News You Can Use

Ladies Lunch Bunch will meet Thursday at 11:45 a.m. at Murphy’s in Louisville.

All church conference is Saturday, December 4, at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom ONLY. Join here.

Don Lloyd's memorial service will be Saturday, December 11, at 11:00 a.m. Watch for details.

O, Mitten Tree! This year the homeless shelter has specified that they are looking for donations (new and unwrapped) of warm hats, heavy gloves/mittens, wool socks, handwarmers, and $5 gift cards to someplace our clients could buy lunch, a cup of coffee, or an essential item: Safeway, McDonalds, Starbucks, Target, etc. (Note that they do NOT want more generous gift cards, as they want to treat all clients equally at the holiday gathering.) Please bring your items to church and place them on the Mitten Tree between now and Sunday, December 12. Thank you for supporting this ministry!

EFAA Holiday Gift Room We are encouraging people to donate directly to EFAA this year, if they want to participate. Go to www.efaa.org/holiday-giving for instructions, dates, and a link to their Amazon Wish List.

Support Josie Glancy and Boulder High choral groups Eat at Modern Market on Monday, December 13 (dine in or carry out), and tell them you support Boulder High choirs. Sign up here.

Watch last week's "Saturday Night Live with the Bishop" here.

St. Paul's Wednesday fellowship meets here at 10:00 a.m.

Mitten Tree is back!

Mitten Tree Song

O mitten tree, o mitten tree! We come to fill your branches.

O mitten tree, o mitten tree! We come to fill your branches.

With hats and scarves and socks and gloves 

To help us share our Savior’s love.

O mitten tree, o mitten tree! We come to fill your branches.

O, Mitten Tree! Yes, it is that time of year, the time when we share God’s love with Boulder’s homeless. 

This year the shelter has specified that they are looking for donations (new and unwrapped) of warm hats, heavy gloves/mittens, wool socks, handwarmers, and $5 gift cards to someplace our clients could buy lunch, a cup of coffee, or an essential item: Safeway, McDonalds, Starbucks, Target, etc.” (Note that they do NOT want more generous gift cards, as they want to treat all clients equally at the holiday gathering). Please bring your items to church between now and Sunday, December 12. 

Thank you for supporting this ministry!

Giving Tuesday and you

 

Gifts to Global Ministries and UMCOR will expand the work of faithful United Methodist missionaries, bolster global health, support disaster response and development efforts, and further evangelism and church revitalization.

MAKE A GIFT: umcmission.org/givelove

Giving Tuesday emerged as a movement beginning in 2012 to encourage people all over the world to embrace generosity by giving to nonprofits whose work benefits the lives of others. Unlike Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are focused on purchasing at the lowest possible cost for oneself, Giving Tuesday focuses on giving as much as possible to benefit the lives of others. 

As the movement has grown over the years, an increasing number of nonprofits, including denominational agencies and local churches, have taken the occasion to promote special opportunities for giving on that day.

Read more at this link.

Devotional for November 30

Star of David quilt

The Star of David is a Christian symbol found on the list of Chrismons, but it’s best known around the world as the symbol of Judaism, the faith that Jesus himself followed and celebrated. 

December is not only the season of Advent and Christmas, but of the Jewish festival of Hannukah. I was surprised to discover that Hannukah is mentioned nowhere in the Bible; its story appears in the First and Second Books of Maccabees, part of the Apocrypha. In 165 BCE Jerusalem, the Jewish priest Mattathias and his sons rebelled against persecution by restoring their damaged temple and rededicating it by lighting a sacred lamp. They had only enough oil for one night, but miraculously it lasted a full eight nights, until the oil supply could be replenished. 

That light shone in the darkness and was not overcome. 

Those people who walked in darkness now saw a great light. God was once again proclaiming, “Let there be light.” And then, 165 years later, the savior we call the Light of the World was born in Bethlehem. How deeply our faith traditions are intertwined!  

I still remember one brief story from a previous pastor, who said that as a child he had asked his grandmother why we light candles at Christmas. Her beautifully simple answer was this: “So the darkness will know we disagree.” 

This Advent, let us light our candles. Let our little lights shine. Let them shine. Let them shine. 

