DO NOT OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Dear Worshippers,

May the peace of our Prince fill your hearts and homes this wonderful Christmas season and all through the New Year, regardless of the circumstances in which you may find yourself. It is a joy and a delight to share this ministry with you for the glory of Jesus Christ, and I pray that you will know the joy of living in His presence in ever-increasing measure in 2008. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” [John 3:30, ESV] May that be our corporate prayer today and every day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

What Can I Give Him?

Dear Worshippers,

On my mind these last few weeks has been this opportunity to bring a gift to Jesus this Sunday night in the service. When Pastor David first shared this idea that Kyle Linscheid first mentioned, immediately the verses from I Corinthians 14:26-40 came to mind. Paul offers instruction there for the orderly exercising of gifts in public worship. He says, “When you meet. One will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord.” Our offering of gifts to Jesus Sunday night I am certain will have that desired effect. I hope you will consider coming and contributing, whether with a song or poem or otherwise.

As I have been reflecting on this theme a poem came to mind by Christina Rossetti, titled “In the Bleak Midwinter”. In my search for the text, I came across a post on YouTube featuring Sarah Brightman singing this text to the traditional Gustav Holst melody. Here is the link to that video to introduce it to some of you, and remind the rest: In the Bleak Midwinter.

We only have the last stanza in our hymnal [The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration, Word © 1986] for some reason. While it is beautiful, it is best understood and appreciated with the entire context of the poem. This was very difficult to find, but I believe is the complete original text. What a gift? Our hearts. I leave you with your Spirit-led reflections.

1.      In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan, 

        earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 

        snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 

        in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2.      Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; 

        heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. 

        In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 

        the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

3.      Enough for Him whom cherubim worship night and day,

A breastful of milk and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him whom angels fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

3.      Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 

        cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 

        but his mother only, in her maiden bliss, 

        worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 

4.      What can I give him, poor as I am? 

        If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 

        if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 

        yet what I can I give him:  give my heart.

Let us be mindful as well of those who are aware how bleak midwinter is. There are many in our lives, even in our church, yes even on our shared area of ministry that look at the season we now enjoy with mixed emotions at best. Whether there is family disharmony or outright conflict, a fractured relationship, or simply reminders of the same, many are dealing with powerful and difficult emotions. Let us incarnate Christ to them and so share the peace that the He alone offers. Give Him your heart, and let Him use to in the life of another.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

Thank You, Jesus

Dear Worshippers,

If you participated in the musical this past weekend, please know that I am truly grateful to you. As I said in our prayer time just before we started Sunday night, each of us had a role to play in communicating the message of peace available in Jesus. I thank my God as I remember your part, whatever it was.

I will take some time this week to write thank you notes to at least a few people who contributed to the success of the musical. I will not be able to tell everyone just how appreciative I am of their sacrifices, let alone the sacrifices of family and friends in the midst of this season. It takes a lot of people and a lot of time to do what the Lord did through us Sunday night. Again, I thank our God for the use of each of us.

I am also finding myself thanking Jesus for what He did Sunday night, the days leading up to it, and since. As I think about different things that happened, I am amazed at the goodness of our Lord to me and us. I don't really take the time to convey the many things that I see the Lord doing as we prepare a major work like the musical. Here is a short list:

♪ Excellent stage management assistance in Lisa Giessler, who truly feels as though her job is done best when no one notices, well done
♪ A wonderful combination of folks for the cast, their relationships as seen on stage proved to be a powerful venue for the Lord to communicate to us
♪ The furniture. This may seem like a little thing, but trust me it is not
♪ Caring for details like cookies, we never have too few
♪ The venue at the mall, the TV, and favor with the management. The latter especially was an unexpected blessing.
♪ Our audio/visual crew, including the high-flying Pastor Tony Etris who I learned is afraid of heights, and faithful Fred, and marvelous Meria
♪ Bringing people that we have invited. Only He can do that. Some of them were real surprises, to us at least.
♪ The orchestra players, who came a variety of times from a variety of places through a variety of contacts that only the Lord could make.
♪ The largest choir we have had in that loft since at least Easter. Great job! You are the foundation of this entire endeavor.
♪ And the list goes on.

Thank you Jesus! Thank you for these and any other blessings along the way that came by Your gracious hand. We revel in all that You are, in these days, this season, and forever.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Dear Worshippers,

With the snow falling these last couple of days, I have found myself humming this tune. I even caught Samuel singing it on the way to school this morning as we traveled white-covered roads. The lights are going up all over town, Christmas plans are in full swing, and you can feel it in the air. Christmas is coming. You can see.

As parents of small children, Sarah and I have really wrestled with what Christmas should look like. Presents under the tree can quickly become the focal point of this season that is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of our Savior. How many times are children asked that question during the lead-up to Christmas, “What do you want for Christmas?”

No before you think I am an old Scrooge, you must know that we delight in giving good gifts to our children. What we struggle with is doing so while trying even harder to keep Christ in Christmas. I know this is a universal struggle for every household, so I wanted to write today and encourage you along these lines…

What makes it look like Christmas in your home? For us, it is the nativity at the bottom of a tree decorated with angels. It is the Advent wreath where we try to gather every evening to light the candles and think about Jesus’ coming. It is decorating and going to see Christmas lights which penetrate the darkness and remind us that Jesus did and continues to do just that.

I am certain you have some traditions of your own that make Christmas special. I want to encourage you to enjoy them and the way they point you to the Savior. Maybe there is something new you have wanted to add for sometime and just haven’t. Maybe there is some obligatory thing that you have wanted to stop doing and just haven’t. Purpose to allow your spare moments in this busy holiday season to be filled with Christ. Know that I will be doing the same.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott