Weekly Messenger - January 21, 2022
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Making and nurturing disciples of Jesus Christ to serve the community and the world
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FACING GOLIATHS AS A CHURCH
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This Sunday we continue in the Perfectly Imperfect series where we will consider the classic underdog story from the Old Testament of David and Goliath. As I will mention in my sermon, David and Goliath isn’t just a feel-good underdog story. This is a story about God delivering us from large, foreboding, and powerful forces and having the faith that God can use small and meek means to provide deliverance.
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UPCOMING WORSHIP SERVICES
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Sunday Worship Service - January 23, 2022
Pastor Rob Hamilton Preaches - The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall
The Classic Story of David and Goliath - David is young and so sure of himself. He’s not afraid of big bad Goliath that everyone else cowers to. Is that because David is young, full of himself and thinks he’s immortal? Probably part of the reason. The main reason could be that he is so assured of victory that David had learned to trust God in other situations and knew how to act in this situation.
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January 23 & 30 Services will be online only.
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CHILDREN'S MINISTRY UPDATE
Sunday, January 23 at 9:30 am - We will be coloring and drawing our own David while listening and discussing the story via video and scripture reading. We will also be playing a version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" Trivia game!
Sunday, January 30 at 9:00 am - We will meet via Zoom. More details next week.
Sunday, February 6 at 9:00 am - Regular Sunday School Classes resume at the Church during the service!
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Virtual Sunday School - Middle school and High School will continue to be virtual while the church building is closed for remodeling. The two groups will meet together via Zoom at 11:00 am this Sunday. Our current series has us looking at the Kings of Israel. There is some pretty action-packed, drama-laden stuff going on in the stories of the kings. Use the following information to log on to Zoom Sunday School
- Zoom Sign In Link
- Meeting ID: 825 9323 9262
- Passcode: 903393
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Save the Date - Feb 27 - Snow Day - On Sunday, February 27, from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm we will be meeting up with youth from Baker Memorial UMC and Batavia UMC for an amazing outdoor "Snow Day." We are banking on the weather cooperating and giving us plenty of snow that weekend, but we will have contingencies in place as well.
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EVENTS AND SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Tune in to Pastor Rob Hamilton's State of the Church Address on Sunday, January 23rd.
This recorded video address reflects on the past year and looks toward the future and it will be available for on-demand viewing starting at 7pm via our YouTube, Vimeo, and at genevumc.org Pastor's Blog pages. Links to the videos and a manuscript will also be sent via email on Sunday, January 23.
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Our Church-Wide Assessment has made some changes due to COVID. The Assessment Listening Sessions will now take place during the week of February 1-6. Our consultants will be conducting the sessions virtually.
If you have thoughts, dreams or concerns about the future of our church, please sign up for a one hour listening session by clicking here. Note there are options to participate in Zoom-only sessions where all participants are on Zoom or there are two sessions at church where only our consultants will participate virtually.
The Church-Wide Assessment Report will be given via Zoom (and recorded for future viewing) on February 10 at 7pm.
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CHURCH BEAUTIFICATION UPDATE
Our Church Beautification Project is near completion, but our return to in-person worship and regular office hours is delayed by one week. This is due to work crews falling ill with COVID, some even enduring hospitalization. Please remember our workers in your prayers. Our return to in-person worship and a rededication of our building for ministry will take place on Sunday, February 6 at 9am and regular office hours will resume on Monday, February 7.
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Carpeting for the Atrium Stairs
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Salvation Army Food Drive - February 6
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The Committee on Missions/Church in Society will be holding a food drive for the Salvation Army Food Pantry on February 6, when our church building will once again be open. Please bring items to church with you on that Sunday. Any non-perishable items are welcomed, but canned soups, vegetables and fruit, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, boxed macaroni and cheese, “Helper” meals, cleaning supplies, and diapers are always needed.
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Volunteer to Serve Meals At Hesed House on Second Mondays
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Our church serves the evening meal, breakfast, and bag lunches at Hesed House on the 2nd Monday of each month. Anyone who serves on the dinner crew must be 12 years or older and fully vaccinated. Dinner crew volunteers are needed from about 6:15 until around 8:30 at the Hesed House, 659 S River St. in Aurora. More information and sign-up at this link Sign Up Genius. Note that you also need to register with Hesed House.
