PUMC to Welcome the Christ in 2017 (December, 2017)

The season of Advent is a gift from God. It’s a special time of the year when families, friends, and churches across dominations join together to celebrate the incarnation… the wonder that somehow God became human and walked this earth in the Person of Jesus.

What’s your favorite part of the Christmas Season? 
Scroll  down to the end of this article and vote in our poll!

Get Ready!

Yes, there’s a lot of shopping to do.  Cards are waiting to be written and mailed.  And those lights need to be hung outside.  There’s a lot to do in order to be ready for Christmas.

But these are “things” that you need to do in order to celebrate Christmas.  But, what are you doing to open yourself up to soaking in as much of the spiritual meaning of this season that you can?  In addition to participating in all of the activities, it’s wise to prepare yourself with worship, prayer, and Bible readings. 

One way to do that (other than to attend our Sunday worship services), is to follow an Advent Devotional.  Several local churches have put together a devotional guide to help you keep in touch spiritually.  For more information on the Advent Devotions, Click Here.

You can also access each week’s readings from this post.  Above each week’s schedule is a button which will open a PDF of that week’s devotions.

To learn more about the events scheduled for each of the four weeks in Advent, open the “drop down” gifts below.

===== WEEK 1 =====

(Sunday 12/3 through Saturday 12/9)

===== WEEK 2 =====

(Sunday 12/10 through Saturday 12/16)

===== WEEK 3 =====

(Sunday 12/17 through Saturday 12/23)

===== WEEK 4 =====

(Sunday 12/24 and  Monday 12/25)

===== “WEEK 5” =====

(Sunday December 31)

This year, New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday.  Even though New Year’s Eve isn’t technically part of the “Advent Season,” we take it to be part of our Christmas Season. Here’s what’s happening on Sunday December 31:

Images of Advent

Here are some “Christmas at PUMC” photos from recent years…

Opportunities to Give

Advent isn’t only about “watering yourself” with the wonder of Christmas.  It’s also about imitating our gracious God by giving to others.  During this season, we’ll have several opportunities to give back to our community and to help others experience the wonder of God’s love.

The Star Tree

During the Advent season, our sanctuary and Narthex are graced by several Christmas Trees.  But one the trees in our Narthex goes far beyond decoration.  We call it our “Star Tree” and it’s there to help share the Christmas Spirit with kids who might otherwise not be able to receive gifts.  

This Christmas tree is adorned with Yellow stars, and each star bears the name of a child from our town who is in need of our help. 

To participate in this ministry:

• By Giving–
  Remove a star with the child’s name on it and purchase a gift (suggested on the star). Bring in the wrapped gift to the church and place it under the Star Tree no later than December 10. 
• By Passing the Gift Along–
  If  your child is in need of a gift (and if you live in Pitman), contact our Church Office to schedule a gift.  Families may pick up their their children’s gift(s) at the church on Saturday December 16, between 10:00 AM and 12:00 Noon.

The Mitten Tree

In the Hooks ‘n Needles for God group, we are using our talents to create blankets and prayer shawls to help needy children keep warm this winter. 

To help us in that effort, we’ve set up a Mitten Tree in the rear of the sanctuary.  This is a very special Christmas Tree; it’s designed so that you can remove decorations in addition to adding decorations. 

You can participate in the gift of our Mitten Tree in several ways:

• By Decorating–
  If you have knitted a scarf, hat, or mittens and would like to donate them, just hang them on the tree.
• By Giving–
  If you know of a family who could use some warm knitted items, remove an item from the tree and pass it along to the family.
• By Accepting–
  These items are for the taking!  If you or members of your family need something warm this winter season, take any item from the tree.  That’s why it’s there! 

Operation Christmas Child

This collection is actually over, but it’s not too early to plan for Christmas 2018! During November, a total of 112 shoeboxes were filled with toys and toiletries and forwarded to Samaritin’s Purse for distribution to needy kids.

What is Advent? What’s an Advent Wreath?

Advent is celebrated during the four Sundays preceding Christmas. This year, Advent occurs entirely in December, with Christmas Eve being the 4th Sunday in Advent. 

One of the ways we mark each Sunday in advent is with the lighting of a candle on our Advent Wreath. Each candle represents a different attribute (or “fruit”) of our relationship with God. The center candle is lit during our Christmas Eve service; it represents that Christ is among us.

Check out the following video from “Chuck Knows Church”…

What Happens After Advent?

Sundays throughout the Christian Calendar have names that follow the season. For example, the four Sundays before Christmas are called “First Sunday in Advent,” “Second Sunday in Advent,” etc. But what happens when you have Christmas Day- usually in the middle of the week- and then you come back to church the next Sunday? That Sunday has its own special name: “First Sunday after Christmas Day” (not really imaginative…).

Epiphany

The next Sunday (the first one in January) is called “Epiphany Sunday.” Click Here for more info. For the next month or so our Sundays will be called the “__Sunday after the Epiphany“.

Lent

The season of Lent begins a certain number of days before Easter Sunday (we’ll just leave it at that for now…). And so, in 2018 at least, on Sunday Feb. 14  we’ll switch from “__Sunday after the Epiphany” to “__Sunday in Lent“.  April 1 is Easter Sunday, and after that you get into Sundays after Eastertide and Pentecost (Pentecost Sunday is on May 20 in 2018)… but we’ll talk about that later.

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What’s your favorite part???

There’s a lot going on this time of the year.  Some of it may seem like a chore, but much of it is a great opportunity to get closer to Christ (and to friends and family).  What’s your favorite part of this season?

Please take a second to vote in the following poll; fully anonymous… just click your response(s)…