Church. Messenger. PALM HARBOR UNITED MEtHODIST CHURCH ALL AGES! ALL IN! LOVING GOD! LOVING ALL! DECEMBER Highlights of Upcoming Events

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1 PALM HARBOR UNITED MEtHODIST CHURCH Church Messenger ALL AGES! ALL IN! LOVING GOD! LOVING ALL! DECEMBER 2017 Highlights of Upcoming Events Dec. 4-8 Santa Shop Dec. 7 Christmas Galleria Dec. 15 Rudolph Movie Dec. 16 Wreaths Across America Dec. 16 FEAST Dinner Distribution Dec. 20 Blue Christmas Service Dec. 25-Jan 1 Church Offices Closed Dec. 31 ONE Service at 9:30 a.m. It s the most wonderful time of the year!!!! It s Christmas time!!! As you can tell by the decorations, the music, and the feel ---Christmas is in the air. I want to particularly point out some information about our Sunday worship services. Our sermon series is Do You See What I See? Where do e see Hope, Joy and Love in the world? We will be focusing on how, because of Jesus birth we can have that hope, joy, and love and be looking for it every day. On December 10 th our Worship and Arts team will be presenting the message through music and narration through their musical Joy and Wonder. This will include all children s choirs, more than 25 in the orchestra, and over 50 in the adult choir. Along with a special set, lighting and video, this is a Christmas musical to experience. You won t want to miss it. This musical will be presented at the 8:05 a.m. and the 9:30 a.m. worship services. At the 11:05 a.m. service that day we will have service Beyond the Walls! Christmas Eve falls on Sunday this year so our schedule is a bit different. On Sunday, December 24 th we will have one service in the morning at 9:30. This service will have traditional carols, hand bells, brass, organ and piano. The sermon is entitled, Do You See What I See? *LOVE* This worship experience will conclude with Candlelight and the singing of Silent Night. Our Christmas Eve evening schedule will include a 4 p.m. Family Service entitled Connecting Piece by Peace. This 45 minute service is especially for children of all ages. We conclude the service with glow sticks. Christmas Eve 7 p.m. service will have a variety of music with band, vocal team, and choir (similar to our 9:30 a.m. service). This service also will conclude with Candlelight. The message is different than the morning message and is entitled Seeing, Hearing, and Experiencing Christmas! Christmas Eve 11:05 p.m. will be Candlelight and Communion. This will have acoustic style music led by the 11:05 a.m. team. The message will be the same as the 7 p.m. service. Also please note that on December 31 we will have one morning service at 9:30 a.m. Yes---I am excited about Christmas!!!! With the hope, peace, love and joy that this season brings----merry Christmas!!! Pastor Dave

2 Prayer Chain To place a prayer request, please call one of the following: Grace Williamson at ; Gloria Brown at ; or the church office at Prayer Shawl All levels of quilters and knitters are welcome to join us Sunday, Dec. 10 and 17, in the lobby at 1 p.m. for our next meetings. We have a lot of yarn and crochet hooks on hand. Bring knitting needles (size 9 and up). Call Martha Stolz, , with any questions. Faith Community Nurses Blood pressure screening will be conducted in the multi-purpose room on Sunday, Dec. 17 from 9 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. and then from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Courageous Sisters A women s support group for cancer meets monthly in the chapel. The next meeting will be Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. Contact Yvonne White at for more information. Care Team PHUMC has a team of caring volunteers who are willing to help with rides, meals and misc. small jobs. If you are in need of assistance, please contact Marilyn King at or visit her in the church office. If you would like to be part of the congregational care team, please let Marilyn know, and she will add you to her Team - her at mking@phumc.net. Contact Information Change Please let the PHUMC office know if you have a change in contact information by calling the office at Thank you. Going into the hospital? If you are going into the hospital or you know of someone who is going in or is currently in an extended stay, please let Marilyn King know. Marilyn can be reached at or mking@phumc.net. We value our volunteers! They bring an added blessing in support of the church staff and the many ministries at PHUMC. Beginning in January 2018, we will be scheduling office volunteers in 3 shifts per day, Monday thru Friday: 8 11 a.m.; 11 a.m. 2 p.m.; and 2 5 p.m. The main volunteer duties will be answering the phones and helping with small projects to support the ministries at PHUMC. If you are interested in being an Angel of the Day, please contact Mary Vaughn at mvaughn@phumc.net or It is time to purchase your holiday poinsettias. Make a donation of $15 for church decorations in the multipurpose room on Sunday morning. All poinsettias purchased can be in memory of or honor of a loved one. The deadline to order will be Sunday, Dec. 10. The bulletin insert will appear on Sunday, Dec. 17. Support our youth though the purchase of Scrip/Gift Cards. Hundreds of vendors are available. Please check the youth table in the multi-purpose room where they will be available for purchase. Gift cards make nice Christmas presents! The Veterans Drive is going on until the end of December. That is right, the Veterans Ministry has extended the time they are collecting donations for the Homeless Emergency Project. Please donate gently used clothes and toiletries to the Veteran s table on Sundays after worship. To see a complete list of needs, go to the Veteran s page on phumc.net. Shining Lights will have their annual Christmas Dinner Tuesday, Dec. 12th at 6:30 p.m. is an organization focused on helping members live a healthy life. Join us each Monday at 9 a.m. to encourage each other toward a healthy lifestyle. In I Corinthians 6:19-20, we are told that our bodies are "temples of the Holy Spirit." I don t know about you, but my temple needs some work! For more information, please contact Sally Halek or Sallynflorida@gmail.com. Whether recently widowed or alone longer, you are invited to join this small group for fun and fellowship as we navigate our new normal. On December 21 at 7 p.m., we will share our holiday plans and look ahead to 2018 to schedule off- campus social events. Reminder to please bring non-perishable items for FEAST to each of our meetings in Room A210. Please be aware that, in observance of the Christmas holiday, the church office will be closed from Monday, Dec. 25 through Monday, Jan. 1. We will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 2. We are blessed to offer our staff this time to be with their families Belcher Road Palm Harbor, FL Church Newsletter Submission Deadlines The deadline to have an article submitted to the PHUMC monthly newsletter is the 17th of each month by 5 p.m. All submissions should be ed to Jessica Petot at jpetot@phumc.net

