A prayer for the New Year

Spanish cross, needlepoint

Oh Thou, who art ever the same,
grant us so to pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts,
that we may be able in all things
to please Thy loving eyes.

Amen.

Mozarabic, 700 A.D.

(Mozarab is the term for the Christian population living under Muslim rulers in

Al-Andalus in what is now Spain and Portugal)

Recognition as a Welcoming Congregation for the third year!

December 30, 2011

First United Methodist Church of Iraan
Attn: Dr. Charles J. Alkula
P.O. Box 816
Iraan, TX, 79744

Dear Pastor Alkula and church members:

United Methodist Communications is pleased to award First United Methodist Church of Iraan a renewal certification as an official Welcoming Congregation for 2011. Because The United Methodist Church places a high value on radical hospitality as a vital ministry, we know you will want to celebrate this important achievement in your congregation by continuing to embrace newcomers and provide opportunities for discipleship through your welcoming lifestyle.

Enclosed is a new seal to add to your plaque. In addition, we have renewed your designation as a certified Welcoming Congregation on the denomination’s Find-A-Church.org website, and your church’s profile displays this certification.

We encourage you to visit Find-A-Church.org to update your church information with pictures, worship times, ministry listing and a word of welcome!

We hope you will continue to participate in annual renewal of the welcoming certification program so every member of your congregation can embrace welcoming as a lifestyle, and your church can maintain a dynamic welcoming ministry for all people. Details concerning the annual renewal process will be sent to you.

To help you strengthen and maintain a dynamic welcoming ministry in your congregation and to help you extend your welcome into the community and the world, we invite you to visit umcom.org/rethinkchurch and review the information and resources available. If you have not already done so, please share a church email address with us so you can receive email updates about Welcoming Certification and welcoming ministry training and resources.

On behalf of United Methodist Communications, we thank you for ensuring newcomers know the people of The United Methodist Church have open hearts, open minds and open doors.

Sincerely,

Anthony M. Gooding
Coordinator, Welcoming Certification Program
United Methodist Communications

cc: District Superintendent, Rev. Larry Altman

Devotional for St. Stephen's Day

Church window in a church in Cheshire, England

Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs:

Lord God, in this glad season we praise you for the birth of your Son among us. On this day we remember that your Son and those who follow him are called to die in faith. Give us grace to be faithful servants and courage to trust you in life and in death. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Lord God, your Son commands us to pray for our enemies. Give us the vision to see that you created all people, and that all are in need of our prayer. Provide us with mediators who can help us settle our differences without violence. Lord, in your mercy...hear our prayer. Lord God, we see your love shine in the glory of the child in the manger. As Mary and Joseph cared for this child, so may we grow to hold dear those in our families. Teach us also to love those who are different from us, and those who are in special need of human care, Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Lord God, your servant Stephen was called to be a deacon and a preacher. Guide your servants today to be courageous and effective communicators of your Gospel. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Lord God, you granted Stephen at his death a vision of your glory and of your Son at your right hand. Give to the dying such a sense of peace, and to the sick the assurance of your healing power. (We remember especially…) Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer. Lord God, you prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Prepare us now to greet them in love as you bring them with us and with all your saints to the heavenly feast. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Day in Iraan

On the way between McCamey and Iraan

 

Christmas Day in Iraan was a low-key gathering with lots of Christmas cheer for those who were on hand on a very chilly morning.

Devotional for Christmas Day

"We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we  have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life - this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare it you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us - we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." - First John 1:1

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"Quick now, here now, always - A condition of complete simplicity (costing not less that everything) and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well..."

- T S Eliot, Little Gidding)

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We do not worship an idea, a law, a system, or a holy book.  Astonishingly our meeting with God takes place within humanity, with the human flesh.  We find God there, among us; A God seen, touched, heard, felt: A child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We have travelled through and arrived at a place of light.  Perhaps we were expecting something very different, for our Saviour looks as though he needs saving, he is a vulnerable child, struggling against the odds.  Yet when we look into the face of this child it is like looking into the face of God.

