In Colossians 4:2-4, Paul writes to the Church at Colossae, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” In this passage, Paul asks the church for prayer for himself and for the other men who traveled and ministered with him. Like Paul, I would like to make the same request of the church family at First United. Would you please commit afresh to praying for myself, other ministry leaders, and the First United family? There were several times in the past two weeks when the Lord seemed to open my eyes and showed me some of the results of prayer at First United. These glimpses of answered prayers have reminded me that prayer is a primary calling of the Church and I, therefore, ask for continued prayer. Below I have listed a few ways you can pray for the pastoral staff, ministry leaders, and ministry of First United.COMMUNION WITH GOD/HOLINESS •Forasoft-hearttobesensitivetotheconvicting and counseling ministry of the Holy Spirit •ForahungertofeedontheBible •ForfellowshipwithChristindailytasks •Forfaithtofightagainsttemptation •Foreyestoseepersonalsin;forarepentant heart • For perseverance in the tasks to which we are calledVISION •ForFirstUnited’svisiontobeof theLordand not of man

•ForpatiencetowaitupontheLord’sleading •ForcouragetofollowtheLordandforcourage to say no to good things •Forunderstandingaboutthespecificcallingthat God has for First UnitedWISDOM •To lead family with gentleness, joy, and conviction •TounderstandhowtorightlyapplytheBible •Todiscernhowtobestusetimeandresources •ThatthejoyoftheLordwouldbebothphysical and spiritual strengthCHURCH •Fortruth-tellingwithgracetoproducefurther unity •FortheLordtoraiseupnewpreachers,teachers, leaders, missionaries and strong families •Forpeople to trust inJesusChrist for the first timeandbeborn-again. •Forthosewhowillhavetrialsinthecomingyear to suffer with perseverance and great hope in Christ •ForeachmemberatFirstUnitedtoknowhowto beabletousehis/hergiftstobuilduptheBody of Christ.

I am so appreciative of the way that you pray for me and for the church family and I ask that you persevere in the good work of prayer. Apart from Him,wecandonothing,but ifweremain in theVine,webearmuchfruit!

Hopeful,Andy

December Church Calendar1 GarageSaleFoodPantrybenefit9 am-1 pm Family Center

5 Prayer Meeting Fellowship Hall 6:30 pm Lifesong Zambia concert 7:30 pm Family Center

16 Sunday School Christmas Program follows worship service

18 Little Lambs Christmas Program 6:00 pm sanctuary

20 Christmas Food Baskets distributed24 Christmas Eve service 7:00

Youth GroupsJr. High - Sunday at 5:00 pmSr. High - Wednesday at 7:30 pm

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Pastor Andy’s Letter • Spotlight on Membership ReaffirmationFirst United News • Milestones • Attendance • Church CalendarDecember 2012Andy Huette, Sr. Pastor Brett Monge, Youth Director Grant Stauter, Pastor Apprentice

407 W Seventh Street, PO Box 280, Gridley, IL 61744 309-747-2299 www.1stu.org

Dear Church Family,

Thanksgiving at First UPraise God from whom all blessings flow!

“We are living between times, between the first and second comings of Christ, between what He did when He came and what He will do when He comes again, between kingdom come and kingdom coming . . . —JohnStott,Basic Christian Leadership

Adult MinistriesWomen’s Bible Study - Wednesday at 6:30 pmMen’s Ministry - every other Saturday at 7 amMonthly Prayer Meeting -firstWednesdayat7pm

Sunday Worship ServicesMorning Worship 9 am-10 amJ.A.M. (ages 3 - K) 9 am-10 am every SundayChildren’s Church (grades 1-3) 9 am-10 am 1st & 3rd SundaySunday School 10:30 am - 11:15 am

Thank you to Jennifer Morrison and her kitchen crew who worked on Saturday and Sunday to prepare food. Thank you to every one who brought food.

We served335 people

and ate250 lbs of turkey

80 lbs of ham230 lbs of potatoes

450 dinner rolls

Our Core Values Open Bibles One Another Beautiful Feet Spiritual Growth Authentic Worship2 3

Attendance & Offering11/4 240 $6,161 11/11 297 $5,971 11/18 301 $4,29011/25 291 $6,174

December MilestonesBirthdays

2 Jena Liggett4 Isaac Porzelius6 Linda Schoppet9 Kim Edwards10 Ken Hall11 Dennis Foor12 Susan Laiming14 Jacob Richard17 Julie Blair17 Madison Rosenberger19 Lois Klein20 Drew Neal20 Gabby Stanhouse25 Ben Klein27 Bev Nelson29 Lily Wettstein30 Karmelle Meiss30 Hannah Wenger31 Tiffney Palmer Anniversaries4 Mark & Stacy Ludy4 Kevin & Kathy Yergler 7 Ben & Lois Klein28 Steve & Lisa Barnhart 30 Derek & Sarah Meiss

Sunday School Attend Offering Kids Fed11/4 139 $ 60.95 122 11/11 112 $103.58 20811/18 NA 11/25 112 $ 74.81 150

Spotlight on . . . Membership Reaffirmation Process

Pleasesendyourfamily’scollec-tion to Lifesong after Christmas:

Lifesong for Orphans,PO Box 40,

Gridley, IL 61744.The proceeds from the calendar will go towards orphan care pri-marily in Ukraine, Zambia, andHonduras.

