I’m sure your week has been packed full with activities, deadlines, tasks, meetings, and a party or two. Right now I’m sitting in my office before our Christmas Eve service. Right now everything is quiet and mostly dark. Soon the place will fill with a lot of people, noise, light, excitement, and anticipation for tomorrow. What a great joy it will be to meet together as a church family with many guests from our community, to sing carols, to hear glorious and passionate Christmas music, to focus our attention on the gospel, and to joy in our fellowship around the gospel. Just like Mary “pondered” and “treasured up” all that she saw and heard that first Christmas, we all should take some time to think, really think about God’s great gift to us, to all. Please take some time, even if just a few moments, to stop and consider what Christ has done for you and for your family. Certainly, He will count it precious.

Merry Christmas,

P. Tim

Last week I suggested that you consider the gift of “time” this Christmas season, (It’s actually a great “gift” for every season!) Today I wanted to take that a bit further and make more specific recommendations. One specific gift or use of time that would be a real difference maker (in a positive way) would be setting time aside before the holiday…very soon…to sit with your wife/husband and then your children, or as a single person with your intimate group of friends and share and compare your expectations for the holiday, your concerns about the holiday, and suggestions to make this year’s observance of Christmas better. Doing this first with your spouse without the kids is essential (with the kids is a separate step). Doing this ahead of time when plans are being formed and can be adjusted is essential. Doing this with the permission to be truly honest and candid is essential. Doing this at a time and in a place that encourages conversation is essential.

This may mean you have this conversation over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, soon. It may mean you dedicate a “date night” to talking through these things, before things get moving too quickly, when adjustments to your plans can actually be made. It may mean an extended meal with the whole family to talk about what they liked/didn’t like about last Christmas and how things might be improved this year. It’s not rocket science…You and the people you love finding/taking time in a place and at a time that permits honest conversation about this coming Christmas holiday…soon. It will probably be a little “messy”, but will go a long way to avoid a bigger and hurtful “mess” later.

To our church family…just a reminder that the special service times over the holidays are printed in the bulletin and on that special “Hope has Come” invitation card. I would also encourage each of you to think and pray specifically about how you will give to God during this season. There are many ways, some financial, some in service, but it certainly is something we all should pray about, think about, and plan on doing. It is HIS birth that we are celebrating.

See you Sunday for the all church Christmas program at 10am…Lord willing.

In Him,

P. Tim

As you think about giving appropriate and meaningful gifts to your family and friends, let me suggest one that we tend to forget…the gift of time. Personal, unhurried, uninterrupted, time with your spouse, your children, or your friend. While it wasn’t a Christmas gift, it was a gift that Jesus gave to His disciples.

Mark 6:31-32
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”

While it doesn’t cost money (or at least not a lot of money), it can seem a bit expensive when time is in such short supply on a daily basis, but particularly during the holiday season. The value of time and the value of shared time and personal attention are very high, very precious. If you don’t make specific plans to give the gift of time, it will all be gone before you know it. So, just a friendly suggestion…give some thought to giving the gift of time to the people you love.

In Him,

P. Tim I

So, were you caught up in being a “Martha” over the Thanksgiving holiday or were you able to take the time to be a “Mary”? Obviously, I am not, never have been, and never will be a mother, but in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he does compare his relationship/ministry to them not only as a spiritual father, but also to the care and concerns of a mother. No, I’m not saying that as a pastor I know exactly what it’s like to be a mother. What I am saying is I do know all too well the enormous pressure and strong tendency to be caught up in all the preparing, doing, serving, fixing, mending, and peacemaking in a “family” and lose those extended quiet times of conversation with the ones you love, with the One you love. God did bless me over the holidays, in the middle of the blessed and sweet chaos of family gatherings, to have some quiet, poignant, refreshing times of personal conversation with family and with Him. It was great. Such times are gifts from God. Let’s pray for each other and encourage each other to seek and find more of them, more often.

See you Sunday, Lord willing.

In Him,

P. Tim