- Claudia Mills 

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Wednesday:

10:00 AM, Wednesday Zoom fellowship     

7:00 PM, Choir practice        

Thursday:

11:45 AM, Ladies Lunch Bunch @ Murphy's (Louisville)

Friday:

9:00 AM, Office hours          

Saturday:

10:00 AM, Church Conference via Zoom     

5:00 PM, Facebook Live with Bishop Oliveto          

Sunday: Second Sunday of Advent

10:00 AM, Worship              

                                        12:30 PM, BBKC                                                    

Scripture lessons for the Second Sunday of Advent

We enter December and the Second Sunday of Advent with lessons from Malachi 3:1-4 and Philippians 1:3-11.             

Devotional for November 29

Photo by Louise Cook

The Chrismons that decorate the tree in St. Paul’s sanctuary every year were sewn, often by hand, by members of St. Paul’s over many years. The most recent addition was a shepherd’s crook sewn by Rebecca and Ben Glancy when Ben was two years old. That sewing session was led by Janelle Beaber. These Chrismons are not only symbols of Christ, but symbols of the continuity of our community of faith.

[To see all of our Chrismons, please visit this link]

November 28 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+Amy Abshire gives thanks for her brother-in-law, Nels', recovery from surgery.

+Skippy Rollins gives thanks for the amazing devotional full of inspiring and informative entries.

+Pastor Charles & Belinda celebrated their 24th anniversary last Wednesday. 

+We give thanks for the work of the faithful servants who came yesterday to decorate the church for the seasons of Advent & Christmas.

+We give thanks for our guests this morning, Lyn Nold from Denver and Rev. Joe Scahill from Salem, Oregon.

+We are thankful for the generosity seen in the 381 lbs. of food and other items to EFAA last Monday.

+Pastor Charles gives thanks for the work done to prepare for next Saturday's Church Conference.

+We are thankful for this week's birthdays: Marcus Berlin.

+We give thanks this morning for the music of Lorie Courier (piano) and Ron Revier (choir). We also give thanks for Belinda Alkula (video/Zoom), Austin Cooper (usher), Joan & Austin Cooper (flowers), the Roberts family (Advent wreath), and Claudia Mills (liturgist/mission moment).

Concerns:

+Bobby Dahlstrom asks for prayers for Anna's boyfriend, Christian, who is seriously ill in the hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

+Dan and Bets Daniels would like prayers for Willi P., their daughter's father-in-law who is in the hospital.

+We lift up Chris Cole following news of her recent death at Mary Sandoe House.

+Lorie Courier asks for prayers for her sister, Kerry, who is facing surgery tomorrow.

+We continue to lift up in prayer those impacted by the pandemic and for the emergence of a new variant.

+We join with people across the United States in mourning the deaths of 193 due to gun violence in the past week.

November 28 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

 

The Roberts family lights the first Advent candle

The choir is ready for Advent

Bringing the Chrismons forward

Chris Wahl and Steve Batch place the higher Chrismons

Advent week 1 in the books

First Sunday of Advent

Today’s Meditation Verse: 

"I offer my life to You, Lord. My God, I trust You.” —Psalm 24:1-2a

Welcome...Pastor Charles

Prelude...Lorie Courier

*Call to Worship (Psalm 80:1-3)...Claudia Mills

Leader: Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. 

People: Stir up Your might and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we may be saved.

Lighting the Advent Candle...Roberts family

Reader One: Our Advent journey begins with rules of the road. We are on the way to where God would have us be, and we are not there yet. But how shall we go? We shall go together, as one body, living and trusting in one another. We shall go as this community of faith, working side by side, and leaning into the grace of God every step of the way. We shall go in peace.

Reader Two: Isaiah says that in days to come, the nations shall stream to the mountain of the Lord, and there we will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; there, we will learn war no more. God will teach us peace. 

Reader One: We light this first candle to burn as sign of peace among all people.

—from UMCDiscipleship.org

*Hymn...“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (UMH #211)

Epistle Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13...Claudia Mills

Anthem...Chancel Choir / “Carol of the Winter Wind” by Joseph M. Martin

*Offering/Doxology (to the tune “Infant Holy” UMH #229) 

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations

Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer...Pastor Charles

Gospel Lesson: Luke 21:26-36...Pastor Charles

Pastor: This is the Word of God for the people of God.

People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon...Pastor Charles / “The world needs more (a)lerts”

Mission Moment...Claudia Mills / Mitten Tree

Mitten Tree Song

O mitten tree, o mitten tree!

