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12/20/2017 0 Comments December 20th, 2017 Merry Christmas!As we draw near to Christmas Day, the excitement surely grows. So often, the days that follow feel like a let-down in comparison. The fun and joy is over and we return to life as usual - that is, life as usual in the dark winter. Yet Christmas is not just the end of this season of waiting but the beginning of a new journey, for the birth of Jesus was not the end but the beginning of the great story. As Howard Thurman wrote, When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart. Merry Christmas to you and your family, and may our work in the name of Christ just be beginning! Pastor Jim A Christmas QuizHow much do you know about the Christmas story and our traditions? Take this quiz and find out! Sunday's Sermon Snippet Christmas in Five Words: "Let's" (Luke 2:8-15) This week's word for Christmas is a two-for-one special: the contraction "let's." This word comes to us in the story of the shepherds who watching their flocks outside of Bethlehem. They were just ordinary shepherds living their ordinary lives. Watching their flocks, they listened in the darkness for any sound of trouble - a thief or predator coming to steal one of their sheep. What disturbed the quiet was utterly unexpected - a host of angels surrounded by the glory of heaven and singing praise to God! Afraid, the shepherds heard the angel's message about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. After the angels had left, the shepherds did the one obvious thing to do - to go check it out. "Let's go," they said to one another and hurried into town. Given that the Scripture tells us that they hurried to town, it is surprising to see that so much of our artwork depicting their journey looks more like a slow funeral procession than an excited rush to see what God is up to. Look for a picture of the shepherds and most likely it depicts them not hurrying but pausing or walking solemnly. That's not their response though - it's "Let's go!" That word "let's" is important. It is not a simple "let" asking permission (as in "let me in" while standing at a locked door). It is "let's" - an invitation to come along and see what's going on. It is also important to note the "us" hidden in this word. When we respond to God, it is about going together, not just on our own. Jesus' birth requires a response - not just today as we celebrate but everyday and not one of measured reverence but one full of joy! How often do we respond to what God is doing with a slow procession rather than a hurried, excited run to join in? When God is up to something, let's go! When Jesus tells us to love God and our neighbors, let's go! When Jesus calls us to follow, let's go! When Jesus shows the hungry child, the poor widow, and the lost stranger, let's go! When we wake up to a new day that God has made, let's go! Let's go and see what God is doing! A Blessing of Food Last week, a crew from Dominion Virginia Power donated an amazing amount of food and other items to our church for the ERMA Food Pantry. Thanks to all of our friends at Dominion for blessing so many in our community! Thanks to Debbie and Larry for coordinating the delivery and to Davida, Jim, Barbie, and Randy for taking all this food to the pantry! What a blessing! Living in CommunityThank you, Dorcy and Pat, for reading and lighting our Advent candles this week! Thank you to everyone who gave towards supplying snacks for the young children at South River Elementary! We doubled the requested amount and raised $206.94! Thank you to everyone who donated at our Christmas Program for the Spotswood Choir! We raised $211.16 in support of the choir! This Week at Port ChurchMonday, December 18 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, December 19 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Wednesday, December 20 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Thursday, December 21 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, December 24 9:30 am - Worship with Singing of Carols: "Christmas in Five Words" 11:00 am - Birthday Party for Jesus 11:00 pm - Christmas Candlelight Service with Communion Office Closed Next Week Looking AheadWorking with At-risk Children Workshop - January 17th, 6 pm
Paint Night - January 19th, 6 pm Wednesday at the Port resumes January 24th Game Night - January 28th, 7 pm
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12/12/2017 0 Comments December 12th, 2017 What Gift Shall We Bring?As we approach Christmas this year, I am reminded of one of our family traditions when I was growing up. Each year on December 17th, Daddy would take off from work, and he and Mama would go Christmas shopping while we were at school. It might seem like some last-minute shopping, but there was a reason. That was their anniversary, and they spent the day together shopping - but not just for us kids. They would find a family in need, and they would celebrate their anniversary by buying things they needed and wanted. As my sisters and I became teenagers and adults, we wanted to do something to honor our parents on their anniversary, so we decided to do what they did. We found a family in need and did what we could to help. I