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THIS WEEK IS PLEDGE SUNDAY
PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SPOT

We would love to see you this week in one of our worship services. As part of our time together, we will be consecrating our 2021 pledges and seeking God's vision and promise for the future of our church. You should have received a pledge card in the mail or you can pick one up that morning from an usher.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE AN IN-PERSON RESERVATION

We also know that some of you are unable to return to in-person events at this time. We invite you to join us at our live-streamed worship service on Facebook at 10:30 am. We will have a special way for your family at home to participate in the consecration of our pledges. We also have a "digital" pledge card on our website, so that you can take part in helping our leadership plan for our 2021 budget.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DIGITAL PLEDGE CARD

THE DIRECTORIES ARE HERE!
 

We are excited to announce that our new directories have arrived. We will have them available for pick-up this Sunday (October 25th) at both our 8:30 and 10:30 morning worship services. For those who are unable to attend in person, we will be contacting you next week to arrange for you to be able to receive your directory as soon as possible. We hope this will be a great way to connect our families in a time when we are not able to all be together. 

"God's Promise and My Offering"

Sunday, October 25 is Pledge Sunday at Decatur First United Methodist Church. You received in the mail this week a letter from Ronnie Dukes and me inviting you to make your pledge, along with a pledge card to our 2021 ministry budget. A second pledge card was included if you have not made a pledge to the capital fund. Using the total of pledges received, the Finance Committee will build the 2021 ministry budget.

For some, your pledge is automatic. You see the card and write in what you pledged last year, or you adjust it up or down a bit depending on your financial outlook or the perceived needs of the church. If you have had a spiritual awakening during the year, you do not refer to the amount you gave last year. Instead, you calculate 10% of all your income or you step up to give more than a tithe. If you have become disenchanted with the church during the year, you also do not reference your prior giving. Instead, you write in a minimalist pledge or you toss the pledge card in the trash.

Whether your pledge is automatic, inspired by a spiritual awakening, or deterred or deferred by disenchantment, the biblical purpose of your offering is the same. It is not merely a duty to carry out routinely. It is not ultimately a measure of how much you love God. Neither is it a payment for services with which you are satisfied or dissatisfied.

So, what is the purpose of our offering? After giving Moses the Ten Commandments, the Lord instructs him, “Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me” (Exodus 25:1). They were to bring offerings of gold, silver, bronze, and other items of worth. The Lord then says, “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).

Why a sanctuary? God had been with Israel in the wilderness through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, helping them face obstacles and challenges. God’s presence gave Israel their identity, led them, protected them, and empowered them. However, the people so dishonored the Lord in the golden calf incident that the Lord declared he would not go up with Israel to the Promise Land lest his anger consume them, (Exodus 33:3). Those who persisted in their idolatry were eliminated from the community. Others repented for what they had done. The Lord is deeply moved by their repentance and agrees to go with them within the boundaries of a sanctuary. There they will honor His presence in ways that are in keeping with His character and holiness.

God is not bound to a sanctuary, but God binds His people to worship Him in the sanctuary through means He establishes and limitations He sets. These means and limits keep us from falling into idolatry. Our sanctuary is not the only place we can worship God. If it were, we would be lost since we were away from our sanctuary for so long. What worship in the sanctuary does is establish the pattern for all our worship through the means and limitations God gives. We do forget. Therefore, giving to the church so we can return to worship, learn, and serve in God’s sanctuary has never been more important.

Worship the Lord in His sanctuary, then follow that pattern of worship during the week and during a pandemic, and you will not fall into idolatry. You will see God’s promise fulfilled, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” We give to honor God.

Yours in Christ,
Hughey

As a part of this year's stewardship campain, "God's Promise in the Wilderness," we have several of our church members sharing testimonies of times in their life that God has been faithful in hard times. We are calling these "Wilderness Wonderings." You will be able to find these Wilderness Wonderings on Facebook and Instagram multiple times a week. You can also find the blog by going to our website: http://decaturfumc.org/ministries/stewardship-blog

A "Note" from Tommy...

November is typically a month packed with special occasions and remembrances. On All Saints' Day, we will celebrate those who have gone to be with the Lord. Thanksgiving provides a special time to thank God for the ways he has blessed us. We will kick off the Advent season at the end of the month. In addition to these days, we also take time to remember those who have served our nation in a special way. On Sunday, November 8th, we would like to celebrate our service personnel, both past and present. Please forward pictures of any armed forces members or first responders from your families to Jonathan Creekmore at youth@decaturfumc.org by Wednesday, November 4th at noon so that we can include them in a special presentation. Please include their name and what branch or first response team they represent. We will be sharing them during our anthem to celebrate their service.

Tommy Davis, Director of Music
Fall Family Movie Night
Since we could not hold our beloved Fall Festival this year due to COVID-19, the Children's Ministry team put their heads together and came up with what became the Fall Family Movie Night.  With 83 moviegoers from 18 families, both from the church and from First Grace Child Development Center, we had an absolutely wonderful evening filled with pumpkin carving, Chick-fil-a, and watching the Fall classic, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  For what feels like a lifetime, we were able to gather together outside, not to just carve pumpkins and watch a movie, but to celebrate being together again as a Church family. What a joy it is to hear our wee people of the church laugh and play together again with families getting to fellowship with one another. 
 
Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, from all the preparation beforehand and making sure everyone had what they needed during the evening, to the clean up afterwards. We couldn't have done it without y'all. 
 
Here's to exciting times ahead in the Children's Ministry and beyond!
Louise McCallion, 256-770-9089, children@decaturfumc.org
Please keep the following in your prayers this week:
  • Wendi (friend of Deb Graham) Chesapeake VA undergoing difficult chemo regimen
  • Judy Coon
  • Dr. Willis Vickery, Celiac disease
  • Masinah Hawkins
  • Paul Wallace
  • Carolyn Swanson, Judy Coon's sister
  • Lois House, Ken House's mother
  • Ann Harris
  • Fred Underwood, recovery from knee replacement surgery
  • Faye Hovey
  • Michelle Fisher, PET Scan is due next week
  • Lanora Brooks Altice, tumor in abdomen
  • Susan Williams (ICU with Covid-19 complications)
  • Avery Jackson - (Neighbor of Laura Berry) Young person: inoperable brain tumor. Began radiation last week. 
  • Jason LeChance (Brain Mass)
  • Chet Murphree.  He is a first cousin to Ruth Moyers and has stage four colon cancer.
  • Doris Ratliff
  • Kim Qualls
  • Beth Roberts, recovery from back surgery
  • Dalton Garner's mother Susan, chemotherapy
  • Judson Davis
  • Deborah Stewart
  • Sarah Bailey
  • Adrianne Irby Ritter, cancer (Faye Irby's stepdaughter)
  • Jean Walker's sister, Sandra Campbell, recovering from brain surgery
  • Mary Jane Sasser – recovering from surgery for broken ankle
  • LaVerne Dollahite
  • Ben Bullock – (Sherrill Altice's Father) – recovering from a stroke
  • Our leaders, our citizens, our churches, the state of our Nation, and our World. 
  • Unspoken
This Sunday, the Youth are going to Church at Stone River (3014 Danville Road SW, Decatur, Alabama 35603) for a Hocus Pocus movie night!  There will be snacks and drinks!  Students need to bring chairs or blankets to sit on, as we will be outside!
Tuesday Prayer Meeting
Please join us on Tuesdays at noon for our online prayer gathering. All are welcome to join. We will send out an invite for those meetings a few hours before they begin. If you would like to join our group, please e-mail Toby at tchastain@decaturfumc.org and he will add you to the list. If you cannot make the meeting but have specific prayer requests that you would like lifted up, please submit them to us through THIS LINK. The prayer list will still be included in the weekly e-Tidings. We encourage you to take a few moments when you receive it and pray for those on the list.
 
On Sunday Mornings at 7:00 AM, we post an online Adult Sunday School class for you to engage the scriptures. This week Rev. Toby Chastain will lead this study and include questions for discussion/reflection. This week’s reflection will be on Psalm 90:1-6; 13-17.
Online and Text Giving
To give online simply go to our website: www.decaturfumc.org then click on the giving tab on the right-hand side of the page or text the word “GIVE” to 256-482-6337. You can also watch this quick video that shows you how to give online.

Important Email Addresses
Hughey Reynolds, hreynolds@decaturfumc.org
Toby Chastain, tchastain@decaturfumc.org
Jonathan Creekmore, youth@decaturfumc.org
Louise McCallion, children@decaturfumc.org
Cindy McCulloch, cmcculloch@decaturfumc.org
Alyson Quinn, aquinn@decaturfumc.org
Kristin Green, firstgrace@decaturfumc.org
Tommy Davis, tommy.davis@nahacad.org
Ruth Moyers, moyersruth@yahoo.com
Wayne Keller, waynekeller25@yahoo.com
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