We come to fill your branches.

O mitten tree, o mitten tree!

We come to fill your branches.

With hats and scarves and socks and gloves

To help us share our Savior’s love.

O mitten tree, o mitten tree!

We come to fill your branches.

*Hymn...“People, Look East” (UMH #202)

*Words for the Journey...Pastor Charles

Postlude...Lorie Courier

November 28 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+Join us for Wednesday Zoom fellowship @ 10:00 AM at this link.

+St. Paul’s UMC Church Conference will take place on Saturday, December 4 @ 10:00 AM via Zoom.

+Print copies of the Advent/Christmas devotionals (plus a little holiday treat) are available on the usher's table. Online entries for each day of Advent (starting today) through the Day of Epiphany (January 6) will also be available on the St. Paul’s UMC – Boulder Facebook page and on the church blog.

+Photos of all of the Chrismons we use at St. Paul's UMC will be available on the church Flickr.com page at this link.

+Ladies Lunch Bunch is this Thursday at Murphy's in Louisville. Contact Joan Cooper by Tuesday if you are coming.

+O, Mitten Tree! Yes, it is that time of year, the time when we share God’s love with Boulder’s homeless. This year the shelter has specified that they are looking for donations (new and unwrapped) of warm hats, heavy gloves/mittens, wool socks, handwarmers, and $5 gift cards to someplace our clients could buy lunch, a cup of coffee, or an essential item: Safeway, McDonalds, Starbucks, Target, etc.” (Note that they do NOT want more generous gift cards, as they want to treat all clients equally at the holiday gathering). Please bring your items to church between now and Sunday, December 12. Thank you for supporting this ministry!

+EFAA Holiday Gift Room - We are encouraging people to donate directly to EFAA this year, if they want to participate. Go to www.efaa.org/holiday-giving for instructions, dates, and a link to their Amazon Wish List.

+Support Josie Glancy and Boulder High choral groups Eat at Modern Market on Monday, December 13 (dine in or carry out), and tell them you support Boulder High School choirs.

Devotional for the First Sunday of Advent

Advent 2019

Chrismons 

Parents and grandparents may be familiar with Pokémon, the animals featured in the card game and television show of the same name. What may not be familiar is the origin of the name: Pokémon is an abbreviation for “pocket monster.” Players carry Pokémon in their pockets. 

Christians may be familiar with Chrismons, the white and gold symbols that we often hang as ornaments on a Christmas tree in the church. Chrismon is not an abbreviation of “Christmas monster.” 

Chrismon is a combination of the words “Christ” and “monogram” and mean “symbols of Christ.” The gold and white represent majesty and purity. The symbols come from early Christian symbols, the Bible, and church tradition. 

During this Advent, we will reflect together on the symbols of Christ our Savior, whom we await, and the ways that the symbols are animated by our faith in our daily lives.

—Scott and Rebecca Glancy

It's decoration day @ St. Paul's UMC!

Time for a muffin break!

The Mitten Tree and Chrismon table take shape

Decisions, decisions!

Christopher and Jim set up the Chrismon Tree

St. Paul's was transformed this morning from its autumnal decorations to the decorations we'll enjoy throughout the seasons of Advent and Christmas. 

Thanks to Amy Abshire, Belinda & Pastor Charles Alkula, Louise Cook, Sandra Jordan, Suzanne Polacek & Harper, Jim Vander Vorste, Christopher Wahl, and Judy Waller for their participation in today's efforts.

Introducing the 2021 Advent/Christmas Devotional

Chrismons and the choir on the First Sunday of Advent 2019

The symbols of the Christian faith are as varied as those who follow the way of Jesus. From those early days in the Holy Land, Jesus’s followers used simple signs to indicate who they were, where it was safe to gather, and more. Frances Spencer and the women of Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia, developed the tradition of making handmade ornaments using the symbols of our faith, a tradition that we have continued here at St. Paul’s UMC.

We are people who use symbols to communicate ideas, concepts, and realities that are timeless and yet personal in nature. These symbols are not merely religious in nature or the sole possession of the Christian faith. 

The entries for the Twelve Days of Christmas are taken from the re:worship website. I choose these prayers because it occurred to me that during the Christmas season, prayer seems to fall away in the glow of Christmas lights, family gatherings, and thoughts of the coming new year. I hope and pray that these will prompt us to remember the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18b:  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances….” 

