Over the next few weeks, we will be celebrating a few of God’s many gifts: the gift of an identity as a Beloved Child of God; the gift of the Holy Spirit; the gift of the church ( that is – the gift of not doing it alone!); the gift of amazing love; the gift of a mission and purpose; and the gift of seeing God in the world. With a sermon series and a Bible Study on Wednesday nights, we will explore together what happens when our lives intersect with God!

On January 10, we kicked off a sermon series: “The Gifts of God.” Here is what is coming up in that series:

Jan 10 – The Gift of Baptism

Jan 17 – The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Jan 24 – The Gift of the Church

Jan 31 – The Gift of Love

Feb 7 – The Gift of a Mission

Feb 14 – The Gift of Seeing God

On Wednesday nights from Jan 13 – Feb 10, we will gather to discuss our spiritual gifts. What have you been gifted with? How can you best use your gifts to glorify God be in service to the world? Come join us as we discover our gifts together!

The United Methodist Church has a great tool for helping you determine your spiritual gifts. I encourage you to check it out and use what you learn to get plugged into ministry!

All of us have been affected by the devastation in Haiti over the last week. We are gifted by God to serve, and our service is needed in our home communities and abroad, particularly at this time in Haiti. The first step right now is to pray: for the Haitian people, for those giving aid and assistance, for guidance as to what God has in store for us. The second step is to give funds: and UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is an amazing agency to channel your giving through. Because the larger church pays for the overhead costs of this organization, 100% of your donations will get to relief efforts in Haiti.

We are given gifts that we might join with God to reach out to the world in mission and service. Join us at AUMC as we seek to discover our gifts to better reach out!

Join us at 7:30 pm on Sunday, December 20th for a very special choral cantata entitled: “Love Transcending.” The Aragon UMC Choir and various members of our extended community have worked for months to bring you this exciting and moving musical event. We are delighted to have Gina Hicks of Shorter College accompanying the choir. Everyone is invited for this free holiday concert!

There are so many ways that you can spend the coming weeks preparing for the arrival of Jesus – we hope you will join us as we prepare our hearts and reach out to our community in service.

Sunday, November 29 – Advent Festival! We will have our regular two Sunday morning services, and then we will gather at 6:00 pm for a Fifth Sunday special event. We will gather in the Fellowship Hall and learn about the Advent Season, sing Advent songs, make Advent wreaths to take home, and make decorations for our tree at church. A great way to learn more about how we can spend time getting ready spiritually for Christmas!

Starting November 22 until December 20th, we will be sponsoring families in need through our Angel Tree. Pick a child and provide them with gifts for Christmas – a great way to brighten the season for kids in our community.

Wednesdays: December 2, 9, 16 – Join us for a three-week Bible Study called Preparing for Jesus. We will read through some of the Old Testament Scriptures that point to the coming of Christ. Join us at 6:00 pm for a free fellowship dinner, and the study time (and children’s activities) will begin at 6:45 pm. Join us and invite a friend!

We will host a Live Nativity December 21-23 in the evenings (from 6-8 pm) in the front lawn of the church. New this year: live animals! Come and see our depiction of what the birth of Christ was like – free refreshments will be served.

You are invited to two special Worship Services in the week before Christmas. On Monday, December 21, a special Longest Night service will allow us to name the difficult parts of the holiday season as we gather during the longest night of the year and wait on the light of Christ together. Anjie Peek Woodworth will be preaching.

And we will celebrate our Christmas Eve service at 5:00 pm on December 24th. Join us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior! Families and friends are of course welcome to attend!

Finally, Aragon UMC will be hosting a Christmas Vacation Bible School the week after Christmas from 9-12 am on December 29-31. Come learn about the meaning of the season and have fun singing songs, making crafts, and more as we become Children of the Light. All kids ages 5 and up are invited!

We hope you will join us for as many of these events and projects as you can!