perfect people need apply for a perfect place. God doesn t judge you against anybody else. You need a savior, and that is provided; It s a free gift: just accept it. The Bible says that Jesus came to seek and save. While you ve been seeking Jesus, he has been seeking you. The miracle of Christmas is not on 34 th Street; it s in Bethlehem. Jesus says, I offer you forgiveness for your past, peace of mind in the present, and a solid future in eternity. Those are the gifts. You matter to God. Your problems matter to God. Your pain matters to God. Your potential matters to God. God came to earth in human form, and God is seeking you while you re seeking God. What better time than at Christmas to make Contact? Wise persons still seek Christ. I challenge you to be a wise person to seek Christ at Christmas, because God says, seek and you shall find. It is God s promise. It is God s gift to you. Thousands of years ago, even before you were born, God knew you would be reading about God, right now, right here at Christmastime. God brought these words to you so God could get your attention for about five minutes, so God could say to you, I really care about you! I know everything about you. I saw your birth. I know when you re going to die. I know everything in between. I made you for a purpose, and I have a plan for your life. Life does have meaning when you get involved in My plan and develop a relationship with Me. I love you, and I want you to know Me so badly that I sent My Son to earth two thousand years ago to show you what I m like. God is talking about a relationship. A relationship to get to know God. Have you unwrapped your gifts yet? Your gifts of forgiveness, peace of mind, and eternal life? These gifts are wrapped up in Christ Jesus. It s silly to get a gift and not unwrap it. We ve celebrated Christmas for years as we are old now, we know the songs and the stories, and we know what it is all about, but you ve never unwrapped the gift. Now is the time and the day. You are never going to be offered a greater gift than Jesus! Come, unwrap your gift and live for eternity in Jesus name. Merry Christmas! Rev. Tweedy Sombrero Navarrete Church Office Hours Monday through Thursday 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM In celebration of Christmas and New Year s the office will be closed from Monday, December 25 th through Thursday, January 4 th. The Church office will open for the new year on Monday, January 8 th.

2 Our December Birthdays 1... Karen Conde 1... Geraldine Pooler 4... Lee Grimes 4... Don McCravy 6... Deb Haley 9... Donna Caffee Mike Shelton William Freridge Jaylyn Minton Lennon Monroy Bill Sharp Pastor Tweedy Navarrete Marilyn Young Join us on Sunday, December 24 th for Birthday Cake following the service!! The Executive Committee of United Methodist Women will meet Tuesday, December 5 th, at 1:00 PM in the Library of the Boone Pooler Education Building. UNITED METHODIST WOMEN Tuesday, December 12 th 11:00 AM All the women of the Church are invited to the UMW s annual Christmas Luncheon (potluck) on Tuesday, December 12 th, at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall. Please bring a side dish to complement the ham and join us for a time of fun and games. Shirley Teeters, President Constance Stone Circle The Constance Stone Circle will meet in the Muriel Freeman Library at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, December 13, We will be reviewing Chapters 18 & 19 in our study book. Ladies please join us for devotion, study and fellowship. Please remember to bring needed items for Crossroads Mission. Carmen Hawk, Circle Coordinator Trinity Men s Ministry The long-awaited Tree of Life has arrived and is now in place on the wall in the Narthex. The leaves on the tree and the rocks under it will memoralize or honor those friends and members of the Church. We will have brochures available in the new year. Trinity Men's Ministry would like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas and a joyfilled New Year. Please join us the first Saturday of every month for fellowship, faith journey and ministry. All men are welcome. Dick Lueck, President FROGs Friends Relying on God and Youth Gather Will not meet in December FROGs and Youth will not meet in December. We are welcoming all families and friends to come join the Cindy Klein Handbell Choir Concert at 4:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday, December 16 th and 17 th. Sarah Akins

