December 24, 2025

CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

In Worship This Week...

As the week rushes toward Christmas, I want to pause with you and extend a simple, heartfelt invitation: come and worship this Christmas Eve at 4:00pm or 7:00pm.

In the season of Advent we’ve been reflecting together deeply on the signs of God's promises around us. We have seen the ways God's Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love are still breaking into our world. Even still, we’ve named an honest truth: Christmas does not arrive in a calm or safe world. It comes into uncertainty, fear, and fragile human lives. The birth of Jesus is God’s choice to draw near to us with vulnerability, love, and light that shines even when darkness presses in. That same light still meets us today, right where we are.

On Christmas Eve, we will gather to tell the old story again, not because it is quaint, but because it is necessary. We will sing, pray, and remember that love has come into the world and refuses to let fear have the final word. Whether you come early with family, later with friends, or quietly on your own, there is a place for you.

Also join us for worship on Sunday, December 28, a special service centered on a Christmas Carol Sing. Our scripture will be Matthew 2:13–23, the story of the holy family fleeing from danger and uncertainty. Together we will lift up our “song of love and light” trusting that God is present even on the road, even in exile, even when the story takes unexpected turns.

Wherever this season finds you; joyful, weary, grieving, or hopeful, you are not alone. Come, let us worship. Come, let us sing. Come, let us receive the light that still shines.

Christmas Eve Worship Schedule

Join us on Christmas Eve and Worship our Newborn King!

4:00pm - Family Worship Service

7:00pm - Traditional Worship Service

*All services feature carols & candlelight

Celebrate with us, for unto us a child is born!

Please keep in your prayers:

Calvary’s mission and ministry and for the mission and ministry of the church in the world; for those who need the presence of God in their lives; for those serving in armed forces; and for those serving in ministry around the world and here.

And for: Duane, Mike, Serena Rose, John and Audrey, Carol F., Tom, Michael & Chelsea, Laura & Marc.

And those members of Calvary who are no longer able to be active among us as they once were: Joan, Bernie, Dottie, Bob, Pepper, Shirley, Marj, June, Helen.

Virtual Prayer Request

If you have a prayer request that you would like lifted during Sunday services you can now submit them online at our website or by clicking the link below. We have also created this QR code, which can be found in the Sanctuary and round the building. It can be scanned at any time to send a request.

Calvary Online Prayer Requests

JOYFUL GIVING

Christmas Offering

As the end of the year approaches, please consider making a Christmas gift to support the ministries of Calvary.

Offerings can be made electronically or with cash/check by simply earmarking your donation as a "Christmas Offering". Envelopes can be found on the round table in the Gathering Space.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

START OFF 2026 WITH BIBLE STUDY:

DISCIPLE FAST TRACK: Bible study for busy lives: INVITATION TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

We will have just celebrated the birth of Christ – Who do you say that Jesus is in your life? The Gospel of John asks us to “Come and See” and “Follow Me”. The gospel of John helps us to understand who Jesus is; through his life teachings, (including the beautiful “I am statements”) and as we move toward Easter, his death and resurrection.

The class will meet on Wednesday Evenings from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in The Adult Education Room (202) beginning Jan 14 – April 1, 2026.

All study materials will be provided at a cost of $13.00 per person, payable on the first night of the class. This class works best in person, but we will arrange for zoom attendance. Please bring your favorite bible (a study bible is best but not required).

Need a bible or cost prohibitive? Just let co-facilitators Tabitha Beckman or Lisa Heywood-Drake know.

There is room for 12 disciples in the class. The sign-up sheet is available on the round table in the Gathering Space with a DEADLINE to sign up by WEDNESDAY January 7, 2026.

*****Study books and instructions will be available for pick up on the Gathering Space round table starting December 28th

**** Please read the enclosed directions in your study book, so that you are ready to participate on January 14th. Check off that you have picked up your participant’s book.

Introducing Calvary’s Justice Ministry Team & Social Principle Study

As people who follow Jesus, we believe that God’s dream for the world is one of healing, restoration, and justice. Scripture reminds us of this calling again and again: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Justice is not an optional part of our faith—it is woven into the heart of God.

