This Week’s Opportunities at St. James
Today:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Second Sunday of Advent
8:00 a.m. - REVERENCE worship
8:30 a.m. - Fellowship Coffee
9:00 a.m. - SPIRIT worship
9:30 a.m. - BIG Time - upstairs
10:00 a.m. - Small Groups/Fellowship/Adult Sunday School
10:00-10:30 a.m. - High School/Middle School
10:10-10:30 a.m. - Pre-School kids meet upstairs
11:00 a.m. - SACRED worship
2:00-5:00 p.m. - HCI Pre-Consultation Workshop
6:00 p.m. Christian Believer
6:00 p.m. - Youth Group @ Wesley UMC
6:30 p.m. - Christian Believer
10:00 a.m. - Bible Study
10:00 a.m. - Staff Meeting
Wednesday:
3:30-5:00 p.m. - Youth Group
5:45 p.m. - Bell Practice
6:30-8:00 p.m. - Confirmation at St James
7:00-8:30 p.m. - Praise Team Practice
7:30 p.m. - Grace Gillispie at Jenny Williams
Thursday:
9:30 a.m. - Glory Group
Friday:
Saturday:
Next Sunday:
1:00 p.m. - Joy Circle at Maple Heights (Joyce Bennett,
hostess)
No Scheduled Activities
Third Sunday of Advent
8:00 a.m. - REVERENCE worship
8:30 a.m. - Fellowship Coffee
9:00 a.m. - SPIRIT worship
9:30 a.m. - BIG Time - upstairs
10:00 a.m. - Trustees
10:00 a.m. - Small Groups/Fellowship/Adult Sunday School
10:00-10:30 a.m. - High School/Middle School
10:10-10:30 a.m. - Pre-School kids meet upstairs
10:15 a.m. - BIG Time Christmas Program
11:00 a.m. - SACRED worship
6:00 p.m. - Youth Group @ Wesley UMC
“5-10-Connect”
2032 S. Cypress St.
e-mail: scsaintjames@aol.com
phone: (712) 276-2667
Pastor: Ryan Christenson
pastor’s e-mail: ryanc.umc@hotmail.com
pastor’s phone: (712)-898-3955
A Life-Giving Christmas
December 9, 2012
Inspiring worship is a personal and corporate encounter with the living
God. Both personal and corporate worship must be infused with the
presence of God resulting in times of joyous exultation and times of quiet
reverence. Inspiring worship is not driven by a particular style or ministry
focus group—but rather the shared experience of God’s awesome presence.
reverence (8:00)
Hymns
“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” UMH 196
“What Child is This”
UMH 219
Luke 1:68-79 (responsively)
UMH 208
Scripture Luke 3:1-6
New Testament, p. 72-73
Prayer
Holy Communion “Word & Table II”
UMH 13
Hymn
“Angels from the Realms of Glory” UMH 220
sacred (11:00)
Gathering
Prelude
Joyce Kaiser, Organist
3G Reel
*Call to Worship
L: The day of God is coming; lift up your voices.
Cry out with the strength God provides.
P: We await God’s coming day with anticipation.
We seek the peace and patience God provides.
L: Comfort, comfort my people, says our God.
Speak tenderly to my suffering people.
P: We will prepare the way for One who is coming.
We look forward to baptism in the Spirit.
L: God will feed us like a shepherd.
God will gather us in gentle, caring arms.
P: God’s hand is upon us in blessing;
We are welcomed by God’s steadfast love.
*“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”
*“What Child is This”
UMH 196
UMH 219
*Opening Prayer and Praise
“Angels from the Realms of Glory”
spirit (9:00)
Gathering
*“Angels We Have Heard on High”
*“Glory to God Forever”
Witnessing to our Faith and Offering to God
Offering
(please sign the Attendance Pads)
“xxxxx”
Children leave for BIG Time
Proclamation and Response to the Word
Scripture Matthew 3:11-12
CEB
Video
Sermon “Peace…Strength to Hold On”
Pastor Ryan Christenson
*Song
“Shout for Joy”
Going Into the World
*Blessing
UMH 220
Confession, Pardon, and Assurance
Witness and Affirmation of Faith
*Luke 1:68-79 (responsively)
*“Glory Be to the Father”
UMH 208
UMH 70
Time of Prayer
Offering and Doxology
Offertory
(please sign the Attendance Pads)
*“Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow” UMH 95
Scripture Matthew 3:11-12
Sermon “Peace…Strength to Hold On”
CEB
Pastor Ryan Christenson
Response to the Word
Reception of Membership
*Song
“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” UMH 224
Sending Forth
*Benediction
*Hymn Response
*Postlude
“Shalom”
UMH 666
Today’s Worship Participants:
