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FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

601 5TH ST NE

DEVILS LAKE ND

701-662-2873 firstumcdlnd@gondtc.com

loribroschat@gmail.com

www.firstunitedmethodistdevilslake.org

December 2018

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Church deco-

rating 2:00 pm

2 Communion

Bible Discussion

Sounds of Christ-

mas 2:00 pm

3

4 5 Confirmation

3:45 CS 5:00

UMW 7:00 pm

6

Men’s prayer

breakfast 8:00

7 8

AA 7:00 pm

9 Bible Discussion

10

11 12 CS 5:00

Circle 6 pm at

Jonielle’s

13

Men’s prayer

breakfast 8:00

14 15 Youth group

5:00 pm

AA 7:00 pm

16 Kids sing

Bible Discussion

17 Miriam Circle

2:00 pm at McD’s

Caroling at care

centers 2:30 pm

18 19Confirmation

3:45 CS 5:00

Admin. Council

7:00 pm

20 Men’s prayer

breakfast 8:00

Ladies Lunch

11:30 am

21

Blue Christmas

Service 7:00 pm

22

AA 7:00 pm

23

Prayer Gather-

ing after coffee

24

Christmas Eve

Service 5:00 pm

25

Merry Christ-

mas!

26

No Church

School

27

Men’s prayer

breakfast 8:00

28 29

AA 7:00 pm

30

Bible Discussion

Youth Gp. 5 pm

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NEW CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

MONDAY 1:00-4:00

TUESDAY, AND WEDNESDAY 9:00-12:00

AND SOME WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS

PASTOR LORI IS OFF ON THURSDAY

IF YOU NEED TO REACH PASTOR LORI PLEASE CALL 381-0755

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DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

December 3 Arley Goulding

December 4 Kim Sievert

December 7 Perry Lundon

December 13 Dorothy Hodous

December 16 Paul Atherton

December 21 Cami Hodgins

December 22 Steve Olson

December 23 Vangie Olson

December 25 Dennis Anderson

December 26 Ruth Elsberry

John Nash

Joyce Anderson

William Oehlke

December 28 Lynn Hodgins

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

December 13 Scott & Kim Sievert

December 21 Ralph & Elaine Rath

December 22 Perry & Nancy Lundon

December 26 Paul & Laurel Goulding PLEASE HELP US KEEP OUR BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY LISTS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE. IF ANY OF THESE DATES ARE IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE. THANK YOU!

FUMC Finance Report Operating Fund for October

Income $7,287.00

Expenses $10,022.58 (as of 11/19/18)

Difference ($2,735.58)

*Amount needed per month to meet our 2018 budget is $10,446.92 Remember to send in your offering when you’re not in church. Consider the option of automatic withdrawals from your bank. Thank you for your giving!

PRAYER CONCERNS Please be in prayer for: JoEtta Wang, Sylvia Loehr, Mark Restemay-er, Mary Jo Hannesson, Chris Gulsvig’s sister Ruth and husband Jim, Naomi Modrow, Ruth Elsberry, Michelle Sharbono, Wendy Gulseth, those battling cancer (Denice, Dennis, Keith, Riley, Doug). Please pray for the finances of our church and for those who are unemployed or underemployed. Pray for the members of the military as well as fire, police, and emergency medical services. Pray for our children, our schools and all who work with them. Pray for areas of natural disaster.

Do you have a family

member serving in

the military? We

would be honored to

list their names and

stations in the news-

letter so that they

may be prayed for by

those in the church.

Please contact the

office at 662-2873 to

provide this infor-

mation. Thanks!

The United Methodist Women invite you to an Epiphany Tea on Sunday, January 6th from 2 to 4 pm. There will be a short program and free will offering for the Hope Center. This is a perfect chance to invite a friend who may not attend church.

PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES

Our new Prayer Cards are available. If you haven’t picked one up, ask the ushers or call the church office and one will be mailed to you. Suggested ways to use the prayer card is to pray before getting out of bed in the morning and before going to sleep at night, praying with your family at meals, praying before you come into the church.

On Mondays at 2:00 pm you are welcome to join a time of prayer walking in the sanctuary; however, you don’t have to walk and you don’t have to pray aloud.

Also, on the 4th Sunday of the month a prayer group will meet following coffee fellowship. Everyone is welcome.

If you have a story of answered prayer you would like to share with others, please call the church office or send an email to loribroschat@gmail.com to tell your story. These inspiring stories will appear in future newsletters.

This year our confirmation

students will be choosing a

mentor from the church to

help them prepare for their

decision to become members

of this congregation. Men-

tors will meet with students at

least once a month, more if

they choose. If you can say

yes when asked by a student

to be a mentor, please don’t

hesitate to do so!

MISSIONS UPDATE

Thanks to all of you who contributed to our annual

Shoebox Christmas project. We reached our goal of

packing 50 boxes for the Spirit Lake children!

In January we will resume the ONE THING project.

Each month we will designate a recipient for our dona-

tions. Do you have any suggestions to share?

If the Christmas holidays are lonely or difficult for you for

whatever reason, we invite you to attend a Blue Christ-

mas Service on Friday, December 21 at 7:00 pm.

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FUMC Administrative Council Meeting Minutes November 28, 2018

Members present: Pastor Lori Broschat, Perry and Nancy Lundon, Chuck and Jonielle Soderstrom, Marcia Ulrich, David

Reeves, Dennis Anderson, Bev Oehlke, Rodney Brown

Call to Order: Chairperson Chuck Soderstrom called the meeting to order, Pastor Lori shared scripture and a devotion.

Approval of Minutes: Chuck called for approval of the October minutes; motion was made by Marcia, seconded by

Dennis, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Perry reviewed the October financial report, as of October 31 showing a $34,818.97 balance in

the checking account. The expenses for Oct. were $ 10,022.58 and the income was $10,143.81, for an overall differ-

ence of +$121.23 for the month. He mentioned that the approximate $2000 insurance premium will be coming due in

early 2019. Perry moved, seconded by Rodney to approve his report, motion carried.

Finance Committee Report: – Leo wasn’t present but did send this report: committee didn’t meet in November, but

the church budget has been completed and approved, and letters were sent to all members/contributors with the third

quarter giving statements.

Board of Trustees Report: Dennis reported trustees have finished most of the little repairs around the church, except

for the exterior light on the west side, they need to get a higher ladder to reach that one. He will put a shovel out by

the west door and north door of the narthex so people can clear snow if needed.

The council wanted to thank Travis Triepke and Steve Heilman for their work in changing bulbs and ballasts in the sanc-

tuary ceiling.

Jonielle reported that Ray Russell looked at the organ and he feels it’s not repairable, so a decision will need to be

made about what to do with it.

Staff Parish Relations Report: Haven’t met. The parsonage inspection needs to be completed with one SPRC member

and one Trustee member by the end of the year.

Endowment Report: No report

Missions Report: Marcia reported they are will be doing another fish fry on January 20, 2019. They collected 50

Christmas shoeboxes for Spirit Lake Ministry.

UMW Report: Joyce stated their next meeting is December 5th, women should bring their gifts for the Good Samaritan

Center residents.

Education Committee Report: Jonielle reported they will once again do their annual program in April rather than De-

cember but the kids will be singing Christmas songs in church on December 16. Pastor Lori stated confirmation has

begun.

Youth Group Report: Nancy reported they are meeting every other Sunday at 5 pm and have 10 youth when everyone

is there. They had 15 people, including parents participating in the Feed My Starving Children event on November 17 in

Maddock and the youth had a good time. On December 15 at 5 pm., they will be watching a movie and having pizza at

the church.

Worship Report: Nancy stated the new usher and scripture readers list have been done for the first six months of

2019. If anyone wants to begin doing either of those tasks, let Nancy know.

Pastor’s Report: Lori stated anyone who is interested can go caroling at the nursing homes on Monday, December 17

at 2:30 pm right after prayer time that day at the church. Three girls will be getting their bibles presented in worship

service this month.

