Cyber Saints - December 17, 2010
Good morning! As I write this our family is getting ready for the last day of school until 2011. I pray that your family as well is enjoying the buildup of anticipation to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here are a couple of things to share with you this Friday morning:
Immanuel...God with Us!
This Sunday (December 19) is the last of the four Sundays in the Advent season. Advent hearkens us to hear from the prophets of old about the birth of our Savior. One of my favorite prophets - and there are plenty from which to choose! - is Isaiah. In chapter 7 he gives us one of the most remarkable, memorable and powerful prophecies about Jesus - He would be born without the aid of a human father conceiving Him and He would be "Immanuel" which is Hebrew for "God with us." This little child in Bethlehem's manger is God Himself. God, not dwelling in a powerful palace or heralded with trumpets and fanfare, but poor and humble, lying in the feeding trough for some barn animals. He is with us in each and every circumstance we experience, He is with us during the good and the bad, He isn't remote and removed from us. No, He is right here...just as He was "right there" in the manger, right there walking this same earth, right there taking up our sins onto Himself on the cross, right there in the glory of His resurrection. Right now, today, in whatever joys and struggles that might mark this day in your life, Jesus is Immanuel...God with us!
Invite to Worship
I encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors and coworkers to join you in worship over the Christmas season. Besides our regular Sunday morning worship (we maintain the regular Sunday morning worship schedule for December 26) our Christmas Eve (Friday, December 24) worship services are at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. and our Christmas Day (Saturday, December 25) worship service with Communion is at 10:00 a.m. We also close the year 2010 with our New Year's Eve worship service at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 31. Come join the wonder and majesty of Jesus' birth for us!
One Last Chance
This is your last chance to submit a photo caption for the fun pictures of Justin Gudel and myself. You can access them by clicking on photo contest. Please send a reply to me (you can reply to this email) with your photo caption. I'll announce the "winners" next week!
May the wonder and awe of these waning Advent days, which will quickly fold into days of Christmas, continue to fill you with love, joy and peace in the Name of Jesus!
God bless you and I'll see you in His house this Sunday.
Yours in Him,
--Pastor Bill Mueller
(Acts 16:31) |