CABOT UMC NEWS. Give Thanks by Giving Back

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1 CABOT UMC NEWS A community of faith striving to be Spirit-filled while experiencing Christ s limitless transformation through relationships, worship and service. Give Thanks by Giving Back DON T FORGET! This Sunday is Commitment Sunday. A time for us to make our 2018 pledges for the mission and ministry of God s Church at Cabot UMC. Please prayerfully consider where God is calling you to invest your money this coming year. I emphasize invest because everything we have will eventually become someone else s. We ll either lose it along the way or leave it to those we love. Either way, it s temporarily ours to use to the best of our ability for one purpose and one purpose only: to give glory to God. When we give glory to God, God takes care of us. I consider that a pretty good investment. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38, NIV) Why do we have an Advent wreath leading up to Christmas? The Advent wreath, four candles on a wreath of evergreen, is shaped in a perfect circle to symbolize the eternity of God. In some churches, four purple candles, one for each week in Advent, are used with one larger white candle in the middle as the Christ candle. Other churches prefer three purple or blue candles with one candle being rose or pink, to represent joy. While the Advent wreath with its four candles did bring light to churches, it was not to illuminate the interior as much as to symbolize the coming of Christ. The Advent wreath began in the time of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. During each Sunday of the Advent season, the candles may be used to emphasize the different virtues Jesus brings us: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. Or they may simply be used to remind us that Jesus has come and will come again; therefore, we need to be ready. The Christ candle is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day reminding Christians that Jesus is the light of the world. The order and exact wording vary among churches, but the wreath continually reminds us of whom we are called to be as followers of Jesus.

2 A Tuesday morning Advent Bible Study class, led by Harriet Meadows, meets at 10:00 a.m. in room E104. It will run through Dec. 12 th. This study is based on the book Faithful: Christmas Through the Eyes of Joseph by Adam Hamilton. A Wednesday morning women s Advent Bible Study class, led by Vicki Msall, meets at 10:00 a.m. in room E104. It will run through Dec. 13 th. This study is based on the book Because of Bethlehem by Max Lucado. If you are interested, please call or text Vicki Msall at or vicki8387@gmail.com. HEALING HEARTS This grief support class meets every Wednesday night from 6-7p.m. in Room E101. For more information contact Amy Finley at amyrfinley@icloud.com

3 MEN S PRAYER BREAKFAST 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday mornings, this Men s Group meets in the Eaton Room (M101) for breakfast and study. We are currently studying The Story. We d love to have you join us! Get updates/reminders for Methodist Men right on your phone. To sign up: 1. Go to the following link; rmd.at/cumcmm and follow instructions to sign up for Remind. 2. Text the to the number Workout Worship Meets in the Wesley Center every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:15-5:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome! Come and exercise your physical and spiritual body! For more information contact Charlotte Eastham ACTSofMercy This LifeGroup (focused on studying, brainstorming and implementing new ministries throughout the community) meets every other Tuesday. We will be meeting tonight, Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00 p.m. in the Wesley Center foyer. We have BIG plans for this group and you re already seeing some of those plans in action please consider joining us at our next meeting to find out how you can be a part of this Service Group! For more information, contact Jenn or JennSchimmer@gmail.com Or contact Alesha Harry at or Alesha.Harry@acxiom.com. The ACTSofMercy LifeGroup will not be hosting a Soul Food Dinner in the month of December. Instead, they will take a break to focus on our annual Christmas Feast. They plan to continue having monthly Soul Food Dinners on the last Tuesday of every month starting in January. The next one is scheduled for Tuesday, January 30 th, location TBA. They plan to serve beef & veggie stew and chicken noodle soup with saltine crackers. Be watching for ways in which you can help, starting in the January newsletters!