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LAZARUS HOUSE MEAL SIGN UP
UMCG commits to providing dinners to Lazarus House on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. Just cook a meal in a 9X13 casserole pan and deliver the meal hot and ready to serve to Lazarus House as close to 6:00 PM as possible. We still need people to sign up to provide dinners on the 1st Tuesdays of each months starting in February. Sign-up to bring a meal here
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Peace and blessings to you as we begin a New Year in the life of our church.
As we offer our final report on 2021 finances, words can barely express our gratitude for your amazing generosity this past year. We are pleased to report that your giving to the operating budget broke all recent records in December, totaling $88,217! As a result, we finished the year with a surplus of $7,300, all the while paying our apportionments in full and making our promised 5% monthly allocations of income to Missions & Church in Society ministries. Most impressive of all was the broad participation in this accomplishment. Over 150 families & individuals made 233 donations to the budget during the month. And our special Christmas offerings received broad support as well, totaling another $13,450.
Thank you so much for your faithful giving in a year that was filled with challenges. Those gifts, combined with our prayers, our presence, and our service, are strong evidence that God continues to work through us to bring light to the world. Let us keep that light strong in 2022!
Rolland Lang and the Finance Committee
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2022 Church Council Book Study
The congregation is invited to join the Church Council in a monthly book study as we learn a new leadership posture for ministry and life by reading How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season, by Susan Beaumont. The sessions will begin on February 22 at 7pm and continue for the first 30 minutes or so every regular Church Council meeting of 2022. You can request a copy of the book by clicking here.
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Adult Sunday School
Adult Sunday School is Zooming it's class at 10:30 am on and 23 and 30. They will be discussing Pastor Rob's sermon for each of those Sundays. If you wish to join, below is the Zoom link. If you have further questions please contact Jim McConnell at mcjamesc@aol.com.
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Spirits & Studies
Spirits & Studies meets Tuesdays at 6:30pm. They began a new book study on January 18 with The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. This little book of 138 pages will shake up your way, maybe even transform. We have great discussions and would like to engage some new voices and views around this book. Contact Mary Gay McKinney for more information.
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Tuesday Prayer Meeting Zooms during January
During January, Tuesday Prayer Partners will gather via Zoom on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm. Reach out to Mary Gay McKinney for the Zoom link. We pray for 30 minutes and we welcome YOU!
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Men's Early Bird Fellowship Class
The Men's Early Bird Fellowship class meets each Thursday 7:00am at Colonial Cafe on east Main Street (Rt 64) in St. Charles. They are are studying "Fear of the Other" by William Willimon. Please plan to join them if you wish. Contact Jim McConnell at mcjamesc@aol.com with any questions.
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Plans are forming for this summer's Men's Weekly Golf Outings. If you are interested please contact John Kemble at johnkemblesr@gmail.com.
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POTTAWATOMIE HABITAT NEEDS OUR SUPPORT
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To all Pottawatomie Habitat Partnership member churches,
Covid-19 has severely restricted the Partnership's ability to raise funds to meet our commitment of $35,000.00 to pay for our portion of the construction costs for the house currently under construction at 9 S. Spuhler, Batavia, IL. Currently, the Partnership is about $19,000.00 short in meeting our commitment.
To help meet our commitment, an internet fund raising page has been set up by Chicagoland Habitat to allow individuals and groups to contribute to our fund raising need.
Please let your church members know about this fund raising page to help the Partnership meet our fund raising shortfall.
Thank you for helping the Partnership meet its commitment.
Gary Dittmer, PHP Chairman
Robert Bendeich, PHP Secretary
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With the help of so many folks at UMCG, my mom received over 100 cards for her 100th birthday on January 18th. She had a great day & it was filled with surprises. Even the mayor of Geneva showed up with a certificate declaring January 18, 2022 Beulah Drees Day. It was a fun day. A BIG thank you to all of the church members who helped make her birthday special.
Delores Drees
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NEWS FROM THE UMC COMMUNITY
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The NIC weekly eNews is here.
The NIC December/January Reporter is available here.
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SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION FOR MESSENGER AND CALENDARS
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Submit information each week by Wednesday at 12pm for inclusion in Bulletin Announcements or the Weekly Messenger. Please use the submission form. This form can also be found on the sign-ups page on our website. You may also send them to communications@genevaumc.org. Information sent to this email goes to Carolyn, Debbie, and Lorie.
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Watch Online Worship Services
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211 Hamilton Street
Geneva, IL 60134
Phone: (630) 232-7120
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