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"And now we have found where [Christ was born] what then?  It is neither in seeking or finding, the end of all, the cause of all is in the last words 'to worship Him'.  That is all in all, and without it all our seeing, coming, seeking and finding is to no purpose."
  - from a sermon given on Christmas Day in 1622 by Lancelot Andrewes

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Lord, we have been changed in this Christmas meeting.  Truth revealed cannot be unrevealed.  Although we have not yet fully understood, nor lived out all its implications, for that will take a lifetime and beyond, we will carry your truth with us, like a new born child.  May the love and nurturing of this life we carry be our salvation.

(St. Martin-in-the Fields, Advent Devotional for 2005)

Christmas Eve at the Convalescent Center

Tandy Adams plays the guitar for the residents

Cytha Peters leads with the piano while Mike Sherrod lends his voice to the singing

The light dusting of snow we enjoyed today was the perfect backdrop to the Christmas Eve service this afternoon at the McCamey Convalescent Center. 

The multi-purpose room was nicely decorated for the season and was a far cry from this time last year when our service was held in the hallway in front of the nurses' station!

Christmas Eve Devotional

Star of Bethlehem quilt (1840s), Benton County Historical Museum,
Philomath, Oregon

"When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage."

- Matthew 2:10-11

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"Standing without words

but without need of them, being at home."

(Jane Griffiths, Emigrant)

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Loving God,

We are weary from the journey, and troubled and distracted by many things.  There are those who walked with us,
whose company, challenge, and joy we now miss.

But you are the hope we find at the ends of the earth.

Lighten our hearts with the warmth of your welcome. 
Help us to fix our gaze on real events, the true meaning.  Help us to show others where the Light is, the Bread,
the Life can be found.  Come, Lord Jesus. 

Bring us home.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

You're invited...

A hosted visitor-friendly Christmas Eve service will be shared from Rocketown • Nashville, TN!

Follow this link to join the service which will be hosted by Royya James & Niger Woodruff, come as you are! 

• Time: 5:00 p.m. (Central Time) on Christmas Eve

Prayer Request

Peggy Garner (FUMC-McCamey) asks for prayers for Cherokee B. (her granddaughter) who is in an Odessa-area hospital with pregnancy complications.

Advent Devotional for December 23rd



River Fowey, Cornwall

"Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast.

- Psalm 138:7-10

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"You were on board, you set sail,

you have made the harbour.

Step ashore without fear:

nothing is void of God,

not in any place, now or hereafter."

- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3:3

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As a tree grows, it pushes its frontiers deeper into the soil,

and higher into the sky.

Lord God, help me to believe that wherever I go, you have already gone before.  Give me the courage to live with faith and with imagination to the ends of my Earth.  Amen.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

Today at the convalescent center

The McCamey Convalescent Center residents spend time with community members each Thursday morning, sharing coffee & donuts and catching up with area news.

They are looking forward to the Christmas Eve service, Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Advent Devotional for December 22nd

The Pietà by Nicolas Coustou in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris

"Hear my cry, O God; om the end of the listen to my prayer.

From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are my refuge,
a stong tower aginst the enemy."

-Psalm 61:1-3

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Who is this who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you.

-T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

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The Cathedral of Norte Dame in Paris has, through the centuries, been a place of pilgrimage.  In the space before the high altar there is a Pietà, a statue of the Mother of Christ, holding her dead son in her arms.  Her face is a picture of inconsolable grief.  The eyes are wild, the lips silently screaming the question: "Why?"  Was this what the pilgrims found at the end of their journey - a question, to which no answer came?

+

If, on leaving the cathedral, the visitor turns to look again at the Pietà, the distance reveals something that, closer to the scene, was hidden from view.  On either side of the central figure two angels are kneeling.  They do not touch her, but they hold her between them - silently watching, sharing her anguish, willing her on.  This, perhaps, is what the pilgrims saw.