4 WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL WEEK 9 of 19 from Meeting God In the Ruins, a devotional for disaster relief volunteers: THINGS TAKE TIME NEHEMIAH 1:1-11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to your servant.... Give success to your servant. (v. 11) I once had a poster that showed a rock formation standing above rushing sea water, washed and shaped daily by the pounding of the waves. Below the photo were the words Things take time. A friend gave me the poster because I always wanted to accomplish things immediately. I haven t learned much since then, it seems. Yesterday I felt discouraged by how much we have to do. Today I remember the poster. Thank you, God, for the reminder. Things do take time. When we first begin an undertaking, we have great goals. As time wears on, we realize that all accomplishments playing the piano, developing a prayer life, cleaning up after a disaster take time. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem after the exile, the city was a mess. He might have given up, as many others did. But he prayed about what to do and led his people toward recovery. There were setbacks, and people sometimes worked against him. But day by day, steady work and prayer upheld the workers until the task was finished. No one would have expected such success. But Nehemiah was grounded in faith, and the work was accomplished. Rather than concentrating on a finished successful project, I can focus on this fact: things take time. We didn t finish today, but we did achieve some objectives. We haven t done all things, but we have done some things. Tomorrow I ll try to set smaller, realistic goals for myself, and I ll remind myself that finishing even one of them, with the help of God, is a sign of progress. FOR GROUP DISCUSSION: How do group members expectations differ about how to get things done? How is the work going? How well are you working with others? Send me patience, the fruit of your Spirit, Lord. I can do small things and over time see large things come to fruition. You have led us to this task; you will help us finish it. Amen PRAYER LIST Gary & Melissa Bourgeois Steve Grube Trinity Woodward Susan Herndon Kyle & Sheli Msall Rosie Sweatman Jennifer Woods Morgan Smithey Jerry Creach Wyatt Coke Carter Bock Tisha Kingan Tristan Luna Kathy Goodwin Catherine Dziadek Charis Cox Mary Williams Larry & Opal Noble Marion Yanosick Bill Goodwin Tyler Calamese Francis Ruth Burkhead Micha Polston Amber Neumeier Tommy Morton Michelle Rogers Kathryn Bowman Scott Buckingham Jim Franks Marilou Rerick Nursing Home/Rehab/Shut-Ins Theresa Yeary, Gladys Putt, Una Fort, Beth Hasek, Billie Dougherty

5 DECEMBER ADULT ACTIVITIES Dec. 6 LR Library Arkansas author, leave church at 11:00 a.m. Dec. 7 Garvin Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs Lights & Dinner. Leave church at 3:45 p.m. Dec. 10 Murry s, Harvey. Leave Southside Elementary at 11:00. Cost is $33. Dec. 12 Dinner & Christmas lights in Searcy. Leave church at 5:00 p.m. Dec. 13 AARP Driving Course, 8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m., Wesley Center Dec. 19 UMW, 1:30 p.m., Eaton Room M101 Dec. 22 Lunch & Shopping in Conway. Leave church at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 29 Lunch at Purple Onion. Meet at restaurant at 11:00 a.m. Please call Jean Davenport at (home) or (cell) for information or reservations Mark your calendars for this Sunday, December 10 at 7:00 pm, when the Chancel Choir will be presenting a special program of Christmas music: Night of the Father s Love. This year s cantata will feature guest harpist, Alisa Coffey, as well as music from the handbell choir, the children s choirs, and various other guest instrumentalists! Be sure to attend this evening of music as you prepare your hearts to welcome the newborn King! Cabot Community Christmas Feast Update as of December 4, 2017: How exciting! So far, we have about 200 families (over 900 people) signed up as our guests on Christmas Day! We still have some planning to do! Please attend if you would like to help - many areas need servants to help both now and on Christmas Day. The next meeting will be Monday, December 18 at 6:00p.m. in the Mixed Adults classroom across from the office. (Room M115) Sign-up sheets are in Life Group classrooms, the Wesley Center Foyer, the Narthex of the Sanctuary, and at the entrance to the Family Life Center. Green bean and corn donation boxes are located around the church. Gently used toys are being collected and stored in the Crossroads Life Group Classroom (E120 in Wesley Center). Gifts for 0-12 and are greatly appreciated! If you have any questions, feel free to call Becky True at or Terry Donham at Monetary donations are GREATLY appreciated to purchase items not donated! Please label your donation to go to the Christmas Feast and put it in the offering plate or give it to Pat in the office. Thank you, God, for this church family who loves beyond the walls of this building!

