The Beacon

Blue Mound UMC Month 2023

The Greatest Christmas Gift

   The greatest Christmas gift ever given wasn’t placed under the tree.

He was place on the tree and

His name is JESUS.   

 

 

 

What Are the Sacraments? (Part Three)

The Lord’s Supper is also sometimes called Holy Communion, and sometimes called the Eucharist (a word that means “thanksgiving”). In this sacrament, we remember and give thanks for what Christ has done for us. Most often when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the minister will recite the “Words of Institution.” These are words Jesus said on the night before he died on the cross. We read of these words in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, though the earliest account that we have of them comes from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This is why, when we receive the bread during communion, the person serving it to us says something like, “The body of Christ, broken for you,” and when we receive the cup, “The blood of Christ, shed for you.” The server is remembering the words Jesus said on the night on which Judas, one of his followers, betrayed him.

Like baptism, though, the Lord’s Supper is not simply a remembrance. It is also a means of grace, a way in which we come to know and love God more fully by the power of the Holy Spirit. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Christ when the minister (priest) prays over them. They may still look like and taste like bread and wine, but they are in fact Christ’s flesh and blood. Though we respect these sisters and brothers in the faith, Wesleyans have a different understanding of what happens to the bread and wine. We believe that Christ really is present, though the essence of the bread and wine remains the same. When the minister prays over the bread and wine, the Holy Spirit makes Christ really present for us. Then, like spiritual medicine, Christ goes to work on our hearts, healing them of everything that can separate us from God. Just as with baptism, then, the Lord’s Supper is mainly about what God does, not what we do. It is God’s work in the Lord’s Supper, not the work of the minister, the server, or the recipient, that is most important.

Next month we’ll continue looking at What Are the Sacraments? I pray that you may come to understand and believe more and more with each passing day, just how special and loved by God you are!

Peace be with you, Buster

 

What is the Most Favorite Christmas Gift you received over the years?

*A loveseat glider Monroe had made in secret for our front porch.   -Judy Klein

*My Favorite Christmas Gift I have ever received is a clear pint fruit jar from Judy Klein.  It was to hold stamps and pens. It is wonderful to sit on my desk to keep my stamps and a pen handy.       Kay Trietsch

 

The most special gift to us happened years ago when all of our family; kids and grandkids all decided they want to be together on Christmas when at all possible and to worship together at Blue Mound UMC on Christmas Eve.                               -J.B. and Shirley Haisler

*A memory book my mom made with photos and memories of my senior year in high school.  > Hayden Muns

 

*My favorite gift to open on Christmas morning was the American Girl doll I asked for each year.  Karan Muns

 

*Yellow seat covers for his car. David Muns

 

*The Christmas present I have never forgotten was one from my grandmother when I was 7 years old.  In a beautiful box from her I received more than Two dozen ribbons for my French braided pigtails.  They were in every color of plaid and checks along with solids of various sizes.   Also in the box was a bottle of Friendship Garden cologne and a nail file and a pair of cuticle scissors.  To play with she made my Betsy Wetsy doll a complete wardrobe of play clothes, pjs and dresses.  By Elizabeth Snapp

*I like giving to others and seeing the joy they have when opening a gift, I think this is my most favorite Christmas gift.        –  Nancy Franklin

*My most favorite Christmas gift is Jesus!  -Robert Franklin

*Over the years I have received many Christmas gifts, but my favorite gift was the time spent together with family. As children and grandchildren grew up and went their own way, Christmas family gatherings became more precious.  -Linda Boyer

*BB gun around 1940 = Alton Taylor

*I couldn’t believe it when I came out of my bedroom on Christmas morning and saw a stingray bicycle next to the tree. I knew it was mine because there was only my sister and me and it was a boy’s bike. Like every year, my cousin Lesa and I had spent all year at the foldout card table pasting stamps in the green stamp book. And like every year I had picked out a couple of things out of the green stamp catalog that I knew we had enough stamps to get. Never in my life could I ever imagine I would get something not in the green stamp catalog! And it was such an extravagant gift! In that moment, I felt like the luckiest boy in the world!   >Pastor Buster

Special Message from Kay Trietsch

Memory is a great gift. Calling back moments of joy, from a loved one’s wedding to a favorite concert, keeps us close to those happy experiences long after they end. Nostalgia, meanwhile, is a particularly potent form of memory, and one that tends to be bittersweet, as it often comes with a pang of sadness from longing to return to the past. At its best, nostalgia lets us appreciate what we’ve had; in yearning for the way things once were, we understand how lucky we’ve been. That fond recollection can even be a call to action: When we remember those moments when we felt most alive, we might seek out more of that feeling, filling our lives with experiences to treasure. Memory would bring us to give gifts today to have and share the same feelings.  We do not want to live in the past but we know how to make the future better.  >> Kay  

 ♥Thank You All for Making Our December Newsletter Special.  And Thank You, Kay for the idea of “My Most Favorite Christmas Gift”. – Linda

 

 

Birthday

12 Jim Bridges

16 Theresa Spurgeon

18 Vivienne Haisler

25 Gayla Ziegel

30 Alyse Hokamp

Gabriella Hardin-Satter

Anniversary

16 Gayland and Beth Fleming

14 Harley and Stephanie Hutson

19 Brenda and Steve Minnis

 

December 21 = The First Day of Winter

 

   December Calendar

01 Decorate for Advent 

03 Holy Communion

10 Second Sunday Lunch, Noon

23 Family Fellowship Night, 6:00 pm Fun, Games, and Food.

24 Christmas Eve Service, 4 p.m.

25 Merry Christmas

31 Happy New Year’s Eve

 

Advent Decorating

Come Join Us December 1 at 5 p.m.

 We’ll have Christmas music and hot chocolate and a great time of fellowship while we prepare our church for the Christmas season.  Everyone welcome!

There are so many wonderful things that happen in December. Here at church and other places. Please Remember, no matter where you go always take the Peace, Joy and Love of Jesus Christ with you for all to see.

 

BLUE MOUND UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

8421 N. Interstate 35, Denton, TX 76207-1537    (940) 382-0825

Midway between Denton and Sanger at Exit 473

Sunday School: 9:30 am, Sunday Worship: 10:45 am

Website: www.bluemoundumc.org

Linda Boyer, Newsletter Editor

Need to contact Pastor Buster Noah?

Email:  pastor@bluemoundumc.org