Give yourself some gifts

Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,
This Christmas and holiday season, as pressure and responsibilities ratchet up, it can be quite difficult to respond well to God’s incredible gift of self-revelation that is the Incarnation in Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. My hope for you this Christmas is that you will give yourself some gifts.

Give yourself the gift of stillness and honesty. At its core, that’s what our Longest Night worship experience is: Time to allow yourself—your body—to be still. Time to allow yourself—your spirit—to be honest about whatever you are experiencing. While sometimes called a Blue Christmas service, we use the name Longest Night. As the winter solstice approaches, daylight shortens until we encounter the longest night of the year. Longest Night seems an apt metaphor when the world around us expects us to be full of jolly good cheer and we. just. can’t. with. that. I invite you to join us Saturday, December 20th at 6:00pm to find solace in community.
(Plus, this is a good opportunity for those of you who long for Saturday night worship.)

Give yourself the gift of contentment. Helping neighbors meet their basic food needs is the very essence of living our faith, of following God in the Way of Jesus. Soon you will receive Minooka UMC’s Christmas letter inviting you to our worship services and inviting you to participate in our Christmas Offering. I won’t spoil the whole letter here, but I will share this: We’ve spent time this year to considering what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Giving is one of our discipleship commitments. So a tithe (the first 10%) of the Christmas Offering will go to Helping Hands Food Pantry of Minooka. Helping Hands is now serving 60 families each month—more than ever before.

Give yourself the gift of music and story. Worship with us on Christmas Eve at 4:00pm. Designed with children and families in mind, this service features a Pop-Up Pageant. What’s that? A fun, embodied telling of the Christmas story with a role for everyone present! 

Worship on Christmas Eve at 9:00pm features familiar carols, candlelight, and celebrating communion.

Give yourself the gift of inspiration. Is there anything more inspiring than stories of generosity? Here’s how our Confirmation Cohort and Youth Group are caring for neighbors in need this season. Thanks to your inspiring generosity, all 66 gift tags from our Angel Trees are taken care of. Meaning all the children of our Helping Hands Food Pantry client families will receive presents this Christmas. Our Confirmation Cohort shopped for gifts for eight of those children. Meanwhile, our Youth Group created Birthday Kits so every client family can celebrate their birthdays. Pictured here are some of our young people at work caring for their neighbors. Seeing our youth responding to God’s call to live lives of loving service is inspiring and brings to life our purpose, mission, and vision!