Into the Wonder by Pastor Mark Wilkins

Outside my window the sky is the color of slate, and from it Mother Nature is throwing

a strange concoction of snow and rain. The trees, which just two weeks ago were

ablaze in spectacular colors now stand as naked silhouettes while their leaves, which

somehow didn’t get picked up out of my backyard, blow past my window. It seems

like winter is arriving early in Northwest Indiana.

I don’t know why I'm shocked by this. As a certified, born and bred “Region Rat” I

have slogged through most of my 58 winters here in Northwest Indiana, yet each year

at this time, when winter weather arrives like some unwelcome Aunt from New Jersey,

I am taken by surprise. Something about this time of year makes us want to simply

lower our heads, grumble menacingly, and prepare to push through ‘till spring.

It is both ironic, and I think, significant, that both Thanksgiving and Christmas come

just at this point of the year. Maybe the somewhat dreary stage setting for these holi-

days only make their real point shine more vividly.

Thanksgiving is a time when God seeks to open our eyes to the beauty, the magic

and the blessing of the lives we are privileged to share. Thanksgiving seeks to rip off

the blinders we put on and see His wondrous grace around every corner and through

every door. Perhaps that this happens when the natural beauty of the world seems to

be fading only makes that challenge, and that opportunity, more real.

And then comes Christmas. Celebrated at the darkest time of the year it is the most

dramatic setting to celebrate the Light born to us. Celebrated as the cold creeps into

our region and into our bones, it is the perfect time to warm ourselves in the message

of a God who hasn’t given up, but comes seeking us today as He did 2000 years ago.

Seen through the lens of this irrational, extravagant God, (even and especially as the

world seems dull and dreary) suddenly, the world looks a bit more beautiful and

even…wondrous. Suddenly, that sense of wonder in the world is reborn, even as we

trudge through the slush and cold of our surroundings. Suddenly, things like blessing

and joy and love seem real in a way that perhaps they couldn’t if they arrived at a

more “comfortable” and obvious time.

As I stare out the window at the falling slush, Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and

hard on its heels the season of Christmas. Maybe this weather is OK. Maybe it’s appro-

priate. More than that, maybe it, and the whole world is wondrous!

May the blessing and grace of God make the time before us into a wondrous season

for you. My love and His enfold you.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, 12/08 Breakfast with Santa

Sunday, 12/09 Adopt-A-Family gifts due!

Saturday, 12/15 Cookie Walk

Sunday, 12/16 Sunday School Happy

Birthday Jesus Party

Longest Night Gathering

Monday, 12/24

CHRISTMAS EVE

CANDLELIGHT SERVICES

5 PM FAMILY SERVICE

9 PM CONTEMPORARY

SERVICE

11 PM TRADITIONAL

SERVICE

Tuesday 12/25 CHRISTMAS DAY

Sunday, 12/30 10 AM

ONE WORSHIP SERVICE

Monday, 12/31

NEW YEAR’S EVE

YOUTH GROUP LOCK-IN

Tuesday 01/03 KIDS’ MISSION WORK DAY

Church Offices Closed

12/24, 12/25, 12/31, 01/01

what’s going on… Baptism

We celebrated the baptism of Clayton Thomas Armstrong. Clayton is

the son of Jason and Colleen Armstrong.

New Members We welcomed the following new members into the church family:

Andy & Kate Govert, Jim & Cindy Horgash, Jerry Deyot, and Annette &

Mike Warmelink

Sunday,

December 30, 2018

Please note that we will

have one 10am Sunday morning wor-

ship service on December 30.

About Our Church ● Phone 219.663.1515 ● the Beacon is a monthly publication of FUMC ● Office Hours 8:30 am—4:30 pm, Monday—Friday

● Sunday Worship 8 am and 11 am Traditional Service, 9:30 am Contemporary Service, 9:30 am Sunday School ● Staff Senior

Pastor Mark Wilkins Mark@FUMCCP.org ● Director of Youth and Adult Ministries Danno Lambert Danno@FUMCCP.org ● Church Business Administra-

tor Jayne Gibbs Jayne@FUMCCP.org ● Older Adults Coordinator, Carla Smolek Carla@FUMCCP.org ● Christian Education Coordinator Kimi Smith

KimSmith@FUMCCP.org ● Newcomer Ministry Coordinator Bonnie Meyer Bonnie@FUMCCP.org ● Music Director/Worship Coordinator Cheryl Lucas

Cheryl@FUMCCP.org● Organist Sandra Hobbs ●Praise Team Director Karen Piercy karen.s.piercy@gmail.com ● Treasurer Bob Wilson ● Custodian Julie

