Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:13, ESV)
We’ll sing some carols, light some candles, tell the Christmas story and share the Lord’s Table together in this meaningful, annual celebration reminding us that as great as is the miracle of the Son of God being born in the world, the miracle of His birth in our hearts is the greatest gift of all. Why not make some time, bring your family and share with others of God’s people a wonderful few moments of remembrance and expectation?
Sunday Morning, Dec. 20: The roads have been plowed but still have snow and ice on them. Driveways are not yet plowed, nor is the church parking lot. Services are canceled today, but please come back on Christmas Eve at 6:00 p.m., and next Sunday for a double Christmas celebration with our children’s play! The church building may be closed, but God’s church (you!) remains open and working!
About 15 people gathered at the church on the evening of December 18 and went out Christmas caroling. Forecasts called for snow late in the evening, but we enjoyed singing for several seniors in their homes, and one in a nursing home (where other residents gathered in the hallway to listen). It’s hard to overestimate the joy that comes into the world when people care enough to make the effort to do even such a simple thing. May Christmas be in our hearts, and a song on our lips, throughout the year!
By late evening the snow had begun falling, and forecasts were upgraded to a blizzard for Saturday (today), possibly a record-breaking storm for the area with up to two feet by Sunday morning. As I write this, before 8 a.m., six or more inches is on the ground and the heaviest snowfall is only just getting started!
Below are announcements which include delaying our Christmas program by a week, in light of this severe weather forecast.
Scheduling notes:
The children’s play dress rehearsal scheduled for today, December 19, will move to next Sunday morning, December 27 at 9:00 a.m.
On schedule for Sunday, December 20 are the children’s Christmas play, the Christ’s Birthday Offering, and our monthly compassionate ministries food processional. In the likely event we are closed for snow that day, all of these will happen instead on Sunday, December 27.
Our Christmas Eve candlelight service will still take place on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Pastor Bob says: Stay safe, stay snug, and enjoy some “in” time with your families! God is good, all the time (even in the snow)!
Our church is known for its prayer ministry. People sometimes will call just to get a name on the prayer list, because it is well known that we take prayer seriously, not being unrealistic but asking in faith, and, often, seeing miraculous results. But there’s a curious thing about human nature: it’s easy to just move on to the next need, the next urgent problem, and lose track of the victories we have seen along the way. So as a way of reminding one another of God’s goodness, some of our leaders got together and constructed an “answers to prayer” tree. It was set up in the narthex on New Years Day 2008, and will remain there until the turn of the next new year. Here’s how it works.
In the basket to the left of the “tree” is a supply of paper “leaves” and some mini-clothespins. Whenever a significant answer to prayer has been received, members are encouraged to take a “leaf,” then write, if they choose, the nature of the answer on the back of the leaf, and using one of the mini-clothespins, attach that leaf to the tree. Each week a few more leaves appear on the tree. We’ll let that process go forward and see how “fruitful” our tree is by the end of the year.
[At the beginning of Advent 2008 in an evening celebration with other churches also assembled, we read aloud many of the dozens of "leaves" on the tree.]
