Sunday Service

Early: 8:25 a.m.

Late: 10:55 p.m.

Sunday School 10:00 a.m.

Youth (Check schedule )

Sunday 6:00 p.m.

Notes from our Pastor Rev. Randy

931-728-4624

105 Church St. Manchester, TN 37355

First United Methodist Church November 25, 2015

Listen to Our Church Service

WMSR 107.9 FM and 1320 AM

11:00 a.m. LIVE Worship

10:00 a.m. Sunday School

One of the meaningful things about being a part of a small group is the fellowship that you have and how you quickly bond with others from our church family. Last year our Joel Committee worked hard and one of the things that we have been striving far is a growing and vital small group ministry. One of the tools to make this happen is not just meeting for a study time but to do a service project together. I am hoping and praying that each small group, Sunday School Class, Wednesday night study group, Beta Cell group etc. will find a way to go outside the normal meeting and be in minis-try and outreach to the community. I was thrilled to hear that one of our Sunday School classes did a home repair project recently that consisted of putting in new porch steps for a local family etc. That is being the hands and feet of Christ. I read recently where the Christian Life is much like the athletic life. The comment was made that if the world is our field then the Church is our locker room. If we are going to compete and perform for Christ then we have to prepare and suit up, but if we never leave the locker room we can never perform (let our light shine) our Christian duty. I want to encourage each member of this church body to find someone or some-thing that they can do to make a difference, build a bridge, share a smile, tutor a child, visit a shut-in, make a call, send a card, with someone who needs you.

Speaking of small group studies, it has been suggested that we look at having the fol-lowing studies starting after the first of the year. 1. Sacred Marriage

2. Contagious Christianity

3. ASK-Faith Questions For A Skeptical Age

If you have thoughts on these or any other possible studies please let me know.

See you Sunday, as the church family gathers,

9:15 Covered dish breakfast

10:00 Sunday School

11:00 Worship Bishop Morris, Preaching

Brother Randy

A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

God who loves us, who deserves our gratitude for so much that is good, We offer our prayers of

thanksgiving to You: For the beauty of the earth — bright orange leaves mixed with green, a gen-

tle rain, a spider’s delicate web. For friends, for family, even acquaintances who offer us kind-

ness, who bring us laughter, who hold us to a higher standard. Lord of all that is good and nour-

ishing to our well being, we give you thanks .How we must try Your patience with our pettiness!

All of life is a wonder. The very breath we take, the ability to rouse ourselves each new day, a sin-

gle blade of grass that holds such miracles of symmetry, a tiny distant star whose real size bog-

gles our minds. We take our lives for granted — as if it were our right, and not our gift. We take

our days and our loves and our passions for granted — as if tomorrow will verify their importance

and our present moments have other things to occupy us. Gracious God, who lavishes goodness

upon us even in some of our darkest moments, help us to see Your goodness, remind us to have

grateful hearts, give us receptive minds, and grant us ever-gracious ways of living in harmony

with each other. And in our gratitude, make us to be instruments of Your peace. Amen

A NOTE FROM DANA…

“Whereas, it is the duty of all

nations to acknowledge the

providence of Almighty God,

to obey His will, to be grate-

ful for His benefits, and

humbly to implore His pro-

tection and favor; Whereas,

both the houses of Congress

have, by their joint commit-

tee, requested me "to recom-

mend to the people of the

United States a day of public

thanksgiving and prayer, to

be observed by acknowledg-

ing with grateful hearts the

many and signal favors of

Almighty God, especially by

affording them an opportu-

nity peaceably to establish a

form of government for their

safety and happiness!" Now

therefore, I do recommend

next, to be devoted by the

people of the states to the

You may begin ordering poin-settias to be placed on the altar

in memory of or in honor of loved ones. You may call the

church office to order: 728-4624, or you may fill out a form that

has been placed in the card holder behind each pew. Each poinsettia is $5.00. Deadline for ordering is

December 6.

