CHRISTMAS EVE
Saturday, December 24
“The Gift of a Child”
Holy Communion served at all services
Noon Candlelight Service
Sanctuary | Rev. Linda McDermott
Family Candlelight Services
3:30 & 5:00 pm | Sanctuary
Dr. Tim Bruster & Mister Mark Burrows
Come join us for an evening filled with all our cherished traditions — candlelight, Christmas carols, Communion, and the wondrous story of Jesus’ birth. We’ll also have our kid-favorite Christmas Eve puppet show.
Traditional Candlelight Services
7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 pm | Sanctuary | Dr. Tim Bruster
The gift of the Christ Child to this world is the gift of light piercing through the darkness; God’s Word made flesh. The traditions of Christmas and the beauty of this night are enhanced by uplifting music and proclamation of the Word, celebrating Holy Communion, singing carols, and lighting candles. The Sanctuary doors will open 20 minutes prior to each service, and special music will be performed by First Church Brass and our own Peggy Graff on organ.
Christmas Eve Connections
4:15 – 4:45 pm | First Church carolers
6:15 – 6:45 & 8:15 – 8:45 pm | Cellist Dace Sultanov
10:15 – 10:45 pm | Christmas music
Wesley Hall
Arrive early before the evening Christmas Eve services to get a good parking place, visit with your friends, and beat the rush! Join us in Wesley Hall for refreshments and beautiful music while waiting for the Sanctuary to open. The doors will open 20 minutes prior to each service.
Valet Parking
Complimentary Valet Parking Assistance will be available from 3:00 – 10:30 pm for anyone with mobility issues. Just turn into the Justin Building lot from 7th Street, and then come straight through to 5th Street where you’ll find the Valet Parking stand. You can drop your car off and take the ramp straight into the Sanctuary for the 3:30, 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 pm services. The doors will open 20 minutes prior to each service.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Sunday, December 25
A Service of Story & Song
One service at 11:00 am | Sanctuary
“The Gift of Christ”
Our various worshipping communities will join together in one service of story and song in the Sanctuary. Worship will include carol singing, a special Children’s Moment, the Word in story presented by our ministers, and special music.
There will be no adult, youth, or children’s Sunday School classes on Sunday, December 25.
The nursery will be available for 0 – Pre-K.
The church will be closed on Monday, December 26, and Tuesday, December 27.
Worship Bulletins
“The Gift of a Child”
Dr. Tim Bruster
Last in the Advent series: “We Have Gifts to Open”
This Christmas Eve we will open the final and most important gift in our Advent worship series, “We Have Gifts to Open.” With “The Gift of a Child” we open the amazing gift of possibility — a gift that, in the larger picture, could go unnoticed, a seeming non-event that one day makes all the difference in the world.
During all the power and political struggles on the world stage at the time Jesus was born, the birth of a single baby in a Bethlehem stable could have seemed to be of no significance at all. And yet, as we all know now, the birth of the Christ Child that year — and again each year in our hearts — was the gift that changed everything for all time.
The gift of the Christ Child reminds us that sometimes it is the promise, such as in the birth of a child — or even in becoming childlike — that holds the most significant possibilities. Sometimes it is in the smallest of events, decisions, or actions that we find the seeds of unfolding greatness beyond our original intention or imagination.
One of my favorite stories about this is the recounting of 1809. It was an ordinary year by all the measurements available in that time. Nothing remarkable happened at all. Well, wait. There were 10 babies born that year in the midst of many others, of course, that I should probably mention. They were just regular babies, born in the usual way, to more or less typical parents and families and lives. Their names were Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin, Kit Carson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Felix Mendelssohn, William Travis, Cyrus McCormick, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Louis Braille. With the birth of these babies came future impact no one could have possibly imagined at the time of their birth — and yet now we can’t imagine what our world would be like without the gifts they delivered to the world.
With that in mind, what great possibilities are being born into our world today? What small, seemingly insignificant event is waiting to blossom into something of greater impact than we can begin to imagine right now?
