LOWER LIGHT
Lower
Light
December
2016
LOWER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
IN THIS ISSUE
Our God Reigns
by Rev. Ileana Rosario
How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of a
messenger who proclaims
peace, who brings good news, who
proclaims salvation, who says to
Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7
Israel is full of mountains, hills,
valleys, long roads that go up and
down and around like a spiral. From
the highest hills, or even from the
valleys, you can easily see who
comes and goes before they get to
where you are. In those days,
caravans of people with all their
belongings would travel in bunches
for protection. But then there was
the exception, the messengers!
Like in many ancient cultures, the
messengers risk their lives to bring
vital information to other parts of
the country. Sometimes they
announce war, inform new rules, or
proclamations. The messengers will
run by themselves with one thing in
mind: to deliver the message no
matter what. Even when hurt, they
just keep on running until they reach
their goal.
The people in their villages could
easily recognize the messengers.
They could see them running upon
the mountains, risking their lives to
share the news. This gave them
ample time to speculate: are we at
war? More taxes? What is the news
this time?
Every now and then, the messengers
will bring good news and the whole
village will rejoice! “No more war, no
more reason to fight!” the
messenger would say, “We can live
in peace now! Our King still reigns!”
The people would offer him water,
hugs and praises! The messenger,
grateful but focused, would keep on
running to reach the next village.
There he goes, they can see his feet
running upon the (continued on page 2)
It’s Called Christmas!
EC
Christmas program, worship, and
fellowship at a covered dish dinner.
Sunday, December 4th at 5:00 p.m.
Page 2
Festival of Carols and Lessons
Presented by the choirs of Lower and
Philippi Christian Church. Sunday,
December 11th at 5:30 p.m. at Phillipi and
7:30 p.m. at Lower.
Page 3
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mountains proclaiming peace, good
news and salvation!
Like in those days, the people
around us need messengers that will
help guide the way they should live.
These are times for bold messengers
that will deliver good news, reducing
the anxiety and fears of the people,
committed to proclaim peace,
focused on reminding others that
our God reigns!
This Christmas, be a messenger of
love! The people can see us coming,
wondering what will we bring to
their tables, what we will add to their
lives. Make sure you go around
sharing smiles, bringing joy. That in
every conversation you lift up one
another. That in every argument you
remind the people there is no more
reason to fight! How beautiful are
the feet of the messenger that
proclaims peace, brings good news
and reminds the people that our God
reigns!
DECEMBER SERMONS 8:30 and 11:00
4 Turn: To the One That’s Coming
Matthew 3:1-12
11 See: Through the Eyes of God
Matthew 11:2-6
18 Dream: God IS with Us
Matthew 1:18-25
24 Jesus: Prince of Peace
Luke 2:1-7
(5:30 and 7:00)
25 Peace: God’s Promise to the World
Luke 2:8-20
(We will all come together to worship at
10:30 on Christmas day.)
It’s Called
Christmas!
Join us Sunday, December 4th beginning at 5:00
p.m. for our Christmas Program, Worship
Service and Covered Dish Dinner.
The children of our church family will delight us
with singing, dancing and the beat of drums!
Please bring your favorite covered dish as we
celebrate as a church family and share a meal
together.
DECEMBER SERMONS 5:00
4 It’s Called Christmas! (see rabove)
11 Rejoice, Favored One!
Luke 1:26-38
18 Christmas Carol Sing-a-long
Luke 2:1-3
Luke 2:4-7
Luke 2:8-14
Luke 2:15-20
25 No 5:00 Service. Please join us at
10:30 a.m.
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Festival of Lessons and Carols
The choirs of Lower and Philippi Christian Church will present a
festival of stringed instruments, voices, organ, candlelight and
scripture on Sunday, December 11th at 5:30 p.m. at Philippi and
7:30 p.m. at Lower. This special presentation will surely fill our
hearts with wonder and praise for the birth of our Savior! What a
Christmas blessing to be able to join together in song and praise.
Please join us for this glorious celebration!
Please Worship With Us Christmas
Eve and Christmas Day
Our Christmas Eve Worship Services on Saturday, December 24th will be at 5:30
p.m. and candlelight service at 7:00 p.m. Between services we will enjoy a Living
Nativity outside the church entrance.
On Christmas Day we will celebrate the birth of our Savior at 10:30 a.m. Please
note there will be no Sunday School or evening service.
