December 2017 Issue 61. THE CHURCH MESSENGER Gobles Kendall UMC. Making Disciples for Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World

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1 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Gobles Kendall UMC Making Disciples for Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World **Happenings** Kelly E Men s Gathering: Breakfast/Dinner Wed. Dec. 6, 6pm, Nino s United Methodist Women - UMW Wed. Dec. 6, 6pm, Christmas Peggy Harvey s Choir Practice on Thursday s at Pam s House Book Club Sunday, January 28 th, Church wide Movie and Soup Supper, 4pm (movie yet to be determined) Next book meeting is February 28, GUMC - Category is Social Action. Book Topic: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Books can be ordered through Gobles Library, MeL.org. See Diane C. for questions. General Calendar Events Sat. Dec. 2, Soup Supper, KUMC Sun. Dec. 17, Open Parsonage, 3-6pm Keep in Touch (Through visits, phone calls, cards) Ruth Green, Bea Stowman, June Hustafa, Pat Corradini, Ruby Hyde, Joyce Mansfield, Dorothy Healy Dec 26 Dec 2 Dec 5 Anniversary David & Cheryll Goodwin Birthdays Jenny Wheaton Carol Brill Pat Ransom Dec 8 John Thorpe Dec 21 Presley Adams Dec 25 Paul Weston Dec 28 Jan Westcott Dec 27 John Brill Larry Wheaton Dec 31 Keith Shaw Sermons are available on the webpage. Go to and go to sermons. Church Web: goblesumc.org / Facebook: Office Phone: Church info@goblesumc.org Pastor John Brooks johnbrookspastor@gmail.com Pastor s cell: / Parsonage: Office Hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs, 9am to Noon / Home Office: Tues, 9am to Noon

2 Liturgist: Servants for Gobles December: Jan Leonard January: Madison Ely February: Dale Siwula Ushers & Greeters: Dec 3, 10 Nancy Finch, Marlene Krajewski Dec 17, 24, 31 Dave & Cheryll Goodwin Jan 7, 14 Bob & Michal Wiseley Jan 21, 28 Dale & Deb Siwula Hospitality Table: December Dan & Jan Leonard January John & Cherie Thorpe GKAMA NEWS December 2017 The Epiphany Sing is scheduled for Saturday, January 6, 7:00pm at the Gobles Seventh Day Adventist Church. The GKAMA Food Pantry needs are dish soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, shampoo, syrup, jelly/jam and sugar. Thanks Dee Troops Overseas Send a Christmas card with a warm message to one of our troops serving overseas. Address it to: Dear Service Member and mail as many Christmas cards as you like to: 10,000 Cards for the Troops P.O. Box 877 Fort Myers, FLA Guidelines are: No glitter, no letters-cards only, no or home addresses and no pictures Mail by December 10th Parsonage Sunday, December 17 th 3-6pm All are invited. Pastor John and Terri Christmas Families Gobles will be sponsoring six families, which includes a total of 23 persons to purchase gifts for. Kendall will be sponsoring three families, which includes a total of 9 persons. Terri is preparing the necessary slips with the sizes of clothes as well as a toy that they would like. Slips will be available at each church very soon.

3 To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust Him in the dark that is faith Village Market receipts We are collecting Village Market receipts again for the school. They can be given to me or left in the box at the store labeled Gobles Middle School. Last year the Middle/High School was given a check for $730 from Village Market as a result of all of the receipts collected. The money was used for many supplies and activities that wouldn t have been funded without your help. Thank you for contributing to this mission. Cheryl Rumery Kal-Haven Lions will again be sponsoring a FREE Christmas party for entire families free of charge on Saturday, December 16 th from 4-6pm at the Gobles church. Santa Claus will be there to hand out toys. Lots of good food! Kendall Finance Report Cash on hand as of November 30 th is $ All Bill's paid except $1450 for A/C installed at parsonage. Ministry shares 78% paid. Joyce Bergman, Treasurer Gobles Finance Report As I am closing out the books for November, I am excited that our balance along with outstanding receipts puts us close to where we were at the first of the year. Thank you to everyone for their gifts in support of God s church and your church home. We as a church have done a lot this year in extending our boundaries in the community and world. Our Ministry Shares are again paid at 100% and we have met all our obligations in supporting Pastor John and Terry. Dennis MISSIONS Thank you to all for helping with our apple pie fund raiser - those who donated ingredients, ordered pies, collected orders from others, and especially all of our faithful volunteers who worked on pie-making day and the few days before putting together boxes and making crusts. We had about 36 volunteers working on pie-making day and made a total of 355 pies, our largest number ever. We made over $2400, also a new record, which is split between the Camp Fund and the United Methodist Women s group. If you know of campers who would like to attend camp next summer, please let them know about our camp scholarships. A special thank you to Brookside Farms and the Fritz family for the use of their pie crust machine. It saved hours of work for our crust makers. Be sure to thank them when you see them.