*** reverence (8:00 a.m.)
Greeter – Edy Rodberg
*** spirit (9:00 a.m.)
sacred (11:00 a.m.)
Ushers – Tom Eaton
Reuben Bolles
Lowell Anderson
Duane Griep
Roger & Dianne Beck
Greeters –
Amy Eaton
Kathy Bolles
Emily & Ashley Eaton
Howard Swieter
Liturgist –
Justin Hill
Acolytes – Kaitlyn Stoos
Organist – Joyce Kaiser
A/V Assistants –
Will Johnston
Nursery – Freda Gorsett
Shirley McKnight
Connection Point – Vicki Anderson
Worship Feedback – Matthew/Christine Cappetta, Jacob Clark,
Marge Clausen, Marcia Crabb, Jack/Laura Dam
Next Sunday’s Worship Participants:
*** reverence (8:00 a.m.)
Greeter – Edy Rodberg
*** spirit (9:00 a.m.)
sacred (11:00 a.m.)
Ushers – Tom Eaton
Reuben Bolles
Lowell Anderson
Duane Griep
Roger & Dianne Beck
Greeters –
Amy Eaton
Kathy Bolles
Emily & Ashley Eaton
Howard Swieter
Liturgist –
Justin Hill
Acolytes – Kaitlyn Stoos
Organist – Merlyne Smith
A/V Assistants –
Will Johnston
Nursery – Karla Hansen
Annette Mast
Connection Point – Vicki Anderson
Worship Feedback – Kristina Christenson, Ruth Corbin, Duane
Griep, Joe & Mary Lou Haindfield
Welcome to Worship at St. James
Our Nursery
There is a nursery upstairs, staffed with volunteers, to care for our
children during the 9:00 worship service. The "nursery/bride" room
(by the sanctuary) is available for parents who need to step out of
the service with their child.
Sunday Adult Small Group Opportunities
**Adult Bible Study meets in the Library from 10:00-11:00.
**Grab a cookie and juice and meet somebody new during fellowship
time: 8:30-9:00 or 10:00-11:00
High School & Middle School Youth
**meet upstairs 10:00-11:00**
6:00 Sunday evenings at Wesley United Methodist Church
Sunday Morning Activities for our kids!
**PreSchool meets 10:10-10:30am
**Big time kids will meet from 9:30 - 10:30am
Stewardship Minute
Following our patterns of giving in the past,
we have monthly goals for our giving in 2012
December Goal: $25,545
December Giving through last Sunday: $5,100
Year End Goal: $140,000
Giving through last Sunday: $117,974
St James Giving and Yearly Goal
$118k
Any Prayer Concerns
or messages for Pastor
Ryan may be put in the
offering plate, or leave
them on Mary’s desk.
$140k
Church Office Hours
Monday: 8:00 AM – noon
Tuesday: 8:00 AM – noon
Wednesday: 2:00 – 5:00 PM
Thursday: 8:00 AM – noon
Friday: 8:00 AM – noon
Prayers of Praise
 Kaylie
Yates is 10 years old on December 4th 
Prayers for Health, Healing, and Comfort
 Janette Heiner, Marc & Freda Gorsett’s daughter
 Donna Pottorff’s son-in-law
Long-Term Prayers
 Friend of Freda Gorsett-Kelly Wikstrom - battling cancer
 Sue Wilcox, sister-in-law of Sheryl-Sue is receiving treatment
for cancer
 Curt & Marilyn Turner and their families as Curt continues
treatment for lymphoma. Get updates at
caringbridge.org/visit/curtturner
 Jim & Shirley Bartels
 Pam Hanson - bone disease
 Kids impacted by the Food 4 Kids program
Prayer concerns may be added or updated by contacting Pastor
Ryan or Mary at 276-2667 or scsaintjames@aol.com.
