In-Person and Livestreamed

Worship Service

First United Methodist Church of Naples

Sunday Service 10:15 am

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2nd Sunday of Advent

Communion Sunday

December 4, 2022

From the Pastor

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Praying that you all had a healthy and safe week, and I thank you for all of your prayers. I have had a slight improvement in my double vision for my close-up viewing. My eye doctor said to not expect anything for 12 weeks, so I believe this improvement is an answer to prayer. I still cannot drive and many of my daily functions are challenging, but I am prayerful and hopeful. I will be preaching this Sunday!

I hope you will participate in one of our upcoming opportunities for fellowship and learning. Our new Men’s group will be meeting for breakfast at LuLu’s on Dec 8. The United Methodist Women will have their annual Christmas Potluck Party on Dec 6, and there are two different Bible studies you can still join – one on Wednesday mornings and the other on Friday mornings. Scroll down for info on all these activities.

Don’t forget we are having cookies and coffee this Sunday after worship. This is a great time to fellowship with others in the congregation. NEXT week, we will also have a time of cookies and fellowship with our preschoolers and their parents. The MDS preschool children will sing a short Christmas program for us in worship on the 11^th. Be sure to come.

It's that time for honoring and appreciating our non-pastoral staff with a Staff Appreciation gift from the congregation. Every year we take a collection to show our hard-working a faithful staff how much they are appreciated. Scroll down for more info on how you can participate before December 21.

Thank you to everyone who came to decorate our sanctuary and Barton Hall for Advent and Christmas. Scroll down for photos. To complete the decorations for Christmas Eve, we’ll need lots of poinsettias. Please consider purchasing one or more poinsettias to dedicate to someone special. Scroll down for more info.

Tomorrow is the second Sunday in Advent. Barbara and Larry Skiba will light the Advent candles for us. We have 2 more Advent Sundays before Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and Christmas Day Sunday Service. Scroll down for more info on times of these services and mark your calendars!

I still have not heard back from anyone regarding our inquiry last week. We are looking for a volunteer with some accounting background to help us out with a few tasks. Surely there is someone in the congregation who has this knowledge? If this might be you, would you please call, text or email me to discuss what our needs are? Thanks so much.

Lastly, don’t forget to turn in your “Giving Goal” cards (more in the Narthex). Sharing your goal for giving with us will help us to plan more accurately in 2023. We also want to thank you again for your generous giving thus far in 2022! 

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Love and Blessings,

Pastor Nancy

pastor@fumcnaples.org

IMPORTANT NOTICE! DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that you may not be getting a portion of your Eblast because Gmail and some other email programs are cutting off the bottom? You may be missing important articles, photos and our Prayer List! How to find out? If you get to the bottom and have not seen the Prayer List or our MDS Preschool photos, then you know there has been a cut-off. After you reach what looks like the end, you may see a little note down at the bottom that says something like: “Click here to view all” or “Click here to continue.” Press that and you will see what you are missing that has been cut-off!

 This Sunday's Online Worship Service

If you aren’t able to make it to in-person worship on Sundays, you can watch it online “live” at 10:15 am or you can watch the “recorded” version anytime that is convenient for you by clicking on the box below. We generally start showing announcement slides at 10:0 as people are coming into the sanctuary and then the actual worship service starts at 10:15. 

You can also find this link by going to our web page, our Facebook page, or directly to www.youtube.com In the Search box at the top of the YouTube page, type "First UMC Naples" and press enter. On the next screen go down until you see "First UMC Naples - Sunday Worship - Rev Nancy Mayeux - 12 04 2022". Click on that title, or the picture next to it, to see the “live” broadcast. 

Blessings as you watch and participate. Be sure to share the link for live or recorded versions of our service with your friends and family, so they can join you in worship!

Life & Faith Lesson

Rev Nancy Mayeux



Shepherds and Kings

Part 2 of Advent Series:

“God’s Unexpected Choices”

Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Advent and the second Sunday in my sermon series for Advent this year: “God’s Unexpected Choices.” We’ve seen, throughout history, that God has chosen the most unlikely people to accomplish great things. The adult Jesus preached about God’s Kingdom and how upside down it is. God’s values and expectations do not match with anything the world considers likely or important.