The Gift of a Child brings into our lives a continuous reminder of possibilities we can’t yet imagine that first appear to us as something small and seemingly insignificant. A phone call. An unexpected visit. An event you didn’t really want to attend. Registering for a class. Responding to a sense of call that doesn’t really make much sense, but feels important nonetheless. Where and when will your greatest possibility be born?
I look forward to opening The Gift of a Child with you on Christmas Eve. The last verse of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” expresses beautifully the gift we open at Christmas as the Christ Child is born in us anew:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Tim Bruster,
Senior Pastor
Isaiah 9:2-7
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned. You have made the nation great; you have increased its joy. They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest, as those who divide plunder rejoice. As on the day of Midian, you’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them, the staff on their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor. Because every boot of the thundering warriors, and every garment rolled in blood will be burned, fuel for the fire. A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and authority will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be vast authority and endless peace for David’s throne and for his kingdom, establishing and sustaining it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces will do this.
ADVENT
2016 Advent Programs and Events
Welcome to Advent 2016: We Have Gifts to Open
The days leading up to Christmas are some of the most beautiful, exciting, and anxiety-producing days of the year. This season of Advent, intended as a time of preparation and anticipation, has become cluttered with so many distractions, “to-do” lists, obligations, and plans that many of us simply miss out on the very sacred opportunities present.
This season of Advent, even as our thoughts start to whirl around gifts, shopping lists, or our own wish lists, we as a faith community will also be exploring the gifts God gives us in the coming of the Christ Child. Examining passages from Isaiah together each week, we’ll be considering deeply what it means to receive and open those gifts.
To help you in this exploration, we’ve also created a Devotional Guide, in both print and digital formats, which offers a weekly theme along with daily devotionals that reflect back on that week’s theme. I hope you will set aside time in the busy days ahead to read each day’s devotional and prayer, re-read the scripture for the week, think about the gifts God offers to us and to our world: gifts of Vision, Peace, Song, and Presence.
Blessings to you and yours as we open these gifts together this Advent season!
MEMBER NEWS
NEW MEMBERS
Amber & Chase Florio
William Wright
BAPTISM
Maura Grace Graham, daughter of DeAndrea & Aaron Graham
HOSPITALIZATION
Tyler McGuire
MEMORIALS
Charles Wunderlich
Walter Gates
GIFTS & MEMORIALS
MEMORIAL GIFTS
Christmas Offering in Memory of:
Clare & William Bird by Pamela & William Bird Jr.
Methodist Justice Ministry in Memory of:
George Hopkins by Jenny & Davis Purcell
HONORARY GIFTS
Children’s Ministries in Honor of:
Sara Davis by Jenny & Davis Purcell
Choral Union in Honor of:
Nancy Phillips by Lorayne Goodwin
Christmas Offering in Honor of:
Dr. Tim Bruster by Connie Beck
Peggy Graff by Connie Beck
Robert Stovall by Connie Beck
Susan Bruster by Connie Beck
First Street Methodist Mission in Honor of:
Anne & Bob Bass by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Anne Marie & Doug Bratton by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Barbara & Morty Herman by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Barbie & Leland Clemons by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Christina & Mark Johnson by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Cornelia & Jim Blake by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Cynthia & Terry Siegel by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Deborah & Tom Sturdivant by Marilyn & Byron Baird
Dee Lynn Aguilar by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Diane & Wade McMullen by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Emmy Lou Prescott by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Gail & Bill Landreth by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Gayla & Blaine Scheiderman by Marilyn & Byron Baird
Jerry Colwell by Jenny & Davis Purcell
Joanie & Toby Darden by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Kathe & Steve Goodwin by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Kay & Bill Howell by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Kristi & David McMullen by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Laurie & Clark Kemble by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Mira Dickerson by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Nancy & Jim Phillips by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Norma Loughridge by Marilyn & Byron Baird
Olivia Mason by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Pat & Arch Van Meter by Marilyn & Byron Baird
Pat & Karl Alexander by Marilyn & Byron Baird
Patti & Mike McConnell by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Sara & Peter Sterling by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Suzanne & Kevin Levy by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Tommy Smith by Nenetta & Steve Tatum
Foundation Memorial Fund in Honor of:
Sid Johnston by Carolyn & Gerald Grieser
Thanksgiving Baskets in Honor of:
Al Crim by Jenny & Davis Purcell
WHO’S BLOGGING
Christmas Eve “Teaser” Video
Mark Burrows
Hi Families,
Some of you (kids mostly) have been asking about what we have in store for the special message (aka the annual puppet show).
