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Pastor'S December 2009 Message |
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PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD Most things in life that are meaningful and have lasting value involve us in some preparations. Whether it's a special vacation or some kind of reunion, we spend time getting ready, making plans, setting out some goals and objectives. The old adage proves generally true, "The more you put into it, the more you get out of it."By the time you read this article, the Christmas rush will have already begun. It is so easy to get swept away in the hype, to get caught up in the commercialism and the glitter of lights. And then, just as quickly as it came, another Christmas has gone, and we somehow feel an emptiness that is especially disquieting considering the promise of peace and goodwill that Christmas is supposed to bring.Now is the time to act! To avoid a Christmas of superficialities takes conscious action, it takes preparation. If your Christmas is to have content, you will need to focus on its true meaning, and that will be like swimming up stream.
Coming to our aid is the season of the Church Year called Advent. It is a Latin word which means 'coming' or 'arriving'. The special theme of the season is 'prepare'. During the Advent season, we prepare for the coming of Christ. We celebrate His first coming in Bethlehem's manger. We welcome His present coming into our lives each day in new and deeper ways. We eagerly anticipate His future coming to usher in the end of the age and the beginning of life everlasting. Messiah will be offering Advent worship services to help you prepare on December 2nd, 9th, and 16th at three different times.
There will be a service at 12:30 and at 7:30 which will basically be the same format and another one at 6:00 PM in a more ‘family friendly’ format. These services will revolve around the theme of Hope, Peace and Joy, concluding with Christmas that will focus on love. The backdrop for this series will be the concept anticipating the coming of a special movie to a theater, “Coming Soon… To A Home Theater Near You.”So plan now to break out of the Christmas madness and to experience the Christmas gladness so that when the season is over you will have once again received the peace of which the angels sang, “Peace on earth, goodwill to all men."
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