"How to Grow in 2024" next Wednesday, Jan. 10

How do we grow in the new year? What goals do we have? How do we make faith, Bible study, and ministry a priority? How do we process and reflect upon 2023 and what we have learned? How do we experience the fullness of life that Christ wants us to have? 

Join Clay Stauffer and Jay Hutchens on Wednesday, Jan. 10, for a special session called "How to Grow in 2024" at 6:15 PM in the chapel! Dinner is served at 5:30 PM and you can click the button below to RSVP.

Intro to Woodmont luncheon next Sunday, Jan. 14

If you’re new to Woodmont, then we want to see you at our next Intro to Woodmont luncheon on Sunday, Jan. 14, at noon in the boardroom! This is a chance to meet with Clay and some of our leaders to learn more about Woodmont and if God is calling you to make this your church home. Lunch is served and you are warmly invited! Childcare is available with an RSVP to tammy@woodmontcc.org

Daystar series begins Wednesday, Jan. 17

Daystar is returning to Woodmont in January! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, Jan. 17, Jan. 24, & Jan. 31 to hear from Sissy Goff & David Thomas as they present the following talks. You won't want to miss it! Please make sure to RSVP for childcare of all ages for each of those nights. Dinner will be held beforehand from 5:30 PM to 6:15 PM. RSVP for dinner will be open closer to the date. 

The Daystar series will run from 6:30 PM to 7:45 PM:

• Jan.17: Raising Worry-Free Girls by Sissy Goff
• Jan. 24: Raising Emotionally-Strong Boys by David Thomas
• Jan. 31: The Worry-Free Parent by Sissy Goff & David Thomas

Do you need childcare for the event? If so, click the button below so we can plan for you!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! I like to begin the new year with two questions:

1. What did you learn in 2023? How did you grow?
2. What are your main priorities or goals as we begin 2024?

On Wednesday night, Jan. 10, Jay and I will lead a special session in the chapel at 6:15 PM called “How to Grow in 2024.” Dinner will be served at 5:30 PM in Drowota Hall and all are welcome. Board members, elders, and deacons are requested to attend this gathering as we talk about Woodmont’s focus areas and priorities for this new year. Also, remember that nominations are now open for leadership through the month of January.

This Sunday, we will begin a new sermon series called “Taking Jesus Seriously” based on the Sermon on the Mount. The first sermon (Jan. 7) will focus on our core beliefs and what we understand to be our foundation as Christians. We will then move on to the beatitudes, the blessed life, as well as the topics of anger, fear, anxiety, worry, prayer, judgment, lust, money, and many others.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is viewed by many as the heart of Christian teaching. I once heard one NT scholar refer to it as the “greatest hits of Jesus.” However, these teachings are not easy to put into practice. They are difficult and represent a revolutionary way of living that will create the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. So how do we take Jesus at his word and put these teachings into practice? How do we make our faith, prayer life, and spiritual growth a top priority? How do we live in a counter-cultural way, based on love rather than selfishness, that demonstrates the depth of our faith and commitment? Furthermore, how do we do this as a community?

This is what we will be exploring in the coming weeks and I encourage you to go ahead and begin reading the Sermon on the Mount in your own devotional life. Pray over it. Reflect on it. Talk about it. You may be surprised where the journey will take you and how you will be challenged. Here’s to a great new year! 

Blessings, 

Now is the time to submit your leadership nominations!

This year, we will nominate one chair-elect, three board members, seven elders, and thirty deacons. Nominations will be accepted through Jan. 31 and self-nominations are always welcome. We ask everyone at Woodmont to be thinking of leaders who are present, driven, invested, and care deeply about the mission of Woodmont.

Visit woodmontchristian.org/nominate to submit your nominations or email yours to amber@woodmontcc.org. 

New Year's Eve

Sunday, Dec. 31 • Photos by Steve Lowry

This Sunday, Jan. 7: "What's Your Foundation?"

New "Taking Jesus Seriously" sermon series

Dr. Clay Stauffer

Matthew 5:13-16, 7:24-29

Our schedule this Sunday is:

• 8:30 AM – Continental breakfast in the gym
• 9:30 AM – Informal service in the sanctuary with livestream
• 9:40 AM – The Bridge service in the chapel with livestream
• 11:00 AM – Traditional service in the sanctuary with livestream
• 4:00 PM – Youth Group, Youth Lounge
• 5:30 PM – Youth Jubilation Rehearsal, Choir Room
• 5:30 PM – Youth Basketball, Drowota Hall

Women's Bible Study returns Jan. 10

Our new Disciples Women's Bible Study is back on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 5:45 PM in Room 200! This is a weekly Bible study for women who want to seek wisdom, truth, and understanding in scripture while digging deeper into spiritual community together. Questions? Contact Tammy Morgan at tammy@woodmontcc.org

I believe Christmas time might be my most favorite time of year for watching TV. Besides the beautiful Christmas music programs (especially traditional Christmas music), I still enjoy the cartoon shows about Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph. This year I watched a new one that told what really happened when “grandma got run over by a reindeer.”