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O unseen God, come among us.  In the pain.  In the mess.  Emmanuel.  God with us.  Amen

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

Help needed and a reminder

Luminaries in Albuquerque, NM last year

First the help needed: I am looking for five readers for Christmas Eve service (at 7:00 p.m. in McCamey).  The parts are Joseph, Mary, the inn keeper, a shepherd boy, and one of the magi. There will be some really awkward pauses in the service if no one steps forward.

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Also, we're going to be offering a service (a hymn-sing) at the McCamey Convalescent Center at 4:00 p.m. if you can come and help in the singing.

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And now, for the reminder: Christmas is first and foremost a religious observance. Please be intentional about inviting your friends, neighbors, out-of-town guests, etc. to attend the Christmas Eve service (at 7:00 p.m. at First UMC in McCamey) and the Christmas morning service (at 9:30 a.m. at First UMC in Iraan).

All the gifts in the world are not worth very much if we forget just who and what is the point. Jesus IS the reason for the season. See you in worship this weekend.

Advent Devotional for December 21st

"Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He send them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  He said to them, 'Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money - not even an extra tunic.'" - Luke 9:1-3

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"As you pass from the tender years of youth into harsh and embittered manhood, make sure you take with you on your journey all the human emotions!  Don't leave them on the road, for you will not pick them up afterwards!" 

(Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls, translated by David Magarshak)

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"Lord God, when Thou grantest to Thy servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us to know that it is not in the beginning but in the continuing of the same until it is thoroughly finished which yieldeth the true glory." - prayer attributed to Sir Francis Drake

Advent Devotional for December 20th

"I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them." - Isaiah 42:16

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Our highest truths are but half-truths,

Think not to settle down forever in any truth,

Make use of it as tent in which to pass a summer's night.

But build no house for it, or it will be your tomb.

When you first have an inkling of its insufficiency

And begin to decry a dim counter-truth looming up beyond,

Then weep not, but give thanks,
It is the Lord's voice whispering:
"Take up your bed and walk."

-A.J. Balfour

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"It is the road to God that matters most,

the ragged road, the wood."

Gillian Allnut, The Road Home

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May we see just one horizon further into the mystery of your presence among us.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

Monday in Iraan



The Iraan Senior Center was hopping today with some delicious food and great people to share it with!  Lots of FUMC members were on hand making this our second fellowship hall!

Advent Devotional for December 19th

The Nativity window, 12th century, Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (France)

"I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves."

- Song of Solomon 3:2

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Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face,
I in my mind had waited for this long,
Seeing the false and searching for the true,
Then found you as a traveller finds a place
Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong
Valleys and rocks and twisting roads. But you,
What shall I call you? A fountain in a waste,
A well of water in a country dry,
Or anything that’s honest and good, an eye
That makes the whole world bright. Your open heart,
Simple with giving, gives the primal deed,
The first good world, the blossom, the blowing seed,
The hearth, the steadfast land, the wandering sea.
Not beautiful or rare in every part.
But like yourself, as they were meant to be.

- Edwin Muir, The Confirmation

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"And the Word became flesh and lived among us,

and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

A festive Sunday in Iraan

The grey skies over Iraan this morning couldn't have been in greater contrast to the bright faces inside the First UMC!  The monthly breakfast potluck took place this morning and the table was positively groaning with good food!

Prayers from today:
Joys:
+Bradley W. began his new job last Thursday.
+Colton W. celebrated his 1st birthday last week.
+James and Deanna celebrated their 35th anniversary today.
+Ed & Wanda will celebrate their 62nd anniversary on the 24th.
+A good chance of rain in the forecast.
+Schools in Iraan let out for the Christmas break on Thursday.

Concerns:
+The familiy of Billie McKenzie.
+The family of Dale Munson.
+Eddy C. will have surgery next Thursday.
+Those traveling this week.