3 Together in Advent An Advent Bible Study led by Pastor Tweedy Thursdays beginning November 30 th at 4:00 PM November 30 th Session 1 Be Present December 7 th Session 2 Send Peace December 14 th Session 3 Share Joy December 21 st Session 4 Wrap in Love Peace, joy, love those are good words. Christmas words! We see them on signs and banners and store advertisements and we sing about them in Christmas carols. Peace, joy and love are gifts to share with others during this Advent season, but these gifts do not fade away when Christmas is past. These gifts come to us from our heavenly Creator peace with God, the joy of our salvation and the love of Christ our Savior. All of these gifts come to us through the greatest present we could ever receive, the gift of God s presence among us in Jesus, the Holy Child of Bethlehem. DON T FORGET SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 ND 10:00 AM TO NOON So Come one! Come All! And enjoy this time of fellowship as we decorate the church for Advent and Christmas!! Come and be a part of this tradition! AND Lunch will be provided Blood Pressure Checks Fourth Sunday of each month Morris Hall ANGEL TREE CHRISTMAS GIVING The Advent greens have been hung and our Angel Tree is decorated with 70 angels in Morris Hall. These are the Christmas hopes and dreams of eight incarcerated parents for their children. We have thirty-five children this year. Each child receives two angel gift requests, one a gift of clothing and one a gift of a toy, entertainment game or gift card. You may choose an angel gift request on December 3rd or December 10th after church services. Purchasing instruction will be given to you when you sign up for angels. Gift should be returned to Morris hall no later than noon on December 17th. There will be a gift wrapping party in the Freeman Library, December 17th from 1to 3PM. Everyone is invited to come join the fun and help us wrap these very special gifts. Angel gifts will be delivered to the children during the week before Christmas. Please pray for these special angels, families and incarcerated parents. May your heart and theirs be filled with the love of Christ not only during Advent but all year long. God bless you all for making Christmas special for our angels and their families. Joy Bradshaw, Angel Tree coordinator Thanks everyone, for the support you're giving to our Ark. Please keep filling your Heifer banks. With Pastor Tweedy's sermons and the videos telling about the work of Heifer International, all of us should now have a new appreciation for both. The banks will need to be in by December 17 - the first day of our Alternative Gift Market. Jean Rivers, Outreach Team Leader

4 REVERSE ADVENT This Advent season Trinity will again answer the call to feed the hungry of the Yuma area. You will receive a paper grocery bag with a list of the nonperishable foodstuff on the front of the most needed items by the Yuma Community Food Bank this time of year. Please take your bag home and fill it; return it to the Food Bank boxes in Morris Hall. Additional bags will be available on the table next to the boxes so you can pick up another one and fill it. Last year we accumulated the food stuff over the course of Advent. The plan this year is to have the Food Bank come pick up our offerings each week so that the food is available to those in need. Financial gifts can be given and are always appreciated. You can put your check in the offering plate with Food Bank designated in the memo line or use our new giving kiosk According to the Food Bank $15 can provide 165 meals; $ meals; $ meals; $ meals; $100 1,100 meals; and $250 2,750 meals. Your gifts, either nonperishable foodstuff or money support the working poor, seniors on fixed incomes, growing children, people with disabilities, disaster victims, struggling families, those who are unemployed, as well as folks experiencing homelessness of the Yuma area. Christmas Pageant The Fumbly Bumbly Angels This year s annual Christmas Pageant is The Fumbly Bumbly Angels by Sandy Cope and Sandy Dillbeck. You will be delighted as four fumbly, bumbly angels set their sights on singing in the glorious Heavenly Choir. But instead they find themselves singing in the tiny village of Bethlehem. Would you like to participate? See Sarah Akins! A Little Bit of Christmas, A Little Bit of Rock n Roll Presented by Cindy Klein Memorial Handbell Choir Saturday and Sunday December 16 th and 17 th 4:00 PM Trinity United Methodist Church 3030 S. 8 th Avenue 928/ Our freewill offering will go to Relay for Life and Heifer Project. The Gift of Hospitality Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4: 9 (NIV) Peter instructed his readers to show hospitality to one another. Smiling and greeting one another (new faces and old) helps encourage others to respond (they may be shy also) to God s love. This does not need to be big or complicated. Each one of us can say, Good Morning; Welcome to Trinity. Thank you for worshipping with us. Would you like to join me for a cup of coffee? Each of us can be a part of our Ministry of Hospitality.

5 Sunday, December 24 th 4:00 PM Service of carols and candlelight 7:00 PM Service of carols, choir, and candlelight 11:00 PM Service of carols, communion, and candlelight Childcare will be provided for the 4 PM and 7 PM services.. The choirs are preparing for the Advent season! We have been working on several lovely anthems to present to the congregation during the month of December. This might be a great time for you to try out the choir, maybe just sing during Advent and see how much fun you can have. Practices are on Wednesday 6:30pm. We would love to see you! Singing is good for the soul and blood pressure. Last Spring, we tried to get a training bell choir going, and only 3 young folks expressed an interest. There needs to be at least 6 people in a choir, so that you can play simple songs. If anyone else is interested, please let us know. Karen Conde, Music Director Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan. #4 in John Wesley s instructions for singing. 5 th Sunday Fundraiser December 31 st Each Thursday, Beginning January 4 th...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 A small group on Gratitude Journaling will be begin Thursday, January 4, 2018 and continue through February 8 th. We will meet in Room 106 of the Boone-Pooler Education Building from 4:00 5:30 PM. We will journey together through a guided Bible Study series and journal as a start for what I hope will be a lifetime habit of thanking God daily. This study is scheduled for 8 weeks. Space is limited so please contact the church office ( ) if you would like to participate. Look for a Life Prep 101 class which will be held on Thursday from February 15 th through March 22 nd! The Education Committee will be serving Cinnamon Rolls on December 31 st as part of our 5 th Sunday Fundraiser. Please come and eat some cinnamon rolls with us. Thanks to members of the Outreach Team who hosted our Fellowship Time in November. The Staff-Parish Relations Team will be our host for the month of December. There will be a new schedule for our Coffee Fellowship time beginning in the new year. January Leadership Council February Board of Trustees March Staff/Parish Relations Committee

