There are so many reasons people drink too much over the holidays--stress, economic worries, emotional family reunions, holiday parties, or simply the depression or loneliness that sets in during long winter months. This Christmas and New Year's, turn to the downloadable book of devotions from SPSARV (United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence) to relieve the stress of the holiday season, a time when many individuals, families, and church members become aware of the disease of addiction and pray for recovery.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christmas | Health | Prayers | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Dec 20, 2011

Dear Friends, On behalf of the General Board of Global Ministries, thank you for all you do to share God's love and light throughout the world. Through our work, together we are building a path that Isaiah prophesized--a radical path to liberation, peace, and justice. A path that is possible because of the birth of a small and helpless child. The light of the world lies in the hands of someone as powerless as a newborn baby.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Emergencies | Justice | Missionaries | Natural disasters | Peace | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Women | Statements | Tsunami | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Cote d´Ivoire | Japan | Liberia |
Date posted: Dec 16, 2011

Advent is the season in the Christian year when we hear and participate in the time of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. We look with thankfulness and hope for the second coming of Christ. We hear the voice of God in Scripture. We hear the voices of God's people around the earth as we pray together for the joy and peace of Christ's love to warm the hearts and lives of all humankind.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Evangelism | Music | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Nov 07, 2011

Public celebration of Christmas--public testament of faith in Jesus Christ--is not always easy, or even safe. As we move into a new year, my prayer list includes persons and situations in which Christian brothers and sisters lost their lives in recent days because of their faith, or where a public official was killed for trying to protect religious rights of Christians.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Christmas | Civil rights | Conflict | Ethics | Global connections | Human rights | Justice | Peace | United Methodist Church | Violence | War | Statements | Egypt | Iraq | Pakistan |
Date posted: Jan 07, 2011

The Gospel of Matthew steadily moves the story of Jesus' ministry and his meaning to the world from a tribal context--the ancestry of Abraham in chapter one--to a universal perspective, that of making disciples of all people in chapter 28.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Christmas | Donations | Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | Jesus Christ | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Jan 04, 2011

Our desire to connect with family and friends reaches a peak during Advent and the holiday season. Few people want to be alone on Christmas and New Year's Eve, and many feel distant from God.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Bible | Christian love | Christmas | Ecumenical | Global connections | Globalization | Internet | Jesus Christ | Peace | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Dec 15, 2010

Three images from the Gospel of Luke fill my mind this Christmas: "no room," shepherds, and the manger.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Human rights | Jesus Christ | Mission opportunities | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Brazil |
Date posted: Dec 14, 2010

Lewes, Delaware, December 18, 2009--Welcome to Palestine in the reign of King Herod, the one history would call "the great." Look around, wander at leisure through 13 scenes that you can also find described in the Bible; watch the animals, some at a manger.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Communities | Evangelism | GBGM news | Jesus Christ | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Dec 17, 2009

The Christian church is a light and power source, transmitting God's transforming love into every corner of the world. Christmas celebrates God's presence in the world in the form of a child, born in common surroundings but recognized by shepherds and sages as the one who saves humanity from darkness and gloom.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christmas | Evangelism | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Dec 15, 2009

A few years ago, Pastor Mike Slaughter of the Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, challenged the congregation to remember in their gift-making that Christmas celebrates Jesus' birthday. "Christmas in Not Your Birthday!" became a slogan in one of the most remarkable examples of Christian compassion and care in the contemporary church.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Children | Christmas | Donations | Emergencies | Global connections | Health | Missionaries | Volunteers | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Africa | Asia and the Pacific Islands | Central America | Europe |
Date posted: Dec 11, 2009

Standing in a ger (a white rounded dwelling tent) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, there was much about my surroundings in that moment that pointed to the fact that a little over a week prior I had literally moved to the other side of the world.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Global connections | Music | Mongolia |
Date posted: Dec 08, 2009

For years I dreaded celebrating Christmas. Due to an eviction I was separated from my family during my freshman year of high school. Living in a different home each week, I did not understand why, at my age, life took such a drastic turn. I felt so lonely and hopeless, especially during the Christmas season. I watched families eat, open gifts, and share memories together. I would wish that I could experience that same love and joy. I wanted that feeling; I wanted my family.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Children | Christmas | Economy | Evangelism | Family | Finance | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Dec 04, 2009