“THE FIRST NOEL, Born is the King” is the 2015 Christmas cantata being pre-

sented by our Sanctuary Choir. The presenta-tion will be Sunday night, December 20 at

7:00 PM in the church sanctuary. The cantata features several of our fine soloists and a

moving video component as well. Make your plans to celebrate Christmas with

the Sanctuary Choir!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE CHOIRS You are invited to an evening of music, drama, food and fellowship on Sunday, December 20,

2015. We begin the evening with the presenta-tion of “A TREE LOT CHRISTMAS-Joining Jesus’ Family Tree” presented by our children’s choirs and under the direction of our Children’s Minis-ter, Cindy Lamb” The program will be in the fel-lowship hall. Following the children’s Christmas

musical, enjoy a holiday POTATO BAR meal sponsored by our youth! The proceeds from the meal will benefit youth missions. Then at 7:00 PM head to the Sanctuary where our Sanctuary

choir will present “THE FIRST NOEL (Born is the King), the 2015 Christmas cantata. The musical is written and arranged by Randy Vader and Jay Rouse and features several of our fine soloists plus a captivating video component. Celebrate

the Christmas holidays with our choirs and youth!

people of the states to the

service of that great and

glorious being, who is the

beneficent Author of all

the good that was, that is,

or that will be, that we

may then all unite in ren-

dering unto Him our sin-

cere and humble thanks

for His kind care and pro-

tection of the people of this

country.”

George Washington, First

National Thanksgiving

Proclamation, 1779

Happy Thanksgiving eve-

ryone!

Grace and Peace,

Dana

Due to the Thanksgiv-

ing Holiday, there will

be no choirs meeting

this week.

Friday night our church was rocking and rolling with the sound of music! Our kids worked, played, ate and had a great time being together as we prepared for our upcoming musical, "A Tree Lot Christmas." You will love the music, the story and the spirit of this moving Christmas musical. I hope you will join us on Sunday night, De-cember 20 at 5:15.

Our Kid's Choirs next rehearsal will be Wednesday, December 2 at 6:00. It is very important that your chil-dren attend all rehearsals from now on (there are only 4 more, how did that happen?) I will be ordering tee shirts for everyone and they should be ready soon.

This week in our Orange curriculum, we end the month with a passage that Jesus spoke during the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus explains that when we serve or give, it shouldn't be in a way that is showy and puts all of the attention on ourselves. In fact, He even says to give to others in secret. The bottom line is: Lend a hand without looking for applause. This week, we want kids to walk away knowing that helping others shouldn't be about getting thanked. Often the best way to serve is to surprise someone and help them without getting any recognition at all. I think you parents deserve some recognition! You have the best and most wonderful kids in the world. Thanks for letting me be a small part of their lives. See you Sunday!