Each day during Advent, I invite you to look closely at the symbols of your faith that have come down through the centuries, uniting peoples of the Way into a community that has more in common that we may have realized. And consider also what other symbols may be present in your own life that speak to you about God and how you might be able to express your faith in ways that other people can relate to.

Print copies of the devotional are available at the church. Daily devotional entries will be posted here on the blog and on our Facebook page.

Every blessing,

Pastor Charles

A Prayer for Black Friday

 

Heavenly Father,

We first and foremost thank You for the provision to be able to buy gifts during a time when the world’s economy is still in recovery mode. But as we thank You for this provision, we also ask for knowledge, wisdom, and discernment so that we can be good stewards over the financial resources You have given us. 

Do not let us exceed our budgets but let us stay within our budgets remembering that beyond the sales, on the other side, are people who could really use the money we would spend on gifts. 

Let us remember that our wants represent someone else’s needs. Do not let the spirit of greed and consumption overtake us on this day. 

Let us remember that the Christmas season is not about buying things and receiving things as much as it is about spreading love and reminding people of the great love that came to the earth for us. May that same love extend on this day. May we exercise patience in long lines; kindness in crowds and may traveling mercies be extending to us in traffic. 

Grant everyone safety throughout the day and beyond. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.  

Symmonds, N. (N.D.). A Black Friday Prayer. Belief Net.     https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/prayerplainandsimple/2009/11/a-black-friday-prayer.html

A Prayer on Thanksgiving Day

Here’s a thoughtful prayer reflection on thanksgiving from Rev. Carol Penner, a pastor in Edmonton, Alberta. It comes from her Leading in Worship website.

Thanksgiving Revolution

God, on this Thanksgiving we know enough to give thanks. Our prayers often begin, “Thank You God for…” and then we make a list. The list is longer today because it’s Thanksgiving. 

But what if thankfulness has nothing to do with lists? What if thankfulness is more like the difference between night and day, the difference between being shut in and being free, the difference between holding on and reaching out? What if thankfulness is not something to be grasped, not something that can be simply said, not some thing at all?

What if thankfulness is transformation? A Copernican revolution of the heart, a re-centering, from ourselves to Your Son. A blossoming, from bud to flower, all the way to the ripe red apple. A movement from life to death, and beyond the grave to resurrection. What if Thanksgiving is Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter all rolled into one.

When we are tempted to simply list our thanks, or give our thanks, show us the wider horizon, where we are the extravagant gesture, pressed down, shaken together, running over-- thankful people made in Your image.                                                       

Thanksgiving Message from Mozart Adevu

Dear Friends of St Paul's UMC in Boulder, CO

I trust this finds you all in good health.

This is a perfect time to show how grateful we are as a family for your several gifts over the years and also for the prayers that kept me safe during my 20 + years of service with Global Ministries. Thank you for the support for my daughter Selma in Medical School. She is now in the final year and school resumed just last Monday. 

We are wishing you the gift of faith and the blessings of hope this Thanksgiving. 

Happy Thanksgiving! May your blessings be multiplied this year and throughout all your life.

We will keep holding you all in prayers.

Blessings

Mozart and family

madevu1201@yahoo.com

News You Can Use

November 23, 2021 -- Happy Thanksgiving!

Hanging of the Greens is this Saturday (November 27) at 9:00 a.m. We will not share a sit-down breakfast this year, but Amy will bring muffins to enjoy! If you can't help on Saturday, please drop by the church any time this week to carry up boxes. Many hands!

Volunteers are needed to light the Advent wreath on Sunday, December 12, and Sunday, December 19. Pastor Charles wants two or three people per week: a family group (biological or otherwise), friends, bell or choir members, or anyone. Let Pastor Charles know if you want to participate. 

EFAA Holiday Gift Room We are encouraging people to donate directly to EFAA this year, if they want to participate. Go to www.efaa.org/holiday-giving for instructions, dates, and a link to their Amazon Wish List.

