Southport UMC Newsletter

Christmas Eve Services 5:30 p.m. - Family Service 7:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. - Contemporary Service 11:00 p.m. - Traditional Service New Year's Eve  Service will be moved from Thursday to Wednesday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m.

Dear Friends, Over the past four months my newsletter article has been focused on the church as a missional movement.   A missional movement is when the people of the church are so excited about Jesus that they live in his ways and his message goes viral passed on from person to person. In order for the church to become a missional movement it must contain missional DNA or mDNA.   The six elements composing mDNA are: ·   Jesus is Lord ·   Disciple-making ·   Missional-incarnational impulse ·   Apostolic Environment ·   Organic systems ·   Communitas This month we are ready to discover what is meant by Apostolic Environment.   Apostolic     Environment is how the church’s ministry is expressed in at least five forms.   We find those five forms in Ephesians 4:11-13.   “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may

There is a deep sense of bonding that comes from living and sharing the love of Jesus with   others. This kind of Community is much deeper than the giving and receiving of gifts. Community of this nature reaches the level of living and sharing life encircled by the love and grace of Jesus.  As we serve families from our community and grow to know their wishes and needs, our desire is to develop relationships that will continue long after Jubilee day. Please join us in praying that our Jubilee Families experience this sense of Community through our words and actions. Your participation in providing toys, additional gift items, baking, or helping Jubilee Day is   appreciated. Toys and non-gift items are to be returned to church by Sunday, December 6.   If you are bringing refreshments for Jubilee Day, please place them in the church kitchen on     Friday, December 11, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and marked for Jubilee. STORIES TO CELEBRATE There are always things to celebrat

  WOW!!!  November collection was amazing!  Linda and I had quite a workout delivering the 175 lbs. of food for Hunger, Inc. collected for November.  We now do not have to go to the gym quite as long...Ha! Thank you so much for your support of this ministry. Since I forgot to put the sign up sheet out for November, I will be asking you to fill it out for both November and December items you donated.  We love to keep track of the number of    participants. The December collection dates are December 3 and 6.  Remember we collect food when we are fed by communion.   The items we are collecting in December are canned pasta meals.  (Could be another heavy month to deliver!!!!)  Any volunteers may join us to deliver the food.  We deliver on Tuesday mornings as they open at 10:00 a.m. The January items to be collected are Peanut Butter and Jelly. Thanks again for giving food to the hungry (Matthew 25:35) May the blessing of Christ be in your Christmas, Sandy Tilton

A big thank you goes out to all who supported the Kairos Prison Ministry weekend at the Rockville Correctional Facility October 29-November 1.   Because of generous contributions of many kinds, Kairos was able to share Christ’s love with the 41 women who completed the amazing weekend. First of all, thanks for your prayers.   In all there were nearly 5000 links in the 300-yard prayer chain.   People from many states and countries were praying around the clock for the weekend. Thanks to the many who baked cookies.   Because of this labor of love, the team was able to share cookies with the participants, and they in turn could deliver forgiveness cookies within the prison.   All residents of the facility as well as correction officers enjoyed the cookies. Thanks also to the many who prepared posters and placemats. Another thank you goes out to all who offered financial support.   From loose pocket change to generous checks, your donations helped fund the weekend. Thanks

Giving More Back to the Community! Kroger is committed to helping our communities grow and prosper. Year after year, local schools, churches and other nonprofit organizations will earn millions of dollars through Kroger Community Rewards®. Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com to sign up for Southport UMC to receive rewards for you shopping at Kroger.  It does not take away from your rewards, just allows SUMC to rewards as well.  Thank you for signing up. 

AmazonSmile – You shop. Amazon gives. When you shop at smile.amazon.com , Amazon donates to your favorite charitable         organization. Sign up today to donate to SUMC.

If you are interest in being a part of a men’s Kairos prison ministry team on April 14-17, 2016, contact the church office 784-9508.

We are putting the final touches on our new directory and the team wants to thank all of you who participated.   It will be a great guide in connecting our congregation.   Life touch allows 5-6 months for the final binding and we will inform you when they are available for pick-up.