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I want to thank everyone who volunteered to serve in some capacity at our Christmas Eve services. What a special evening it was as we celebrated the birth of Jesus. This year we had a total of 1568 worshipers on Christmas Eve and I know all of our guests experienced the love of Jesus through your warm hospitality. I also want to thank those who sent cards and gifts to me and my family at Christmas. We were blessed by your kindness. I spent time this past week praying for each of you.

Next week we will begin our series of messages called “Who Needs God?” More Americans than ever are backing away from religion and God, not be-cause atheism is attractive, but because religion is unattractive. Religion can be the problem. It's a source of conflict and violence. So, it's worth asking the question: Who Needs God? Perhaps we should talk about it. Join us Janu-ary 8th as the discussion begins.

As I have mentioned before, this series is specifically targeted at people who grew up in the church and then left for one reason or another. Please con-sider inviting a friend, family member or neighbor that fits this category to come to Asbury. I will also be making some changes to the order of service at the 9:30 service during this series, to make it more seeker friendly. These are only temporary changes that will hopefully remove some barriers seekers have in connecting with worship.

I hope you and your family have a Happy New Year!

Pastor Eric

Our Vision Statement

OFFICE HOURS

8 a.m. to 4 p.m., M—F

1533 Springhouse Road

Allentown, PA 18104

Phone: 610-398-2577

Fax: 610-366-1108

www.asburylv.org

In all aspects of our lives, we will strive to be disciples of

Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

SUNDAY SERVICES

HERITAGE WORSHIP

8:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary

CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP

9:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary

TRADITIONAL WORSHIP

11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary

OPEN DOOR WORSHIP

5:00 p.m. in the Worship Center

SUNDAY MORNING CHILDCARE

During our 9:30 Worship Service

and Sunday School time, we have

childcare for infants through two

year olds. During our 11:00 Service,

we have childcare available

for infants through PreK.

PASSIONATE

WORSHIP

Publicity Requests:

http://publicityform.asburylv.org/

Senior Pastor

Eric S. Yeakel

Asbury United

Methodist Church

@asburyumclv

Sunday, January 1, 2017

One Service

10:00 a.m. ~ Sanctuary

No Sunday School

No Child Care

ALTAR FLOWERS FOR 2017 The sign-up chart to sponsor altar flowers for 2017 is now posted across from Room 218 on the upper level. Please add your name and phone number next to the date that you wish to sponsor and you will be contacted prior to that date for your dedication. The cost for sponsorship is $45.00.

RADICAL HOSPITALITY / CONGREGATIONAL LIFE AND CARE

For those who are sick or in the hospital Lord, we ask your mercy and healing for all those currently hospitalized, in rehab or recently discharged, especially Cheryl Boyle, Donald Mellen, Joan Potter, Barry Zimmer-man and Ken Benson.

For those who need your special help Lord, we affirm that your power is infinite and that you love

us all like a devoted parent. Gratefully acknowledging your love and mercy toward us, we lift up these people who need your special help: We ask for a quick recovery for Jenn Springer and her hospitalized daughter Cheryl Boyle who both have pneumonia; we pray also that their families re-main healthy. Betsy Metzger is in hospice care and we ask a peaceful passing for her. A member asks relief of pain. Wes-ley Hoffert, 3-year-old grandson of Rich & Robbie Hoffert and son of Andy & Erica, has a strep infection and has been transferred to CHOP ICU.

For those who mourn Lord, we ask comfort for all who mourn the loss of loved ones. Reassure them of your unending mercy.

For our congregation Lord, we start the new year with the best of intentions. Please help us follow through.

For our children For this new year, Lord, make us more responsive to the

needs of less fortunate children around the world. For the world, its people and its leaders We pray for peace throughout 2017, and we ask that calm

hearts and minds prevail in every crisis. With thanksgiving for our joys

This holiday season brings with it the joy of gatherings with loved ones for which we are most grateful. We thank you for the generosity of Asbury members and friends, inspired by Jesus. We thank you for the challenges and struggles of illness and reduced circumstances which bring us, in our human weakness, closer to you.

For the missions we support Today our mission prayer is for Colin & Pam Boake and

their 19 foster children in South Africa. Colin & Pam care for abandoned, battered, and HIV/AIDS babies. As they grow older they provide clothing, education and career op-portunities. We thank God for the love and caring provided to these kids by Colin & Pam in their home. We ask your continued and increased blessings on their work.