“Twelfth Night Colonial
Evening of Dining and Music”
Christmas Celebration Program, Friday, January 6th
at 6:00 p.m. beginning in the Fellowship Hall.
This will be our first celebration in 2017 of our 300th Anniversary. This
meal will be catered and reservations will be required with the price
to be determined as soon as the menu is finalized. After dinner we
will move into the sanctuary and be transported to the colonial era
of our history as we experience the Christmas twelfth night sights
and sounds.
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December Birthdays
Pat Rubin
Vernon Tate
Corey Harris
CeCe Stevens
Aaron Ward
Jennifer Ballard
Ashley Figg Hutcheson
Rosa Beth Kissman
Ellen Schiavone
Kathleen Walker
Megan Emanuel
N. Virginia Thomas
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Fred West III
Rachael Holt
Bob Walker
Mary Ann Crane
“Bubba” Hogge
Irie Rose Hogge
J. P. Holman
Richard Price
Rick Vaughan
Adam Fleet
Mary Ellen Horton
Wayne Evans
Howard Kruse
Bernie Thomas,Jr
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Connie Cornwell
Michelle Crown
Justin Lucas
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December Anniversaries
Angela & Wayne Blake
Mary Ellen & Mitchell Priddy
David & Emily Farmer
Kathie & Tom Noffsinger
John & Carolyn Wake
Charlotte & John Groves
Corey & Kristin Harris
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December Nursery Volunteers
Bonnie Rosser
Cynthia Lewis
Megan Emanuel
VOLUNTEER NEEDED
Bill and Alice
Caldwell Are
On Their Way
To Maine
by Stan Coloff
Long time Lower Church members Bill and Alice Caldwell
are on their way to Maine after more than 35 years in
Hartfield. Seeking a waterborne area for a retirement
home beyond New York, Bill and Alice traveled the MidAtlantic States and found this part of the Chesapeake back
in 1975. No doubt their passion for ocean sailing was a
factor in their attraction to this region. The Middlesex area
in particular appealed to them, a waterfront lot overlooking
the Piankatank was purchased and soon Bill was designing
a beautiful colonial home which was constructed in 1981.
They soon found a church home at Lower Church where
Alice sang in choir for many years and also expressed her
musical talents on the harp. Bill retired from Consolidated
Edison in 1980 as senior vice president for engineering. A
Navy veteran, Bill served as a Naval Officer during WWII on
a destroyer escort in the Atlantic. Their new home will be
in Falmouth, Maine north east of Portland…a daughter,
Ann, lives in the area. Their new Maine address is: 1 Primary
Lane, Falmouth, Maine 04105. We wish them God Speed
and happiness in their new home. We will miss them.
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Let’s Talk About
Pictures!
by Rebecca Ballard
As we prepare for the 300th Anniversary of LUMC, we
are looking for pictures of activities and families from
Lower Church. All pictures will be scanned and original
photos given back to the owner. Please contact
Rebecca Ballard [email protected], leave
envelope in the church office with Rebecca Ballard
photos, or see Rebecca during church, or Sunday
School. Documenting our history with photographs is
important. Please provide as much information about
the photos and people involved to be included in a
PowerPoint during the celebration. Thank you!
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Benefit Dinner for Raiven
by Joe and Christy Hogge
On Friday November 11th, Lower United Methodist Church
sponsored a benefit dinner and concert for Raiven
Hammond, daughter of Ricky and Denita Hammond.
Raiven was in a bad car accident on Friday, October 21,
2016. She is currently at MCV Hospital.
My wife and I along with much help from people in the
community came together to organize the event. The
event was a huge success as over 400 people came out to
show their support to the family. The benefit was
donations only and over $5,000 was raised to help the
family with misc. expenses since Raiven has been
hospitalized since October 21st. We would like to
personally think all the volunteers who came out to help
setup, decorate, cook, serve, and cleanup. Thank you to
the musical acts that performed, as they were all amazing.
A special thanks to The Southside Sentinel for donating
Boston Butts, Something Different for donating the
coleslaw, Lower Church members for the multiple food
donations, Middlesex H.S. Athletic Boosters Club for
donating the hamburger buns, as well as everyone else for
all of the many dessert donations. We could not have
done this without the support of our wonderful
community and its people. Thank you all so very much.
Quotation from Reader’s Digest:
“An obsession with speed is also the fear of being left behind oneself – which drives the compulsion to buy the new car, the faster laptop,
the inflated stock. For fear of becoming dinosaurs, we are turned into sheep.”
