Monthly Newsletter
December 2024
All who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the Shepherds.
Luke 2:18
This Christmas will be the 8th Christmas season I have had the privilege of celebrating with you as your pastor. In line with that, I decided that before I penned (typed) this newsletter I would go back to the other Newsletter entries I wrote in previous years around Christmas. I noticed immediately in those letters how some things have changed in just a short time. I read in those entries of certain events in society that we happen to be seeing at the time. I referenced in those newsletters how certain things in our church life were going. It was really a great reminder of some of our past together. But honestly, the greatest reminder I had in going over those past newsletters is that while things change, Christmas contains a timeless, undying and always Important truth; God became a man and dwelt with us!
Perhaps that’s where you are too. Life has changed drastically for some of you and for all of us it has changed in some measure. Navigating difficulties, growing older, seeing the seasons of life change and so on. But the truth of this time of year remains just as real and applicable as it was the very first Christmas.
I used to find it a challenge to think about communicating truth to you at Christmas. I wondered how to communicate the truth of the incarnation to you in real, fresh and relevant ways. But I don’t think like that anymore. Because the truth of over 2,000 years ago remains unchanged and just as relevant today.
In fact, one of the first Hymns that the early church sang is recorded for us in 1 Timothy 3.
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
In that text we are reminded that it is the mission of the Church to keep on holding up the truth of who God is and what He came into this world to accomplish.
And even today, that simple yet profound message is what the world needs! Our world is full of lost people who need a Savior. It’s full of broken people who need a Healer. It’s full of lonely people who need a Father. It’s full of darkness and needs the Light! That is why we are here. That is why you as the church are where you are and in the place you are. Because God is still offering to people hope. God is still reaching out to a lost and dying world with the life-giving, life-transforming message of the Gospel! When we read of the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke we see so many people who are overjoyed with the arrival of the King! Why? Because they knew that God had not forgotten them but had come to fulfill His promises to His people.
This Christmas season, let me encourage you to go back to this simple and profound truth again. God became man, to live for us, to die for us, to rise for us, to redeem us, to indwell us, to go prepare a place for us, to come again to receive us to Himself.
This message is our life, our joy, our hope, our strength, our purpose and our Mission. So just as God came on a rescue mission for us, so we too have been sent on a rescue mission from Him;
Don’t ever let the simplicity of this message cause you to think it is inadequate. It is simple and more than sufficient. This message and mission have been the priority of the church for the past 2,000 years, and they will continue to be our priority until Jesus returns!
And just as the Shepherds did so long ago, let’s continue to tell about Jesus as far and as long as we can!
Living to Tell of Him,
Pastor Brandon
Luke 2:18
This Christmas will be the 8th Christmas season I have had the privilege of celebrating with you as your pastor. In line with that, I decided that before I penned (typed) this newsletter I would go back to the other Newsletter entries I wrote in previous years around Christmas. I noticed immediately in those letters how some things have changed in just a short time. I read in those entries of certain events in society that we happen to be seeing at the time. I referenced in those newsletters how certain things in our church life were going. It was really a great reminder of some of our past together. But honestly, the greatest reminder I had in going over those past newsletters is that while things change, Christmas contains a timeless, undying and always Important truth; God became a man and dwelt with us!
Perhaps that’s where you are too. Life has changed drastically for some of you and for all of us it has changed in some measure. Navigating difficulties, growing older, seeing the seasons of life change and so on. But the truth of this time of year remains just as real and applicable as it was the very first Christmas.
I used to find it a challenge to think about communicating truth to you at Christmas. I wondered how to communicate the truth of the incarnation to you in real, fresh and relevant ways. But I don’t think like that anymore. Because the truth of over 2,000 years ago remains unchanged and just as relevant today.
In fact, one of the first Hymns that the early church sang is recorded for us in 1 Timothy 3.
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
In that text we are reminded that it is the mission of the Church to keep on holding up the truth of who God is and what He came into this world to accomplish.
And even today, that simple yet profound message is what the world needs! Our world is full of lost people who need a Savior. It’s full of broken people who need a Healer. It’s full of lonely people who need a Father. It’s full of darkness and needs the Light! That is why we are here. That is why you as the church are where you are and in the place you are. Because God is still offering to people hope. God is still reaching out to a lost and dying world with the life-giving, life-transforming message of the Gospel! When we read of the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke we see so many people who are overjoyed with the arrival of the King! Why? Because they knew that God had not forgotten them but had come to fulfill His promises to His people.
This Christmas season, let me encourage you to go back to this simple and profound truth again. God became man, to live for us, to die for us, to rise for us, to redeem us, to indwell us, to go prepare a place for us, to come again to receive us to Himself.
This message is our life, our joy, our hope, our strength, our purpose and our Mission. So just as God came on a rescue mission for us, so we too have been sent on a rescue mission from Him;
Don’t ever let the simplicity of this message cause you to think it is inadequate. It is simple and more than sufficient. This message and mission have been the priority of the church for the past 2,000 years, and they will continue to be our priority until Jesus returns!
And just as the Shepherds did so long ago, let’s continue to tell about Jesus as far and as long as we can!
Living to Tell of Him,
Pastor Brandon
