First Presbyterian Church Sweetwater, Texas

December 2015 The mission of our church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ

Our vision is to be an oasis of God’s love.

From the Pastor’s Pen

Dear Everybody,

I celebrate that you have raised $50,231.00 over

the past three weeks for our upstairs renovation!

Wonderful blessed gift have arrived with notes of

thanksgiving in memory and honor of all who have

been transformed by the Christian education pro-

gram of First Presbyterian Church. The Session

voted to extend the renovation to include the hall-

way and stairs. Gift are still needed to complete the

rest of the rooms. Thank you for your very gener-

ous response! What joy awaits us in the years to

come.

This week we enter into the season of Advent, a

season marked by expectant hope. The hope of

God’s Word is found in the fact that God is single-

minded about getting to know you and me; that

God has and will continue to be involved in our

lives. As Psalm 139 reminds us, there really is not

anything that we can do or anywhere we can go

that God does not already know where we are. Do

you feel alone as you are wheeled into surgery?

God is already there to receive you.

Worried about going home to a lonely apart-

ment? God is there filling it up with love! Are

you afraid to make a change? God is there en-

thusiastically guiding you! The gospels tell us

clearly:

Open your eyes! Listen! God is here! The King-

dom is ushering in all around you! Be a part of

things! God is calling you!

To walk in hope as a Christian is to live with a sense of purpose. We walk in the presence of the living God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Join with us this Advent as we light can-dles of hope, peace, joy and love in the won-drous name of Jesus. Blessings this Christmas, Kary

Advent Candle Lighting

1st Sunday of Advent~ Mitch Moore Family 2nd Sunday of Advent~ Neil Moore Family 3rd Sunday of Advent ~ Dave Collins Family 4th Sunday of Advent~ Zach & Marina Wilcox & Max Nemir Christmas Eve~ Cathy, Caleb & Katie Reed

1311 McCaulley Office hours: M ~ F, 9:00 am ~12:00pm website: www.fpcsweetwater.org

P. O. Box 956, Sweetwater, Texas 79556 325-235-5491 email: secfpc@att.net

Pastor – Rev. Kary Fry email: kary.fry@att.net

Clerk of Session: Paula Carmichael Elder of the Month: Ruth Ann Campbell

Dates to Remember 2 Presbyterian Women~5:00pm Mexican Pile on Meal

Devotional by Kay Staton

3 Kary Ann’s Clan~11:30am~Oak Street Cafe

Choir~ 5:30pm

6 2nd Sunday in Advent

Hoyt Place Worship ~ 9:00am-9:30am

Sunday School ~ 9:30am

Worship ~ 10:45am ~ Reverse Offering

Communion Class of 2017

MS&HS~Hoyt Place~4:00pm

(Meet at Hoyt Place & be pickup at FPC at 6:00pm)

All Youth Christmas Program Practice 5:00pm

10 Kary Ann’s Clan~11:30am~ Amole’s

Choir Practice~ 5:30pm

13 3rd Sunday in Advent

Sunday School ~ 9:30am

Dress Rehearsal~ 9:30am

Worship~ 10:45am~Congregational Meeting to

elect Elders, accept Budget and

receive Committee Reports.

Christmas Program

Wedding Shower~ Kathleen Campbell

17 Kary Ann’s Clan ~ 11:30am~ Pizza Hut

Angel Tree Presents due.

20 4th Sunday in Advent

Sunday School~9:30am

Worship~ 10:45am

Christmas Reflections~ Kirk Stroman~ 6:00pm

24 Christmas Eve Service~ 6:00pm~ Communion

Christmas Joy Gift Offering

25 Merry Christmas! Church Office Closed

27 No Sunday School

Worship~ 10:45am~ Noisy Offering

31 Kary Ann’s Clan ~ 11:30am~Big Boy’s Barbeque

6 Patty Gesin and Richard Gesin

13 Mike Fry and Keith Brock

20 Karen Brown and Gary Brown

27 Paula Carmichael and Alan Carmichael

Greeters needed! If anyone is interested in

greeting on Sunday mornings, please call the

church office.

Thank you!

Birthdays 3 Richard Smola

4 Max Nemir

6 Michelle Maxwell

Betty Staton

7 Anissa McCollom

8 Caroline Brennan

9 Justin Wilburn

10 Mike Fry

12 Jessica Bond

20 Kristen Shirley Peters

22 Mason Bennett

25 James Parker

25 Lisa Collins

26 Robert Whitteker

29 Aidan Collins

All Women of the Church are invited to come

for fellowship, prayer and Bible Study.

Presbyterian Women will meet on Wed.

December 2nd at 5:00pm.

A Mexican Pile on Meal will be provided and

Kay Staton will give a devotional.