Announcements
Remember 5-10-Connect – our model for hospitality: Reach out to
friends and visitors with the love of Christ using our 5-10-Connect
model.
5 minutes—the first five minutes you are here, talk with someone
you don’t know.
10 feet—greet people who come within 10 feet of you.
 Connect—help visitors make one meaningful connection with a
personal introduction.
Check ou the lights - just in time for Christmas! Have you
noticed the new lights showcasing the Last Supper on the west side
of the church? Thank you to the Trustees and to Williams Electric
for your work in helping our church to shine!
Take a Shirt, Go in Service: Grab a St James t-shirt from the
fellowship hall. They’re free with one requirement: that you wear it
as you go in service.
Serving From the Heart
Uncover your God-given gifts and talents!
Sunday Mornings, 10-10:30, starting January 6 (for 6 weeks)
Sign up at the Connection Point.
Children's Christmas Program: Please join us in the sanctuary at
10:15 am next Sunday, December 16th to see our kids act out the
Christmas Story!
Parents: We will be working on costumes and rehearsing with your
children during BigTime, so please make sure they are present!
Christmas Tree with gift ideas for the Council on Sexual Assault
and Domestic Violence is set up in Fellowship Hall with gift idea
tags. Today is the last day to donate to this project. This year’s
tags reflect an updated list of needs ranging in price from one dollar
(a deck of playing cards) to fifty dollars (grocery gift certificate).
Some gift ideas include games, gift wrap supplies for Mom to wrap
her gifts, books, and sheet sets to our old standards of pajamas and
scented lotion and shower gel. (The staff puts scented lotion and gel
on the list because these women would never spend money for a
luxury item like this for themselves. This is the ultimate treat for
these women.)
Leave gift cards in the office with Mary. Place your unwrapped gifts
in the boxes under the tree. Thank you for helping to make
Christmas brighter for a group of women and their children.
Stewardship and Finance Committee is hosting the Sunday
Morning fellowship coffees during December.
Please plan to stay after the 9:00 service or come early for the 11:00
service and share in the fun, have a treat and visit with friends.
Shesler Hall Supplies: We will again be collecting household items
for Shesler Hall from now until December 16th. Shesler Hall is a
Methodist supported residence for women with severe mental and/or
emotional challenges. Shesler Hall is on the north side of Sioux City.
Supplies needed include: toilet tissue, Kleenex, paper towels,
cleaning supplies, dish soap, light bulbs. There will be a box in
Fellowship Hall for your donations.
Thank you for your help in this outreach project.
Christmas Eve Worship:
4:30 p.m. will feature our worship team - contemporary
Christmas songs and favorite hymns
7:00 p.m. will feature traditional hymns and liturgy
11:30 p.m. will feature hymns and Holy Communion
All Christmas Eve services will include a time of candlelight prayer
and song.
Childcare will be available at our 4:30 and 7:00 services.
Food 4 Kids is so excited to announce that they have received a
Matthew 25 grant from the Northwest District of the United Methodist
Church in the amount of $5,073.07. This enables continuing our
distributions and efforts at eliminating hunger at our neighborhood
school. This project has been blessed as contributions continue to
come in; and we are beginning to see grant application results. We
deeply appreciate the confidence the Northwest District gave us for
this program.
Fill out your feedback, win a prize! Don’t miss your chance to win
one of the new St James double-walled drinking glasses. Each time
you are assigned to complete a worship feedback form and turn it in,
you entered a monthly drawing to win! Your feedback is essential,
so we’re hoping a little encouragement will help.
Remember to share your “God Moment”! There’s a box in
Fellowship Hall for you to share your God Moments. If you wish to
remain anonymous simply don’t sign your name, if you don’t mind
sharing your name, please sign. Thanks for sharing!
We’re Collecting…
1) cans & bottles to raise funds for Food 4 Kids (Whittier
Elementary Backpack program). Containers are at the north &
south entrances.
