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Growing Deep Roots to Share God's Love
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In this edition, you won't want to miss these stories:
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Chia Pets. How is it this company stays in business? Many of us have never seen a Chia Pet outside of a poorly-produced commercial or a white elephant gift exchange, but apparently people enjoy watching life grow. To this end, this Sunday we'll consider how Mary and Jesus were both vital to the growth of the other. And, as we continue on with our Advent sermon series, "Socks & Underwear," we'll consider how, though we may want something like a Chia pet to entertain us on Christmas morning, perhaps it's better to acknowledge those things that help us grow.
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Feedback on the sermon series? What new information have you learned? We'd love to hear from you.
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December 18
Socks & Underwear Sermon Series
"Chia Pets"
December 24
Socks & Underwear Sermon Series
"The Human Fund"
December 25
Christmas Day
One Church-wide Worship Service and Potluck at 10:15
January 1
New Year's Day Celebration
One Church-wide Worship Service at 10:15
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UPCOMING EVENTS
December 18
Festival of Carols w/ Creekwood Choir, Handbell Choir and Children's Choir, 7 p.m., Worship Center
No Rise
December 24
1:00 p.m. Worship Service in the Barn
3:00 p.m. Family Worship Service With Children's Performance
4:30 p.m. Contemporary Worship Service
6:00 p.m. Contemporary Worship Service
7:30 p.m. Traditional Worship Service
9:00 p.m. Worship Service in the Barn
Opportunities for communion 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., Worship Room #105
December 25
10:15 a.m. Worship Service Followed by a Potluck Lunch
No Rise
December 26
Church office closed in observance of Christmas Day
January 1, 2017
10:15 a.m. Worship Service. Celebrate the New Year With Us.
No Rise
January 2, 2017
Church office closed in observance of New Year's Day
January 8
"State of the Church" Sermon, including Q&A with Pastor David
Zoe Mission Trip Missionaries Send Off
Mission Possible Kids
The Rise Upcoming/Summer Events Parent Meeting, 5:00 p.m., Student Center
January 11 - 20
Zoe Mission Trip to India
January 12
Heart to Heart Women's Small Group Gathering, 6:00 p.m., Creekwood Worship Center
January 13
January 15
January 16
Church Office Closed in Observance of MLK Day
January 21
Creekwood Habitat Training and First Build
January 22
Lunch With the Pastors, a Gathering For Any Potential New Members, 12:30 p.m., Worship Center
Club 56, 11:30 a.m., Children's Center Tile Room
Family Promise Training for New Volunteers, 11:30 a.m., Worship Center
January 26 - 28
Created By God, 5th and 6th Grade Human Sexuality Class, Creekwood Worship Center
January 30
Church Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Creekwood Worship Center
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See 5th paragraph in this article, last 4 sentences.
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Holiday Missions Highlight
We have loved hearing stories of you out in the community sharing Christmas joy. Today's highlight is a spotlight on some of your activity.
Our close relationship with Harper Elementary enables us to learn of needs above and beyond those we work to address through the extraordinary mentorship
program we share with this school. One area of need on which we've been supporting the school is teacher retention. The Creekwood Mission Board gave $1,000 to fund and procured gift bags, which included $15 Target gift cards, for every teacher at the school. These funds came from your generous donations to our missions program and through the Harper's Helpers communion offerings you've given this year.
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Creekwood Missions Board Chair Kelly Oleson on Santa duty, with Harper principal Nicole Powell and counselor Erin Johnston.
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The school had a number of children under a needs program that documented items these young people requested for the holidays. We were also able to grant the Princeton Lion's Club $1,380 to obtain gifts, and true needs, documented by the school for children currently under a needs program. Thanks to you, we helped grant 23 children some of their Christmas wishes.
Related, our Celebration Class continued their tradition of adopting ACO angels. They
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Some of the Celebration class' ACO Santa stash.
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collected gift bags for a total of 38 children. Furthermore, they were able to give ACO 10 gift certificates and some cash to use as needed this holiday season.
Buddy Stapp has coordinated the ACO collection for the Celebration Class for 8 years. The class began with 20 children, and each year the number has increased. The Celebration Class has always been very generous in bringing Christmas joy to children. The story behind Buddy's passion for this program is special. He has a special place in his heart for children at Christmas. We can thank his mama for that. His mother always a
dopted a family for Christmas back in San Angelo, where he grew up. As a child he would go with his mother to deliver the gifts--in fact, we've been told that, fifteen years later, one gift recipient recognized Buddy when he visited a shop owned by the recipient. Do you ever wonder if your little ones are learning anything from the examples you may try so hard to set? They are. They are soaking it all up. Things you are doing now will go on to benefit others years from now, it is true. Ask Buddy.
The hearts and hands of Creekwood have been actively moving in other ways this Christmas season as well. We had many families and small groups help with the
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A small group sorting. |
sorting of gifts at the Plano Santas' Warehouse. We also had groups donating gift cards to those in need and some visited a nursing home. And, these are just the happenings that we know about! We know there are others out there diligently, lovingly spreading His love in our community. Thank you Creekwood for your caring hearts, busy hands and active service that shows the love of Christ to so many.
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It's A Wrap
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Photo courtesy of Candace Cardwell
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Thank You Live Nativity Cast
Did you make it to one of the Live Nativity presentations last week? The weather was a bit nippy, but the barn shelter and setting were perfect. We estimate over 500 people joined us between Wednesday and Thursday night. Our Live Nativity would not have been possible without the cadre of Creekwood youth who made the production truly come to life. Join us in thanking these young people in working so hard to share The Christmas Story. And, we cannot forget to thank our incredible, committed Live Nativity chairpersons, Pete Heres and Jana Carmichael, who bless us each year with the Live Nativity.
| Mary |
Joseph |
Kings |
Shepherds |
Shepherds |
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Heather Cantu
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Cody Carmichael
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Bill Vining
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Christian Cardwell
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William Brown
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Arden van Beek
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Chase Barajas
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Mike Hughes
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Adayn Cardwell |
Jack Brown
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Mary Festa
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Brandon Merrill
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Paul Brookshire
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Devon Cantu
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Andrew Poulton
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| John the Baptist |
Angel |
| Blake Oleson |
Taylor Oleson |
| Ethan Adler |
Whitley Below |
| Paul Brookshire, Jr. |
Marissa Waldrop |
| Caleb Fritsche |
Kaitlyn Compton |
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Also returning was crowd favorite, the one and only, Mr. Baaaaab, the sheep. Although a few (Molly Trank) were hoping for
Braaaaaad Pitt.
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 The Creekwood Choir Presents
"Festival of Carols"
The 30-voice Creekwood Choir will present Joseph Martin's "Festival of Carols" at Creekwood United Methodist Church this Sunday evening,
December 18, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Worship Center. The choral work will feature the Choir, Handbell Choir, Children's Choir and soloists performing traditional lessons and carols.
Ensembles are directed by Dr. Michael Crawford, Creekwood Choir; Lea Renfro, Handbell Choir; Gay Kiser and Roxanne Hunsicker, Children's Choir. Piano accompanist is Phyllis Carlin.
A reception provided by the Creekwood Celebration Class will follow the concert.
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Join Us In Celebration
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God
Isaiah 9:6
Christmas Eve
1:00 p.m. Worship Service in the Barn
3:00 p.m. Family Worship Service with Children's Performance
4:30 p.m. Contemporary Worship Service
6:00 p.m. Contemporary Worship Service
7:30 p.m. Traditional Worship Service
9:00 p.m. Worship Service in the Barn
Communion will be offered at 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. in Worship Room #105.
Christmas Day
10:15 a.m. Worship Service with Potluck
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End of Year Giving
If you are planning to make a 2016 contribution to Creekwood, remember that checks mailed to the church office must be postmarked by December 31. Checks dated December 31, or before, may be hand-delivered to the office through January 4, 5 p.m.
And, if you haven't yet submitted your estimate of giving for our Annual Ministry Budget or your pledge for our Growing Roots capital campaign,
click here
to submit them electronically.
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The Adlers, with friends, making deliveries last Christmas.
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Plano Santas needs your help to deliver gifts to Collin County families this Saturday, December 17, from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday, December 18, from 1 - 5 p.m. at the Plano Santas' warehouse located at
1601 Summit Avenue, suite 100 in Plano. No need to sign up, just show up. Kids and grown ups of all ages are welcome to come! We have heard from so many in the past that this was one of their families' most meaningful holiday event.
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Angel Tree Benefiting the Assistance Center of Collin County
THANK YOU Creekwood!!!! Through the Angel Tree program, you have supported 59 children from 19 families. You guys picked a total of 118 tags to bless others in need at Christmas.
(P.S. Did anyone (besides Annmarie) notice that we inadvertently used the Harper's Helper's apple tree picture instead of an Angel Tree picture? Details, details.....)
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Family Christmas Eve Service
Are you looking for a fun way to involve your little ones in worship this Christmas Eve? We're holding our
family Christmas eve service at 3:00 p.m. The service is a wonderful tradition that involves using our own children as cast members in the telling of the Christmas story.
So, we're recruiting..... Recruiting angels, shepherds, wise men, sheep, Mary and Joseph. Click here to sign your child up for a part. Children participating in the Christmas story will need to be at the church by 2:00 p.m. on December 24 to get costumes on and to participate in a brief practice.
We will also need several adults to supervise and a few volunteers to serve as greeters before the service. Contact Alice Oates if you are interested in greeting. This is a fun thing for mom or dad to do while the other works the pre-show behind the scenes.
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Have an infant through 4th grader and not currently receiving our weekly Children's Ministries' newsletter, Explorers' Times? Please
email us to be added to our distribution list.
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Created by God
Have you had "the talk" yet? Are you ready? Your child is! Let us help you get the conversation started with "Created by God" January 26-28 here at Creekwood. "Created by God" is a faith-based seminar that emphasizes a healthy biblical perspective on human sexuality, values, and relationships. It is designed for 5th and 6th graders, and will again, as was the case last year, be le
d by Cheryl Bishop, who is certified through the North Texas Conference.
The enrollment deadline is January 13. Please reserve your child's place early as the class is limited. The cost is $50, which includes student and parent books and lunch for students on Saturday. For more information please email Donna Bartholomew, Creekwood Director of Middle School Ministries. Click here to learn more.
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Sunday school
is held each Sunday from 10:15 - 11:15 a.m. 5th - 6th graders will meet in the
tile room of the Children's Center.
7th - 8th graders meet in the garage of the Student Center and 9th -12th graders meet in the Student Center.
No Rise this Sunday. Join us for the Festival of Carols instead Sunday evening.
The Rise is typically held in the Student Center on Sundays, from 5 - 7 p.m. All 7th through 12th graders (and beyond) are welcome to these evenings of worship, fellowship and fun. Meals are provided; a $5 donation is encouraged. If you are looking to help our awesome Student Ministry by providing a meal, or part of a meal, for The Rise, click here to pick a date and sign up. We promise you'll have fun feeding and visiting with our students.
Middle School Bible Study is held Wednesday evenings, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Bring your Bibles (and dinner, if you'd like) and join us for fellowship and study. Contact Donna Bartholomew for more information.
Let's stay in touch.
Students and parents wanting to stay up to date with current activities, events and services, please text @elevatecu to 81010.
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Have a 7th - 12th grader and not currently receiving our weekly Youth Ministries' newsletter? Please
email us to be added to our distribution list.
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See what is happening on our Creekwood social sites.
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