10/9/24

Estimated Giving, Hurricane Relief, Fall Activities

FUMC Newsletter 10/9/24

WORSHIP

Topic: The Jesus Way
Speaker: Pastor Zach
Time: 10:00am
Also available on WKSR Radio 100.9 at 10am, YouTube & Facebook Live!

2025 Estimated Giving Cards

Last Sunday, we filled out Estimated Giving Cards following the service. We have received 46 responses so far. If you have not filled out your Giving Card, please follow the link below. They will also be available in the vestibules this Sunday.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

There will be no Bible Beans this Sunday, October 13th.
Our Chilli -Cornbread-Cookie Fundraiser is October 20th! Sign up below. (Funds go to Hurricane Relief)
The last day to register for the Youth Fall Retreat is October 20th. The cost is $50.
Charge Conference is October 23rd.
November 1-3 we will have a church-wide retreat to Beersheba Springs. Sign up below.
First UMC can now send announcements via text message. Add this number to your contacts: 256-977-0446.

Beersheba Registration Link: https://forms.gle/cpEyVqF5o2vQkBsR9

Chilli-Cornbread-Cookie Fundraiser Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGWg93WwNzwdeVoHIhWlLQ5a16m9IzwfEhZhh-XA-5wr1JpQ/viewform

EVENTS

Today, 10/9

No Events

Tomorrow, 10/10

@9:00am Circle of Care

@5:30pm Disciple Bible Study

Friday, 10/11

No events

Saturday, 10/12

Fellowship Hall Reserved for Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast

Sunday 10/13

@@9:00am Sunday School

@10:00am Worship

@11:30am Youth Go Shopping For Hurricane Relief Items

@4:00pm Pack UMCOR Relief Buckets in The Fellowship Hall

Monday 10/14

@8:15am Monday Morning Prayers0

@9:30am Nursing Home Worship

@10:00am Prayer Shawl

@11:00am Matthew 25 Board Meeting

@3:30pm Social Talks

@5:00pm Finance Committee

@5:35pm Church Council

Tuesday 10/15

@9:00am Coffee with the Pastor at Second Street Coffee House

@6:00pm Wesley Bonfire

Hey, Youth Families!

The registration for the Youth Fall Retreat is now open! This year’s Fall Retreat will be held at Lakeshore Camp and Retreat Center in Eva, TN. We will be joining other United Methodist youth groups from the Tennessee Western-Kentucky Conference. The theme this year is the Greatest Commandment where we will learn and talk about how to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is guaranteed to be a great weekend filled with fun games, fellowship with other youth groups, and worship! The deadline to register is October 20th and the cost is $50. You won’t want to miss it!

When: November 8-10th

Where: Lakeshore Camp and Retreat Center in Eva, TN

Registration Deadline: October 20th

Cost: $50

Church Family, if you would like to volunteer to chaperone this trip, please contact Pastor Mark by emailing mark.mcgraw@student.austinseminary.edu or calling the church office at 931-363-2595.

Hurricane Relief

Join us this Sunday, October 13th from 4-6pm in The Fellowship Hall as we spend the afternoon creating hygiene and cleaning kits as a small way to put our faith into action and support our siblings affected by Hurricane Helene. In the mean time, feel free to begin purchasing the following items:

Hygiene Kit Items

Hand towels (15 x 25 –17 x 27 inches)
- No kitchen, cleaning, or microfiber towels
Washcloths
- No kitchen, cleaning, or microfiber towels
Comb (4-7 inches of teeth)
Toenail and Fingernail Clippers
Bath-size Soap (3oz or larger)
Adult Toothbrushes
10 Adhesive Bandages
One-Gallon Resealable Bags

Cleaning Kit Items

5 Gallon Round Bucket with Re-sealable Lit
32-64 oz Bottle Liquid Laundry Detergent
16-40oz Bottle Dish Soap
4-8 oz. Pump Spray Air Freshener (Liquid)
6-14 oz Pump Spray Insect Repellent
Scrub Brush
Re-Useable Cleaning Wipes (pack of 18)
Scouring Pads (pack of 5)
Clothespins (pack of 36-50) 50-100 ft
Clothesline
Heavy Duty Trash Bags (roll of 24)
N95 Respirator Dust Masks (pack of 5)
Kitchen Gloves
Work Gloves

Materials can be dropped off at the Church Office.

What's Up With Wesley?

The Wesley Group gathered this Tuesday at Los Hermanos to reconnect and chat about Fall Break and ongoing classes.
Wesley will meet next Tuesday at the church at 5:45pm to drive over to Sarah and Kevin Garners’s for a bonfire night! Thank you to the Garners!
Wesley students are looking forward to October 29th - which is Boo-Out at UT Southern.

Disciple Bible Study: Atonement

In Disciple this week we will cover the theme...Atonement. When we look at these texts we see two very important things. First, we see the basis of our modern Christian worship. Secondly, and in my opinion far more important, in these instructions on worship and sacrifices we see a God of grace and mercy. It’s not that these sacrifices brought forth God’s grace for the one who offered it, but that in offering the sacrifices, they became open to God’s grace already at work.