remember one year buying groceries and sweatsuits for an elderly couple and another year getting presents for a pair of great-grandparents to give to the children they were raising. Thus, it became tradition in my family to celebrate my parents by doing something for others in their honor. Thinking about Christmas, I believe that this is how Jesus would want us to truly celebrate his birthday as well - not with an excess of gifts or a glut of holiday cookies, but by loving and helping one another! This holiday season, we are offering several opportunities to do just that here at Port Church. You have donated so much in the way of food and items for Christmas baskets at the food pantry. Last week, I wrote to you about our Christmas Offering for Others. Today, I want to share with you about one last opportunity. As a part of our Birthday Party for Jesus following morning worship on December 24th (an event for all ages), we will be collecting gift cards for the teachers at South River Elementary. Bring in $5 gift cards to Target, Walmart, or Teacher Pay Teachers, write a card with encouraging note (cards provided at the party), and drop in our collection basket. I hope you will be a part of supporting our teachers who are on the front lines of helping the kids of our community! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet Christmas in Five Words: "Come" (Matthew 2:1-2) Have you ever been somewhere you had wanted to be but you did not feel like you belonged? The feeling of not belonging in a place or among a group of people can be an overwhelming one. In the traditional Nativity scene, there is one group of people who do not belong there - the wise men. They are out of place having come from a foreign land to a humble abode of a newborn. They are amongst people unlike themselves - they are rich Gentiles amongst the common, poor people of God. On top of all that, they bring with them the looming trouble in the form of King Herod whom they asked for help in finding the newborn king. They do not belong here with Jesus - except that God had sent a star to let them know of Jesus' birth and to guide them along the way. The wise men do not seem to belong, yet they come because they are invited. Jesus is God's invitation for us to come and be a part of his story! We may not feel like we belong - perhaps because of our guilt, shame, unworthiness, fear of rejection, or lack of trust. Yet Jesus is knocking at the door saying, "Come, you belong with me!" Jesus opens the gates and calls us to be a part of his flock no matter where we may come from. Jesus' birth invites us to come be a part of God's story - to share the love of Christ that fills and sustains us, to lift up others by offering the grace given to us, to sing of the wonder that inspires us, to join on the adventure of going where only God would go, to be a part of the miracle of Emmanuel, God with us. God has come into out midst, and now we come to where we belong and honor him! Journey to Bethlehem VillageSaturday, December 16th, we are traveling to Bethlehem Village in Afton. More information about Bethlehem Village can be found here. Initially, this was going to be a youth event but the youth group wants to open up this event to the entire church family!! We will meet at the church at 5:00 p.m. for pizza, leave for Afton Mountain at 5:45, and return by 9:00 p.m. You can ride the bus if room allows or you can follow the bus in your personal vehicle. Talk with Dinah for more details. Living in CommunityThank you, Kara, Taylor, and Peyton, for reading and lighting our Advent candle on Sunday! Thank you, Mark, Susie, Ralph, and Kelly, for getting our sanctuary ready for Sunday's choir program! Thank you, Hannah, Julia, Daisy, Macie, and Brenna and all the Spotswood High choir members, for a wonderful program! Thank you, Sue, Debbie, and Joyce, and all the folks who donated cookies, for making our reception possible! Thank you to those who helped fill our Christmas Baskets! Those baskets were truly blessed with so many different things and will go to families that are in need this time of year. This Week at Port ChurchMonday, December 11 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house Tuesday, December 12 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house Wednesday, December 13 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Thursday, December 14 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Saturday, December 16 5:00 pm - Trip to Bethlehem Village at Afton Mountain Sunday, December 17 9:30 am - Worship: "Christmas in Five Words" 11:00 am - Sunday School 2:00 pm - Football at Town Park Looking Ahead Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - December 24th, 11:00 pm