6 The Cabot Christmas Parade is this Sunday, December 10 3:00 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs and please join us on the church s front lawn! SAVE THE DATE: Women s Banquet will be held February 10 th, Why so early? Camp Tanako offers an Early Bird registration discount that expires at the end of March. We want to make sure we allow everyone the ability to budget accordingly and save a little money. Men, block your calendars too - we are looking into hosting an event for the guys this year as well! Alesha Harry will be organizing the fundraiser and is looking for a few volunteers to be a part of the planning committee. If you are interested, contact Alesha Harry Dear CUMC Family, I am so thankful for your generosity toward the Food Pantry in response to my plea. We spend an average of $800 every two week; sometimes less, sometimes much more. We rely on your financial gifts for these purchases. The Food Pantry is in need of a few items that we were not able to purchase from the Arkansas Food Bank. Although we will always accept your generous gifts of money, these are items that I am asking you to purchase and donate: Hot cereal/oatmeal Rice (1 pound bags instant is good, too) Boxed stuffing Instant Mashed Potatoes Cornbread mix Hamburger Helper Saltine crackers Those we serve are extremely appreciative of how you help keep food on their table. Grace and peace, Linda Powell

7 The Prayer Team Ministry needs you! Have you ever felt the call to be a part of the Prayer Ministry? If so, we would be glad for you to join us on Sunday afternoon at 5pm in the Wesley Center, room E101. Come find out if this ministry is something you would like to join. If you would like to have more information, call Eula Adams, Kids Rock WILL meet this week (December 6) on our regular schedule, 6:00 7:15p.m. (But don t forget that the R & R Family Meal will not be served!) We ll enjoy some Christmas treats after our regular lesson and will then take a break until we resume on January 10. Mark your calendars The KIDS ROCK 1 st -4 th GRADE CHOIR will sing in the 11:00 Sanctuary Service on Sunday, December 10. The CHERUB CHOIR and the KIDS ROCK 1 st -4 th GRADE CHOIR will sing at the Adult Christmas Program on Sunday, December 10, at 7:00 p.m. Thank you to all who attended Keepsake Christmas this past Sunday! It was a great evening filled with the Christmas message and some very special hand-crafted Nativity Scenes that went home with excited children. A big THANK YOU to all who helped in so many ways to make this special evening happen!

8 JOIN US FOR YOUTH SMALL GROUPS & REFUGE WORSHIP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS Youth Worship in the Refuge 5:45-6:45 p.m. Youth Small Groups 6:45-7:30 p.m. in the Wesley Center classrooms Bring a Friend! YOUTH SHOPPING NIGHT Join us tomorrow night, December 6 5:45 p.m. We are leaving the church at 6:00 p.m. and going to Wal-Mart to shop for gifts for the Teen Room that will be open during our Christmas Feast. Please bring $10.00! YOUTH CHRISTMAS PARTY! Join us next Wednesday, December 13 6:00 p.m. in the Refuge for our Christmas Party! This will be our last event before the Christmas Break. We will resume on January 10 th. NEW ORLEANS MISSION TRIP Dec. 28 th Jan. 2 nd Cost for students $250 ($50 Deposit) Adults (25 & older) $150 Families Welcome Cost includes: Travel, lodging, mission supplies, Riverboat Cruise, and most food Bring money for 2 meals out (recommended $50) SR. HIGH MT. EAGLE January Cost is $50 Please sign up and pay on our church website by January 1 st Go to the Youth Ministry page on the website and click on the secure Subsplash link There will be no more R & R Family Meal served until after the Christmas Break. Tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 6 th will be the last Kids ROCK before we break for the Christmas and New Year s holidays. The kids will be having their Christmas party tomorrow night after their regular lesson at 6:00. The Youth will have their Christmas Party on Wednesday, December 6:00 p.m. in the Refuge. Kids ROCK, Club 56, Youth, and the R & R Meal will resume on January 10, 2018.

9 Effective September 1, 2017, carrying a firearm is prohibited on church property. Needed Weekly: Received: $22, Attendance: 425