Hoyt Place

We are excited to lead worship every

first Sunday of the month at Hoyt Place,

from 9:00-9:30 a.m. We will sing, hear the

Word of God, and share Communion.

Come join us in this wonderful

Ministry of fellowship.

Donations given for Renovation Project

In Honor of:

Grandchildren~ Conner and Grant Gohlke and Elise Norris by Doloras Berryhill

Alice Moore by Katherine Dickson Morris Hinshaw and Ed Ireland by Lynn and Sharon Gotcher

In Memory of:

Lucille Terry by Evalyn Bates Eska Hinshaw by Morris Hinshaw Lucille Terry by DeeAnne McFarland Mrs. Charles Shuff and Mrs. Bob Bardwell by Margaret Shuff Joyner Lucille Terry and Buddy Huddleston by Sonja Nash Virginia Hefner by Carroll and Dorothy Stroman

We are also very grateful for several anonymous and undesignated gifts.

Mission Projects for December

This year’s Angel Tree will be decorated in the narthex for two Sundays, December 6 and De-cember 13 with Angels from the West Texas Child Advocacy Center. Each angel has the age and gender of a child along with their Christmas Wish and sizes. The Mission Committee urges every-one to take an angel or two and help make this Christmas special in the eyes of a child. Please place your UNWRAPPED gift with the angel af-fixed under the Angel Tree by Thursday, Decem-ber 17, so that we can fill Santa’s Sleigh and de-liver them to the Child Advocacy Center. The West Texas Child Advocacy Center strives to re-store the lives of victims of child abuse, their fam-ilies, and our community. Won’t you be an Angel to one of these children?

As we gather together on Christmas Eve to cele-

brate the birth of Jesus Christ, we have the oppor-

tunity to make a gift to the Christmas Joy Offer-

ing. Thanks to your gifts, The Christmas Joy Offer-

ing is able to provide financial assistance to indi-

viduals and families that have dedicated their

lives to the church and to also support racial eth-

nic education and leadership development for

students attending Presbyterian-related schools

and colleges. Special Christmas Joy Offering en-

velopes will be located in the pews Christmas Eve

and collected during the service. Your gift pro-

vides hope in situations where hope can be hard

to find and provides light where there is a darken-

ing world.

All are invited to a wedding shower honoring

Kathleen Campbell and Tyler Wilson On Sunday Dec. 13th after worship. Light refreshments will be served.

Selections: Bed, Bath and Beyond & Sears (Select~ State: Arizona)

Gifts Cards would be appreciated.

Christmas Reflections

Kirk Stroman will present his 2015 “Christmas Reflections” concert on

Sunday, December 20th at 6:00 pm.

Bring your family and friends to enjoy the music

of the season and Kirk’s amazing talent.

My Church Family,

My dad taught me that “it’s better late than

never”. I have told myself so many times this year

to express my heartfelt THANKS to my church

family and just never got around to it. Now it is

Thanksgiving and I have so much to be

THANKFUL for. So here is to dad and his

teachings. 2015 has been a busy year for us and

the thoughtfulness of this congregation has been

felt all year long. I very much appreciated the

prayers while Makee was recovering and then

hospitalized from tonsil removal and my

bronchitis. I was very thankful for the monetary

donation so that I could have my yard mowed

several times while I recovered and handled life

and didn’t have to worry about also mowing the

grass. Then several short months later, my mother

was then hospitalized, prayers were again

answered and she recovered beautifully. Tiffany

Rotan is another huge blessing to my family, as I

couldn’t have been there for my mom without

Tiffany being there for Makee during that

time. Along the way another monetary donation

was given in Makee’s name, I cannot find a word

strong enough to fully express my THANKS at the

thoughtfulness of this congregation! I am very

thankful to the church for finding Cindy Camacho

to watch Makee during services on

Sundays. Annisa and I truly enjoy the time we are

given on Sundays to listen to the sermon. Please

forgive my delay/lateness in expressing my

THANKS, but know I am very THANKFUL to

this congregation and all of its amazing gifts and

for loving my family and praying for us as our

journey continues.

Smile,

Stacy, Annisa, and Makee McCollom

Directory Updates

DeeAnne McFarland & Evalyn Bates

1662 FM 419 S

Sweetwater, TX 79556

Alma Green

1700 Hoyt St. Apt. 22

Sweetwater, TX 79556 Cole Maxwell

3815 49th

Lubbock, TX 79413

Dorothy Richards

1311 Grand

Sweetwater, TX 79556

235-8382

December Activities for Little Ones and IBKS

December 6: Christmas Program (Little Ones,

IBKs, Middle School, High School) at 5:00

December 13: 9:30am Christmas Program

Dress Rehearsal Christmas Program during

church services

December 24: For all of those who are in town,

The Little Ones and IBKs will sing during our

Christmas Eve Service. It's a very special

service that I hope you all can attend. The kids

will not wear their costumes; they will wear

their regular clothes.

