Are you ready for Christmas?  It will be here before you know it and as soon as it gets here it is gone.  I remember as a kid how excited I would be then BAME it was over and it was a whole year away again.  I hope you will make some memories this Christmas that will last a lifetime.  I don’t know how many more Christmas we will have or for that matter how many more days we have so let’s make every one of them count for something.  Not only is Christmas here but in just a few days we will be into year 2011.  My wish for you this new year is that you will receive all the blessings God has for you, and if you do, this will certainly be a year to remember.

I want to think Heights Church for the gracious gifts given to us last Sunday.  They are a remarkable group of people who share what God has given them each year with us and we benefit from their generosity.  I know they receive a blessing too, because that is how God works.  I also want to think Chuck Cagle and his group for coming and singing Christmas Carols with us last week.  They too are very dedicated to doing God’s work and are so unselfish with their time and talent.. God has a special place in heaven for them.  We had a good group of members there and it was especially nice of Edith to come and visit with us play the piano for us.  We are hoping she will be able to come back again often!

This week Summitt will not be able to be here because of the holidays but they will be back in January.  So I guess you are going to have to listen to me.

I am going to read the Christmas Story from Luke the 2ND chapter starting in verse 1.  The question I am going to ask is “What would we have seen at Bethelem “?  We know what took place because we read about it, but what if we were actually there what would we have noticed about that night?   Would we have been like most people and not noticed anything diffrent about this night or would we have realized what a significant night this first Christmas was.  What about today?  Is Christmas just a holiday to be off work and see family and exchange gifts or is it more than that?  I know we know this is day we celebrate the birth of Christ but do we realize how our lives were changes by this seeming unimportant day 2000 years ago?  I hope we have developed a true appreciation for the sacrifice God made for us to send his Son to dwell among us and the suffering Christ went through to pay the price for our sins.  We are truly lucky to be called Sons and Daughters of our Creator and Master.

I hope to see you on Sunday but those that are traveling I hope you have a safe trip and a wonderful time seeing family and friends.  Take Christ with you everywhere you go and hurry home.  Keep praying for those of us that are hurting and suffering because we do have a responsibility to help one another. Not because we have to but because we love to.  I will see you on Sunday for the last time this year and we can share what our dreams are for the new year.  We speak great blessing on you and your family this holiday. We love you and are thankful for the chance to be of service to you and God.

Pastor David & Pris