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g{x `ÉÇ|àÉÜ St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church

2738MacArthur View, San Antonio, Texas 78217 January 2016 www.smumcsa.org

The Gift That Keeps On Giving I remember the time when I switched from looking forward to getting gifts to looking forward to giving gifts and seeing joy and delight on people’s faces. I wish I could say that every gift gave people smiles but I missed more than I hit the target. Over the years I learned how to be a better gift buyer. But there was a second stage I went through. I wanted to find a gift that would be used and appreciated more than once. I felt an excitement when I saw my mom wearing the earrings in March that I gave her at Christmas. I felt pleased when I saw my little brother playing again and again with the toy I bought him. Have you felt those feelings? There were many gifts I received that I was excited to get. Where are they now? There were gifts that I bought others that were very appreciated. But, where are they now? The reality is that things of this world don’t last. Case in point, the golf balls my daughter bought me are in the lakes and woods and, hopefully, found by other golfers and reused. Nothing of this world lasts. So, why are we so focused on worldly things? Things in the world are experienced by our five senses. We have honed those senses since we were born. Things of God’s Kingdom are spiritual in nature. They are only recognized by our spiritual sense. Unfortunately we haven’t honed that sense very well. Just as it takes a baby years to learn to interpret the worldly senses, it takes adults years to interpret the spiritual reality of God’s Kingdom through prayer, bible study, fellowship, worship and service. The greatest gift that we have received is God’s forgiveness through the cross of Jesus Christ. That is the gift that keeps on giving. It is all about relationships. One of the greatest gifts that we can give is also the gift of forgiveness. If we make the choice to reach out to someone we are estranged from and they respond, we will be a reflection of God’s gift to us. It will be a gift that will keep on giving. God’s gift of forgiveness and reconciliation is with us every day. The Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s work of redemption in our lives. God went to the junk yard of this creation and reclaimed us by the power of the cross. The Holy Spirit is teaching us to be more sensitive to God’s movement in our lives. We grow as Disciples when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into areas that seem to be uncomfortable. Once we make the decision to follow, we find that the place we thought would be uncomfortable turns out to be a place of great blessing. As 2015 leaves and 2016 enters, lets make a resolution to follow the Spirit into whatever areas of life God wants us to be in. If we say no and turn back to the world then nothing changes in our lives. But, if we say yes and obey, there will be great blessings waiting for us.

Alan

In This Edition: Page 1 Pastor Article

Page 2 Information, Admin Board, Attendance

Page 3 Sunday School Classes/ Monday Night Bible Study

Page 4 PNO / Keep Wednes day Night Free

Page 5 Huggers/Rockers, Fellowship Time, XYZ Page 6 Day School Page 7 Agua Viva Ministry Page 8 Calendar Page 9 /10 Children’s Christ mas Program Page 11 Events Page 12 Angel Tree/ St. Matthew’s Memorial Fund

Page 13 UMW Page 14 Prayer List Page 15 Welcome/ Thank

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Average Church and Sunday School

Attendance October 2015

Through December 2015

WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Sunday Morning Worship

8:30 a.m.—Traditional Worship Service/Sanctuary

11:00 a.m.—Blended Worship Service/Sanctuary

Sunday School—9:45 a.m.

CHURCH STAFF

Pastor Alan Delafield

Associated Pastor of Agua Viva Veronica Harvey

Business Administrator Hermy Rudloff

Children & Family Ministries Director Judy Langford

College/Youth Ministries Director Tim Diemert

Day School Director Nikki Irving

Secretary Diane Garza

Music Director David Cain

Organist Irwin Witebsky

Handbell Director Susan Collins

Nursery Coordinator Annalie Tamez

Pastor’s Office Hours

Church Office Hours

Monday-Thursday 9:00 am to 4:00pm

Friday - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Phone: (210) 822-0252 Fax: (210) 828-2195

Church Email Address Information@smumcsa.org

St. Matthew’s Website www.smumcsa.org

St. Matthew’s Day School Phone: (210) 826-4850

Bible Studies at St. Matthew’s Monday:

Monday Night Bible Study, 7:00 pm, Room 105 (will resume Janu-ary 11th)

Tuesday: Women of Faith, 8:00 am, Room 105 Tuesday Morning Bible Study, 9:30 am, Room 105

Wednesday: Keep Wednesday Nights FREE—Study for Adults, Youth, Chil-dren, and nursery for the little ones ( will resume January 13th)

Agua Viva Woman's Bible Study 10:00 am , Fellowship Hall

Administrative Board 2016: Chairman Eugene Hileman

Vice Chairman Ralph Pipes

Lay Leader for 8:30 am Jo Reinschmidt

Lay Leader for 11:00 am Anne Verner

Conference Delegate Carolyn Twyford

Conference Delegate Alternate Jo Reinschmidt

Treasurer Mike Verner

Secretary Jeanie Etter

COM Chair Steve Shrader

Finance Chair Fred Long

SPRC Chair Bill Twyford

Month Church Sunday School Small Groups October 172 125 November 170 118 December 224 (only 2 Sundays) 125

