Winds of the Spirit. December Lindenwald UMC... a Stephen Ministry Church Our Mission Statement: The LUMC exists to make disciples!

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1 December 2013 Winds of the Spirit Lindenwald UMC... a Stephen Ministry Church Our Mission Statement: The LUMC exists to make disciples! Glad Tidings to One and All! In Matthew 1:21, we read: She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The Advent and Christmas Seasons are some of my favorite times of the year. I hope that you will join me in remembering why we celebrate Christmas in the first place...we remember the birth of God s Son who came to dwell in our very midst. For me, it shall always be both a mystery and a miracle that God would choose to save God s people from their sins in this way...through a cradle in Bethlehem which ended in a cross at Calvary outside of Jerusalem. Of course, in Matthew 1:21 printed above, we are reminded of God s plan for our salvation through Jesus Christ...for Jesus saves us from our sins and life eternal is our final destination. Truly, the work of Salvation takes place right now in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream and overwhelm us with its claims for fame and fortune. So, even in the midst of a world that wants to overwhelm and distract us please join me in keeping the main thing...the main thing...the Christmas birth of God s Son...the Savior of the world! In addition, I invite all of us to celebrate the wonder and miracles of the Christ Child s birth during this Advent and Christmas Seasons. Our schedule of worship services and special events is listed below. First Sunday of Advent: December 1, 2013, "A Life- Giving Christmas: Hope", Romans 13:11-14 Second Sunday of Advent: December 8, 2013, "A Life-Giving Christmas: Peace", Matthew 3:1-12 Third Sunday of Advent: December 15, 2013, "A Life- Giving Christmas: Joy", Luke 1:39-56 Fourth Sunday of Advent: December 22, 2013, "A Life- Giving Christmas: Love", Matthew 1:18-25 Wednesday Immersion Services: December 4, December 11, December 18, 7:00pm with free family dinner at 6:15pm The Longest Night Service Friday, December 20, :30pm, LUMC Sanctuary The holiday season can be a painful reminder to those who have experienced loss during the year. In the long, dark winter nights, memories of past experiences and the pain of present experiences and situations can be overwhelming. This service will provide a space where those feelings can be acknowledged and we can come together and know that we are not alone. All are welcome to attend this special service. (continued on next page)

2 Pastor s Page (continued) Christmas Eve December 24, 2013 At the 7:00pm Traditional Service in the Sanctuary, our Choir will sing along with special music and the story of Christmas being told with scripture passages and the singing of familiar carols. A special Christmas story will be shared with our children. The service will end with the lighting of our Christmas candles as we sing "Silent Night, Holy Night." Child care will be provided for this 7:00pm service. At the 10:00pm Traditional Service in the Sanctuary, we will share in the sacrament of Holy Communion and a Christmas message of joy and love will be proclaimed. This service will end with the lighting of our Christmas candles as we sing "Silent Night, Holy Night." See you in Church! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks to All Who Took Angels All the Angel tags have been taken from the Angel Tree, and we thank all who are participating. Don t forget all gifts need to be returned to the parlor no later than December 15. Please make sure that all gifts are wrapped, and please make sure the Angel Tag is securely attached to the gift. If you have any questions, please call Mary McGuire at C.A.N.S. (Cans Answer Needs) Cans Answer Needs is an outreach ministry begun a number of years ago here in our church by our Outreach Committee. Our Preschool children continue their participation in this ministry by collecting non-perishable food items and cans during the Christmas season to be given to our Food Pantry. Our Lindenwald Church, through our Food Pantry, then distributes these cans and food items to families in need. So, please bring your cans to the Parlor and place them underneath the Christmas tree, which will again be decorated by the children of our Lindenwald Preschool.

3 You re Invited December 21 Everyone is invited to attend the next Community Meal on Saturday, December 21, 2013 from 5:00 to 6:30pm in Fellowship Hall. The Christmas Dinner will be served beginning at 5:00pm. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet new folks who may be different from us, but who are certainly children of God, as well. We could also benefit by additional servant volunteers to set up and tear down as well as work in the kitchen and clean tables. Please pray about joining us! Do the holidays stress you out? If so, here s something that just might help ease some of that stress! Come to Lindenwald United Methodist Church on Saturday, December 14, 2013 from 9am to noon for the Annual Cookie and Candy Sale sponsored by our own United Methodist Women s group! Delicious cookies and candy will be offered for sale and believe me these ladies know how to bake! All proceeds from the sale will go to help our United Methodist Women s group with the various mission and outreach activities they undertake each year. Prayer Drive Thru What s a Prayer Drive Thru, you ask? Well, it s kinda like a regular drive thru, except in place of the soft drinks and snack items, we offer prayer. We open our parking lot to our community for drive thru prayer. As you're driving home on that evening, stop in and our prayer team will listen to your request and pray with you. The next Prayer Drive Thru will be on Thursday, December 12, 2013 from 4:00 to 5:30pm. Volunteers are always needed to help with the drive thru. Call Pastor Val ( ) if you d like to help or her at val_waibel@lindenwaldumc.org. Free Community Meal Feeding the Body & Soul Community Meal offers a free meal to those who may be hungry and have no food. This meal is free and open to the public and will be served on the third Saturday of each month from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. Our food pantry is also open during those same hours and bags of groceries are given to those in attendance. If transportation is an issue and you live within the limits of Butler County, Ohio, we will arrange to have our church van pick you up and take you home.

