2022-11-27 Beacon

WELCOME

Shalimar UMC

Lead Pastor

Dr. Philip McVay

Dr. Brad Bradford Worship Pastor

Rev. David Garvin Youth Pastor

Rev. Matt Langford Associate Pastor

Gerald Batton Custodian

Chris Bennett Facility & Maintenance Manager

Pat Brantley Office Administrative Assistant

Abigail Denney Media & Communications

Joy Harris Financial Assistant

Denise Heath Finance

Sarah Hicks Children’s Director

Karen Jadin Preschool Director

Tony Mallini Interim Church Administrator

Shawn Moore Custodian

Heyward McKenzie Chef

Katie Pascoe Nursery Director

Leigh J. Rice Respite Director

Dawn Rozofsky

After School & Camp Director

Ben Savage Worship Arts

Jeremy Thiess Ministries Assistant

After Hours Emergency Pastoral Assistance

Dr. Philip McVay: (850) 607-1133

Dr. Brad Bradford: (850) 227-4328

Rev. David Garvin: (850) 319-0072

Rev. Matt Langford: (334) 437-3931

Table Of Contents

Our Vision

Christ-centerd, multi-generational, family & community relevant ministries through worship, discipleship, and mission.

Tite Text Here Page No.

This Sunday in Worship Page 5

Philip’s Focus Page 6

Matt’s Message Page 7

What’s Happening | Church Life Page 8 Weekly Schedule Page 10

Page 12

Announcements

Thank You Notes Page 13

2022 Advent Calendar Page 14

Joyful Place Page 15

Connect With Us | Social Media Page 16

Our Mission

We REACH out to our congregation, community, and the world. We TEACH the word of God as provided in the Holy-Scripture. We SEND our members and missionaries to be witnesses to God’s grace and His promise of eternal life.

Worship Services

Sunday at Shalimar

Traditions: 8AM & 11AM

Meet us in the Sanctuary as we celebrate through the rich traditions of our faith. Such as hymns led by organ and piano, seasonal vestments, and Traditional Methodist liturgy. Our Chancel Choir leads the 11AM service.

Connect: 9:30AM

Join us in the Sanctuary as we engage in a fourfold services of gathering, praise, ser vice of the Word, Holy Communion with candle stations of prayer, and sending forth. Worship is a blend of contemporary praise songs and upbeat hymns.

Freedom: 11:07AM

Located in the Family Life Center Gym as we come together and worship through modern music, Fellowship time, and listen to an inspirational message in a contemporary atmosphere.

This Sunday in Worship November

27, 2022

Advent 1: Hope & Mary

8AM | TRADITIONS | SANCTUARY

In Person & Online

Message by Dr. Philip McVay Worship Led by Dr. Brad Bradford

9:30AM | CONNECT |

SANCTUARY

In Person & Online Message by Dr. Philip McVay Worship Led by Dr. Brad Bradford & The Connect Worship Team Holy Communion Celebrated by Rev. Matt Langford

11AM | TRADITIONS | SANCTUARY

In Person & Online

Message by Dr. Philip McVay

Worship Led by Dr. Brad Bradford

11:07AM

CENTER

| FREEDOM | FAMILY LIFE

In Person & Online

Message by Rev. Matt Langford

Worship Led by Ben Savage and the Freedom Team

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a de scendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his an cestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

- Luke 1:26-38 NLT

Philip’s Focus

Our Focus is on Jesus this Advent

The sights, sounds, and atmosphere around us are beginning to change! Advent is here and Christ mas is coming soon! Shalimar UMC will enter the Advent Season this Sunday, November 27th. Ad vent is a four-week journey leading us to Christmas Eve.

In the coming weeks, we will be experiencing music, preaching, special programs, and liturgy that prepare us to celebrate the good news of Jesus’ birth. One frequent question we will hear is … “Are you ready for Christmas?” Our preparation as a church is one of the hearts. We want to make room among the special event, socials, shopping, and meeting unrealistic expectations to slow down and worship Jesus.

This year we are clearing our calendar and not having any church administrative meetings during Advent. Why? We do not want any distractions from the good news of Jesus’ birth. We seek to sim plify and focus on the good news… “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel! (Which means God with us) Matthew 1:23.

Our sermons for Advent will focus on the journey of Mary, Joseph, and Elizabeth. Matt and I are co-teaching a church-wide Advent Study at 5:45 each Wednesday. We hope everyone will plan to share this time with us.

Our world has so many distractions. There is so much sad news, anger, division, worry, and stress to day. We do not have to settle for all these distractions. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and offers hope for our world. Let Jesus be our focus this year!

May the Lord bless you and yours to have your most meaningful Advent ever! Over the next 28 days of Advent let our preparations of the heart begin!

Lead Pastor Dr. Philip McVay

philip@shalimar-umc.org

Shalom, Philip

YOU ARE INVITED!

I want to personally invite you to our Advent Bible Study this season. It will begin this Wednesday, November 30. This year we are hoping to bring the entire church together as each age level (children, youth, young adults, and adults) go through the same study. We will be following the outline of a study called “The Journey” that will lead us to Bethlehem as we follow Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and angels as we prepare for the Christ Child.

Not only will we study together but we will also have an opportunity each Wednesday to have a family light the advent wreath as we light our own wreaths together at our tables during Wednesday night dinner. This will be a wonderful way to get more people involved and experiencing the true meaning of Christ mas. Each week we will eat as normal, then have a more focused time of prayer and reading as we light the Advent candle. Afterwards, our children and youth will be dismissed to their classes for bible study in a way that is best for them. Meanwhile, all the adults are invited to stay in the gym for our time together.

We will begin this study at 5:45 and end at 6:45 so that we can accommodate the majority of people! I am excited about this study because it will unite our children, youth, and adults. It will allow for conversations with families about what was discussed in each class, and it will better connect our Wednesday night programming to Sunday morning sermons. This will be a wonderful church-wide opportunity and I hope you will make plans to be a part of it!

The Journey | Advent Bible Study | Wednesday Nights | Nov. 30 – Dec. 21 | 5:45- 6:45 | FLC

Stay Up To Date CHURCH LIFE 08

with what’s happening at Shalimar United Methodist Church.

Shalimar UMC has made the conscious commitment to focus more on Jesus this Advent season! That being said, there will be no church administrative meetings in the month of December.

SPR, Church Council, Finance, and Trustees will meet again in January.

Santa is coming to town on December 10 from 8-10am in the FLC to join us for breakfast, story-time, photos, and MORE! You can RSVP by visiting shalimar-umc.org/children and completing the RSVP form.

Registration closes next Sunday, December 4.

Next Sunday night on the 4th, our Children’s program is having its Annual Children’s Christmas Musical at 6pm in the Family Life Center.

Next Sunday on December 4, our Youth Choir will be performing their Christmas Musical during our 9:30 and 11:07 worship services in the Family Life Center.

Make sure you stop by the Sanctuary Narthex in the upcoming weeks to take a look at our Angel Tree. This year MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) will be directing the Angel Tree efforts. We encourage all of you to take a name and help spread the love of God this Christmas to children who need it the most in our community.

If you have any questions, please contact Sara Morrison at (850) 240-2005

If you are interested and are available, we are in need of bus drivers on Sunday monings!

Every Sunday morning we pick up those who need a ride to the 11am service from the senior living community, The Meridian at Westwood. If this is something you feel led towards or have any questions, please contact Keith Latimer at (850) 218-2366

Last Sunday we were given the opportunity to write Thank You notes to God. I thought I would share a few throughout the following weeks to keep us in the thankful mindset!

JoyfulPlace