The manner in which God chose to come into our world to bring us salvation was no exception. He broke into this world as a tiny, helpless baby instead of a mighty king or warrior as the people had expected. The cast of characters involved in his birth and early life were unexpected as well. The first to hear the Good News about Jesus’ birth and proclaim it to the world were shepherds- the lowest class of people during those biblical times. We are misguided on how shepherds were viewed because we see so many romanticized versions of the wonderful shepherds who surrounded Jesus in the manger where he was born among the animals. To us they are special because God chose them, but to the world back then, they were uneducated and dirty (likely smelly). Their profession kept them outdoors without opportunity for bathing for long periods of time. They were looked down upon by most people, yet God chose the shepherds. He chose David a Shepherd boy to become King, and now Jesus was to be a descendant of David. He was to grow up to be a Prince of Peace and our Savior.

God also chose foreigners from afar to visit Jesus and bring him lavish gifts. The Magi surprised Jesus’ family and surely all of Bethlehem when they arrived. They were not Jews. They were unexpectedly gentiles. Again, the romanticized version of their visit misguides us. We do know that the Magi did not arrive on the night of Jesus’ birth, as we see in all the nativity scenes, but much later. How do we know that? How many Magi really came to see him? How far had they traveled and from where? What were the gifts they brought and was there a significance for each gift when we all look back at his future suffering and death. Learn more about how this all happened on Sunday morning. Join us in-person at 10:15am or online through YouTube by livestreaming or anytime during the week to watch the recorded service. Pastor Nancy

Scripture: Luke 2:8-21

It’s the Second Sunday of Advent….

But What Is Advent?

Some of you may not have come from a church tradition that celebrated Advent as a way of visually and symbolically preparing for and anticipating the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the eternal light. If this is new to you, you may wish to know more about this custom that began in Germany many centuries ago and is celebrated by Christians around the world today. Just click on the link below to learn more about the symbolism of the greenery and berries in the advent wreath and each of the candles that will be lit. During these weeks of Advent, we will join together, each of us anticipating the announcement of the birth of our Lord in Bethlehem and in our hearts. Each week, we will light a candle representing a different aspect of this hope and waiting.

Upcoming Christmas Services

Preschool Christmas Concert

December 11, Sunday Worship at 10:15am

Our MDS preschoolers have been practicing for several weeks so that they can sing several songs for us during worship. You will be blessed to hear them and meet their parents. We will have some time for fellowship with cookies, coffee and juice after worship.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

December 24 at 6:00pm in our Sanctuary

Come sing Christmas carols, hear a special message and experience candlelight as we sing Silent Night together. It will be a holy and memorable moment. Bring your family and visitors with you!

Christmas Day Service (ONLINE ONLY)

Sunday, December 25 at 10:15am

So many regular attenders told us they would not be coming Christmas morning because they had visitors in their homes or had made plans to be out for the day. We don’t want you to miss Christmas Sunday, so we are pre-recording a special service with guitar music, singing and a special Christmas message that you can tune in to watch at our regular worship time of 10:15am or whenever it is convenient for you that day. We will not have in-person worship on Christmas Day, but hope you will join us online, as you did during the pandemic.

Altar Flower Dedication

Our altar flowers for this Sunday are given by Barbara and Jerry Skiba in memory of their three children, Debbie, Sheryl and Michael. Debbie died on June 29, 2022; Sheryl on September 1993; and Michael on April 14, 2022.

Love,

Mom Barbara and Jerry

Altar Flower Ministry



Every week, you have the opportunity to purchase Sunday worship altar flowers and dedicate them to the memory of someone who was special to you or to honor someone who presently needs to be recognized! The cost is $40. All future dates are presently open. Purchase and dedication can be arranged by sending an email to Jaimie Dandridge at Admin@fumcnaples.org. Then you can either pick up your flowers after church or donate them for us to take to organizations in our community, bringing a ray of sunshine to workers and volunteers.

It’s Time to Order Your Poinsettias

Help Us Decorate our Sanctuary!

We are, once again, decorating our sanctuary on Christmas Eve with beautiful poinsettias. Won’t you help to fill the chancel area with these colorful plants? The cost is $10 per plant, and you may dedicate them to someone special in your life that you would like to honor, or in memory of someone you are missing. Forms must be in by December 21 to be included in our Dedication list. 

Have you ever wondered about why we use Poinsettias at Christmas or where this plant got its name? Click on the link below for a little history and for the order form to buy and dedicate your own plant.

Staff Appreciation Gift

(Non-Pastoral Staff)

Every December, we take a collection, to honor and thank our faithful church staff with a Christmas gift from the congregation. They work hard all year to support our pastor and volunteers and keep our church operational while serving in ministry. Please mark your gifts as “Staff Appreciation” and have them in to us by December 21st. Let’s show our staff how much you love and appreciate them through this Christmas gift. This is for our non-pastoral staff, as you have already shown your love to Pastor Nancy during October’s Pastor Appreciation Day.

New Men’s Ministry Starts This Week!

We have had a number of ministries at our church specifically for women (United Methodist Women and Soul Sisters for example), but it has been many years since we have had something for the men of our congregation! That will be changing this week with a breakfast gathering just for men, starting December 8^th at LuLu’s Kitchen. It will include a devotion, prayer and lots of time for sharing in fellowship with one another. Lulu’s is happy to provide the space as long as people are coming to eat breakfast (not just coffee), so please save your appetite for breakfast with the guys. Many of our men have been asking for this, so we are happy to finally be able to offer it. Thanks to our new Director of Discipleship and Congregational Care, Chaplain Scott Ehler, for putting this together and leading this new ministry. There is a sign-up sheet on the counter in the Narthex (church lobby) as we’ll need a headcount for the restaurant. It’s not too late to sign up. If you can’t go this week but would like to be included for a future gathering, please let Scott know!

UMW Christmas Party!

The United Methodist Women are hosting their Annual Christmas Potluck Party in Barton Hall on Tuesday, December 6 at 11:30 am. Please bring a dish to supplement the ham that will be served. There will be a sign-up sheet in the narthex (church lobby). Please RSVP.  

Thank You to our Decorators

Thank you to everyone who came out to help decorate our sanctuary and Barton Hall for Christmas. Thanks to Kay Craynon for donating new wreaths and garland to spruce things up from our decade’s old decorations! On Christmas Eve we will have bright red poinsettias to add to the beauty of this week’s decorations. Be sure to order yours!

Fully Human, Fully Divine

Not Too Late to Join Our Bible Study

on Fridays at 10:30am

One more session: December 9

(Church Parlor)

Facilitated by Gail Jaworsky

Fully Human, Fully Divine, by Whitney Simpson, is an invitation to an embodied Advent where we are encouraged to embrace the experience of the Advent season fully, with our whole selves and remember that Jesus showed us what it meant to be both fully human and fully divine. It challenges us to live right here, right now as we await the birth of the Christ Child, the embodiment of God's presence in our midst. This year, instead of letting the stress of the season overwhelm us, let’s be present, living wholly – body and Spirit together. Let’s let go of external demands and give ourselves permission to be present as we listen for God in our lives and learn what it looks like to notice and pay attention to our bodies.

Each chapter covers one week of Advent focusing on one of these themes: Slow Down and Hope, Simplify for Peace, Sit with Joy, and Savor God's Love. Within each week are a rotation of daily practices including breath prayer, mindful movement, lectio divina, visio divina (which utilizes beautiful, colorful works of art each week), Christian meditation, creative contemplation, and practicing presence.

Please just come to the last one on Friday, December 9! Several copies of the book have been ordered and will be available at the church for purchase at $18.00. They are also available from Upper Room, Amazon, and other outlets with at least one week delivery dates.

Prepare the Way for the Lord

Not Too Late to Join our Bible Study on Wednesdays at 10:30am

December 7, 14, & 21

(at the church)

Facilitated by Wendy McKee

Prepare to receive Christ this Advent with the message of John the Baptist and best-selling author and pastor Adam Hamilton in Prepare the Way for the Lord. For centuries, Christians have turned to the story and message of John the Baptist in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Who better to ready your heart for the coming of Jesus than his precursor cousin, John the Baptist? In Prepare the Way for the Lord: Advent and the Message of John the Baptist, Adam Hamilton explores the Advent themes of John’s life and ministry, and how John calls all followers of Jesus to prepare our hearts for his coming. In each of the Gospels, the story of Jesus is intertwined with that of his cousin John, the one whom the prophets foretold would come to “prepare the way of the Lord.” When we hear the message of John the Baptist, it makes us and our world ready to receive Christ. Hamilton's Advent study explores four themes in John's message: "A People Prepared for the Lord," "God Is Gracious," "The Fruit of Repentance," and "Witnesses Testifying to the Light."

The study includes a DVD lesson by Adam Hamilton to prepare the group for discussion. Books will be available for purchase at the church or you can order them online from your favorite source. Please sign up with Jaimie Dandridge in the church office.

 Would You Like to Join Us at Our

Next Membership Sunday?

If you’re thinking about formalizing your relationship with this congregation, we will have another “New Member Sunday” soon.   If you are interested in knowing more about what it means to be a member here and to be a United Methodist, just send me an email at: pastor@fumcnaples.org . I will get in touch with you, and we can meet and explore this together. After we meet, if you think you’d like to join, we will make this happen at one of our upcoming Membership Sundays. If nothing else, our meeting will help us to get to know each other better! Keep in mind, that you can still keep your regular membership at your United Methodist Church up north (or even another denomination) and join us here in Naples as an Affiliate or Associate member.

How Can You Financially Support

the Ministries of This Church?

Thank you for all that you have given of your time and talents and your financial support of this church and its ministries. Your generosity has allowed us to get through what could have been a difficult summer, and to do important ministry in our community. Your donations toward Ukraine, hurricane relief, the Children’s Home, our food ministries, roof repair, Undy Sunday and so many other needs, have certainly made an impact and we pray that your generosity brought you joy! 

You were blessed to be a blessing! Please remember that your giving is a form of worship. Your gifts allow us to help people to know Jesus, to grow in their faith, and to serve Him as we help those in need. Please do not forget to turn in your Giving Goal Cards which will help us with our financial planning for 2023!

At this time, in addition to funding for our regular operating budget and special needs as they pop up, we are requesting donations for:

1.  Florida Conference disaster response to Hurricane Ian, helping local churches and their congregations who were most affected by the storm. Make your checks out to FUMC and designate that it is for Hurricane Ian Disaster Response.

2. “Capital Expenses” This includes roof replacements and other capital needs on our campus. We just completed phase one, to replace the leaking sanctuary roof, just in time for the hurricane, and we had no leakage! When that roof is completed (total project is over $200K) we will continue with other roofs that need replacement, and could use your help for these projects where much ministry happens in this church. Please support our efforts to make them viable and safe.

Donations should indicate if they are for the “General Operating Budget” or “Hurricane Ian Disaster Response” or “Capital Expenses” and may be brought to worship on Sunday, dropped off during the week or mailed to: 

First United Methodist Church of Naples

388 First Avenue South

Naples, FL 34102

OR you can click on the box below to make an online donation. If you have any questions regarding the finances of this church, please send an email to our Treasurer, Jeffrey Currier: jeffreylcurrier@gmail.com

Last Sunday's Service

Did you miss worship last week? Click on the link below to view the video of last week's complete online service, with a sermon entitled Fill Us All with Hope which was preached by Chaplain Scott Ehler and based on Esther 4:6-17

We’ve Packed 280,000 Meals!