A. Schulz ● Custodian Dan Mohammed ● Nursery Supervisor Beth Steinstra ● Nursery Attendant Sue Dykstra ● Preschool Administrator Kim Starcevich ●

Preschool Teacher Michelle Lentini ● Preschool Director Karen Artim ● Preschool Aide Brooke Figurski ● Boy Scouts Sharon

Springsteen ● Beacon Articles If you have comments or articles for the Beacon, please email them to Sarah@FUMCCP.org or

you may turn them in to the office. ● Website www.FUMCCP.org ● Facebook www.facebook.com/CP.FirstMethodist

Monthly Church Statistics

Through November 25, 2018 Monthly Year to Date

Budget Needs $70,682.28 $541,897.48

Receipts $65,110.00 $522,002.47

Ahead/Behind Budget -19,895.01

Average Worship

Attendance

412

Please Join Us

The Longest Night Gathering is a

way of recognizing that in the

middle of what seems to be a

happy celebrat ion for many,

some of us are experiencing diffi-

cu l t and complex emot ions .

Some of us anguish over lost or

broken relationships, or the pro-

spect of spending the holidays

without a special loved one. Others of us are wearied by l ingering poor health or isolation, over-

whelmed by caregiver responsibil it ies, or are struggling with unemployment and lack of financial re-

sources. Whatever the cause of your struggle, we invite you to gather with us. The gathering is casu-

al and open all ages and all who might seek some comfort. I f you’ve joined us in the past, please

feel free to join us again or bring someone who might need a litt le relief.

You are invited to come to the gathering, be exactly where you are and feel exactly what you feel. It

is our intention to create a space where, in the midst of your struggle, you may know that you are not

alone. Longest Night Gathering | Sunday, December 16, 2018

Begin gathering at 6 pm | Supper served at 6/30 pm

Thank you goes out to all who helped decorate the

church for Hanging of the Greens. Certainly couldn't

do it without you. Also to Kelly Lambert, Cathy

Lloyd, and our Youth Group for creating our beautiful

sanctuary tree! Pene Castor

December 2018

MONTHLY MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Altar Guild Pene Castor

Pene Castor 06/0

Greeters 12/02 / /

12/09 / /

12/16 / /

12/23 / /

12/30

Ushers

Brenda Mowry, Rick Lloyd, John Frisinger

8:00 am Various

9:30 am Rick Lloyd, Jason Cotton, John Cotton, Jeff

Polacek. John Freyek

11:00 am John Frisinger, Nancy Herlitz, Bruce Sprague,

Jeremy

Visual Team Kathie LeRoy

Moments for Missions Bonnie Meyer

12/09 Sister Peg Spindler, Sojourner Truth House

Sound System Cheryl Lucas

12/02 John C/ Brian W/ Jim L

12/09 Tim F/ Dave B/ Jim L

12/16 John C/ Dave B/ Cheryl L

12/23 Maura K/ Dave B/ Jim L

12/30 John C / Brian W / Jim L

Hospitality Hour Bonnie Meyer

12/02 Nicki Giordano

12/09 Arliss, Marilyn, Janelle, Susie

12/16 Jan Anthony

12/23

12/30 Jim, Carmen, Liz, and Emily Langston

We’d love for you to join us in any of our ministries. The con-

tacts for each team are listed below the team name in italics.

Here are some other groups (with contacts) that you might be

interested in joining:

Bakers — Bonnie Meyer Bells & Choir — Cheryl Lucas

Praise Team — Karen Piercy Sunday School— Kimi Smith

UMW UPDATE

Love Circle / December 5 / Wednesday / 4

pm / Christmas Party in the Fellowship Hall

Susannah Wesley Circle / December 6 /

Thursday / in the Parlor

Faith & Hope Circle / December 19 /

Wednesday / Fellowship Hall

Glory Circle / December 18 / Tuesday /

Christmas Party

No Board Meeting in December or January

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

You are welcome at any meeting!

Hat & Mitten Tree

Glory Circle will again be

sponsoring a hat, glove, and

mitten tree in Memorial Hall

during the Christmas sea-

son. Items collected will go

to the students in the Buddy

Bag program. Please help

decorate our tree with winter

wear and help the children

stay warm. Thanks

Sunday School

PreSchool

3-5 year olds meet during the 9:30 am service in the lower level preschool wing. Sun-

day School check-in is at the bottom of the stairs.

Kindergarten - 5th grade

Kindergarten through 5th grade meets during the 9:30 am service. Sunday School

check-in is at the bottom of the stairs.

Junior High Sunday School

Junior High Sunday School meets during the 9:30 service. Sunday School check-in is at the bottom of the

stairs.