Advent for orphans

1 18 7 13 22

1732114

5 11 24 20 2

23491610

19 6 15 12 8

Family Christmas ProjectLifesong Advent Calendars

First United’s annual “Covenant Sunday” will take place on the day of our annualmeeting,January20,2013.Onthatday,theupdatedmembershiplistwillbepublishedandnewmemberswillbeintroduced.Theprocessforbecominganewmemberorreaffirmingmembershipforcurrentmembersisdescribedbelow.

1. All new memberswillberequiredtoattendthemembershipclass(ormake arrangements to get the material) as well as to have an introductory meet- ingwithpastoralstafforaLeadershipCouncilmemberpriortocovenanting inmembership.

2. All current memberswillnotbe required to re-signacovenant.Current membersstillneedtoreaffirmtheirmembership,butthiscanbedoneinthe following ways prior to the end of the calendar year.

a. A slipofpaperwillbeinthebulletinduringthemonthofDecember on which current members can mark that they wish to reaffirm membership.Thiscanbeplacedintheofferingplate.

b. An emailcanbesenttooffice@1stu.orgstatingone’sdesiretoreaf- firmmembership.

c. A phonecallcanbemadetothechurchofficestatingone’sdesireto reaffirmmembership.If youhaveanyquestions,pleaseseeaLeadershipCouncilmember:SteveBarn-hart,DennyFoor,LarryHoyt,AndyHuette,DickStanhouse,MattWenger.

Finishing 2012Annual ReportsMinistry Team Leaders: TeambudgetsareduetoFinanceTeam Chair, Jimmy Bridgers byDecember4.

Team ministry reports for the Annual Re-portareduetoKeriHanybyDecember20.AnnualreportswillbeavailablebySunday,January13.TheannualmeetingisJanuary20,2013.

Expenses Please submit 2012 expense receipts forreimbursement by December 26, 2012 sotheycanbepaidunderthe2012budget.

Giving PleasesubmitchecksandcashbySunday, December30,2012toberecordedin2012.

Christmas Greetings!Send your greetings through theSr. High Youth Group Post Office

The Sr. High Youth Group operates the First United Christmas “postoffice”inDecember.OnDecember 9 and 16, bring your Christmas cards for First

United families.Dropthemoff intheFamilyCenter. They will sort your cards andhavethemreadyforpick-upduringCoffeeFellowship.Donationsfortheirservicearewelcomebutnotnecessary.Someinourchurchfamilyarenolongerabletoattendandwillappreciatere-

ceiving a card from you. Please mail these cards through the United States Post Office rather than the Sr. High post office.

Covenant Sunday/ Annual MeetingJanuary 20, 2013

following theworship service

Iftheweatherisbad...1. Gotoourwebsitewww.1stu.org and click on the “winter weather notice”tabonthehomepage.Closingswillbelistedthere.

2. Watch WEEK channel 25 or HOI channel 19 for closings.

3. Callthechurchofficeat747-2299 and listen to Voice Mail. It will tell you if a service is cancelled.

4. Youth Group activities are cancelled on days when EPG schools are closed or close early for weather.Postcards with this information are in the foyers for you take home.

December 5Monthly Prayer

Meeting6:30 - 7:15 pm

Lifesong ZambiaConcert

at 7:30 p.m.Refreshments served following the concert

Youth Group Christmas BreaksThe Jr. High Youth Groupwill take a break andnotmeetonDecember16,23,and30. TheywillresumemeetingonJanuary6.

The Sr. High Youth Group willtakeabreakandnotmeetonDecember19,26,andJanuary2.TheywillresumeonJanuary9.

Thanksgiving food baskets were given to over 70 families. The Christmas food baskets will be distributed on December 20.

Ruth Wilson14HeartlandDr,Apt328 Bloomington, IL 61704Joan Widmer2025 E Lincoln St, Apt 2210Bloomington, IL 60701Mirium Hutcheson2705 W Wendarm CtWest Peoria, IL 61601

Ferne Kilpatrick601E2ndSt,Apt3ElPaso,IL61738Mary RichMcLeanCoNursingHome901NMainNormal, IL 61761

Check It Out!Christmas for kids

in our libraryThe Legend of the Candy Cane by LoriWalburg: A sweet storythat shares the gospel using the candy cane as an illustration.