Merry Christmas I want to take a moment to wish you all a blessed and merry Christmas. And I invite you to look back over the past year and call to mind the many ways in which God has pored out his blessings upon you and your families. I pray that in the recollection, your hearts will indeed be merry. I also want to recognize that for some of you, the qualifiers of "blessed" and "merry" may sound dissonant or out of place as you reflect on this past year and your circumstances. Grief, loneliness, fear, frustration, and weariness weighs heavy on the hearts of so many. Yet regardless of the conditions and circumstances, all of us long for the miracle of Christ's Incarnation...that inbreaking into history when God’s only begotten Son takes our nature upon himself and is born into the very world he called into being. And he does this so that we, who have been born again by water and the Spirit are made God’s children by adoption and grace. Once again this year we will recall in word and song the birth of our Savior even as we await his coming again! (See the times of Services below.) So I will wish you a Blessed and Merry Christmas and leave you with these words from Madeleine L’Engle. First Coming By Madeleine L’Engle He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace
He came when the Heavens were unsteady
and prisoners cried out for release. He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
He came, and his Light would not go out. He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born. We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice! Blessings, Matthew+ Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. | 
