Dan D. Lines. By Dr. Dan Darby

Transcription

1 A Great Heritage A Great Future 1 By Dr. Dan Darby We had a good year in 2016! I don t have any statistics yet to back that up, but we have been very active in doing the work of Christ! Our programs for children and youth have been very effective in reaching and nurturing them in Christ. I am very pleased with the leadership of our staff in these areas. We have ministered to the needs of many in our congregation who have lost loved ones. We have grown disciples for Jesus through our Sunday School, Bible Study Classes, Confirmation Classes, and worship services. We had a huge group go to the UMCOR Sager Brown Mission Depot, and did a new mission project each month to minister to the needs of people in our community and our schools. We held several Bible Studies, and combined our Advent Bible Study with some specially designed worship services that were a blessing to all. And how about those Trustees?! They completed the remodeling of the Fellowship Hall and the youth room. Most recently, they replaced the chandeliers in the Fellowship Hall. The new LED fixtures cost less than $50 each and produce three or four times as much light as the old fixtures. They are more energy efficient and will significantly reduce our electricity bill. Plus, they are dimmable and along with offering different lighting in the Fellowship Hall, will put out significantly less heat, thus, again affecting our cost. Everyone tells me the room looks bigger now without the chandeliers. Everything we have done this year has been done without incurring any debt, so the church remains debt free. Thank you for your generosity! And did I mention our music and worship ministries? People were blown away with our Christmas cantata. Thanks choir, and our guest and staff musicians. And they even let the preacher sing with them, so they get a gold star for bravery! Fun, fun! Every committee we have functions effectively to the glory of the Kingdom and the effectiveness of our ministry. It is thrilling to have so many willing and enthusiastic volunteers in so many areas. You keep the church alive and well. Thanks, everyone! The SPRC and Finance Committee honored the staff with Christmas bonuses, and a number of you honored us with special gifts of various things. You are all a blessing, and each of us on staff appreciate you. You make it a joy to work here. I am looking forward to 2017, and all its promise. Yours in Christ, Pastor Dan Dan D. Lines In Worship on Last Page

2 MISSIONS Mission Ministry 2017 Planning Wow where did 2016 go? What a blessing this year has been to me. My first year as the lead for the Missions Ministry has been a year of awareness community awareness, church awareness, fellowship awareness, spiritual awareness. There is such a need for Missions in these areas was a busy year for the Missions Ministry and I am amazed at what was accomplished but I know it was thru God s blessings and the Holy Spirit. I am so grateful to everyone on the Missions Ministry team as well as all the members of the congregation who lovingly and graciously supported the Missions Ministry. Thank You. OK here we go. January will be a month of planning, planning, and planning for the upcoming year. I am so excited about the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead. Stay tuned for upcoming Missions Ministry events Costa Rica Mission Trip to work with the Obando Family Missionaries A mission trip is planned for Costa Rica in August/September 2017 with Vine Life Church in Huffman to work with the Obando family. Please contact Vicki Jowell at vjowell60@gmail.com if you are interested. A meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 31 st at 6:30 p.m. with Jeff Callicott from Vine Life Church in Huffman to start planning. Visit to Woodland Park Nursing Home Several members of the Mission Ministry visited the Woodland Park Nursing Home in Shepherd in December. We distributed socks, Christmas cards and beanie babies to all the residents. It was such a joy to meet everyone and let them know they are loved and remembered. Christmas Family Baskets and Children s Christmas Gifts Thank You What a blessed event not only for the families but for everyone who donated and worked to make this an event filled with love, joy and the spirit of giving. Thirty-eight families (with 89 children) were given food baskets and gifts. Thank you to everyone who supported this event.

3 Care Share: Well, another "Gift of Produce" is done. I want to thank all of you that worked so hard to make it another big success! It was a trying day waiting for the truck that was supposed to be there that morning but didn't arrive until 1:30pm. Our clients started lining up at 4am, so our volunteers, Constables and Sheriff's department were kept busy finding new places to continue the growing line without blocking streets and closing off businesses. But our clients weren't disappointed when we could finally get the process going. Our volunteers were bagging produce when the first pallet came off the truck! Oh, you all are good! We had 10 pallets of produce weighing over 1,700 lbs. There were 49 volunteers, most staying all day. We had 300 cars go through the line and we fed produce to 879 individuals. Again "Thank You" to all our loyal and hardworking volunteers for making it happen. God bless Nancy Wofford and the officers of Care Share Mission food pantry Coldspring United Methodist Men The regular monthly meeting of the Coldspring United Methodist Men was held on December 14, 2016 with 30 members and guests attending. The UMM has lost two of it s members since the last meeting with the passing of John Blankemeyer and Jim McLendon. After breakfast the cooks where acknowledged and several members volunteered for cleanup. Gene Pavey s treasurers report showed that the UMM cleared $ at their Christmas on the Square Gumbo Dinner. A wheelchair ramp was competed recently for a home in the Shepherd area. The work was headed by Robert Biba. Special thanks to Robert and all of his volunteers for their hard work on this project. Tom Anderson was mentioned for special prayer concerns. The speaker was Larry Hurtado who had been in ministry for over 40 years and most recently had led a Hispanic congregation in an affiliate church with the Central Baptist Church in Livingston. Larry spoke about his childhood in Mexico and being raised in the Catholic Church. He married in 1960 and he and his wife moved to Texas shortly thereafter. He worked in the cotton fields in the Plainview area. Larry said that he did not really know the bible and that after being encouraged to attend a local Baptist church that it changed him and gave him the inspiration to join the ministry. He has served in ministries in three different churches before moving to his most current ministry in Livingston in Larry s message was to live for Jesus not just on Sunday but every day. The January speaker is Terri Cook. Terri is a member of our church and she will speak about the court appointed special advocate program in which she volunteers. We hope to see you on January 11, Robert H. Trapp-President THANK YOU We would like to thank each and everyone for the out pouring of love shown to our family during this time of sorrow. Melanie McLendon and family. Thank You Dear Church Family, There is no THANK YOU big enough to express your kindness to John and I. There is no way I could have endured the past few months without my Church Family. With sincere gratitude your Sister in Christ, Kathleen Blankemeyer (and family)

4 UMYF The Matches Igniting the flame of Christ in everyone Goodbye It was a great year! Our series on The Redemption of Scrooge was fantastic. Hopefully we see positive transformations in all of us. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. We had a great turnout for Santa s Wonderland and it was a beautiful site to see! They even properly displayed the true meaning of Christmas with an awesome nativity scene, crucifixion and resurrection display. We have two events the month of January. On the 25 th we ll be taking the youth to Sam Houston State University to worship with the Wesley Foundation. Then on the 27 th & 28 th its Hot Hearts in Beaumont. The bands this year are Switch foot, Lauren Daigle, and NEEDTOBREATHE. It s going to be an awesome time of worship. This is just the beginning of the awesome things The Matches will be doing in 2017!! Psalm 104:4 He makes his messengers winds, his minister a flaming fire.

5 December was memorable during The Blessing of the Children at worship time hearing the ringing of the bells and each week of advent discovering a new word on a card each time Hope, Love, Joy, Awe, and Presence. December 3 rd, we had a blast as we traveled back in time to the night of Jesus birth at A Night in Bethlehem at Pedigo Park in Livingston, Texas. characteristics these pets have in common with characters in the Bible? King s Kids will not meet January 1 st for Sunday School. January 8 th, we will resume Sunday School as the Deep Blue Kids discover Jesus life on earth to Talk with the Teachers, Come to the River, Change the Water, and Born Anew. Don t miss any fantastic adventures with the Deep Blue Kids! Lunch will be at Double Dave s Pizzaworks for a buffet lunch. Children 5 years to 11 years pay $5.50 which includes the pizza buffet, drink, and tax. Children and adults 12 years and older is $10. Then we will be headed to Cinestar Cinema in Huntsville to see a matinee of the movie Sing rated PG. Cost for the matinee is $3 for children, $5 for adults. Bring extra money if you want to buy snacks at the movie. A current Child Information Sheet and a permission form for the trip are required for children ages Pre-K through 5 th grade to attend. I hope to see you there! January sessions on Wednesday evenings with the King s Kidz we will continue our study to learn what it is like to unleash God s potential in our lives as we continue the Pets Curriculum. Our lessons will cover turtle, goldfish, hermit crabs, and parakeets. I wonder what King s Kidz will be traveling to Huntsville, Texas, to have pizza and see a movie! We will be leaving Sunday, January 15 th immediately after the 11 am church service. Lisa Lewis, Children s Ministry Coordinator