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DECEMBER SERVING GROUP

Chairpersons:

Arlene Kirk 662-6118

David & Sandy Reeves 662-4246

Helpers:

Dennis & Joyce Anderson 662-2160

Chad & Megan Estenson 398-3184

Jay & Rose Janssen 662-4492

Ray & Mary Russell 544-0281

SCRIPTURE READERS

December 2 Evan Heustis

December 9 Jocelyn Soderstrom

December 16 Quincy Stotts

December 23 Chuck Soderstrom

December 30 Arlene Kirk

USHERS

December 2 Rick & Becky Durbin

December 9 Chuck & Jonielle Soderstom

December 16 Vance & Hope Jury

December 23 Jeff & Melissa Stotts

December 24 Steve & Kelli Heilman

December 30 Jay & Vangie Olson

OFFERING COUNTERS

Lynn Hodgins; Matthew or Cami Hodgins

KDLR Radio Broadcast Ministry

Our Sunday morning radio broadcast costs us $60 per week. In the past we had Sundays sponsored as a way of honoring someone special. If you would like to sponsor a Sunday in honor or memory of someone, please send your donation to the church office and let us know what Sunday you wish to sponsor. A sign-up sheet is also available in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings.

Please listen to our weekly morning devotions at 6:10 am and our Sunday morning sermon broadcast at 9:05 a.m. on KDLR 1240 AM or 99.7 FM.

If you’d like to sponsor a Sunday, contact the church office or use the form in the sanctuary.

December 2 by Lynn & Gwen Hodgins in memory of Mary Hodgins

December 9 by an anonymous giver

December 16 by an anonymous giver

December 23 by Ray & Mary Russell in memory of our veterans

December 24 by Tony & Lara Prozinski family in memory of John & Pat Olsen

December 30

NOVEMBER WEEKLY ATTENDANCE

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Average

2018 64 50 56 51 55

2017 61 84 70 55 67

Your regular attendance is important, as is your invitation for others to join you.

PARENTS and GRANDPARENTS! REMEMBER THE KIDS SING 3RD SUN-

DAYS

Old Business: Lori would still like to update the Building use policy.

Perry will look into a foundation grant that might be available for a new PowerPoint projector, which could run be-

tween $4000-5000, or look into getting big TV screens instead as some churches have done.

New Business:

The Nomination committee will be meeting in December to fill committees for 2019; current committee chairpersons

need to send a year-end report to Lori by December 12 so she can make up the annual report. Chairman Chuck has

asked for a meeting of the membership and congregation on December 19 at 7:00 pm to go over

these reports.

Meeting was adjourned. Nancy read the breakthrough scripture and prayer to end the meeting.

The next meeting is Wednesday, December 19th at 7:00 pm.

Respectively submitted: Nancy Lundon, Ad Council Secretary

Snow Shoveling Schedule from December 2 to December 29:

Dec. 2 to 8: Leo Sayler Dec. 9 to 15: Jeff Stotts family

Dec. 16 to 22: Dec. 23—29:

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Seven Theological Points to Remember at Christmas Time

1. Jesus’ arrival in flesh was a work of the entire Trinity—the Father, the

Spirit, and of course, Jesus’ own will. Jesus was sent by the Father,

was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and came on his own accord.

2. Jesus was God, existed eternally, and had fellowship with the Father

before he was born in human form. Rather than being the first act of

God’s creation, he coexisted with the Father and Spirit from all eter-

nity.

3. Jesus was a Jew and his vocation was to fulfill Israel’s long expecta-

tion for a just political ruler. Christ is a title meaning Messiah, taken

from the Old Testament, whose coming kingdom would overthrow

Israel’s enemies.

4. Jesus emptied himself of his divine privileges in order to fully identify

with the human plight. He even grew in wisdom and experienced

moments of deep anxiety and turmoil. This allows him to serve as

our proper high priest so he could be merciful toward us and our

weaknesses.

5. Jesus’ first coming necessitated a second coming. His first coming

was to make atonement for sin by his life, death and resurrection,

which planted the seeds of his kingdom. At his second coming, he

will do away with sin and death.

6. Jesus was the perfect representation of God’s character of holy love.

Since he shares the same nature with God the Father, he showed us

what God is like. This means that Jesus was sinless and could there-

fore be both the means and end of our salvation.

7. Jesus arrival in human flesh—knowns as the incarnation—was an

affirmation of the goodness of God’s creation. After Jesus’ death,

burial and resurrection, God once again affirmed the goodness of our

material world by possessing a perpetual bodily resurrection.