Continuing prayers: Aaron B., Tommy B., Eddy C., Jonnie D., Kash K., Shane M., Pat M., Kathy P., Eva S., Alfred T., Colton W.

Our church - our youth - our schools - athletes & coaches - teachers/students - our military - homeless - unemployed - unspoken requests - victims of natural disasters - countries fighting for freedom - our government & leaders - our nation

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Wouldn't this old world be better,
If the folks we met would say,
I know something good about you,
and then treat us just that way!

+++

Wouldn't it be fine and dandy,
If each hand clasp warm and true,
Carried with it this assurance
I know something good about you!

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Wouldn't things here be more pleasant
If the good that's in us all,
Were the only thing about us,
That folks bothered to recall!

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Wouldn't life be lots more happy
If we'd praise the good we see!
For there's such a lot of goodness
In the worst of you and me.
+++

Wouldn't it be nice to practice
This fine way of thinking too;
You know something good about me,
I know something good about you!

+++

 

submitted by Wanda Carpenter, First UMC - Iraan

Advent Devotional for December 17th

The Great Rose Window at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Devine,
New York City

"And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken." - Genesis 3:22-23
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"A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push it." (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value)
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Some natural tears they'd drop'd, but wip'd them soon;
The World was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way.(John Milton, Paradise Lost)
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Knowledge breaks us.  Grace remakes us.  How do you - like Milton's Adam and Eve - live in hope with what you know?

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 2005 Advent Devotional)

Passing of Billie McKenzie

Please lift up in prayer the family of Billie Elizabeth McKenzie (90), Kirke's mother, who passed away yesterday.  There will be a grave-side service tomorrow at the East Hill Cemetary (off Hwy 285) in Fort Stockton at 2:00 p.m.

The obituary may be seen on the Schaffer-Nichols website at this link. 

This week's sermon text



Hradcany church mausoleum (Prague, Czech Republic)

The sermon text this week is from Luke 2:10-14 (the song of the angels).  What are you singing about this week?

Advent Devotional for December 16th

Picture taken by the Rev. Jeff Garrison, First Presbyterian Church of Hastings (Michigan)

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning." - Psalm 130:5-6

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..."now, leaning far out over an immense depth, letting your name go and waiting, somewhere between faith and doubt for the echoes of its arrival." - R.S. Thomas

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"It is only in renouncing diversion... it is only when the apparent absurdity of life is faced in all truth, that faith actually becomes possible." - Fr. Thomas Merton

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"The simple longing, the simple desire for God, is already the beginning of faith." - Brother Roger of Taizé

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How many years have You been waiting and watching for me to return?  While I have been thinking my own waiting for You is futile... You have never given me up.  Amen.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields 2005 Advent Devotional)

Breakfast Potluck this week!

There are several of our members who will be away from Iraan on Christmas Day (which is also the fourth Sunday of the month).  That being the case, let's celebrate a week early and enjoy the monthly potluck this coming Sunday, December 18th at 8:30 a.m.

San Angelo District Open House

The San Angelo District open house took place this afternoon at the district office in San Angelo.  Great food and fantastic fellowship!

Advent Devotional for December 15th

Ceiling in St. Patrick's Church - Trim, Ireland

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him." - Deuteronomy 30:19

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"Life isn't finished for us yet! We're going to live...
Maybe, if we wait a little while longer,
we shall find out why we live, why we suffer."
- Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters

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"Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life:

grant us that Way to know,

that Truth to keep, that Life to win,

whose joys eternal flow."

- Psalm 34, translated by Bishop G.W. Doane

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"We bless Thee for our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life, but above all for Thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means
of grace, and for the hope of glory."

-The General Thanksgiving from the Book of Common Prayer

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields - Advent Devotional, 2005)

Advent Devotional for December 14th

"God's call is mysterious; it comes in the darkness of faith.  It is so fine, so subtle, that it is only with the deepest silence we can hear it.  And yet nothing is so decisive and overpowering for an individual, nothing surer or stronger.  God is always calling us.  But there are decisive moments in this call of his, moments which leave a permanent mark on us. 