A note from Abby Lagemann: Boulder would never have become my home without my St. Paul’s family. No matter what happens, I know I will find support in the people who spend Sunday mornings at the corner of Grinnell and Gillaspie. I cherish all the meals we have shared and the memories we have made, especially with Margie Foote and Richard Adams, who I will always remember fondly. Jim and Joey opened their hearts and their home to an itinerant student, and that generosity made completion of my degree possible. I am thrilled that the amazing Skippy Rollins got to see me finish this project, and I hope it was worth the wait. (She passed!)

Support Josie Glancy and Boulder High choral groups Eat at Modern Market on Monday, December 13 (dine in or carry out), and tell them you support Boulder High choirs. Sign up here.

Watch last week's "Saturday Night Live with the Bishop" here.

St. Paul's Wednesday fellowship meets here at 10:00 a.m.

Another delivery to EFAA

Pastor Charles took 381 lbs. of food and other items from St. Paul’s UMC to the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) this morning. Nice to have our church pantry bare, and combined with what was contributed over the past two Sundays, we made a difference to people who can use it.

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Wednesday:

9:00 AM, Office hours                                                                                                       10:00 AM, Zoom fellowship                                                                                                7:00 PM, Choir practice

Thursday: Thanksgiving Day                                      

Friday:                                                                                                                                   9:00 AM, Office hours

Saturday:                                                                                                                             9:00 AM, Decorating the church                                                                                         5:00 PM, Facebook Live with Bishop Oliveto                            

Sunday: First Sunday of Advent 

10:15 AM, Worship

12:15 PM, BBKC worship

Scripture lessons for the First Sunday of Advent

We begin a new church year on November 28 with the First Sunday of Advent. Our lessons will come from I Thessalonians 3:9-13 and Luke 21:29-38.

November 21 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+We give thanks and ask for prayers for Abby Laggeman as she prepares to defend her Ph.D. dissertation this week.

+

+We give thanks for all the support given to the EFAA drive here at St. Paul's.

+Blessings on the Rev. Dan Daniels for bringing today's message.

+We are thankful for this week's birthdays: Wendy Wheaton

+We give thanks this morning for the music of Suzanne Polacek (Bells) and Christopher Wahl (piano). We also give thanks for Belinda Alkula (video/Zoom), Austin Cooper (usher), Joan & Austin Cooper (flowers), and Claudia Mills (liturgist).

Concerns:

+We lift up Don Lloyd who died on Friday and on his family who are grieving today.

+Brenda Smith asks prayers for her mother, Ruth, who is in rehab following a fall.

+Amy Abshire lifts up her brother-in-law, Nels, following his recent surgery.

+Suzzane Polacek's friend, Kristen, lost her mother suddenly last week. Kristen, her dad, and her brother are in Massachusetts and could use prayers for comfort and support. 

+Cathy Adams requests prayers for her brother, John. He is having surgery on Monday.

+Pastor Charles asks prayers for for his sister-in-law, Jody, who had surgery on Thursday. He also asks prayers for his brother, Joe, who had a stroke on Friday and is in the process of recovery.

+Joyce Brassem lifts up Brooke following Brooke's surgery.

+Pat Muckle asks for prayers for Bob, Sr. who is having health issues.

+We continue to lift up in prayer those impacted by the pandemic.

+We join with people across the United States in mourning the deaths of 236 due to gun violence in the past week.

November 21 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+Join us for Wednesday Zoom fellowship @ 10:00 AM at this link.

+The decorating of the church for the upcoming Advent/Christmas seasons will take place this coming Saturday, starting at 9:00 AM. We will not share a sit-down breakfast this year, but Amy will bring muffins for everyone to enjoy.

+St. Paul’s UMC Church Conference will take place on Saturday, December 4 @ 10:00 AM via Zoom.

+Print copies of the Advent/Christmas devotionals (plus a little holiday treat) are available on the usher's table. Thank you to Amy Abshire and Josie Glancy for baking our kick-off cookies. Online entries for each day of Advent (starting next Sunday) through the Day of Epiphany (January 6) will also be available on the St. Paul’s UMC – Boulder Facebook page and on the church blog.

+EFAA Holiday Food Drive ends today. If you have additional items to donate this week, contact Rebecca in the office (office@saintpaulsboulder.org). 

+St. Paul’s 2021 Stewardship Campaign is wrapping up. If you missed the November 15 deadline, it’s not too late to submit your 2022 pledge. If you have any questions, contact Martha (marthabatch@gmail.com). Go online to https://bit.ly/3nYXVVX.