December Youth Activities for Middle

School/High School

Sunday, Dec. 6th – Sunday School.

Sunday, Dec. 6th – Hoyt House @ 4:00 followed

by Christmas Play Practice at 5:00. (Meet at

Hoyt House & be picked up at FPC at 6:00 PM.

Sunday, Dec. 13th – Dress Rehearsal during

Sunday School, followed by Christmas Play

during Worship.

Sunday, Dec. 20th - Sunday School

Thursday, Dec. 24th – Christmas Eve Service.

Hope you’ll attend with your family.

Sunday, Dec. 27th & Jan. 3rd – No Sunday

School

If you are visiting First Presbyterian Church,

we warmly welcome you in the name of Jesus

Christ!

If you want to join in this journey of faith, you

are invited to join by:

-letter of transfer from another church;

-The Sacrament of Holy Baptism; or

-Reaffirmation of faith in Jesus Christ as

your Lord and Savior.

Kary and the Session elders are always happy

to meet with you.

We celebrate the Sacrament of Holy

Communion every first Sunday of the month.

Because this is the Lord’s Supper, we invite all

in Christ to share the blessings of this

Sacrament.

Letter from Alice Moore

Dear Folks,

It’s difficult to believe it’s not only nearly

Thanksgiving, but December with all its seasonal

holiday sparkles to celebrate and be joyful in again.

IT IS A TIME THAT IS JOYFUL FOR ALL OF US

– CHILDREN AND ADULTS- SOMETIMES NOT

FOR THE SAME REASON, BUT EVEN WHEN

NOT, IT BECOMES KNOWN TO US ALL, AND

MAY YOU ALL BE THANKFUL for whatever and

have a Merry Christmas with all its joys and follow

it with a Happy New Year!!! Count your many

blessings, see what God has done! I have a new

blessing. A new friend who invited me to join the

Bible Study class she teaches. I didn’t really want o

because I’m so deaf, but she said she would save me

a seat next to her chair and use an amplifier which

would make sure I could hear. So I joined her class,

and guess where she began? With Genesis 1! I have

read Genesis more than once, but I don’t think I’ve

ever studied it in a class. So I’ve been twice, and

we’re to where Jacob and Laban have agreed to

behave themselves, and Jacob is about to try to

make up with Esau, and I’ve learned some things

that I’d forgotten or just never knew. My friend

goes right through the book, and I’m enjoying the

study. It’s nice having a new friends too.

My sweet daughter-in-law hates my messy desk, and

I do, too, especially right now when I want to find

the November newsletter with Kary’s letter to

everybody telling us how happy we can be for

Thanksgiving and all the songs it reminds her of.

Right now as I write to you, I would like to mention

those songs and maybe add a few that I like too, but

do you know that I can’t find my stack of letters! If I

would do as Cindy wishes I would, I could lay my

hand right on the November letter and quote what I

wish! Thank you, Kary, anyway.

Here in Wichita Falls, they make a big deal of

Thanksgiving which please me. Thanksgiving is one

of my favorite holidays, and it was great to have

Kary like it too. I think I have mentioned my friend,

Jana, who comes on Mondays at four to play for all

the old people who like to choose songs to sing as

she plays for us. Last Monday, we sang “Count Your

Blessings” because it was almost Thanksgiving.

One of the old ladies said she felt so blessed to

be in such a nice place as this. “If you can’t be

living at home, this is the best place to be,” she

said. Don’t you think that’s a positive attitude? I

now have a room to myself, and one of the

things I like is that I have a painting that Billie

Joe Carmichael painted of seagulls flying around

the Gulf of Mexico at Padre Island where she

and Harry used to go almost every summer. The

colors of the sands and the sea weeds and the

gorgeous sky are so pretty. But the great things

is that the draperies in my room match the colors

in B.J.’s painting beautifully! And it always

makes me think of her, too. So- Precious

Memories!

Another thing to be thankful for is that my room

has two windows (most have only one) and I can

especially enjoy watching it rain- especially now

that the drought is over (cross fingers). Also, I

have quite a few plants I’ve been given, and

having two windows gives me enough light for

them. Another things is that I could check to see

who the greeters are; I’ll probably find my

newsletter when I’ve sent this letter to you. Well,

that’s the way it is.

God bless you everyone and again Merry

Christmas!!!

In Jesus’ Name,

Alice

Middle School and High School

Mystery Dinner

Children’s Time During Worship

Christmas Program Practice.

Christmas Program will be Dec. 13th

during worship.