Celebrating Christmas with a great cloud of witnesses
January 2017 Newsletter Column
Our congregation just finished up with an exciting and fulfilling Christmas weekend. It was an unusual joy to be able to gather with so many people on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The sanctuary was beautiful, the music was uplifting, and it was an opportunity to worship with out of town guests we do not get a chance to see every week. Sharing communion with people who had traveled such a long to join us made me remember that our Christian family has no geographical boundaries. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help us celebrate Jesus’ birth.
Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to those who worked so hard to make the Christmas services possible. Especially because it represented extra time away from families and friends, I am grateful for dedication of those who shared their talents so generously throughout the entire month of December. We were blessed with a great crew of volunteers, organizers, and decorators. Our worship team worked hard to line up liturgists, musicians, and candle lighters. Deacons, elders, ushers, and the church staff all demonstrated flexibility and put in extra time to deal with special services and unusual orders of worship.
On top of all the work that went into worship, the ongoing life of the congregation continued unabated. In the midst of their own families’ holiday preparations, the people of our church put together the cookie walk, the holiday dinner, two special offerings, a choir cantata, and Christmas caroling. There was a lot going on, and people pitched in to serve where they could. Thank you all so much for everything you did to make Advent and Christmas so meaningful.
Now we are getting ready to begin a new year. Changing the calendar can bring both optimism and uncertainty. The surprising and tumultuous events of 2016 demonstrate how utterly impossible it is to predict what is going to come next for ourselves, our congregation, our community, our country, or our world.
Rather than try to predict the future, I will simply use the experience of the past month to remind us that we are not walking into 2017 alone. God has blessed us with a loving, active, and engaged Christian family. Hebrews 12 tells us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who will help us persevere throughout the race of life. As we begin this new year I give thanks that Christ has called us together, and I pray for the Spirit’s guidance. May God continue to bless our church in the year to come.