Over the past several years, Calvary UMC has discerned how best to live out this calling. Our commitment to becoming a Reconciling Congregation continues to shape our identity and our ministry. We remain steadfast in our affirmation that LGBTQ+ individuals are beloved by God and fully welcome in the life of our church and our wider community. This work is holy, ongoing, and vital.

Yet as we have engaged more deeply in conversations around inclusion, we have also recognized that justice is a wide and interconnected tapestry. Racism, sexism, ableism, and environmental injustice are not isolated concerns—they intersect in ways that create profound harm and suffering for countless people around the world. To faithfully seek God’s justice, we must understand and respond to these overlapping realities with courage, compassion, and humility.

For this reason, the former Reconciling Team has broadened its focus and discerned a new identity: The Justice Ministry Team, chaired by Connie Cutler and Jill Holland. This renewed ministry will center two core commitments:

Educational growth within our congregation—helping us deepen our understanding of justice concerns through learning, conversation, and theological reflection.
Advocacy and engagement within our community—creating opportunities to live out God’s vision of justice in practical, meaningful ways.

This transformation honors our reconciling roots while expanding our capacity to respond thoughtfully to the complex needs of God’s world. As Isaiah reminds us, “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17). This is the work we hope to take up together in the days ahead.

Our First Educational Offering: Exploring the UMC Social Principles

To begin this journey, the Justice Ministry Team is offering its first educational opportunity this January: A Five-Week Exploration of the United Methodist Social Principles, Sundays, January 11 – February 8, Following worship in Room 202.

This study will run alongside a preaching series in worship, allowing us to learn, reflect, and grow in multiple ways each week. Together, we will discuss the Social Principles—The United Methodist Church’s prayerful, thoughtful statement of how our faith informs our engagement with contemporary social, economic, and environmental issues.

From the introduction to the Social Principles:

“The Social Principles are a call to faithfulness and a challenge to all members of The United Methodist Church to examine contemporary issues in the light of the Gospel and the Wesleyan tradition. They are intended to be a prayerful and thoughtful effort to speak to the human issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation.”

Throughout these five sessions, we will explore how the Social Principles articulate our shared values around topics such as human dignity, creation care, economic justice, global conflict, and the responsibility of communities to one another. More importantly, we will explore how these values call us to action—how they help us live out God’s love with integrity in a complex world.

Whether you are new to conversations about justice or have been engaged in this work for years, this study offers a meaningful chance to listen, learn, and deepen your discipleship.

Join Us in This Growing Ministry

As Calvary continues becoming a community shaped by God’s hospitality, compassion, and justice, we invite you to be part of this important work. Come learn with us. Come ask questions with us. Come imagine, alongside one another, what it means to embody God’s dream of justice in our time and place.

If you have questions or want to learn more, please reach out to Connie, Jill, or Pastor Drew.

Together, may we walk in the way of justice, kindness, and humble love.

Join a House Church

Calvary’s House Church ministry continues to grow and remain a vital component of our worship life together. With five active house churches, thirty participants we are seeing tremendous response. One participant has said “Joining house church was the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.”... See More

PASSIONATE SERVICE

SMALL ITEMS, BIG IMPACT:
Special St. Ambrose Collection

Calvary’s Missions Team continues our partnership with the St. Ambrose Food Pantry and the amplification of our church’s mission of addressing food insecurity in our community.

In response to the dire need for personal care and hygiene items not provided through food benefit programs, once a month we will add to our “Joyful Giving” of food items a special collection of a personal care or hygiene item.

This “personal care collection” occur the first Sunday of each month (Communion Sunday). Each month a specific “Item of Need” (suggested by the St. Ambrose Food Pantry organizer) will be announced in the Midweek Message and on Calvary’s Facebook page at least two weeks prior.

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ITEM OF NEED for January 4th:

Shampoo and/or Conditioner

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Items can be placed in the center aisle with the food donations or in the outer vestibule any time on the 1st Sunday of the month to be included in that month’s collection

“Our neighbors should never have to choose between putting food on the table or taking care of their personal care needs,” said Grace Paster, a member of the Missions Team. “Providing personal hygiene items means their limited funds can be used for more nourishment.”

Calvary Missional Partnerships

Calvary has long standing relationships with a number of mission organizations that impact people from the local area. For more information on the following organizations, please click here.