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SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ALL AGES 9:45 AM

Preschool 3-4 year olds – meet in room 606. Contact person: Judy Lang-ford (822-0252 ext. 105) Kinder through 1st grade - meet in room 604.Contact person: Judy Lang-ford (822-0252 ext. 105) Grades 2nd through 5th grade explore the Bible using music, art, sci-ence, games, story, and cooking. They begin each session in room 611. Contact person: Judy Langford (822-0252 ext. 105)

Teens and Tweens meet in the Youth Building. Contact Youth Team: Tim and Kelli Diemert (940-594-8633)

Come and See Class: (All Ages) Meets in room 301 (Deats Bldg). A disci-pleship class on knowing Christ and making him know. Studying “Romans” Contact person: Jim Humphries (494-0112) assisted by John Shero. New Seasonings: (Middle Adult) Meets in room 603. Studying “ Living the Questions”, The Church’s Hidden Strength by Barbra Wendland. Con-tact person: David Mack (654-0162)

Son Shine Class: (Senior Adult) Meets in room 605. Studying the Book of Galatians. Contact person: Marsha Humphries (494-0112)

Voyagers: (Senior Adult) Meets in room 601. Adult Bible Study . Contact person: Frank Tyk (655-2324)

Friends of Faith: (Young & Middle Adult) – meets in the Fellowship Hall. Contact person: Greg Klaerner (402-3711)

Covenant Believers: Meets in the Abel Chapel (Middle Adult) Contact persons: Anne Verner 655-7380 or Judy Langford 822-0252 .

Monday Night Bible Study 7:00 PM - Room 105

Will resume January 11, 2016

You are invited to join our group on Monday nights at 7:00 pm in the Con-ference, in the Church Office Building, Room 105. We invite all ages, from youth to adults. We are currently studying the bible by including religious videos from vari-ous groups, such as, National Geographic, International History and other historic educational research material. If you have any questions regarding this class, please contact Ken Lingle at

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NO PARENTS NIGHT OUT IN JANUARY

Will resume February 5th 6:30 – 9:30 PM

Ages 12 months to 5th grade Volunteers are always needed for our monthly Parent’s Night Out Ministry Sched-uled on the first Friday night of each month. Getting involved is such a blessing to the children. The children arrive at 6:30 pm for play, dinner, story, crafts, and games and stay till 9:30 pm. We are using our Power Xpress Sunday School curriculum as a basis for planning each month’s activities. It’s a blessing to reach children with the Good News of Jesus Christ. This outreach is a living expression of the vitality of this church.

Please contact Maria Cantu at 270-505-3578

If you have any questions

Wednesday night F. R. E. E. January 13, 2016

F ellowship R elationship E ducate E nergize

Supper, worship, study for children, youth and adults 6:00—6:30 Supper 6:30—6:45 Worship 6:45—7:45 Study for all ages

Elementary ages: Kindergarten - 4th grade Tweens: Fifth and sixth grade

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SUNDAY FELLOWSHIP REFRESHMENT TIME - 2016

January New Seasonings February Friends of Faith March Come and See

Thank you to volunteers who are making a difference with our young-est St. Matthew’s family members. It’s never too late to join this won-derful ministry which happens at 11:00 in the nursery every Sunday morning. For more information contact Judy Langford at 822-0252

Hugger and Rocker Schedule

January 3 Cindy & Shelby Campbell January 10 Steve & Carolyn Schrader January 17 Debbie Barrow January 31 Deborah Aelvoet

XYZ ADULT FELLOWSHIP will meet on January 13th at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Lunch will be provided. Join us for fellowship and interesting conversation. question

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Nikki Irving and Staff St. Matthew’s Day School dayschool@smumcsa.org

Phone—210-826-4850 Website www.smumcsa.org

St. Matthew’s Day School, with the blessing of God we are continuing to grow. We have over 77 students enrolled; several more babies that God has blessed parents with are on our wait-ing list. God is truly showing St. Matthew’s that when you’re faithful and patient, His work is abundant! The kids, staff, and parents had a blast at the St. Matthew’s Family Feast on No-vember 20th, 2015. This month, we will have a lot of fun, stories, and games played that will be amusing and enjoyable to all children, parents, and staff. The Christmas spirit is spread-ing around at St. Matthew’s have you seen our Christmas tree? We have a lot planned this month on December 11th we will have our pancakes with Mrs. Claus. You don’t want to miss the excitement and joy that the kids have with Mrs. Claus as they have pancakes, take pic-tures and ask her all about her jolly ol’ husband. On December 11th at 6:30 pm we will hold our annual Christmas program, everyone is welcome to attend. Come and join us as we give thanks to God and show the true meaning behind Christmas. That following week on Friday, December 18th, we will have our Happy Meals with Santa. Santa comes to each class at St. Matthew’s and shares some delicious chicken nugget happy meals with the children to be sure they are all ready for his arrival on Christmas morning. On Wednesday, December 23rd, the school will host its annual Reindeer Games activities in the gym. We can always use vol-unteers that are willing to help the teachers when it is their selected time to participate in the Reindeer Games. To end it all, that Wednesday the teachers will prepare classroom parties for their classes. The teachers have requested that each child brings a wrapped book, labeled boy or girl so the children can do a book exchange amongst their class. The books do not have to be new book, or purchased, but in good condition to do an exchange within the class.