Garret Keizer, writer, in Harper’s
Missions
Committee
Bake Sale
The Missions Committee held a
very successful bake sale
outside of Deltaville Market on
Saturday, November 19th.
Over $1,000 was raised and will
be used for missions in this
community.
Let’s Invite Them!
Do you know someone who should
receive an invitation to our
upcoming 300th anniversary
celebration? An inactive or former
member? A previous pastor? Let
the church office know their name
and address. “Save The Date”
cards will be sent after the first of
the year.
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POINSETTIAS TO HONOR OR REMEMBER
LOVED ONES
Youth Retreat
by Julia Sochor
Poinsettia Remembrance
th
Look for a bulletin insert on December 4
th
and 11 giving you the opportunity to honor
or remember a loved one by placing a
poinsettia in the sanctuary for this Christmas
season. Return the completed insert and
payment to the church office no later than
th
th
December 13 . The December 18 bulletin
will include an insert honoring or
remembering our loved ones.
Congratulations Clare and Fred
West!
rd
On Wednesday, November 23 the West
family welcomed Paul Stephen West to the
world!
On the weekend of November 18-20, the youth went on a retreat at
Camp Piankatank. We watched a series of videos from the Alpha program
and after each video we sat down with our family groups and discussed the
video and our answers to each question the video had asked us. The
Barefoot Praisers, the band from Teen CBS, led us all in worship. During
worship, we also had several people from the youth council speak and give a
testimony that related to the video we had just watched.
On Friday night, we checked-in, had our first worship, and watched
the first Alpha video. On Saturday we had worship with the praise band, and
we watched videos 2-5, and Jonathan Diggs gave a great sermon in place of
video 6. In videos 1-5 we discussed our life as Christians, who Jesus is, why
Jesus died, praying, and our faith. After the video on praying, we met with
our family groups for a couple minutes and then we spread out over the
grounds and prayed. The sermon given by Jonathan Diggs was about who
the Holy Spirit is and how we can be filled. He did an excellent job, and after
he was done he invited the youth up to front who would like to be prayed
for, and him and several other adults and youth were praying for the people
who came to the front.
On Sunday we had our 7th, and final session, labeled “How does God
guide us into Full Life?” worship, and the pastor from Mathews Chapel led us
with communion. This past weekend was an awesome weekend, and it
really helped me and everyone I talked to with our faith and relationship
with God. It helped us find our place in our faith, and if we felt we didn’t have
a place, it helped us find where to start.
Authentic LUMC Shaker Shingles
For Sale
Lower UMC is celebrating 300th years of service to God and this community and we are still a vibrant and growing
congregation for the glory of God! Join us in the celebration! We are receiving orders for these original pieces of
artwork created from our 18th century roofing. See the display outside of the church office. ]
LOWER LIGHT
Community Thanksgiving
Worship Service
by Donna Will
On Sunday evening, November 20, the Middlesex Community
Thanksgiving was held at Lower Church. It brought together 95
people from various churches and denominations, singing,
praising, and worshipping with joy. Lower’s voice and bell choirs
offered their music up to the glory of the Lord, and the evening’s
sermon was delivered by Rev. Rob Marsh of Saluda Baptist. His
message, based on Pentecost, spoke of the church’s need to
preach one message; that regardless of race, creed, or orientation,
we need to unite in offering the grace of Jesus Christ, and the love
of God the Father to the world.
A special offering of $410 was received for the Middlesex
Department of Social Services to fund special programs for at risk
teens. Many people present commented that this service was the
perfect way to begin Thanksgiving week.
Community
Thanksgiving Dinner
Covered Dish
Lower
Light
Lower UMC held a Thanksgiving lunch for the
community! Twenty meals were distributed among the
homeless and many more for the community around!
What a great way to celebrate and give thanks! Thanks
for all the volunteers to came early to cook and to
serve!
Contact Us
804-776-6250
Email Us
[email protected]
Check Us Out on the Web
www.lowerumc.com
P.O. Box 98
Hartfield, VA 23071
And on Facebook
Are you the leader of a committee
or small group? Are you organizing
an upcoming event? Do you have a
success story to share? Maybe you
attended an event and have a great
picture? Share it with your church
family. Fill everyone in on what is
happening
at
Lower
UMC.
Newsletter entries are due to the
th
church office on the 24 of each
month. Let us hear from you.
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