Are you ready for Christmas? It seems like December comes more quickly every year, doesn’t it? We went to Home Depot just after Halloween and were surprised to see that they had already brought out the Christmas decorations! But, before I could get too grumpy about it, the kids started cheering, so I was filled with a little pre-season Christmas cheer! So, the stores are ready, but are you?

The end of November and the month of December are a time of preparation, not just for our holiday festivities, but for one of the greatest feasts on the church calendar: the celebration of our Lord’s birth! The season of Advent is a time when we prepare, both for the celebration of Christ’s first coming, but also we prepare our hearts for His second coming. This is a time, not of shopping and stress, but of repentance and prayer. It is not a time to merely prepare our homes with decorations, but to prepare our hearts for His return.

In order to prepare our hearts, this Advent we are going to be focusing on the prophets in the Old Testament to see how they were prepared by God for the incarnation and birth of our Lord. We’ll hear the Lord speak through their mouths as He teaches His people to prepare the royal highway for Christ’s appearance among us. From this, we’ll learn what He has done to prepare us for Christ’s second coming and the eternal Christmas feast! Please be sure you join us for this exciting Advent series called: “Preparing for Christmas!”

We also have a lot going on here at the church in December. Please pay special attention to the calendar on the back of the newsletter so you can be informed of all the exciting stuff we have going on. I want to thank everyone who is working so hard right now on the Living Nativity, Advent Dinner, Giving Tree, and Cookie Share. You guys are awesome!

We also are having our Advent midweek services at 7:30 pm leading up to Christmas week. We will be taking part in another preaching round robin as we do every year. This year, we’ll be digging deeper into the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emanuel.” Please make it a priority to take a break from the holiday stress by joining us to hear God’s word and sing His praises.

And, last but not least, please be sure to join us after second service on December 13th for our annual voter’s meeting. We will vote to approve the 2016 budget.

Whew! December is going to be awesome around here! I am so thankful for you all and for the joy we share in this congregation. Merry Christmas!

Pastor Bob

The full newsletter is available here:
www.faithmoorpark.com/files/pdf/2015/2015-12-Newsletter.pdf