One other great show I watched – although it had nothing really to do with Christmas (it just happened to be shown in December) – was Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party at the Los Angeles coliseum. At the end of the 90-minute party there was Willie, age 90, and Keith Richards, an 80-year-old who performed with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, pickin’ and playin’ and singing together. What a great scene. And the words to the last song they sang were, 

“I’m going to live forever,

I’m going to cross that river,

I’m going to live forever now.”

It just struck me that, whether we agree with their lifestyle or not, they really have... and continue to... live life to the fullest. And that really resonated with me because I truly believe that if you want to “live forever,” you have to do it “NOW.” If you want to live life to the fullest, and actually experience eternity now, you’ve got to learn to live in the present moment and not the past or future. 

The past or future is, more often than not, related to “this world” and earthly living rather than experiencing eternity. Too many people get trapped in the past, re-living the “good old days” which are gone forever... and related to life in this world. They often live with regret or worry about things that happened in the past and cannot be changed now. Likewise, too many people live in the future rather than experiencing the present. They live in the hope of what they would like to happen, or maybe the fear of what might happen. But either way, they miss out on the present. 

There are too many people who live with the “if onlys.” “If only” I hadn’t made that mistake. “If only so-and-so were still alive.” Or, they live with too many “whens.” When I graduate, when I get a job, when I get married, when I have children, when the children leave home, when I retire, when I have grandchildren. Again, all these “whens” keep us from experiencing life to the fullest NOW. 

In contrast to all this, there are moments when we have been fully in touch with the present and thus have been fully alive. It may be watching a sunrise or sunset, or when a baby is born, or the inspiration of standing on a mountain top, or listening to incredibly beautiful music, or a work of art, or anything else that is truly beautiful. One writer I recently read said that is when we truly experience God, the eternal. Such peak moments, when we feel truly at one with God and life and the universe, make us feel the awesome power of life at its fullest. Such moments make us wonder why people would harm each other and why there are wars when everybody and everything is interconnected. 

Jesus told us the same thing when He said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself... Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Matthew 6:34) Or, in the Lord’s Prayer, when He taught us to pray, “Give us THIS DAY our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) When we live fully in the present moment, the NOW, we are connected with God and are experiencing eternity. Such moments, as you know, make time just fly. For there is no time in eternity. 

The story is told about a beggar sitting on a box by the side of the road asking for charity. One day a passer-by asked him, “What’s in the box?” The beggar replied, “I don’t know. I never looked.” When the passer-by insisted that he look inside, the beggar was astonished to discover that the box was filled with gold.

In many ways our lives are like that. We never discover the real wealth that is ours when we don’t live fully in the present moment. Instead of enjoying our full wealth, we live on scraps of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows. Of course past memories are a part of who we are now, and we all need to prepare ourselves for the future. Jesus basically said today well-lived will take care of tomorrow. But we must learn how to live full and completely in the NOW, experiencing fully everything and everybody around us.

Carpe Diem … which means “seize the day.” May you commit yourself to that in this New Year of 2024.

Opportunities with Woodmont's Racial Bridges Ministry 

Walk with Woodmont in the MLK Jr. Day March 

Monday, January 15 

March starts at 9:00 a.m. (lasting less than an hour) 

Experience the National Museum of African American Music 

Saturday in late February or early March 

Time TBD 

To participate in either event or to learn more, contact: 

Bob Faricy, faricy@comcast.net, 615-403-8909 or 

Karen Woolridge, karenwoolridgewwc@gmail.com, 615-753-7083.

Watch "Finishing the Course"

Church calendar

Sunday, Jan. 7

8:30 AM Continental Breakfast, Drowota Hall

9:30 AM 21st Century Class, Boardroom

9:30 AM Disciples Class, Room 105

10:45 AM Pathways Class, Boardroom

10:45 AM Reflections Class, Room 200

10:45 AM Connection Class, Room 100

11:00 AM Points of View Class, Room 105

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

4:00 PM Youth Group, Youth Lounge

5:30 PM Jubilation Rehearsal, Choir Room

5:30 PM Youth Basketball, Drowota Hall

Monday, Jan. 8

3:00 PM "Geezers," Boardroom

6:30 PM Leadership Woodmont, Campbell West

Tuesday, Jan. 9

6:00 PM Young Professionals Dinner & Discussion, Campbell West

6:30 PM Alateen (ages 12-19), South Hall

6:30 PM Parents Al-Anon Group, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall 

Wednesday, Jan. 10

6:00 AM Roy Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Room 105

7:00 AM Clay Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Boardroom

8:00 AM Men’s Bible Study, Room 105

5:45 PM Disciples Women's Bible Study, Room 200

6:15 PM "How to Grow in 2024" with Clay Stauffer & Jay Hutchens, Carpenter Chapel

6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary

Thursday, Jan. 11

10:00 AM Sit & Stitch, Gathering Hall

1:00 PM Mahjong Group, Gathering Hall

5:30 PM Handbells Rehearsal, Choir Room

6:30 PM Andra Moran Virtual Vespers, Zoom

6:30 PM Nar-Anon, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall 

Friday, Jan. 12

Room In The Inn

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Saturday, Jan. 13

Room In The Inn

10:00 AM Al-Anon, Drowota Hall