In the past week we have moved from the Thanksgiving season into the Advent Season. It seems as though, it has been a rush, and our schedules are already full of activities. If we are not careful, this season will just be more parties and events and we will be exhausted from the many events surrounding this very special time of the year. The Advent season is to help us look toward the celebration of the coming of the Christ Child. It seems that in just a few days decorations have come out of storage and the celebration of Christmas is everywhere we look. Our society tries to make it more of a ‘Holiday’ season and in many cases never mentioning the ‘Christ’ that is the central figure of this season. In many cases Christ has been replaced with the decorations and the celebrations. Stores are recording record sales, and in many cases, you can not even find a Nativity scene in all the decorations. We need to keep Christ the center of Christmas. In Matthew 2:2 we read, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him.” I never get tired of reading about the wise men searching for Jesus. This reminds me that I need to keep my focus on Christ and what He has done for me during this season. I can’t get caught up in all of the busyness of the season but remember to worship the one that is ‘the reason for the season.’ I hope your focus this Christmas is Christ and worshipping Him and Him alone.
The Christmas season is a time of giving. We need to remember, as we are busy buying gifts, that this is the season that we give to missions at our church. We give our Mission Offering (Lottie Moon Offering) to support our Missionaries that are serving in foreign countries so that others can know Christ. As you are ‘giving’ this year make sure to include our missionaries by giving your gift to the Lottie Moon Offering.
This is also our final month for our 2019 budget year. Thank you for your faithfulness to our church through your giving. We are behind on our budget gifts this year and we need to finish strong. Remember, our church budget is how we support all of the ministries of our church. We want to be faithful to what God has called us to do as a church. It takes all of us working together to reach our community for Christ.
Pastor Dan Harrison