Explorer’s Adult Sunday School

Explorer’s meet in the Parlor at 9:30.

Friendship Sunday School

An inclusive class for adults of all intellectual abilities. They meet on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 11:00 in

the Library.

Mission Project Days

Join us each month for some fun family time or a chance to serve others as a family!

December 16th @ 9:30AM - Happy Birthday Jesus Party

January 20th @ 2PM - Tie Blankets for Linus Project

February 17th @ 2 PM - Bowling at Stardust II

Thank you to all who joined us for cookie

decorating for police and firefighters in No-

vember. We had a great time and the re-

cipients were delighted at their sweet gift!

2 - Adopt-A-Family Shopping & Wrapping @1pm

5 - Young Adults Adopt-A-Family Shopping & wrapping

6 - AMPED YG @6pm

9 - Pulse Society @3pm(fellowship hall)

12 - Young Adults @7:30pm

13 - AMPED YG @6pm

16 - Pulse Society @3pm

19 - Young Adults Christmas Party @7:30pm

20 - AMPED Christmas party @6pm

23 - NO PULSE SOCIETY

26 - NO YOUNG ADULTS

27 - NO AMPED YG

31 / 1 - New Year's Lock-IN

Kids’ Mission Work Day

Thursday, January 3 will be the next Kids' Mission Work Day from 10:30 to

Noon in Fellowship Hall. Lunch will be served. Kids of all ages are wel-

come; please accompany your young children. Adult help is needed to

set up, package, cook and clean up. Contact Bonnie if you can help.

Items needed are: Men's' socks (new or like new), deodorant, large bottles of shampoo from Dollar Tree, men's'

gloves. Please bring items to church ahead of time if at all possible.

Care kits will be going to NWI Veterans' Village and other area shelters. Thank you!

Thanks to donations, we had the joy of bringing Thanksgiving to 100 families in the area!

Note from Danno

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!!!!! My eight year old self is bursting with joy

and excitement. Christmas as a kid was filled with wonder and delight. The parties, the

presents, the food, the fun, my cousins, sleepovers, and endless good times were al-

ways more than I could take in. I loved every part of it and not much has changed. A

big part of my heart is that eternal kid bursting with Christmas Joy and I am so thankful.

As I have grown, I have come to see and feel all things Christmas on a whole different

level. Don’t get me wrong, I still love all the tradition of the holiday; the parties, the

food, the family, etc. but now I see it as a personal time that I can use to celebrate my

walk with Christ. We always celebrate his birth at Christmas, but I celebrate Him, His

work, His walk, His life, and above all, His love. December has become a time for me to draw close to Christ’s sacri-

fice and get myself aligned with Him so that I can set my sights on serving Him and His people in the year

ahead. So this holiday season, join me as I look around all the Christmas bells and whistles and past all the parties

and good times and give some time to the reflection on the life and legacy of our Savior. Let’s not just celebrate His

birth, but His life and His love too. Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas luncheon December 3rd,18 at noon Fellowship Hall. Bring your

dessert or covered dish to share. Table settings will be provided. Our en-

tertainment shall be Ms. Lentini's preschoolers. Bringing Christmas love and

joy thru songs. There will be no New Beginning's luncheon in January. We

will resume on February 11th,19 at noon.

As a group we our sponsoring our Angel Tree in the Fellowship Hall. Work-

ing with Center Township trustees office. There will be a list of coats and

winter boots needed. Sign-up sheet on New Beginning's bulletin board. All

due by December 16th. Coats and boots will be in coat closet marked.

Don't forget there is a bus trip to Mackinac Island and Frankenmuth MI. June 3rd-6th,19.Sign up sheet on bulletin

board.

Crafty Grannies "Holly Daze Bazaar was a huge success. Thank you all for coming out. Our annu-

al Cookie Walk is December 15th from 9 am—noon in Fellowship Hall.

Fit and Active class is blooming at the edges. Ms. Tanya has a low impact program. They meet

M-W-F in the Fellowship hall. Time 10:30 am—11:15 am. Great way to fight the winter blues.

Breakfast Club 3rd Monday of the month at Schoops Restaurant back room. Come join us for

great conversation.

Christian Caregivers 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month at Pappas Restaurant 8 a.m. Great Christian Fellowship.

Blood Pressure and Sugar Testing Parish nurses will check your vitals every 2nd Sunday of the month in the Fellowship

hall. They will give you tips on how to improve your numbers. 8:30 am—11 am.

God's Blessing and Happy Holidays, Carla Smolek. Director of Older Adults

Welcome to the newest members of the church family!

