Welcome to Advent: that holy period of four weeks to prepare our lives for God to break into our world. Of course, we humans have foolishly loaded these weeks with everything possible to distract us from really receiving “God with us” come December 25. We have downplayed the significance and reality of God’s personal presence with us, come in human form, to save us from our folly, sin, and lostness.
So we all need to be restored to a purposeful preparation for Christmas, one truly filling us with Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy! Each Sunday we will discover afresh how the Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy brought by the Incarnation (God’s coming to us in human form as Jesus Christ, the Child of Bethlehem) transform us and our world.
I promise that each Sunday will not only restore you and yours to a real preparation for Christmas, but I know the message will reach those new to faith and even those lost and consumed by doubts and fears.
So this is the perfect opportunity to put into practice what we have been learning over the past six weeks:
A – Ask
C – Confess
T – Trust
I – Instruct
O – Overcome
N – Navigate
Particularly the truth from this past week, that we as a church are not a Cruise Ship (whose purpose is to cater to the pleasures of its passengers) but rather a Coast Guard Cutter (whose purpose is to rescue and save the lost, shipwrecked, storm ravaged, and marooned).
So, consider prayerfully: where will you “make your presence known” in the community–who do you know-who is God leading you to–who is God going to bring you into contact with–and who might the Spirit lead you to, to come enjoy an event with you at church this Advent?
There is probably no other month when we have so many different event opportunities:
Dec. 1 Ornament making & Pot Luck (4-6 pm)
Dec. 2 “How to talk with your Teen” at PA (6:30 pm at PA Auditorium)
Dec. 4 Advent Class (7 pm in the Memorial room)
Dec. 12 PA Winter Concert (7 pm at PA Auditorium)
Dec. 14 Jesus Birthday Party (11:30 am) & Sanborn Concert (7:30 pm)
Dec. 15 Caroling and Gifts at Catamount Hill (2 pm at Catamount Hill)
Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (7 pm)
There are so very many who are aimless and lost, unchurched, and don’t know the love of God for them in Jesus Christ. Let us be part of their rescue!
Blessed Advent,
Rev. Jim