Help Feed Hungry People in our Community

Thank you for helping to feed hungry families. Food insecurity has been a major challenge for families throughout the pandemic, and especially now, with food prices soaring. During the last 2 years, we have packed 280,000 meals for families in need! Help us be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world and show the love of Christ to others by participating:

1. Bring in food or financial contributions earmarked for “Food Ministry” and we will deliver to either Grace Place or St. Matthew’s House for their food pantries.
2. Volunteer to come help pack food for 1.5 hours on an upcoming packing day. To sign up, contact Wendy McKee, our food-packing coordinator, at WendyMckee3@gmail.com. She will schedule you. It’s lots of fun!

Need to Reach Us? Here’s How!



We are available to you! Our church office is open Monday-Thursday, 9:00am to 2:00pm.  Food can be dropped off during office hours or on Sundays when you come to worship. The church phone will be answered during office hours. For pastoral emergencies, when the office is closed, just call the office and you will hear the Pastor’s personal cell number listed on the message you hear. The pastor is off on Mondays, as her Sabbath day, but will respond to pastoral emergencies. 

Call the church office: (239) 262-1033

Email us: admin@fumcnaples.org  or

Mail contributions to:

First United Methodist Church, 388 First Ave S, Naples FL 34102

Make online donations by clicking the link below:

Please Pray!

Please pray for our church, our community and our country and its leaders. Pray for wisdom in decision-making and good health for all. Pray for travel mercies for all who are traveling this week to visit loved ones. Pray for your church family and their loved ones as you check out the list below.

Urgent Prayer Requests

From our FUMC Church Family

We want to remind you that this section is for “urgent” prayer concerns only: (in the hospital, on Hospice, recovering from COVID-19, recovering from surgery, receiving radiation or chemotherapy for cancer, recent deaths, etc.) If you have a private prayer that you do not want published below, just email me and I will pray for that person and that need privately: pastor@fumcnaples.org.

• Donna Grace Lazaroff  (Aunt of Lisa Passeri)
• Sue Lundberg (Pastor Nancy’s sister)
• Michelle Manion (Pastor Nancy’s Niece)
• Nicole Hines (Sister of Jaimie Dandridge)
• William Johnson (Brother of Al Johnson)
• Chris Grimshaw (Member and husband of Christine Grimshaw)
• David Siefer (Cousin of Rob Pleban) 
• Linda Mills (Sister of Judy Margrey)
• Jane Dawkins (Friend of Thelma Johnson)
• Lidia Rodriguez (Pastor's daughter of our sister-church in Cuba)
• John (Ivan) Woronchuk and family (Brother of Walter Jaworsky)
• Baby Abby Joy and parents (Family of Lisa Passeri)
• Sue ReBell (Sister-in-law of Marie and Dick Evans)
• Beth Tatman (Friend of the Mayeux family)
• Norman Lambert (Requested by Judy Margrey and Leo Poisson)
• Wendy Moyer (Member)
• Tom Headley (Nephew of Pat Schanke)
• Stephen MacTurk (Son of Mary Lou Riccio)
• Diane Langley (Friend of Norine Tempelman)
• Family of Valya Staruchin, Januk, Orysia and family, Irina and family (Three families of the Jaworsky's in Ukraine)
• Glenn (Friend of the Emory’s)
• Sam (brother-in-law of Karen Bach)
• Ann Boren (Member) 
• Joseph Halizak (Friend of Marie and Dick Evans)
• Karen Kirk (Cousin of Marie Evans)
• Rosa Fogle (Family of Thelma and Al Johnson)
• All the many unspoken requests and needs of our congregation and their loved ones.

 Special Prayer List 

(Updated November 20) 

 Wondering what else to pray for each day? Here are some suggestions!

MDS Children Enter the Christmas Season

Our Methodist Day School children have returned from their Thanksgiving break and are now in full swing preparing for Christmas! They have been rehearsing for the concert they will do for us on December 11 during our Sunday worship service. Their parents are coming to watch them sing and ring bells. Pam O’Brien will be playing the piano for them. We will have cookies and juice or coffee outside with children and their parents after worship. It will be a fun time for all! Be sure to come.

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Church Office is open Monday – Thursday, 9:00am – 2:00pm. Outside of office hours, please call the church office and leave a message. For pastoral emergencies, you will be given a number, in the message, on how to reach the pastor.