If you haven’t already, please take a moment to way hello and introduce yourself!

Annette & Mike Warmelink Jerry Deyot

Roatan 2019 Mission Trip by Bonnie Meyers

January 26th thru February 9th are the dates of the 2019 Mission Trip to Roatan, Honduras. Dur-

ing these two weeks nine individuals will be working with the people of the island to feed the

hungry at the land fill and the orphanage in Gravel Bay. We will be installing bathrooms in the

new church in West End and landscaping around the building. We will host a garage sale and

Bible School in the new building. Proceeds from the garage sale will be used to continue the

interior work in the new church. We will host a hog roast for the community to help introduce

them to the new church.

We will be busy, a very good kind of busy. And we welcome you to partner with us in this work.

Dinner and a Show on November 30th will benefit our work on the island. We have some items

on sale at the Welcome Center that also benefit the work on Roatan. For more information on

how you can help please contact Bonnie, 219-805-3717.

West End Church Update

As we prepare for our next mission trip to the island of Roatan we are all very excited to see a

building where in the past we have only seen emptiness. From our first trip in 2011 to today, our

congregation has envisioned the possibilities to further God’s Kingdom on this tiny island. This

new church holds multiple possibilities to do just that. We have begun to not only explore those possibilities but to

Andy & Kate Govert Jim & Cindy Horgash

Project Update

The Buddy Bag Project continues to be a success. Since the beginning of the

school year we have been serving 209 students each week. That’s 124 students at

MacArthur and 85 at Timothy Ball. Each week we provide breakfast, lunch and

dinner for two days to these 209 students. That comes to 13,794 meals in just the

first 11 weeks of school.

The First Christian Reformed, Cross Point and Hillside Churches have continued to

aid in packing and delivering. Just recently we received a donation of $1,185.00

from First Christian Reformed Church.

Please contact Bonnie if you are interested in becoming more involved.

Order Altar Flowers

The fresh flowers placed on our altars each Sunday beautify

the sacred spaces of our church to honor God and are a gift

to those who attend our services. Afterward, arrangements

can be picked up after 12 pm on Sunday or can be donated

to be given to members & friends who are hospitalized, sick,

or homebound.

The altar flowers can be dedicated to commemorate a spe-

cial event, such as birthday or anniversary, or to remember a

loved one. The cost of each arrangement is $20.00 per dedi-

cation. Please note that an additional $0.50 is added to pay

online. You may also place this order in person by bringing in the form below or by filling out the form at the

church office and paying via cash or check at that time. Online orders may be placed at

https://fumccp.org/order-flowers/ payment may be made online or in the office. Thank you so much for your

dedication to the church and your church family.

Order altar flowers in memory or in honor of a loved one to be seen by all on the altar on the Sunday of your choice. Flowers cost $20 per Sunday

for a standard arrangement. You can pay via check or cash at the office or online via PayPal (an additional $0.50 charge applies.) If you have

any questions, please contact the church office at 219-663-1515.

Information

Name

Email Address

Telephone □Mobile □Landline

Requested Sunday:

Bulletin Information

□ In loving memory of □In honor of □In celebration of □Other

Name or Event

Given by

What to do with flowers

□ I will pick my flowers up after the last service on Sunday

□ Please give my flowers to someone who is sick or homebound

For Office Use Only

□Cash □Check □Online Date Initials

Flowers Ordered Date Initials

Altar Flowers Request Form

December 1, 2018

Dear Members and Friends:

The Staff Parish Relations Committee is seeking your assistance as we collect contributions for a Christmas

gift for our Church Staff. All donations will be distributed to the staff as a way of thanking them for their

dedication and hard work during the past year.

If you would like, you can contribute to the Church Staff Christmas Gift by…

Placing your donation in the weekly collection during one of the three services. Simply put your contri-

bution in one of the pew envelopes and mark the envelope Christmas Gift.

Mailing your donation to the church directly: FUMC of Crown Point | 352 S Main St. | Crown Point, IN

46307. Please mark your envelope Staff Christmas Gift.

The deadline for contributions is Sunday, December 16th.

The Staff-Parish Relations Committee would like to thank you in advance for your continued support of First

United Methodist Church of Crown Point and the staff.

Yours Truly,

Edward Warren,

Chair, Staff-Parish Relations Committee

352 S Main Street • Crown Point IN 46307 • t. 219.663.1515 • f. 219.662.2714 • www.FUMCCP.org

352 S Main St, Crown Point IN 46307

Phone 219-663-1515

Fax 219-662-2714

Email: Admin@FUMCCP.org

www.FUMCCP.org

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED