May 30^th will be the next Sunday open, in which you may remember or honor someone special by purchasing and dedicating the altar flowers. Please scroll down for more info on our flower ministry and how to purchase and dedicate flowers.

Love and Blessings,

Pastor Nancy

We have learned that many of you are only getting HALF of your Eblast and missing important news and photos, because Gmail and some other programs are cutting off the bottom half! After you reach a certain point in your reading, your email provider will say, down at the bottom, something like “Click here to view all” or “Click here to continue.” If you don’t click there, you will miss important things, especially our Prayer List, which is down near the bottom. If you read the Eblast and don’t see the Prayer List, then you KNOW you have been cut off. Just look for that link at the end and click on it to see all that you are missing!

 This Sunday's Online Worship Service

Every week you will receive a newsy Eblast on Saturdays. This is our electronic newsletter and you are reading it now! It will always contain a link for you to press that will cover you for both the “live” version and “recorded” version of our worship service on YouTube. You can also find our recorded service through our web page or Facebook. So, join us in-person Sunday mornings, online “live”, or at your convenience, through our recorded service. We start showing announcement slides at 10:05 (or earlier) as people are coming into the sanctuary and then the actual worship service starts at 10:15. 

If all else fails, just go to www.youtube.com and in the Search box at the top of the page, type "First UMC Naples" and press enter. On the next screen go down about 4 or 5 topics and you will see "First UMC Naples - Sunday Worship - 05 09 2021 - Rev Nancy Mayeux". 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.

 

Today, each of us may find ourselves wrestling with God in one way or another. Perhaps we are fighting the holy nudges the Spirit pushes at us, in trying to guide us in the direction God has planned for us. God will never force His will upon us, but too often, do we say to God, “My will – not yours?” Are we often like the rebellious child in his “terrible twos” who rebels against what the parent knows is really good for us? God sees the whole picture and has the wisdom to know the best path, but like two-year old's, we fight against it. It becomes a wrestling match! 

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.  But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” 

Do you often struggle like Paul? Come Sunday, online or in-person, to learn how God can help you with that! See you then!

 Scripture: Genesis 32:22-31

Thank you for continuing to support this church and its ministries through congregational giving. Your gifts allow us to continue helping people to know Jesus, to grow in their faith and to serve Him as we help those in need. Please remember that your giving is a form of worship. We pray that you will continue your regular offerings, consider working toward a 10% tithe, and also consider including the church in your will as you review your estate planning. During this pandemic, our ministry and our needs continue. Donations can be mailed to: First United Methodist Church of Naples, 388 First Avenue S, 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, Giving Goal cards or financial statements, please send an email to our Treasurer, Jeffrey Currier: jeffreylcurrier@gmail.com

  

The altar flowers, on this Mother’s Day, are given by Karen and Tom Bach in memory of their mothers, Vivian Freiberg and Hariette Bach. 

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 “Moving from Hope to Faith” which was preached by Rev Nancy Mayeux and based on Hebrews 11:1-3, 6-7 & 1 Peter 1:3-9

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 $30 and can be arranged by writing the pastor at Pastor@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. All dates are open from May 30 on forward.

Our altar flowers from last Sunday were delivered to PLAN (Physician Led Access Network of Collier County), a physician-led community effort providing medical services free of charge to low-income, uninsured Collier County residents. Their mission is to make a significant difference in the health of our community by increasing access to quality health care. There are over 200 local physicians and medical facilities in 35 specialty areas, who generously agree to donate their services for patients who qualify and are referred through PLAN. Thank you to the Johnsons for donating the flowers and brightening the day for patients and healthcare volunteers at PLAN.

Food Drop-Off continues on Sundays for

THANK YOU to everyone who has brought in food or financial donations toward the food ministry at St. Matthew’s House and Grace Place. You have helped make a difference in the lives of hungry people in our community! 

We are still collecting food for the food pantries of both organizations on Sunday mornings, before & after worship services. Other days can always be pre-arranged just by calling us.  Monetary donations can be made any time online, or by mail. 

We will continue to do meal-packing during the summer, packing every other week. We have already packed 100,000 meals for hungry families in our community since December, in conjunction with our ministry partner, Meals of Hope. 

If you would like to volunteer to pack (generally 1.5 to 2 hours) please email Wendy McKee at WendyMckee3@gmail.com. She will schedule you. We are happy to take first-timers and we will show you how it’s done. You’ve seen photos in past Eblasts of how we are set up. It’s easy and fun and a chance to socialize with people you have not been around in a long time. We wear masks and take precautions. Our groups are small. See you soon!

Need to Reach Us? Here’s How !

We are available to you! Our church office is open by appointment. Just call us and let us know you would like to meet with one of us and we will arrange it. Food can be dropped off on Sundays when you come to worship.  Your pastor is mostly working from home during the week and the church presently does not have an Admin or a Director of Discipleship. When you call the church office, the call goes right to the pastor’s computer and will be checked and responded to regularly. Pastor’s personal cell number is listed on that message you hear, if you have a pastoral emergency. 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: Pastor pastor@fumcnaples.org  or

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.

 Also, Please Pray for…   

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

We pray for our divided nation and that people can learn to set aside their political differences, words of hate and even violence, and love one another as people who are all made in the image of God and loved by God.