Black History Month Calendar
Advent Worship Series
Children’s Christmas Tree is Here! – November 27th
For children the crunch of wrapping paper and finding a hidden treasure within can mean so very much. That’s why for fifty-six years the members and friends of First Church have delighted in taking children’s names from our Narthex Christmas tree. This year the name tags will appear on Sunday, November 27th. Once again children from Lord’s Lambs Ministry in Pembroke and from Bethany Pastore El Buen Church in Chicago will be the recipients of our gift giving. If you take a pair of tags from the tree, please remember to write your name and phone number on one tag, place it in the basket, and take the matching tag with you, so that you have the child’s age and size for shopping. After wrapping the gift, please securely attach the tag that you took with you to the present. If you prefer, sending money for others to shop for you, your monetary gift is also much appreciated. Please make checks payable to First United Methodist Church Elmhurst or use this PayPal link: HERE or use this QR Code:
Gifts will be delivered on Sunday, December 11, after worship. Over the years, these Christmas gifts have brought joy to literally tens of thousands of children. Be part of the joy and take a tag or two from the tree this year!
2022 Advent Study begins November 27 with Tracy Daub’s Holy Disruption
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, 2 happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah. Mark 1:1-2
Advent prepares us for the The Incarnation–God comes to earth in human form to be baptized, teach, heal, eat, and die–is what we celebrate at Christmas, and Mark shows us just how radical and celebration-worthy it is!
Sundays November 27-December 18 , 9:15 AM & Wednesdays November 30-December 21, 10 AM
Join us in reading Mark’s Gospel during December:
- Day 1 1:1–28
- Day 2 1:29–45
- Day 3 2:1–28
- Day 4 3:1–35
- Day 5 4:1–34
- Day 6 4:35–5:20
- Day 7 5:21–43
- Day 8 6:1–29
- Day 9 6:30–56
- Day 10 7:1–23
- Day 11 7:24–8:10
- Day 12 8:11–9:1
- Day 13 9:2–29
- Day 14 9:30–50
- Day 15 10:1–31
- Day 16 10:32–52
- Day 17 11:1–33
- Day 18 12:1–27
- Day 19 12:28–44
- Day 20 13:1–37
- Day 21 14:1–25
- Day 22 14:26–14:52
- Day 23 14:53–15:20
- Day 24 15:21–16:8
Looking for an electronic version of Mark’s Gospel? Try the Common English Bible Translation.
Family Fall Festival
Food, Games, Bounce House, Kid’s Costume Parade, Costume Contest for ALL ages, Spooky Organ Music concert, Halloween Trivia contest and a King Arthur’s Baking Contest. For more information and to register go to LINK
Birding with Pastor Joe
York Woods, September 11, 2022; 7 am-8 am; overcast and rain.
Four people took a chance today to go birding with Pastor Joe. We learned that DuPage County is home to 268 observed species and that York Woods was the first forest preseve of DuPage County. Woodpeckers were the most abundant bird family represented so we learned how to identify male and female wood peckers.
We heard many hermit thrushes and were rewarded with one on the path flitting its wings.
We recorded 14 species:
3 mourning dove
1 great blue heron
6 red bellied woodpecker
3 downy woodpecker
1 hairy woodpecker
1 eastern wood peewee
1 great crested flycatcher
10 blue jay
1 black capped chickadee
3 white breasted nut hatch
2 European starting
4 hermit thrush
10 American robin
6 common grackle
1 northern cardinal
VBS FOOD TRUCK PARTY A HIT
Thank you to all who joined us on June 29th for the VBS Food Truck Party! Over 60 people from our church and the community had tons of fun eating, dancing, playing games, socializing, and celebrating the end of a wonderful month of Vacation Bible School. HUGE THANKS to Jennifer Grisolia for serving as co-leader of VBS, Lilly Sherman for assisting at VBS, Marlene Stratton for feeding us at VBS, Pastor Joe and Mike for helping with set-up, Jack Mathias for being an AMAZING DJ for the event, and Eddie and Liesl Cooke for helping with the games. And thank you to all who helped with the clean up after the event, your help was so appreciated!
And the cherry on top of a super fun evening is that we raised $400 at the event that will be split evenly between the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Northern Illinois Food Bank. During VBS we learned about how God provides for us and asks us to provide for others, so thank you for helping illustrate that lesson to our children with your generosity!!!!
Taize Prayer Returns to First Church
Sunday mornings: July 10, August 14, and September 11; and Wednesday Evening October 5 at 6:30 pm. Taizé prayer is a meditative common prayer that uses uncomplicated and repetitive songs that allow the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of simplicity.
Memorial Day Parade
On May 30th, under blue skies and the perfect summer breeze, First United Methodist Church joined the Elmhurst Memorial Day parade honoring our fallen heroes. Members of our Bell Choir rode in the back of Bart the truck while playing My Country ‘Tis of Thee for an appreciative crowd. Our theme, Remembering the Faithful, reminded us of the true measure of devotion these men and women displayed in fighting and dying for our country’s freedom. Other members of the church walked alongside the truck waving to the crowd, connecting with neighbors and friends, and taking time to thank the veterans who attended the parade. God bless all those who serve in our military.
Lenten Sermon Series Begins March 6
Albrecht Dürer
When asked by his disciples how to pray, Jesus gave them these words:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
They kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
The Lord’s Prayer is a beloved prayer that is prayed daily by Christians across the world. The sermons of Lent will explore each line of the prayer and encourage you to pray as Jesus and his disciples did.
Prayer was the foundation of Jesus’ life and ministry and he called his disciples to pray with him.
Let us pray!