4 Gobles Lead Team Minutes Wednesday, November 8, 2017 Serving God, Serving Community, Connecting Community with God MEMBERS PRESENT: Pastor John Brooks, Dennis Hurlbut, Wynne Hurlbut, Donna Launius, Cheryl Shaw, Keith Shaw, Jan Westcott, Cheryl Rumery, Terri Brooks, Diane Corradini, Dee Clement, Chuck Grimes, Karen Grimes Devotion read by Pastor John. John opened with prayer Minutes from the October 2 nd were read. Motion by Wynne and seconded by Chuck Mission/Outreach: Welcome Baskets: One ready but not delivered yet. Possibility of a second new family. Christmas Families: Nicky from DHHS gave us six families/total of 23 people. Can do whatever we want; food, clothing, dinner, etc. Discussion on having them pick up rather than deliver. Discussion on providing a meal, which would be the same type of meal for all families. Next for Missions: Diane noted Karen Ryder at GPS is interested in doing something on literacy. More to follow. New: Hospitality: Going well New Guest: Meeting on Nov. 9th. Case for Christ books have been ordered. Twelve pies on hold for new guests. Tech: No meeting. MAT: Looked over material. Still waiting on additional information from people. Wynne additional Info: Peggy Harvey brought transport wagon, stored in furnace room downstairs for anyone to use. Welcome signs done for the ushers and hospitality teams to wear. Will be in kitchen on hook. December 1 st is pastors Christmas party here. Dinner is all planned and tables need to be up by Wednesday. Would like someone in parking lot to direct people. Approx. 60 to 80 people. Six national honor society kids will be helping. Youth: John left message with Tracy at Townline but she hasn t called back. Date for Winter Jam is January 7 th at Van Andel. Worship Design: Meeting Monday, November 13 th. John has series for Advent. Christmas Eve is planned. GKAMA Thanksgiving service is here on Tuesday, November 12 th. UMW: Christmas party at Phyllis Harvey s on Wednesday, December 6 th. Men s Group: Fixed steps for Carol Newman, cleaning up leaves on Monday at Barb s. Dee reported snow removal list is set. Need snow removed by 9am. Ushers to remove on Sundays at this time. Worked up list of volunteers for setting up tables & chairs in Fellowship Hall for events, funerals, etc. Four leads and three helpers to set up the hall. If setup needed, call Dee, Dee will call lead. Need a couple of days lead time. Treasurer s Report: Finance committee met last Friday and went over proposed budget for New Guest, Hospitality team are new line items. Motion to support Wesley at WMU again this year with $ made by Wynne, seconded by Dee. Monies from Missionary Fund. Total budget up about $9,000 from Motion to accept the budget made by Dee, seconded by Chuck. Dennis made motion for Jan Leonard to be added as signatory on checking account and access to totals. Seconded by Diane. Checking balance is $10, Outstanding amount coming from Kendall roughly $ from A/C replacement at parsonage. Secretary s Report: Average weekly contributions to date is $1437; needed, $1514. Various savings fund(s) total; $14,101. Six Lanes of Giving for the past month: $5.00 Student Sunday. Trustees: Working on parking lot lights. New light on the Bell tower will be on the timer with the front church lights. Security lights aren t working. Need to get them fixed. Additional Discussion: 1) Lifetouch Photography has been moved to January. 2) Discussion on having someone come in to talk with us on what to do in an emergency situation. Motion made for Dennis to pursue. 3) Single board governance meeting on Monday, January 8 th at 7pm with Ron VanLente. Next meeting is Wednesday, January 10 th.

5 Pastor s Corner Well the church is all decked out for Advent and Christmas which is just around the corner. Are you ready yet? After all these years, it seems like I never am truly ready when the 25th comes around. Too many parties to attend, decorating our home, choosing and wrapping just the right gift, eventually all the baking, and I am sure each of you has your own to-do list to accomplish before the big day. Starting this Sunday, we are beginning our journey through Advent toward the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All too often we forget this true meaning of Christmas. For me it has always been a time for families that continue to splinter naturally through life, reconnect with each other. Hopefully warm and fuzzy and not too much drama, but in the end, it is just a glimpse of what the awesomeness of what God chose to do to reconnect with us through His sacrifice. The Redemption of Scrooge (yes, that bah-humbug grump) will be our vehicle each Sunday to bring us to that joyful day we call Christmas. I hope you will be able to attend as many of the Sundays as possible. My hope is that through Dickens A Christmas Carol, you will anticipate this hustle bustle time of year as a time for redemption and the realization of the promise that was realized 2000 years ago. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 KJV) Praying for a month of peace and reflection, practicing the disciplines of discipleship. Pastor John Christmas Time to celebrate Christ s Birth This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ... Frank McKibben God sent a star to light the night for - The Way, The Truth, The Life--His Son. He sent the Light of Life to prove His heart so we would invite His Son into our own. God has given us all the light we'll ever need to find peace on earth, goodwill to men. Pamela Dowd Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God. George F. McDougall