Cindy Lamb, Director of Children’s Ministries

Happy Thanksgiving week. I hope that you have a great week and eat lots of yummy food with your fami-lies. The angel tree and teddy bear tree are both up in different part of the church so please atop by and get your angels and bring a teddy bear. Some upcoming events that I want to make you aware of: Saturday December 5th is the Manchester City Christmas Parade. I am not sure what time we will have to line up but the parade starts at 7 p.m. when I have more details I will let you know. Since we are a church, I have a very strong belief that we need to represent Jesus and him being the true meaning of the season and not Santa Claus. Therefore, we will be having a live nativity in which the youth and other members of our church will be dressed up as the different characters that are represented in the story of the nativity. This is a huge undertaking and we will need all the help that we can get. THIS IS A CHURCH WIDE PROJECT NOT JUST A YOUTH PROJECT!!!!!!!!!!! I need the following so if you are able and willing to help me out with any of this please let me know ASAP!!!!!! 1. A place where we can park this trailer and work and it will stay dry. 2. Hay or straw for the float itself. 3.Bags of individually wrapped candy (such as laffy taffy or candy canes) that we will hand (not throw) out as people walk down the parade route. 4. People who will walk the parade route with and hand out candy and information about our church. 5. I also need a light to light (much like or similar to what construction workers use at night while pav-ing or working) If you can and are willing to help me out in any way please let me know. I am in the process of planning some work days. I am hoping to keep this simple, but want it to look nice. If you would be willing to help us out then please let me know ASAP!!!!!!!!! December 13th is "youth find the party." It will be a scavenger hunt around town to find the party. I know that is a little different then in years past. There WILL BE NO gift exchange this year. I will need drivers for this so if you are willing to drive a team please let me know a.s.a.p. December 20th is our next fundraiser for big stuf. We will be having a baked potato bar starting at 6 p.m. after the children play and before the adult Christmas cantata. So make plans to come support several different ministry areas in our church that night. Just another friendly reminder, youth group, youth trips, and youth outings are for STUDENTS in the 6thgrade through the 12th grade. Any STUDENT younger than 6th grade is invited and encouraged to attend and participate in the children’s ministry of Manchester FUMC. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to let me know as soon as a problem comes up. Thank you for allowing me to join you on this life journey. In the GRIP of HIS grace, Randa Director of Youth Ministries

Curre

nt O

ccup

ant O

r:

No

np

ro

fit Org

an

iza

tion

U.S

. Posta

ge P

AI D

Perm

it # 4

6

First U

nite

d M

eth

od

ist Ch

urch

105 C

hu

rch S

treet

Ma

nch

ester, TN

37

35

5

931

-728

-462

4

ww

w.m

ancheste

rfirst.o

rg

I Will Support My Church With My Service

Acolytes: November 29: 8:45 am: Natalie Fibelkorn

11:00 am: Lily Scott

Altar Guild: November: Anita Turner & JaNelle Burt

Building Checkers: Wk of Nov.29:Christopher Miller

Counters: November: Claus Thormaehlen

Coffee Time: November 29: Alisa Mitchell

Greeters: November 29:8:25am: Kay Greenwood & Beverly Smith

10:30 am: Mike & Julie Giffin

Welcome Center: Nov.29: 8:15 am: Butch & Tina Niederhauser 10:45 am: Melissa Cope

Kitchen Monitor: November: Mary Rounds

Good Sam Workers: November 30: Nancy Cummins, Judy McHann, Topsy Layne, Max & Judy Hester

If you need a copy of a volunteer schedule, please see Karen in the Office, or email: manchesterfumc@gmail.com

I Will Support My Church With My Presence

Attendance: Nov. 22

Sunday School 95

8:25 Service 85

10:55 117

Hispanic Service 3

Total: 205

I Will Support My Church With gifts

Nov.22 Missions 76.00

Good Sam 150.00

Youth Fund 75.00

History 50.00

Poinsettias 155.00

One Day-Personal Hygiene Bags 25.00

Required Weekly 9,400.00

Budget Contribution 6,108.00

Year-to-date offering 421,013.10

Offering needed to date 441,800.00

(+/-) Difference (-20,786.90)

Gifts given in memory of Johnny Locke by Jack & Nancy Daniel to the History Fund, by Jack & Kay

Smoyak and Bud & Pam Riddle to the Youth Fund, by Maggie Smith to the One Day Personal Care Bags, by Steve & Sheila Bair to the White Christmas Fund,

by Charles & Patty Roberts, Pat & Joane Cassady, and by Chuck & Mary Renegar to the General Budget, by Claus & Lois Thormaehlen to the White Christmas

Fund, Mary Fletcher, John & Tom, John, Chuck & Joan, & Retha to the General Budget

Gifts given in memory of Bryan Fox (Don Inglish

nephew) by Jack & Nancy Daniel to the History Fund and Pat & Joane Cassady to the General Budget

Member prayer List available at the Welcome Center