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2016

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A big thank you to all those that made our Children’s Christmas play such a success. A huge thank you to Maria Cantu, Kelli Diemert and Heather Mason, our fearless directors. It was a great evening and a blessing to us all. The chili cook-off raised $89.96 for our children’s account. The win-ners this year were: Chili Desserts 1st place Tim Diemert 1st place Heather Herrmann 2nd place Jack Hoover 2nd place Pat Howell 3rd place Judy Langford 3rd place Annelie Tamez Thank you to all who made chili, attended the program, prayed for the event and helped with costumes. Check out all the great pictures on our website under the Children’s Ministry page thanks to our excellent photog-rapher, Gene Hileman.

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Emmaus Community Kickoff Gathering for 2016 *****Everyone is Invited*****

Please join us for the first gathering of the Emmaus Community for 2016 on Tuesday, January 12th at 6:00 pm. We will begin with a potluck in the Fellowship Hall, so bring something you want to share. After eating we will move into the sanctuary to enjoy music, more spiritual fel-lowship, 4th Day Talk, Communion, more music, prayer time, more music……you get the pic-ture. We have a wonderful time sharing love, hugs, and above all---- the true Love of Jesus Christ. This invitation is extended to everyone --- so please come and see what the Emmaus Community Gathering is all about. We guarantee you will have a wonder experience. You do not have to have been on an Emmaus Walk. Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!! Questions call: Steve Schrader or Carolyn Johnston-Schrader 210-473-7518 or 473-7527

December 27, 2015 Sunday School at 9:30

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Thanks to the generosity of the St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church congrega-tion, 73 children (24 families) received Christmas presents this year. We were able to provide a small family gift, as well as the children’s this year. Thank you all for the purchasing, organizing, wrapping and delivering of presents this year. A special thank you to Tim and Kelli Diemert who purchased and wrapped multiple presents for about 8 children with the cash provided by the congregation.

Are you aware of the Memorial Fund at St Matthews? This fund is used to provide Memori-al Gifts or Honorariums. These gifts are funded by contributions over and above a person’s current commitment to the Church. They may be designated for specific items or projects or may be directed to the General Memorial Fund.

Previous funds have been used in building projects, purchases of equipment to help run the church and Day School.

The funds come in many forms including cash, securities, personal property or bequests by a persons will. We encourage you and your family to consider donating to the Memorial Fund to honor a loved one.

PleasecontactHermyRudloffat(210)822-0252x102ifyouhaveanyquestions.

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Jorge, Vanessa, Jorge Jr. &

Alba Garza

Jhonathan T. Rodriguez

Cynthia Freiling

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The St. Matthew’s Messenger This is a new article page that will be available for anyone to:

express joys, announcements, celebrations, special needs of jobs or articles you need in your home, sharing your talents or gifts, thank you’s, and other sentiments. Please call Diane at 822-0252 or email to information@smumcsa.org by the 3rd Fri-day of each month, which is the monthly Monitor article dead-

Synthia Collins is a Certified C.N.A and does home health care on weekends. If you know of someone needing a loving, caring provider, please contact her at 210-902-6557.

Anyone needing a ride to the doctor, or grocery shopping or picking up prescriptions—our Nur-ture Ministry can help you, so please call the church office and let them know.

REMINDER:

We do not have up-to-date information for 40% of our church family. Please notify us of your new or updated home phone number, cell number, work numbers, change of address, and email address-es and changes. We receive phone calls every day where members are trying to reach other mem-bers, and we can’t help them, because our information is not up-to-date. We still have work num-bers for people who retired 20 years ago. Please help us!!! Diane Garza, Secretary

To everyone that made it out to “Church Work Day” We couldn't have done it without you !!!

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fàA `tàà{xãËá United Methodist Church

2738 MacArthur View San Antonio, TX 78217-4503

Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

San Antonio, Texas Permit No. 1283

-Address Service Requested-

Piano Lessons by

Irwin Witebsky - St. Matthew’s organist Expert instruction for a

reasonable fee Please call (210) 690-2188

Comfort-Air Engineering, Inc.

“A New Generation of Comfort!”

11403 Jones Maltsberger / www.comfort-air.com / Phone: 210-494-1691

Robert & Georganne Freund St. Matthew’s members since 1984

Commercial / Residential / Sales & Service

St. Matthew’s is all about FAMILY!!!

Come see what God is doing at St. Matthew’s!!!!

January 2016

Check out our awesome website at - www.smumcsa.org