This Sunday, we enter the Season of Advent. Every year, we hope that Advent will be a time of peace and contentment, and yet, once again, the world seems filled with violence and disappointment. Don’t we all need a reminder that the light of God still shines in the darkness and that God’s promises of love, hope, and joy are fulfilled in the birth of baby Jesus? In a book called Christmas is for Celebrating, the Rev. Melvin Wheatley writes:

Not a world that has in it nothing, but a world that is good, while having in it so much that is bad;
Not a life that knows no darkness, but a life in which even those who walk in darkness have seen a great light;
Not a God who gives us everything we want, but a God who gives us everything we have,
and offers us all we need, now and forever, to grow up full-size to the dimensions of significance and satisfactions
that belong to creatures who are also co-creators.

During this Holy Season of 2022, as your pastor, it is my hope that your heart and your spirit will be restored as you receive the true gifts of Christmas.

Special Music: The Wheat Ridge Ringers ring in the season with “Angels Sing Gloria” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.”