Fall Festival at The Table

You are invited to join us at The Table on October 20th for a Fall-filled evening! At 4:00pm join us for Games, 4:30p.m. Chili, Cornbread, and Cookie Competition! Vote with $, and the funds raised will go to UMCOR to Hurricane Relief. The winning Chili, Cornbread, and Cookie recipe will represent First UMC at the Giles County Chamber Chili Cook-Off on Thursday, November 7th. The Chamber theme is “Fiesta--Bringing the Heat to the Streets! At 5:00pm we will worship together. Join us as we praise God in community and joy!

Senioridous

Hey Youth Seniors! You are invited to join us for a new small group opportunity called Senioridous! Life after high school can be difficult, exciting, confusing, and unclear all at once. Join us as we talk about the next stage of life, leaving behind high school and entering young adulthood. This is a program where High School Seniors will meet together as a group and with a mentor from our church family. Church Family, you are invited to begin praying if you would like to serve as a mentor for our High School Seniors. Be on the lookout for a Save the Date interest meeting!

Community Garden

In case you missed it... Green beans are up for grabs in the Community Garden! Come, bring your friends, and pick whenever you can... we have green beans galore!

Halloween is lurking... Join us for...

Games & Chili at The Table - October 20th at 4pm

The Growing Tree Trick or Treat Around the Square - October 25th at 10am

Youth Halloween Party - October 27th from 5-7pm

Children’s Ministry Halloween Party - October 27th from 5-7pm

Theologian of the Month

Our Theologian of the Month for October is St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). St. Ignatius is most known for being the founder of the Catholic movement known as the Society of Jesus—more commonly known as the Jesuits. In 1521, he was gravely wounded in a battle against the French. While he was recuperating, he read a biography about Jesus. St. Ignatius was converted to Christianity A year later, he made the decision to pursue the priesthood. At the altar where he re-devoted his life to Jesus, he laid down his noble vestments and his sword and put on an old tunic—symbolizing his transition from chivalrous warrior to follower of the Prince of Peace named Jesus. St. Ignatius is most known for creating the Daily Examen. The Daily Examen is a prayer in which one is invited to look throughout their day and give thanks. Give it a try throughout October and see what fruit is bears for your spiritual life. It goes like this: Prepare by finding a comfortable position. Grab a journal and a pen if you want to write it down. Start by making a list of anything and everything you are grateful for that day. It could be a simple as a hot cup of coffee, a good book, or your family. Walk through your day asking the Holy Spirit to highlight it clearly. Notice what stands out. What emotions or moments stand out to you? When did you feel close to God? When did you feel far away from God? Talk to God. What might God be trying to tell you about those moments? Ask for forgiveness for the times you weren’t at your best. Look forward to tomorrow. What are you excited about? What are you nervous about? Give all of those things to God and ask for God’s will be done. Close by taking a few moments of silence, seeking God’s voice and God’s peace.

Book of the Month

Our Book of the Month for October is Eugene Peterson’s The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way. Many of us know Eugene Peterson as the great evangelical theologian who authored The Message interpretation of the Bible. In this book, Peterson shows how the ways of those who came before Jesus of Nazareth—Abraham, Moses, Davide, Elijah, and Isaiah—revealed and prepared the “way of the Lord” that became incarnate and complete in Jesus Christ. Throughout, Peterson calls into question the many “ways” followed by the contemporary American church, showing the stark relief how what we have chosen to focus on—consumerism, celebrity, charisma, and so forth—obliterates what is unique to the Jesus way. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter. “I want to counter the common reduction of ‘way’ to a road, a route, a line on a map—a line that we can use to find our way to eternal life; such reduction means the elimination of way as a metaphor, the reduction of way to a lifeless technology. The Way that is Jesus is not only the roads that Jesus walked in Galilee and to Jerusalem but also the way Jesus walked on those roads, the way he acted, felt, talked, gestured, prayed, healed, taught, and died. And the way of his resurrection. The Way that is Jesus cannot be reduced to information or instruction. The Way is a person whom we believe and follow as God-with-us.” This book is a must read for any who wish to follow the Jesus Way—the way of truth, mercy, compassion, hope, and life-giving love.

Opportunities to Serve

Circle of Care

Thursdays @ 9:00am in The Fellowship Hall

We need volunteers! Join Circle of Care in boxing & delivering hot meals to our neighbors.

Matthew 25 Thrift Shoppe

Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday 9am-3:15pm

Community RFD

Let us join RFD leaders and volunteers in prayer as they discern next steps.

RFD Food Collection

RFD (Rural Food Delivery) is collecting donations in The Fellowship Hall. The item of the month is canned soup & chilli. Please drop off these & other non-perishable food items on the shelf in The Fellowship Hall.

Community RFD is a non-profit organization that provides boxes of food at no cost to struggling families in Giles County. Some of our congregants regularly volunteer with RFD.