4 Thank You For Your Faithfulness We want to thank everyone who was able to fill out an estimate of giving card for our 2014 operating budget through the New Consecration Program which will make meaningful ministries possible next year. We are so blest and appreciative of your faithfulness! It is not too late to return your estimate of giving card. Please consider placing your estimate of giving card in the offering plate or dropping it off in the church office. Again, we give our God all the glory and praise for the wondrous things God has done and will continue to do! ~ Your Finance Committee Noisy Sunday Save your change and make some noise on Sunday, December 29, 2013! Men s Breakfast The next UM Men s Saturday Breakfast will be at Perkins in Fairfield on December 14 at 9:00am. PLEASE NOTE The Church Office will be closed on the following days for the Christmas holiday: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 Thursday, December 26, 2013 Friday, December 27, 2013 The Church Office will be closed on the following days for the New Year holiday: Wednesday, January 1, 2014 Thursday, January 2, 2014 The Staff of Lindenwald United Methodist Church would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Pastor Valerie Waibel Tony Brown Mary Boaz McGuire Charlene Elam Nancy McCormick Linda Rouse Glen Chastain

5 Congratulations, New Member! Mary Hannahs On Sunday, November 17, 2013 at the 11:40am worship service, Mary Hannahs joined our Lindenwald United Methodist Church by her profession of faith. Mary is retired and she has lived in this area for many, many years. She is very active in the life of our Lindenwald Church and one of her gifts is witnessing to others about her deep faith in Jesus Christ. We warmly welcome our newest church member and look forward to learning and growing together in Christ. Spotlight on Finance UMW Circle Meetings for December Friendly Circle December 4 ~ 11:15am ~ LaRosa s Restaurant Genesis Circle December 10 ~ 6:00pm ~ Riley s Restaurant Mizpah Circle December 12 ~ 11:30am ~ Olive Garden Restaurant Poinsettia... This shrub, native to Mexico, is at the heart of legend about a poor girl who wanted to bring Baby Jesus a gift one Christmas Eve. As she walked to church, she gathered a bouquet of weeds which Jesus miraculously transformed into lovely red flowers. Thus the poinsettia (named for Joel Poinsett, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico who first brought the plant to America) is known in Mexico as la flor de la Nochebuena (flower of the Holy Night). The poinsettia is also an ideal Christmas symbol because its leaves turn red when deprived of sunlight and its flowers (the red inner buds) bloom in December. The Executive members of our Finance Committee do an outstanding job of proposing a budget, then raising and managing and distributing the financial resources of our Lindenwald Church to support and strengthen the mission and ministry of our congregation. Today we recognize and thank: Ed Gebhart, Finance Chair; Treasurers, Nancy Albright and Sue McPeek; Financial Secretaries, Carrie Titus and Jerry Smith. Lindenwald UMC Food Pantry Needs Canned meat: tuna, salmon, beef stew, chili, chicken, Spam 16 oz. canned fruits/vegetables Boxed rice/potatoes/pasta Hot cereal/chocolate Personal Care and Baby Items Brown paper grocery bags

6 Grab Your Boarding Passes, Folks. We re Taking Flight in 2014!! Making plans to soar... As we begin 2014, we gather as staff, church leaders and members and friends in order to set direction for our church in the months ahead! On Monday, January 13, 2014 beginning at 6:00pm in Fellowship Hall, we will gather and have dinner together first from 6:00 to 6:30pm. Then, at 6:30pm we will evaluate together our church goals from 2013 and then begin to chart a new direction for We should be finished no later than 10:00pm. Please join us as we follow God s vision and direction for us in 2014! In November there were 15 new children in the Pathways Program, primarily from families who attend the second service on Sunday mornings and those who have been bringing their grandchildren. Teen Guard topics covered in November: faith, lying and friends in truth 2 teens and director participated in Prayer Drive-Thru and 5 teens and director participated in Community Meal Angie Perpingon and Lisa Gebhart, co-leaders of the J-Zone group on Wednesday nights, are excited about upcoming mission activities they are planning. They will be raising money for these projects by helping out at the Kettle Corn Service project to supply Children s Hospital with games and toys has been created. Teens will serve in the Amaizing Grace Kettle Corn booth on December 7 to earn money to purchase items. Booth in December. They also made table decorations for the Thanksgiving Community Meal. The children have also been busy making decorations to place on the Lindenwald Community Christmas Tree for the upcoming Joy to the Wald Christmas Walk on Saturday, December 14. Teens will attend the Winter Jam Concert at US Bank Arena on The cost is $10 and will be free to those Teen Guard members that attend at least 4 sessions in January and February. Pastor Val will attend along with the director.