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4 PHUMC is such a giving and loving church. You have asked how you can volunteer this time of year. Here are a few different opportunities. F.E.A.S.T. Christmas Food Distribution On December 16 we have partnered with F.E.A.S.T. for our annual Christmas Food Distribution to registered F.E.A.S.T. clients. We will be assisting them as they shop for their Christmas dinner and toys for their families. If you would like to volunteer during this event please sign-up with Jamie Hammond in the multi-purpose room before or after service or call him at Metropolitan Ministries On December 23 rd, we are going to Metro s Pasco campus to take over their Holiday Outreach Center! There are many ways to volunteer such as: parking, stocking shelves, hospitality, etc. If you would like to join us, you can sign up in the multipurpose room on Sunday mornings at the missions table. Hurry up, we have 30 spots left! When you sign up, you will be ed a link to sign-up though their website! Christmas Toy Drive! During the Holiday season we will be collecting toys or gift cards for our families in need throughout our community! The toys will go to our church families in need, our F.E.A.S.T. food distribution, and our other mission partners! Bring an unwrapped toy or gift card on Sunday mornings to the missions table in the multi-purpose room before or after service to help make sure these kids can celebrate Christmas with a toy! Families in Need! This Christmas season we will be matching sponsor families to families in need. If you know of a family in need OR you would like to sponsor one of our families in need and be the light of Christmas, please contact Jamie Hammond on Sunday mornings, call or him at or jhammond@phumc.net. Both the sponsor families and families in need that are matched will be kept in strict confidence. We did it!! We set a new all time PHUMC record for shoe boxes collected. 4,485!!! Way to go! Because of you many more children will experience the love of our Savior through your shoe boxes. Thank you to every ministry, family and person who packed a shoe box. Here are a few pictures from the church wide shoe box build that took place on Nov. 3. A big thank you to Sonny s BBQ for providing a delicious bbq sandwich for all of the volunteers and for presenting their Random Acts of BBQ award to Ron Evers and The Wingmen. For more pictures visit the PHUMC Facebook page. The Men s Ministry pecans are going fast! Stop by the multipurpose room to pick up your delicious pecans!! Please save your Christmas Cards this year and turn them into the front office. Mary K Evers cuts off the front picture and uses that as a beautiful inside decoration for Shoe Boxes. The Men s group will not be meeting in December, but will resume their breakfast meetings in January. Men of all ages are invited to join us for our monthly breakfast meetings. Our next meeting will be Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 a.m. at the IHOP Restaurant located at the corner of US 19 and Curlew.