6 CUB SCOUT PACK 845 & BOY SCOUT TROOP 845 December was a busy month for the Cub Scout Pack. During our first meeting of the month we enjoyed a visit from the Sheriff s office. The boys all had a great time talking with the officers that were there. We want to say 'Thank You' to them for taking the time to visit with us. December 10, we all had a great time riding on our float in the Coldspring annual Christmas parade. Our last meeting of the month was our Christmas party. The boys received their achievements for the month and got their prizes for doing such a great job on popcorn sales. We finished of the night with a visit from Santa Claus. January will be a busy month getting ready for our Pinewood Derby race. We can t wait to see all the creative designs the boys come up with for their derby cars. January 2017 Schedule January 3- No Meeting January 10- Committee Meeting 6pm Den Meeting 7pm January 14- Pinewood Derby Workday 9am-Noon. January 17- Den Meeting 7pm January 21- Pinewood Derby Workday 9am-Noon January 24- Leader's Meeting 6pm Den Meeting 7pm January 27- Pinewood Derby Set Up 6pm January 28- Pinewood Darby 8am January 31- Pack Meeting 7pm January Birthdays January 26 - Ja'mondra Terry January 29 - Malicah Kirsh January 29 - Matthew Evesson

7 January 30 - Francis Garcia

8

9 JANUARY

10 DOOR GREETERS FOR JANUARY JANUMMAMAYMAAPRILMAAPRILMaARCHGREETOR 8:30 1 st Sunday Dianna Raymond 2 nd Sunday Bea Glassco 3 rd Sunday Jackie & Del Cleveland 4 th Sunday Judy Swanson 11:00 1 st Sunday Anne Closs 2 nd Sunday Barbara McDowell 3 rd Sunday Kathy Sinclair 4 th Sunday Jan Parks SIGN-UP SHEETS FOR REFRESHMENTS, FLOWERS, AND USHERS ARE IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL. Ushers for January 8:30 a.m. Denny Clark & Michael Johnson 11:00 a.m. Michele & Shawn Arnold DECEMBER ANNIVERDecember Anniversaries JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES Brad & Jan Parks 01/02 J.R. & Glenda Shuttlesworth 01/09 Norm & Lee Matticks 01/10 Louis & Burniadine Bannister 01/22 JANUARY BIRTHDAYS Alyssa Pulk 01/01 Dick J.R. Collier Shuttlesworth 01/13 01/15 Sharon Mueller 01/03 Sharon J.R. Shuttlesworth Mueller 01/03 01/15 Anneice Wood 01/07 Frank McMurrey 01/17 Wayne Wood 01/08 Joe Turner 01/19 Brianna Russell 01/08 Stacy Amszi 01/21 Sylvia Young 01/12 Logan Caraballo 01/23 Ken Clark 01/12 Denny Clark 01/24 Ashlynn Looney 01/13 Nancy Burroughs 01/28 Mac McGregor 01/13 Tye Clark 01/29 In Worship January 1 The Art of Living. Based on several scriptures including Matthew 25:31-40, Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, Psalm 9, and Revelation 21:1-7. As we come into the new year, we need to think about some directions for our lives and practice the art of living. January 8, The Baptism of the Lord. Based on Matthew 3:1-17. This sermon should help you understand the meaning of Christian baptism. January 15, The Lamb of God. Based on John 1: We are invited to discover Jesus, who takes away our shame, calls us to discipleship, and gives us a new calling and vision for life. January 22, Passionate Laziness. Based on Matthew 4: Americans tend to be passionate about laziness and leisure. Jesus calls us to passionate discipleship and witness. January 29, The Attitudes of the Beatitudes. If we are to achieve Christian Perfection, we must take the attitudes of the Beatitudes.