Reprinted from Seedbed.com

Daily Readings for Week One

Sunday Revelation 3:20

Monday Isaiah 11:1-4

Tuesday Luke 6:20-26

Wednesday Luke 2:8-14

Thursday Isaiah 9:6-7

Friday Psalm 62:5-8

Saturday Psalm 31:13-16

Daily Readings for Week Two

Sunday Isaiah 62:1-2

Monday Mark 1:2-8

Tuesday Matthew 24:42-44

Wednesday Luke 1:26-38

Thursday Luke 1:39-45

Friday Matthew 1:18-25

Saturday Isaiah 40:1-11

Daily Readings for Week Three

Sunday Isaiah 9:2-4

Monday Colossians 1:3-6

Tuesday Psalm 40:1-8

Wednesday Philippians 4:11b-13

Thursday Luke 1:46-55

Friday Matthew 8:23-27

Saturday Luke 21:28

Daily Readings for Week Four

Sunday Luke 1:24-25, 39-45

Monday Luke 2:1-14

Tuesday Luke 2:15-20

Wednesday Luke 2: 25-35

Thursday Luke 2:36-38

Friday Galatians 4:4-7

Saturday John 1:14

DAILY READINGS FOR ADVENT 2018, WHICH BEGINS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2

THE JESUS WHO CAME

The Jesus who came

On that clear, starry night

Is the Jesus who gave

For the world His own life.

The Jesus who came

To the dear virgin bride

Is the Jesus who died

With His arms open wide.

The Jesus who came

When men followed the star

Is the Jesus who showed

How beloved we are.

The Jesus who came

So the world would soon see

Is the Jesus who bled

For the sins of humanity.

So lest we forget

Why that baby was born,

Let’s remember He rose

On that bright Easter morn.

Pastor Lori Broschat

May the anticipation of Advent’s child

prepare you for the blessings yet to come. IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, TAKE

HOME A PAPER ORNAMENT FROM THE SANCTUARY

AND BRING IT BACK WITH A PHOTO OF A

LOVED ONE FOR THE MEMORIAL TREE IN THE

NARTHEX.

CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP SERVICE 5:00 PM

ALSO BROADCAST ON KDLR 1240 AM

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EVENTS TO REMEMBER

Ladies are asked to bring a small gift for a resident of the Good Samaritan

center to the UMW meeting at 7:00 pm on December 5.

The Elks Band Christmas Concert for the Salvation Army will be held on

Sunday, December 9 at 1:00 pm.

The ladies of the church are invited to attend the Evening Circle December

meeting on Wednesday, December 12 at 6:00 pm at the home of Jonielle

Soderstrom. Hor d’oeuvres to share will be welcome and will serve as our

supper. You are asked to bring a signed Christmas card, recipient left blank,

and these will be shared at the meeting. Also, if you would like you may

bring a $10 donation we will collect and give to a needy person associated

with the church.

Everyone is invited to join in Christmas caroling in the nursing care centers

beginning at 2:30 pm on Monday, December 17. We can carpool and have a

refreshment following our caroling.

During the December Ad Council meeting, our annual church conference will

be conducted to vote on our lay leadership/committee members. Committee

chairpersons are asked to have their annual report ready to share. Reports

and budget will be compiled into an annual report.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR’S EVE?

SEVERAL YEARS AGO FOLKS FROM THE CHURCH WOULD GATHER FOR FAMILY GAME

NIGHTS. THIS YEAR ON NEW YEAR’S EVE WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING BACK THAT

ACTIVITY. IF YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME HOLIDAY RE-

FRESHMENTS AND PLAY BOARD GAMES, ASSEMBLE JIGSAW PUZZLES, MAYBE

EVEN WATCH A MOVIE TOGETHER AT THE CHURCH ON NEW YEAR’S EVE, PLEASE LET

PASTOR LORI KNOW BY PHONE OR EMAIL. SPENDING THIS TIME TOGETHER AS

FAMILIES IN OUR CHURCH FAMILY IS A REWARDING AND FUN WAY TO GET TO

KNOW ONE ANOTHER BETTER AS WE START THE NEW YEAR!

Many thanks to

those who partici-

pated in or attend-

ed the Sounds of

Christmas concert

on December 2nd.

Looking forward to

next year!

Last year we placed a paper Christmas tree on a bulletin board with the words: “This

Year, I’m Asking God For…..” Paper ornaments were available to write a request, may-

be for God to help you with something, or to take something from you such as a bad

trait or a worry. This year the tree will be moved to the narthex so that as we leave wor-

ship we can add to the requests on the tree. These are meant to be anonymous of course,

so please consider adding your ornament to this special Christmas tree.