If the church is locked when you’re here to drop off cans, you
can bring them to Delzell’s (2550 S. Cypress), or call Doug &
Kay and they’ll come to pick them up.
2) your unwanted cell phones and ink jet cartridges. A box is
located in Fellowship Hall to collect these items.
3) clean, used pantyhose - there are baskets in the women’s
restrooms. Westlawn Presbyterian Church uses these to make
“cancer pads”.
4) eyeglasses for Tanzania - there’s a box in Fellowship Hall to
collect your used glasses.
5) There is a basket in the hall by the nursery for supplies for
CSADV.
6) There’s also a basket to collect large bath or beach towels for
the Boys & Girls Home.
7) There are bins for items for Whittier Elementary School…HyVee
receipts, Land-O-Lakes milk caps, and Box Tops for Education
labels.
Sermon Notes
December 9, 2012
“I baptize with water those of you who have
changed your hearts and lives. The one who is
coming after me is stronger than I am. I'm not
worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he
uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his
hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into
his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can't be put out."–
Matthew 3:11-12
Today’s word for me:
This week’s focus for transformation:
A LIFE-GIVING CHRISTMAS
How’s your wish list going—3 things you are doing differently
this year?
I CAN’T GET NO SAT-IS-FAC-TION
Peace: freedom from agitation, a sense of satisfaction,
wholeness.
Too often, we seek ________ to bring us peace, but in
seeking
Christ we actually find it.
Many of our ______________ bring us a temporary high,
but ultimately they steal our life away.
Ultimately only _________ can bring us everlasting peace.
“Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”
THE PATH TO PEACE: REPENT AND BELIEVE
John the Baptist: Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.”
Repent means to ______________.
Jesus will sift out the trash to be burned away. We are left
holy, purified, and wanting only God.
Peace in our lives will manifest peace in the world.
(material things, creature comforts, Jesus, change direction)
--Grow Pray Study—
December 9, 2012
Questions to take home, talk with somebody, or study
more deeply.
Application: Each day, consider and share with someone your responses
to these questions:
 If peace were to show up at your door, what would it look like?

How are you keeping Christ as the main character in your life this
week?

How does focusing on Jesus give you peace?

Consider this statement—“We need to work hard as individuals to
try to treat others as we would want to be treated—the gold rule. And
if we all do that, peace is attainable.” How can this statement affect
your daily life?
 “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by
which we arrive at that goal.” Martin Luther King Jr. What does this
say to you?
Individual Challenge: Consider your individual wish list--3 things
different about this Christmas. Then think of a situation where you desire
peace—either in your life or in the world. Prayerfully ask God to guide you
in doing something this week to strive for peace. It could be writing a letter
to someone from whom you have become separated or it may be writing a
letter to your legislator about an injustice. As you become a peacemaker,
you will find peace.
Outbound Challenge: Identify areas within your community that need
peace. What can you do to promote peace? Where destruction and violence
exist, let your congregation offer a kingdom view—an alternative view. Go
to the dark places and offer signs of Christ. If you see gang graffiti, place
signs of God’s peace nearby (be sure to check with your city ordinances).
Where you find encampments of people without homes, offer food and
Upper Room devotional booklets (upperroom.org/devotional). For further
ideas, see www.bagsofgrace.org. Wherever you go, invite people to worship
with you. Connecting your actions with following Jesus may stir curiosity in
people who want what you have. Find ways to manifest for the community
the real hope of Christmas – that through Christ, people will find peace and
hope.
What thoughts or questions do you have about this week’s message?
Contact Pastor Ryan (ryanc.umc@hotmail.com, 898-3955, or drop him a
note), and share your thoughts! Chances are if you’re thinking about
something, so is somebody else.
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS
I would like to provide a Poinsettia(s) for the Christmas
Altar. Plants are $10.00 each.
Number of plants_____________
 Given In Memory of
 Given In Honor of
 Given to the Glory of God
Name of persons donating:
Amount Paid:________________
(Please make checks payable to St. James UMC and
return with this form.)
THE LAST DAY TO ORDER IS DECEMBER 11.