Start the New Year with Prayer!

PRAYERS OF OUR CONGREGATION Lord of All, we are grateful for a new year of hope, full of promise.

We look forward to each day and every moment spent in your presence. Guide us, bless us, and grant us the great gift of thy peace.

SUSANNA CIRCLE will meet for their annual dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, 1/9, at the Bravo Italian Restaurant in the outdoor section of the Lehigh Valley Mall. For information or to make a reservation, please call Tea Kratzer (610-821-0258) by 1/5. After the dinner, a representative of Ten Thousand Villages will tell us about this Fair Trade Retailer which has been operating since 1946. All women are welcome. AN EIGHT-WEEK GRIEF SUPPORT CLASS will be offered by Bill Arnold, Director of Congregational Care, beginning Thursday, 1/19, and is open to all members and friends of Asbury United Methodist Church who have experienced a loss. Participants will work in a small group setting supporting each other while exploring the book “Beyond the Broken Heart.” The class will meet Thursday evenings 6:30 till 8:00 p.m. in the Aldersgate Room, and will be limited to the first 12 registrants. Please contact the church office if you wish to attend or email Bill Arnold at barnold@asburylv.org.

A Few Notes from

the Financial $ecretary

We will be closing the books for 2016 on January 4, 2017. Contributions marked 2016 received after January 4 will be credited to 2017. Please indicate your envelope number on all correspondence.

Please do not put contributions for different years on the same check – each year must be deposited separately.

Remember, you can now make contributions to Asbury di-rectly through our website or by submitting an authorization for direct debit to the church office. Call the office if you need more information about this.

Anyone desiring to make stock contributions or prepaid contributions for 2017 prior to the end of 2016 should con-tact me for instructions.

Suzanne Weida (610-398-2577 or sweida@asburylv.org)

God’s Rainbow, Asbury’s Sunday School Class for young adults with developmental disabilities and autism, is in need of a few teachers and helpers on Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 10:30. Volunteering once a month (starting in January) would be very much appreciated, and training is provided. Please contact Karen Mitton (karensmitton@gmail.com) if you can help.

Thanks to everyone who sent cards, left gifts, and brought us fruit, cookies, candy and pastries for the holidays, and to all who helped make the church ready

for the Christmas Eve services.

INTENTIONAL FAITH DEVELOPMENT RISK-TAKING MISSION

AND SERVICE

Contact Aaron Forney, Director of Youth Ministries,

for information on all Youth Ministries activities & opportunities (aforney@asburylv.org or 610-398-2577).

There will be no Sunday School or Youth Group on New Year’s Day (1/1). Join your Asbury family for our one worship service at 10:00 AM in the Sanctuary. What is Christianity all about, anyway? Why do we believe what we believe? What does it mean for you? Maybe you’ve grown up in the church and feel like you have answers to those questions. Maybe you rarely came to church growing up and aren’t quite sure you know. Maybe you’re somewhere between. Wherever you are, at Youth Group we’re going to start the new year with the basics to create a Starting Point for a conversation about who we are. Join us beginning January 8, 2017. Keep up-to-date with us online! Sign up for our weekly email and visit www.asburyym.org or check our Facebook page, Twitter feed, or Instagram feed. No accounts are required to access any of the social media accounts.

Contact Pam Unrath, Director of Children’s Ministries,

for information on all Children’s Ministries

activities & opportunities (punrath@asburylv.org or 610-398-2577).

Children’s Sunday School: Due to the New Year’s Holiday, there will be no BLAST or child care

available on Sunday, January 1st

. We will resume our typical schedule on Sunday, January 8, 2017. Child

care is available during the 9:30 AM Worship Service for infants & one-year-olds in Room 214 and for two-year-olds in Room 216. Child care is also provided during the 11:00 AM Worship Service in Room 214.

Children love to string together questions in an attempt to understand eve-rything around them. This curiosity and thirst to know more continues throughout their lives. God has made each of us in such a way that we are always discovering, wondering, exploring, innovating, improving, and solv-ing. He wants us to pursue knowing more, because He wants us to know Him more. That is why this January, BLAST will be taking a closer look at how the pursuit of “Knowledge” shows up throughout the Gospels. On 1/8 we will begin our quest by looking at the story of young Jesus going to the temple to learn about God’s word from the priests. Our bottom line for this week is: “What God says is the most important thing to know.”