6 This year s theme is Planting Hope. We hope you will give a dollar for every year you have been PLANTED in Yuma. Also, keep collecting those dimes in your water bottles. Team Trinity will be having cookies and wassail after the bell choir concerts on December 16 th & 17 th. We would love folks to help us out by donating 2 dozen cookies to the cause. Please see any of the team members if you have questions! Also, anyone, I mean anyone can be on the team!! Our next meeting is Tuesday, December 5 th at 5:00 PM in the Music Room. Karen Conde, Team Captain As your Lay Leader/Lay Member to Conference for the last 4 years, I felt compelled to share my thoughts with the Trinity Congregation. The Lay Leader s position is to be a liaison between the lay folks, you, and the pastor, Tweedy. As someone who is already in a leadership position, I don t Lay Lead all that much. So, I told Tweedy that I felt it was time for someone else to step into the position of Lay Leader. I felt that there were several folks out there that would do a terrific job of filling the Lay Leader position. An aside, and I don t mean to speak for AnnaMarie, but she has been the chair of the Ad Council for several years, and she also asked for a replacement. The nominations committee, which I am also a member, went to several folks asking them to become the next Lay Leader and Ad Council Chair, and the answer was No. These 2 positions are not the only positions that we did not fill. The committee spent hours talking and pleading with folks to take on jobs within the church. As I am writing this, we still don t have a Chair of Finance. These positions are required by Church Discipline. Tweedy basically got on her hands and knees and begged Anna and I to continue in the positions that we have served on for several years. Well, there was no way I would say no, because then Trinity Yuma would not have representation on the Conference level, and that is not acceptable. I also have agreed to Co-Chair the Worship committee, as no one would say yes to that position also. Folks, no one person, or in this case 4 or 5 of us that are chairing these committees, can take care of the church in an effective way, especially when we are doing the jobs of 20 people. We need your help!! The past few weeks the Women s Bible Study has been doing a Beth Moore study entitled, Entrusted. This paragraph was on Week 4, Day 4, page 133 of the study, and I believe it fits as part of my thoughts on service to the church. And, this, my friend, is where the rubber meets the road. This is where our study starts moving from our desks to our backpacks and from the page to the pavement. This is where we stop being mesmerized by Christian celebrity culture and have guts enough to fulfill our own callings. Maybe you ve been so distracted by what others have to offer, you ve overlooked what you have to give. Bless them, encourage them, gain from them, and enjoy them but get this through your head: You also have what it takes. You also have a wealth to offer. You are your own mix of gifts, skills, and experiences God want to stir up to serve His Son. Folks, I am not the only person in this church that can be on a committee or chair a committee. We just had a series on Stewardship, and may I remind you that TIME is also a part of Stewardship. Karen Conde Lay Leader/Lay Member to Conference (and a few other things) Thank you for your generous donations of 28 hats, 31 sets of mittens and 6 hat/mitten combinations. Hopefully we will have some cooler weather soon, so they can be enjoyed by our friends Across the Street at Palmcroft Elementary School.

7 Trinity United Methodist Church 3030 South 8 th Avenue Yuma, Arizona Phone: 928/ Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #149 Office Hours Monday through Thursday 8:00 AM 12:00 Noon 1:00 PM 5:00 PM Rev. Tweedy Sombrero Navarrete, Pastor TrinityPastor@roadrunner.com Bob Klein, Church Administrator Bob@TrinityYuma.org Return Service Requested Church School for all ages Sunday at 9:00 AM Worship Sunday at 10:00 AM Take Note.... Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, December 4 th at 6:00 PM in Room 107. Transformation Team will meet on Tuesday, December 12 th at 5:15 PM in Office Workroom. Administrative Council will meet on Monday, December 18 th at 6:00 PM in Room 106. Education Team will meet on Tuesday, December 19 th at 7:00 PM in Room 106. Deadline for the January 2018 Trinity Transformer Newsletter is Wednesday, December 20 th! Please your information to Bob@TrinityYuma.org. The Church Office will be Closed beginning Monday, December 25 th through Thursday, January 4 th. Regular Office Hours will resume on Monday, January 8, Food Bank Sunday is the first Sunday of each month! Please bring non-perishable food to support The Yuma Community Food Bank