Cold December Flies Away

Wishing you a Merry Christmas! I hope and pray that you and your loved ones have been able to truly celebrate the spirit of this season and to sense the presence of Christ in whatever ways you can!

After so much planning and preparation, we anticipated sharing Christmas Eve with you in the parking lot, safely singing carols in our cars, and circling around the light of Christ, passing the flame of our faith in a symbolic symbol of our calling. Sadly, Mother Nature had other plans and prevented us from doing so due to the bitter cold and wind. We pray, however, that you were able to join us online for a memorable Christmas Eve at home, sharing our virtual community of faith, and encouraging one another at a distance! Thanks so much for being a part!

The candles, icons, and banners will go away for now, but we’ll still be lighting up the neighborhood with extra strands that point to the hope that is ours in Christ. Come drive through the church lot and savor all that we can still celebrate in the days ahead!

Meanwhile, please recall a couple of brief announcements:

1. If you haven’t yet followed through on your commitment to making ministry happen in 2021 by sharing your Faith Promise form, please do so either online or via the mailbox prior to year’s end. We are 75% of the way toward our goal, but the Visioning Council will be meeting to finalize our budget proposal in just a few short days. We would appreciate all of the insight, plans, and feedback we can gather! Thanks in advance! Gifts intended for 2020 need to arrive at the church office by Thursday noon. If you need it recorded in 2020, do not depend on the mail service. Stop by mornings 8:30 to 12:30.

2. We’re delighted to share two unique gifts with you in worship this Sunday: First, we’ll once again savor the incredible arrangements and harmonies of the Nordic Choir from Luther College and the Minneapolis-based National Lutheran Choir. Their voices have been a source of such encouragement in a chapter when we can’t easily sing together! Second, we’re blessed to be able to welcome the insights of Pastor Adam Hamilton, who has offered to share the Word with us and with churches around the country this Sunday. Pastor Hamilton will share his sermon from Kansas City, centered around how “incarnation” isn’t just about something that happened 2000 years ago, but still today. We thank him for the opportunity to focus on other aspects of our ministry this week!

Our worship will continue on demand through our website and YouTube and will be livestreamed on Facebook at 9:00 a.m. Sunday.

Hope that you can be present with us this weekend in whatever way you can!

Pastor Tim