Good News of Great Joy for All People!

Hey everybody,

 

It’s hard to believe THIS Sunday is the LAST Sunday before Christmas! I hope you can join us for the conclusion of our series “It’s a Wonderful Life.” On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we will have two services for you to choose from: 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm. We are providing childcare for those three and under, so make sure to get here in time to drop the little ones off. Christmas Eve is a GREAT time to invite someone to sit with you; be sure not to come alone. 

 

Christmas Eve will also be the last opportunity that we have to give in person to The Gift. If you don’t know what this year’s The Gift is all about, you can find out more here.

 

Why do we do The Gift? Because at Christmas, we celebrate God’s gift to us: His Son, Jesus. The Gift is our response to the generosity of our Heavenly Father. We respond by generously showing His love to others. We are hoping for 100% participation from our church family. It will take all of us giving as much as we can to hit our goal of $100,000. We are currently about 50% of the way there. We can do this church!

 

I look forward to celebrating Christmas with you and your guests. Below is Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. Take time over the next few days to read and meditate on it. God did this so YOU could be in a relationship with Him. Amazing. Merry Christmas!

 

Pastor Jamey

 

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

 

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

 

The Shepherds and Angels

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

 

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

 

“Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

 

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. 

Luke 2:1-20