REMEMBERING THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

The word “advent” means coming. It is used by churches around the world to celebrate the four Sundays before Christmas…the Advent season. My goal is to assist our church family in the desire to keep Christ as the central part of the Christmas season. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with the magnitude of the world’s celebration of Christmas. Some stores start before Halloween to make sure they take full advantage of the Christmas spending splurge. Ok, all that aside, it is my goal to lead our church family to keep focused on the reason for the season.

We start with worship. As always, our worship is centered on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We include the beautiful seasonal songs that celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is a story worth remembering and celebrating. The Word of God has been the focus of our sermon series: Advent: The Whole Story. We will finish the series on Christmas Eve as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptism! The birth of the babe in Bethlehem resulted in our rebirth! From the Cradle to the Cross until He returns, we see the whole story of the advent of Christ. To God be the glory.

The third part of keeping Christ in Christmas is the outward focus of our mission effort. So far, you have given 113 packs of diapers (3,427 individual diapers!) for the Lowcountry Pregnancy Center; 76 pop up hampers for the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers; 196 jars of jelly for James Island Outreach (that represents sending love to 196 families); and 128 pairs of pajamas and 10 pairs of slippers for the Lowcountry Orphan Relief. That is Christmas at its finest! Thank you for being so willing to give love to our community. This is a better place to live because you reach out!

See you Christmas Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom