This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday – otherwise known as the Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany in churchspeak – and we will be gathering to worship (God, not football) at 10:00 a..m. and 6:00 p.m. and then joining the game by live-streaming as soon as evening worship finishes.

.

This week we are honored to have our own Diana Davis, ministry intern, seminarian, and candidate for ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church speaking with us as she preaches on “Five Loaves And Two Fish” as part of our sermon series, “Jesus Through The Eyes Of John.”

.

There will be some great music at both services (in the evening we’ll be joined by the talented sax player, Gary Herren) and we’ll be sharing communion, praying together and hearing Scripture read and proclaimed.

.

Come and join us!  Before each service we have fair-trade tea, coffee and cocoa available and after the morning service everyone is invited to gather for brunch at a local restaurant. In the evening we will join the Super Bowl after our service and have snacks and beverages available.  We’d love to see you!

.

.

Join us as we continue our exploration of “Jesus Through The Eyes Of John” with “At Jacob’s Well” – the account of the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman during Jesus’ journey into Samaria.We gather at 10 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. but come early to share in fair-trade tea, coffee and cocoa and talk with friends both old and new. After each service we move on to a local restaurant to continue the conversation and you are invited.

.

Matt Cook will be leading music with some great songs, with “O Happiness”, “All My Fountains” and more.
.

Join us to pray together, sing together, hear Scripture read and proclaimed, share in Holy Communion, and enjoy fellowship with one another. All are welcome!

.

.

Join  us on Sunday, January 22nd at The University Church at 10:00 a.m. and/or 6:00 p.m. for worship as we continue our series, “Jesus Through The Eyes Of John” with this week’s sermon, “My Father’s House” based on John 2:13-22.

.

Come early to share fair-trade tea, coffee and cocoa with friends both old and new.  Following our morning service, continue the conversation as we gather for brunch at a local restaurant.  Stay after our evening service for a community meal as we serve pizza, salad and beverages at the church.  All are welcome.

.

This week, our music includes a special rendering of “This Is The Stuff” by Melissa Joseph and praise music led by Matt Cook.  We will serve communion and all are invited to participate.

.

We hope to see you there!

.

Serving others is a large part of what we do and helps define who we are. On January 25th at The University Church we will be giving away clothing, shoes, toys, and bedding to families in need. Please clean out those closets and toy boxes!! We would love to take the items off your hands and give them to well deserving families in need. Please bring your donations to the church!

.

Also, we will need some volunteers to set up tables and lay out clothing, etc. before our visitors arrive, some volunteers to act as hosts while the event is in progress, and some volunteers to stay and clean up after.  The clothing give-away will run from 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on January 25th with setup starting at 2:00 p.m. and clean up from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

.

Please let us know if you can help by sending e-mail to Tiffany Ways.  Thank you!

.

.

.

There will be fair-trade tea, coffee and cocoa available before both services, wonderful music at both services, and opportunities to gather after each service at a local restaurant to continue the conversation.

.

Come and join us, we’d love to see you.

.

.

Join us on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at The University Church at 10:00 a.m. and/or 6:00 p.m. for worship on the First Sunday After The Epiphany as we celebrate The Baptism of the Lord and begin a new sermon series, “Jesus Through The Eyes Of John,” with Part 1, “The Lamb Of God.”

.

There will be great people, wonderful music and a message that delves into the Scripture!

.

Come early to meet friends and to enjoy fair-trade tea, coffee and cocoa. After either service, come and eat with us at a local restaurant to continue the conversation. All are welcome!

.

.

Table Talk – theology discussion group: A new study begins on Thursday, January 12^th from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at The University Church. There’ll be coffee, cookies and conversation as we read “What It Takes To Be God” – an unpublished manuscript by University of Toledo faculty member, Jeanine Diller.

.

In this paper, the author looks at the “reigning orthodoxy” about the nature of God – so-called “perfect being theology” – and comments on, among other things, various tensions between this understanding and the nature of God as detailed in Scripture and the Creeds.  She develops an alternative way of thinking about God, described as “functional theology,” which is more concerned with what God does than what God is.

.

Come and join the conversation – all are welcome!  We hope that Jeanine Diller will visit with us later in the year so we can share our thoughts with her.

.

.

.

Join us to welcome in 2012!  January 1st is Epiphany Sunday – the day upon which we recall and celebrate the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus.  The idea of the Magi following a star to find the new-born king to whom they brought gifts (remember, the story says there were three gifts, not three kings!) is one that mirrors the expectations of the people of that time and that echoes thoughts from the Greco-Roman and Hebrew worlds of the first century.

.

Join us to see how the concept of epiphany relates to ideas about resolutions and covenants. If you plan on making a New Year’s Resolution for 2012, come and hear some ideas about what that might look like.

.

We hope to see you on Sunday. Happy New Year!

.

.

.

At 9:30 p.m. we will gather to meet with friends both old and new over coffee and cookies while singing Christmas carols together.

.

At 11:00 p.m., immediately following our time together singing carols, we will hold our Candlelight Service. Throughout the service we will light each candle on our Advent wreath, culminating in the lighting of the Christ candle. We will share together in communion and each light a candle to symbolize the light that came into the world with the birth of Jesus as we sing “Silent Night” together and as Christmas Eve moves into Christmas Day.

.

We hope that you will join us on this most special day to celebrate with us and to rejoice in the coming of the Christ child.

.

.

The fourth candle in our Advent wreath will be lit and communion will be served at both services.  Brunch at a local restaurant will follow the morning service and after the evening service we will have pizza delivered as we say farewell to Brad and Jacqueline as they move away to start the next phase of their lives.

.

All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you.

.

.