JAM (3rd—5th Graders) will meet on Sunday, 1/8, from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. in Room 210. Please RSVP to Pam Unrath by Friday, 1/6. Remember, friends are welcome to join us!! As the new year begins, we may find ourselves considering new endeavors. If you would like to offer your time and energy by becoming involved in an area of Children’s Ministries at Asbury, please contact me. We have many opportuni-ties for involvement, from storytelling, teaching or assisting in BLAST, planning missions, Kids’ Club, JAM, VBS, general idea sharing and more! Please con-sider helping our children to learn and grow in their faith.

Copies of Asbury’s financial picture (as of 11/30) are available at both the upper and lower level Welcome Center desks. Updates will be is-sued monthly as they become avail-able.

Change for Change January’s CFC is designated for the Kingdom Life Family Center, which sponsors a local food bank that serves over 210 families each month. While the program supports families from all over the Lehigh Valley, it focuses mainly on families i n t h e P a r k l a n d S c h o o l Distr ic t . Please place your contributions in the “Change For Change” containers at the rear of the Sanctuary or in the Worship Center.

Thanks to the Sunday School Classes, UMW Circles, small groups and individuals who provided gifts for 36 Ramos family members this Christmas. Of the seven families adopted, two had lost everything in a row home fire so your gifts to them were especially needed and appreciated. Gifts were received at Ramos on December 19th with much joy and many thanks.

EXTRAVAGANT

GENEROSITY

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r Sta

ff

Eric Yeakel, Senior Pastor eyeakel@asburylv.org

Bill Arnold, Director of Congregational Care barnold@asburylv.org

Laurie Wallace Theisen, Director of Lay Ministries ltheisen@asburylv.org

Pam Unrath, Director of Children’s Ministries punrath@asburylv.org

Aaron Forney, Director of Youth Ministries

& Leader of Open Door Worship Band aforney@asburylv.org

Karen Bowermaster, Director of Preschool preschool@asburylv.org

Cristina Lenner, Director of Communications clenner@asburylv.org

Tom Gibson, Business Administrator tgibson@asburylv.org

Frank Taylor, Head Custodian ftaylor@asburylv.org

January 1, 2017 Isaiah 60:1-6 & Matthew 2:1-12

Weekly Calendar

Sunday, January 1 / Happy New Year! Thursday, January 5

10:00 a.m. Traditional Worship - Sanctuary 9:00 a.m. Keep In Touch - Aldersgate

The Community Room and all regularly scheduled 6:30 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 12 - 210/215/217

Sunday activities will resume on Sunday, January 8th. 7:00 p.m. NARANON - 108

7:30 p.m. Chancel Choir - 102

Monday, January 2

Building & Office Closed Friday, January 6

6:00 p.m. Asbury Trio - Sanctuary 1:00 p.m. AA (Open) - 108

6:30 p.m. Worship Praise Band - Sanctuary 6:30 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 12 - 217

7:00 p.m. Jubilation Ringers - 206

Saturday, January 7

Tuesday, January 3 8:00 a.m. Pioneer Class Breakfast Set-Up - 217

12:30 p.m. Program Staff Meeting - Aldersgate 8:30 a.m. Asbury Adult Basketball - Wesley Center

6:00 p.m. Girl Scout Troop 654 - 219 4:00 p.m. Family Gym Night - Wesley Center

6:30 p.m. Girl Scout Troop 661 - 208

7:00 p.m. Asbury Volleyball - Wesley Center Sunday, January 8 / Communion

7:00 p.m. OA - 108 8:00 a.m. Heritage Worship - Sanctuary

8:00 a.m. Pioneer Class Breakfast - 217

Wednesday, January 4 9:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship - Sanctuary

1:00 p.m. AA (Open) - Wesley Center 9:30 a.m. God's Rainbow - 200

5:40 p.m. Faith Ringers - 206 9:30 a.m. Sunday School All Ages

6:20 p.m. Apostle Ringers - 206 10:45 a.m. Revelation Bible Study - 210

6:30 p.m. Launching into Bible Study - 210 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship - Sanctuary

6:30 p.m. Joyful Noisemakers - 108 4:00 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 12 - 215/217

6:30 p.m. Rainbow Singers - 106 5:00 p.m. Open Door Alternative Worship - Worship Center

7:10 p.m. Youth Choir - 106 6:00 p.m. Sunday Night Dinner - Wesley Center

6:00 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 12 Committee Mtg. - 217

6:30 p.m. JAM - Wesley Center/210

6:30 p.m. Youth Group - YL/108