7 SPECIAL MUSIC NEEDED... Kettle Corn will be prepared each Friday and Saturday in December and delivered in Fairfield- Hamilton area that week. Orders can be picked up at Lindenwald United Methodist Church anytime during the month. If you would like to order Kettle Corn, fill out the form below and return it to the church office as soon as possible. Christian Ministry Campus, Inc. Amaizing Grace Kettle Corn CHRISTMAS ORDER FORM Name Phone Number Payment due with Order Form Make checks payable to Christian Ministry Campus $6 per 8oz. plastic container or 10 containers for $50 No. Ordered Total Due Special Music is always encouraged and appreciated during the worship services held at Lindenwald UMC. There are many wonderful musical selections that are appropriate for the Advent/Christmas season. If you are interested in presenting special music during this time of year, please contact Charlene Elam as soon as possible to schedule a date. Phone charleneelam@yahoo.com. Thanks To Our Altar Guild We thank our awesome Altar Guild for their generous gift of rebinding our large print Bible from which we read on Sunday mornings. It looks beautiful and we will glorify God by reading God s words from it during our worship services. We also want to thank our devoted Altar Guild for providing such a beautiful Thanksgiving altar for us last month on the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving ( ). It looked amazing and it certainly was a visual reminder of God s bounty and blessings in our lives every day of the year. Finally, we appreciate the faithfulness of our Altar Guild in preparing so beautifully our Lindenwald Church, both inside and outside, for the Advent and Christmas Seasons. The decorations remind us that we are awaiting the birth of God s Son, the Savior of the world. A special word of thanks to Adam Clendenin and Jerry Smith for being the muscle behind the decorating as they assisted our Altar Guild with the decorating. Thanks everyone!

8 Community Watch Night Service December 31, 2013 ~ 10pm to Midnight The Unity Alliance (an organization of some twenty-two churches) in the greater Hamilton, Ohio area will come together on December 31, 2013 from 10:00pm to midnight for a Watch Night Worship Service. The meaning behind a Watch Night Service is derived from many of our African American churches where worshipers always gather each year on December 31, Freedom s Eve, the night before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, years ago now. Worshipers gather together to pray, give thanks and wait for the stroke of midnight to remember the stirring moment when slaves would officially, and finally be forever free. We will gather for this service at The House of Deliverance Church, 333 South Second Street, Hamilton, Ohio (across the street from Hamilton First UMC). The theme for this service is Breaking Down Walls, Gathering Together in Unity Pastor Valerie Waibel will bring one of the preaching messages around this theme. Lay Leader, Greg Albright, will also participate in the service s music ministry. Immediately following the service, we will enjoy fellowship together at a wonderful buffet reception as we celebrate the New Year. We can all car pool that evening from Lindenwald United Methodist Church and/or drive the Church van to this special service. I would surely appreciate seeing you at this service. Need a new tradition for the new year? One way to reflect on your blessings as the days and months pass is to fill a Blessing Jar. Simply find a container (ideally with a lid) and place it in a prominent place in your home. Next to it, set slips of paper and writing utensils. Encourage every family member to jot down one thing they re grateful for every day. If you have a large family, you may need one jar for each person. You can also use different -colored paper slips for each family member. Every week, sit down together and review the many ways that God is present in your lives. What if we took our lengthy lists of changes we want to make in the new year and narrowed them down way down? Rather than making a half dozen or more commitments that we re unlikely to keep, how about zeroing in on a single word that captures the essence of what we want to achieve or become? Less is More North Carolina pastor Mike Ashcraft encouraged church members to each find one word that points to or describes a characteristic or vision they wanted to achieve in the year ahead. The experiment turned into a movement, with ideas and testimonials available at myoneword.org. What would your one-word resolution be?

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10 Lindenwald United Methodist 3501 Pleasant Avenue Hamilton, Ohio Return Service Requested Contact Information Phone: Let the UMW Help! Less Stress. More Delicious Goodies! Website: We re on Facebook! LUMC Staff Senior Pastor...Valerie Waibel Student Ministries Director... Tony Brown Children s Director... Mary Boaz McGuire Read more inside! Music Director... Charlene Elam Organist... Nancy McCormick Adm. Secretary/Office Manager... Linda Rouse Preschool Director... Jane Dickey Custodian... Glen Chastain Come Worship With Us December 24, 2013 Treasurers... Nancy Albright, Sue McPeek Financial Secretaries... Jerry Smith, Carrie Titus Church Office Hours Monday through Friday 8:00am to 12:30pm and 1:30pm to 5:00pm Newsletter Deadline: Fifteenth day of month Bulletin Deadline: Wednesdays 5:00pm 7:00pm & 10:00pm