Christmas, 2013

Dear Church Family,

The Advent of our Lord is a unique time of year for
the Christian. There is a perfect collision of tense in our language that can be
confusing. How can we wait for Christ to be born after all? Wasn’t Jesus born
over two millennia ago? Why sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” if He already
came?

This month long period is really a snapshot of our existence. We can take our lead from
the Old Testament. The prophets and scribes wrote for the purposes of:

1. the time in which they lived

2. reminding the people of what has been before (the Exodus from Egypt, for example)

3. helping God’s children look toward the future (prophecies of Israel’s return from captivity, the Messiah, etc.)

And so Christmas encapsulates the full gravity of all time. We open up the book of Isaiah and are reminded in chapter 11 that “a shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse”. We understand
this more as we reflect on Jesus being the one that would be born from David’s lineage. We look to the future and await the second coming of Christ. Jesus said in John 14, “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

The present might just be the most glorious realization for us this Christmas.  To celebrate Jesus’
birth is to acknowledge the God that invades time.  The holy God enters into our mess.  He casts “out our sin and enters in”. The very son of God is born to us then and we are reminded that His spirit comes to us now.

Thank God for the gift of Jesus for all people in all time. That he came to you then, He comes to you now and He is coming again.

Blessings in this life and beyond,

Pastor
Mark

*The Christmas Offering will go toward our local ministry and the missions we support
as a congregation.  If you wish to designate your gift to go wholly in support of one of  these, please indicate that desire on your envelope or check.