5 Operation Christmas Child Westlake families packed more than 250 shoe boxes to add to the final packing total of 4,485! Thank you! That is a lot of lives that will be touched and introduced to the love of Jesus thanks to you. Westlake s Sports Teams Take Top Spots in League Congratulations to Westlake s outstanding soccer teams. For the second consecutive year, the Junior Varsity Team went undefeated, knocking out all other teams in their league to earn the top spot. The Varsity Team went undefeated as well. The Girls Basketball Teams both JV and Varsity also had a great season. Great job, Westlake Eagles! Westlake Christmas Chapel Slated for December 21st Westlake s annual Christmas Chapel will be held on December 21st at 8:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. All are invited to join us. Christmas Galleria Thursday, December 7 from 8 a.m. 4 p.m., join us in the multi-purpose room for an exciting shop til we drop event! We have gathered the finest vendors for you to have a onestop Christmas shopping experience (see flyer to right). PHUMC and Westlake Christian School took part in Curlew Hills Memory Gardens Annual Veterans Day Service. The program highlights included: Guest Speaker: Colonel Richard Anderson USMC Retired, musical performances by: Westlake Christian School Straight Up Singers and trio singing Hallelujah, Westlake Middle School Band and the Palm Harbor United Methodist Church Choir. There was a moving presentation by the American Gold Star and Blue Star Mothers of Tampa Bay, and the Morris F. Dixon, Jr. Detachment Marine Corps League with the presentation of colors and fire party. It was a beautiful morning to honor the brave men and women who sacrificed so much for our country. It s beginning to look a lot like Christmas So many wonderful things happening this month. Santa Shop is December 4th 8th, Breakfast with Santa is December 9th at 9 a.m., Christmas chapels are December 11th and 12th, Christmas program is December 14th at 6:30 p.m., and each class will have a Christmas party. Phew!!! So much celebrating! If you would like to hear the sweet sound of little voices singing Christmas songs, please come to our Christmas Program in the Sanctuary at 6:30 p.m. on December 14 th. In the classrooms we will be learning about winter holidays around the world, Christmas celebration and the birth of Jesus. We will discuss the true meaning of this wonderful time of year. In our December Bible curriculum, we will focus on the following verse When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! Matthew 2:10 The Robin s Nest will annual Christmas December 3rd, at 6:30 ilies will gather tosanctuary to celebrate tacular musical be presenting its 18th program on Thursday, p.m. Students and famgether in the church the season with a specpresentation. The Robin s Nest Santa Shop is one of the biggest events during

6 February 3, Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 10 a.m., a festive Mardi Gras event will be held. This breakfast will highlight the basis of Lenten traditions while serving a full hot breakfast. All ages are welcome. March There will be no Harbor Angels breakfast this month. PHUMC is excited to announce the Tampa Bay Heralds of Harmony will be coming to PHUMC Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available now by following the link on the PHUMC website April 7, Annual Spring Tea: A Garden Party, will be held in the multi-purpose room. Table decorators are needed and hats are always welcomed! Time and details TBA. Heralds of Harmony has been entertaining audiences for over 70 years. The Tampa chapter is part of the Barbershop Harmony Society and consists of more than 60 men who share the enjoyment of singing. This is truly an exciting show...one not to be missed! Finance Report for October: Our attendance for October averaged 760 per week. Our year to date average weekly attendance was 835. Our monthly giving was $129, (compared to our budgeted income for October of $165,577.15). Our total giving through October for 2017 was $1,127, That is $42, less than what we received for this time last year (that is about the same as prior month). During this special season, we celebrate our dedicated and loving staff. We will be collecting a love offering each Sunday in November and December to say thank you for their commitment to our church. Please, prayerfully consider contributing to the love offering for our staff. Your missional giving in October for Mission of the Month going to Samaritan s Purse was $6, In addition, you gave $4, to Children s Home. Mark your offering envelope or pew envelope with "Love Offering" on the "Other" line. Take a moment to express a special thank you to each and every staff member. They are a blessings to us all. New envelopes for 2018 will be out in early January. Please DO NOT USE OLD ENVELOPES as many numbers have changed. If you usually give online or only once per year, you will not have envelopes. May God Bless You, Staff/Parish Relations Committee

7 That is right...the family service this year has a Lego twist, Connecting Piece by Peace is going to be a thrill for all ages. Join us at any of our Christmas Eve worship services to be filled with the hope, love, and joy of our Savior s birth. Girl Scout Troop 820 would like to thank everyone who supported them during their Fall Product Sale! The girls sold over $2,000 worth of nuts, candy and gifts. They decided to use their earned money to participate in a twilight camp at Camp Wai Lani in Palm Harbor, FL and to make pizzas at Grimaldi s Pizzaria where they will get a tour, meet the chefs and have a pizza party. Recently the girls visited The Vet Clinic of Palm Harbor where they took a tour, met a veterinarian (a previous Brownie), got to see two procedures done on furry patients and got some hands on experience with all the tools a veterinarian uses to keep their patients healthy. Who knows which of these girls will be inspired to pursue this career in their future! Cookie pre-sales will begin this year on December 22nd. If you are a restaurant owner consider incorporating some Girl Scout cookie recipes into your menu during cookie season to add a fun flair to your offerings and to support these future chefs, and vets through the adventures they get to have via their cookie business. We can t take your order until December 22nd but the person to call is Troop Leader, Rory McLeod, at

8 The Reindeer Run was a huge success runners! Thank you to all of our sponsors, vendors, volunteers and runners! We couldn t have done it without you. Pop Stansell Park was buzzing with activity, Pinellas Trail was a sea of Christmas red, Westlake cheerleaders cheered on the runners...all Ages! All In...even a T-Rex! Thank you PHUMC! We raised thousands to help end human trafficking! For more pictures go to photogallery or Facebook.

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10 Luke 2:1-20New International Version (NIV) The Birth of Jesus In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.