In these moments, the soul has understood that it must let itself be carried, that it must abandon itself to its Savior, that alone it can do nothing, that God can do everything.  And if it remains still and motionless, as though bound in the faithfulness of God, it will quickly realise that things have changed, and that progress, though still painful, is in the right direction.  What matters is to let God get on with it."  (Catlo Carretto, Letters from the Desert)

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Lord, reveal your will to us.  Help us to trust in it, even when we do not understand.  Amen.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields - 2005 Advent Devotional)

Advent Devotional for December 13th

"The Assurance to Joseph" by Pedro Berruguete, Spanish (1450-1504)

"Her husband Jospeh, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.  But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'" - Matthew 1:19-21

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"One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting their bad advice."

- Mary Oliver, The Journey

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Trying to see the world the way God sees it is difficult.  It is easier to devalue our faith and trust by placing them in things we can see and touch.  But faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.  Lord God, show me the barriers I have erected that keep you at a distance.  Amen.

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields - 2005 Advent Devotional)

Advent Devotional for December 12th

"St. Peter invited to walk on the water,"
Francois Boucher, 1766

"Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.'  He said, 'Come.' So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.  But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" - Matthew 14:28-30

"Jesus said, 'Life moves by exchanges; loss is the price of gain. Some pay with one thing, some with another; whatever is most dear, that is my price.'  I said, 'Why is that your price?'  Jesus said, 'What is dear is what is held dear, and there can be no holding by those who will be here with me and gone with me.'" (Russell Hoban, Pilgermann)
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"He takes leave of the earthly pantomime
Quietly, knowing it is time to go.
'I am just going outside and may be some time,'
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime."
(Derek Mahon, Antartica)
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What is it that you hold most dear?  What would it take - what would it mean - for you to leave it behind?

(St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Advent Devotional for 2005)

A chilly day in Iraan

There was a definite chill in the damp morning air in Iraan this morning.  Everyone was glad that there was hot coffee and warm friends waiting inside!

Following the worship service, the Sunday school class began a study of First Corinthians led by James Jordan.

Joys from this morning's worship:
+Wanda C.'s birthday is this week.
+Deanna & James are proud owners of a new home near Kerrville.
+Terry C. (son of Wanda and Ed C.) has accepted a new job and will be moving soon to Midland.
+The moisture we received last week.

Concerns from this morning:
+Tommy Joe H. (husband of Margaret H.) is in the hospital.
+Eddy C. is continuing to deal with medical concerns.
+Jack P. (from McCamey) had a heart attack and is in the hospital in Odessa.

Third Sunday of Advent

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)  
                                                                                                   
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John1:14 (ESV)    

The Message translates John 1:14 as...the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood... The Christmas season for Christians is all about God coming down in the form of a man and moving into our neighborhood. It is because of this that we can know God personally. It is because God was man that He understands our joys and our struggles and what makes Him different from every other god of every other religion.

As Christmas approaches our stress level goes up. There is so much to do, presents to still buy, decorations to hang, preparations to make, and it all seems to grow more overwhelming as the day gets closer and closer.

Isaiah gives us few of the names of Jesus. As you get busier why not take some time to focus on who Jesus really is? Wonderful counselor...give Him your stress and your worries. Mighty God...know that He alone can and will help you out in every situation. Everlasting Father...just like as children we could curl up in our dads lap, Jesus invites us to rest, to curl up in His lap and take time to just enjoy being with Him. Prince if Peace...He can bring peace to all those stressful situations that seem to occur at the holidays and rob us of our joy.

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas that goes beyond what is under the tree. God Himself loved us so much that He moved into our neighborhood. He wants this season to be a time of reflection on Him and celebration for what He has done for us. As Christians we have already received the greatest gift ever given...God Himself! Celebrate that today.

written by Tandy Adams (FUMC - McCamey)