Here is a little preview: Read more.
Presence — The Greatest Gift of All
Andrew Mochrie
I was at a youth ministry conference when I was early on in my youth ministry vocation and a speaker there once told me that 95 percent of youth ministry is just showing up. Now he wasn’t talking about programming and logistics, child safety policies, all of which are important. Read more.
Compassion and the Simple Act of Presence
Dr. Len Delony
It’s 5:00 am on December 22. It’s still very dark on this longest night of the year. But the light is coming soon . . .
Each year in this time we anticipate and celebrate the story of Christmas. It is a sacred story of Emmanuel . . . God coming into our lives in the intimacy of a mother and child. Read more.
EVENTS
Learn more about upcoming events as well as additional church activities by clicking on the links below.
Learn more
12.24 Noon Candlelight Service
Sanctuary | Rev. Linda McDermott
12.24 Family Candlelight Services
3:30 & 5:00 pm | Sanctuary
Dr. Tim Bruster & Mister Mark Burrows
12.24 Traditional Candlelight Services
7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 pm | Sanctuary | Dr. Tim Bruster
12.24 Christmas Eve Connections
4:15 – 4:45 pm | First Church Carolers
6:15 – 6:45 & 8:15 – 8:45 pm | Cellist Dace Sultanov
10:15 – 10:45 pm | Christmas music
Wesley Hall
12.25 Christmas Day Worship
A Service of Story & Song
11:00 am | Sanctuary
2017
1.1 New Year’s Day Worship
10:30 am | Refreshments | Wesley Hall
One service at 11:00 am | Sanctuary
1.7 Blessing the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth
10:00 am – 1:30 pm | Ronald McDonald House
1001 8th Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76104
1.8 Baptism 101
11:00 am | Room 230 | Registration required
1.9 – 5.11 Yoga
Mondays & Tuesdays | 9:30 – 10:30 am
Wednesdays | 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Thursdays | 8:30 – 9:30 am
Room 320 | Led by Linda Blanchard | All ages & fitness levels
Registration required | First week free | $70 per 10-class punch card
1.10 United Methodist Women Luncheon
11:30 am | Wesley Hall | $15
RSVP by noon on Friday, 1.6
Pam Foster, Director of Pastoral Care at Cook Children’s Medical Center
1.10 First We Drum
Second Tuesday of each month
7:00 – 8:30 pm | Wesley Hall
1.12 – 1.14 Created By God: Tweens, Faith, and Human Sexuality
Three-Day Educational Experience for Fifth- and Sixth-Graders and Their Parents
Wesley Hall | $25 per child | Registration required
1.13 January Parents’ Night Out
6:30 – 11:00 pm | 3 months – 12 years
$35 for first child | $45 for 2 | $55 for 3+ | $20 no-show fee
Reservations due 1.11
1.14 – 1.16 Revolution Weekend 2017: Hide and Seek
Glen Lake Camp & Retreat Center | Grades 7 – 12
Youth: $150 | Adults: $50
Guest Speaker: Anna Wheeler | Musical Guest: Bus Seven
Additional Programs
Men’s In-Depth Bible Study
Tuesdays | 7:00 – 8:00 am | Room 154
Led by Fred Cantu and other leaders
De Colores! Emmaus Ministry Fourth Day Reunion Group
First Wednesday of every month
Noon | Room 230
Walking, Running, & Cycling Group
Saturdays | 8:00 – 9:00 am
6:45 am | Cowtown training
The Trailhead at Clearfork
4801 Edwards Ranch Road
Fort Worth, TX 76109 | Waiver required
Fill Backpacks for Food 4 Kids
Sundays | Pack backpacks for 1 hour between 9:00 am – noon
First Street Methodist Mission