Working with At-risk Children Workshop - January 17th, 6 pm Wednesday at the Port resumes January 24th 12/5/2017 0 Comments December 05th, 2017 A Gift for Jesus As we shared in last week's newsletter, we have a lot of opportunities to worship, to fellowship, and to give during this Advent season as we prepare for the coming of Christmas. Among those opportunities is the chance to make a special gift to Jesus for his birthday. As we have done over the last few years, we will collect a special Christmas Offering for Others at our Christmas Eve service (don't worry if you will not be there - you can contribute any time this month by making a note on the memo line of your check or envelope). This year's offering will support the mission work of our United Methodist Church to bring relief in areas of disaster, to create new faith communities, to raise up leaders for the future, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world! This is an especially important offering this year as our worldwide church has used a lot of resources in response to the many hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other disasters that have occurred. Courtney and I have made it a tradition for at least a decade now to make a gift at Christmas Eve to match our spending on Christmas presents. When we first started, we tracked our spending and made a donation to match it dollar for dollar. Over the years, we have tried to cut back on our Christmas spending to focus on what matters: spending time with family and friends, helping others, and honoring God. As we have reduced our spending, however, we still match the amount we used to spend rather than just what we spend now so that our gift has not gotten smaller. This year, we plan to give our usual $600 to Jesus for his mission in the world, and it is one the biggest blessings of our year to be able to save up to make this gift! We hope that you will join us in celebrating Jesus' birth through a gift of your own! Blessings on the journey, Jim Sunday's Sermon Snippet Christmas in Five Words: O (John 1:1-14) There is a simple word that enters into our vocabulary each December - at least when we are singing along to the good old Christmas Carols. That word is "O" - a short, simple word that expresses such deep meaning. We do not use it much in our everyday speech or in our singing much of the rest of the year, but it features in Christmas carols to express the wonder and awe of what Christmas means. This wonder and awe is what we find in John's account of Jesus' beginnings. He does not have the familiar story of Mary and Joseph, the angels and shepherds, the wise men and gifts. He starts where the Bible itself starts - in the beginning. In poetic terms, he speaks of the Word that was with God and was God through whom all things were made. He tells of the life that was the Light of all people. Darkness fell across creation, but the Light endured. Eventually, the Word - the Light - became flesh and made a home among us so that we might become God's own children. John has awe and wonder at the true miracle of Christmas - that the God through whom all things were made became our neighbor, our brother, one of us. God's solution to the problem of sin and darkness was not destruction or saving the few righteous but to come to us and become one of us. This is incredible - beyond belief. It is no wonder that John has to resort to the language of poetry to tell of this miracle. No story, no regular words, could express the awe at the incredible act of God becoming one of us and making a home among us. That is what the word "O" is about - awe at the incredible works of God! It is not a mere "Oh!" that means we are a little surprised by what we have experienced but understand and accept it. "O" means that we are not only surprised but are humbled, perhaps even a little fearful in a reverent sense, at what is happening. That God became one of us, made a home here, and is with us today is an awe-inspiring, life-changing revelation. It is not just surprising but amazing and a little fearful. With the birth of any child, we know that life will never be the same for that family - in a good and yet challenging way for the family. In the case of Jesus' birth as Emmanuel - God with us - that family is all of us. Our lives will never be the same in a good yet challenging way! Bible Study Schedule Our John Bible Study at Dianna's house has resumed with the following updated schedule: Dec. 11 @ 9:30, Dec. 12 @ 7:00 - John Chapter 6 vs. 30-71 Dec. 18 @ 9:30 and 7:00 - John Chapter 7 Jan. 02 @ 9:30 and 7:00 - John Chapter 8 and 9 Everyone is welcome to attend either the morning or evening session! Pop Quiz, Part 2 This Sunday in worship, Pastor Jim gave a pop quiz on Christmas carols, and you passed with flying colors! If you want to test out your smarts about Advent, try this online quiz. Can you answer these ten questions? Living in Community Thank you, Mark, Susie, and Linda, for serving communion this week in worship! Thank you, Jodie and Davida, for lighting our first Advent candle in worship! This Week at Port Church Wednesday, December 6 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Thursday, December 7 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, December 10 9:30 am - Worship: "Christmas in Five Words: Come" 11:00 am - Sunday School 7:00 pm - Christmas Program with the Spotswood Choir Cookie reception to follow! Freewill offering to benefit the choir Looking AheadFootball at Town Park, December 17th, 2-4 pm
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - December 24th, 11:00 pm Working with At-risk Children Workshop - January 17th, 6 pm Wednesday at the Port resumes January 24th |
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