Dayspring United Methodist Church

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Dayspring United Methodist Church 1365 E. Elliot Road, Tempe, Arizona 85284 (480) 838-1446

Worship Services at 9:00 and 10:30 am each Sunday

As you prepare for Christmas, I imagine that many of you have the tradition of reading the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke. You will read the story of the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, the Virgin Mary, the star, and all the other details that make the story so beautiful. I can't imagine, though, that many of you will read the part of the story from Matthew 1:1-16. It's about as interesting as reading the phone book! Let me save you the trouble of looking it up - you will be reading Jesus' genealogy - hardly fascinating material!
Nevertheless, as is true with most scripture, there are nuggets of gold to be mined from even this mundane selection. The list includes 42 generations, beginning with Abraham and ending with the birth of Jesus. Yet, other than Mary, the mother of Jesus, the entire genealogy names only three other women, women of questionable repute and one who is a foreigner rather than a Hebrew. (If you care to read their stories, the other three women are Tamar, Genesis 38; Rahab, Joshua 2; and Ruth, the book of Ruth.) Jesus obviously has skeletons in his family closet! This is not exactly the kind of news about the Son of God that one would want spread around! What in the world is the meaning of this?! There must be a message for us!
Could it be that this passage serves to remind us that the Christ Child has come for everyone, even "the least of these?" Perhaps the most significant message of Christmas is that God will use even "the least of these" in Gods plan for salvation. If disreputable women, (and a few disreputable men), can be included in the genealogy of Gods own Son, can we ever judge who is in and who is out. God already has made it plain that everyone and anyone can be used in bringing salvation the world. . . "Glory to God in the highest!"
Wishing you Christmas blessings

Thank you to all those who gave "The Gift of Life" at the blood drive on October 17th. Dayspring "stepped up to the plate" with 23 donors, and United Blood Services said that they got "18 procedures that will ultimately save up to 54 lives." This exceeded the expectations that they set for Dayspring as a goal.
We even had three youth who donated. Our next blood drive will be March 20th, 2011. If anyone gives at United Blood Services, please remember to designate Dayspring UMC as the organization you represent as that gives us credit in their final report of the year.

Here are some numbers for 2010 that tell a lot about Dayspring:

Children of Wesley Community Center to be "adopted" for Christmas by the United Methodist Women

Consecutive hours of music presented at the Festival of the Arts

Meetings of the United Methodist Women, dedicated to improving lives of women, children and youth

Children fed for a month through the Youth Ministrys fundraising during 30 Hour Famine

People who helped take up bricks at the patio demolition

The average number of children attending Sunday School classes every week

The percentage of families who participate in Family Promise who find long-term housing

Average number of daily viewers to the Dayspring Website

The number of volunteers who have helped Family Promise by setting up, tearing down, donating items, cooking meals, and/or spending the night at the church

The current number of active Jr. & Sr. High youth

Percentage of new members now learning about Dayspring through the website

Annual hours spent editing the Koinonikos newsletter for publication

Tickets sold to the opening night dinner at the Festival of the Arts

Empty grocery bags handed out to be filled for the Thanksgiving food drive

Volunteer hours and 702 meals served to the clients of Family Promise

Square footage of the house Dayspring volunteers helped build with Habitat for Humanity

Strokes counted during the Dayspring Golf Outing (and 56 balls lost!)

Amount ($) contributed to date by Dayspring UMW unit to local and worldwide missions

Cups of coffee enjoyed after Sunday services at coffee hour

The in-kind ($) value of our 2010 service for Family Promise

Amount ($) given to Dayspring missions programs (Tochi, UMOM, Habitat for Humanity, Indian Bible Translators, Family Promise, SSP, and Wesley Community Center)

Amount ($) given to World Services & Benevolences through our Conference apportionments

Amount ($) received from donors for the patio renovation

Are you adventurous? Want to try your hand at backpacking, canoeing, white water rafting, rock climbing, scuba diving or other high adventure? Dayspring is organizing a Venturing Crew. A Venturing Crew is a co-ed program of the Boy Scouts of America and open to high school aged young men and women (you must be at least 13 years old AND have finished the eighth grade). Crew members choose the activities they want to pursue and lead the program with the assistance of the adult advisors.
There will be an informational/organizational meeting for interested youth and their parents on Monday, December 6th at 7pm in the Adult Room at Dayspring. If you can't make the meeting or need more information, contact Ric Garza at rgarza81@cox.net.

Rent A Youthfor Dec. 4 or 11!
Do you have jobs around your house that youd like help with? Or would like someone else to do?)
Why not Rent Our Youth?

Donations go toward this year's Sierra Service Project trip.
Please email Kris Kroeger with questions or to schedule our youth at kris@dayspring-umc.org.

UMOM Christmas Gift Cards on Sale
This Christmas you can help provide shelter and hope to a homeless child and his or her family with the purchase of UMOM New Day Centers Christmas Gift Cards. As a gift to the card recipient, an insert is included with the card indicating a donation was made to UMOM. The gift cards sell for $15, $50, $100, and $360.

$15 provides 1 night of shelter for an individual
$50 provides 1 day of shelter, food, and childcare for a child
$100 provides 1 week of shelter for an individual

The UMOM Christmas cards will be at a table on the patio between services and after the 10:30am service every Sunday until Christmas. Please stop by to make a donation for a card or several cards!

In the past several months, I have written some short articles trying to explain the mission of the newly formed Church & Society Team at Dayspring. In addition to these articles, the team has had tables on the patio on two different occasions: one dealing with the proposed tax increase, which Arizona voters passed in a special election, and the other on comprehensive immigration reform.
It is my understanding that several members of the congregation have wondered why the church is getting involved in these political and societal issues! Many of you feel that the church should stick to the spiritual and faith realm and not address controversial issues such as these. Some may have even wondered if this is a violation of separation of church and state.
Several months ago Pastor Tews wrote an article in the Koinonikos stating why it is important for the church, and more specifically the United Methodist Church, to speak out on issues such as these. She pointed out that our founder, John Wesley, was involved in social movements to improve the lives of those in England whom he believed were being discriminated against or treated unjustly. The United Methodist Church has always been concerned about the outcasts of society and about helping the Kingdom of God that was central in Jesus' message to be realized in our world today. "Thy Kingdom Come!" "Thy Will be done...on Earth..." This is our heritage and this is what we are called to do as the church in today's world!
If you would like to know more about what our church is doing nationally on social justice issues, you can access the General Board of Church & Society by clicking on this link: www.umc-gbcs.org.
You can also find out what our Desert Southwest Annual Conference Board is doing by clicking on the Desert Southwest Annual Conference Board of Church & Society.
I welcome any questions you may have about Church & Society and our mission at Dayspring.
Jane Baker, Chair

Dayspring Business DirectoryJust updated!
The 2010 Dayspring Business Directory, a listing of businesses that are owned by or employ members of the Dayspring family, is now available on-line (see below).
Clicking on the booklet below will bring up a fullscreen display, and you can flip backward and forward through the pages by clicking on the arrows to the left and the right of each page.

Dayspring United Methodist Church is a welcoming congregation. We welcome all people regardless of age, gender, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, or ability into the full life of this congregation.