Merry Christmas!

We hope you are having a wonderful holyday celebration! We were not able to have our Christmas Eve service last Friday due to the bad weather, but did include a number of segments in our Sunday morning services that would have been presented in the Christmas Eve service.

When I was a young boy, I memorized and recited the Christmas passage from Matthew chapter 2 at our Christmas service. You may want to read this during this Christmas season.

Also, enjoy this recording of the presentation called "Christmas in the Park" which was given in our Sunday service.

Merry Christmas!

Patience!

Christmas is ALMOST here! But, some of you have been waiting a long time for it, haven't you? It's hard to be patient, but God wants us to learn to be patient.

Galatians 5:22,23 says that the Holy Spirit wants to grow patience in us.

We need to be patient with other. We need to be patient with God too! God is always working, and if He doesn't do exactly what you want exactly when you want it, decide to be patient!

Many people waited for the coming of Jesus - the Messiah -- at that first Christmas. When Jesus was born, the wiseman had to travel a long ways. They had to be patient on that long trip! You can read about that in Matthew chapter 2.

Jesus did come at that first Christmas. He also promises to come back again. Are you waiting? Look at James 5:7-11.

Know this: If you will be patient, good things will come! Merry Christmas!

GoFish Christmas!

This past summer we had GoFish here at our church for a great concert ending our VBS time.

Most people wouldn't know this...but my wife Karen has a sister. Her sister is married to Gaylon. Gaylon is the first cousin of one of the GoFish guys--Jamie. They all grew up out in South Dakota.

Check out this Christmas video on YouTube by the GoFish guys. It shows them out on the farm and also in concerts. This Christmas video has over a million hits. It talks about keeping CHRIST as the main focus of Christmas. It also includes some of Brad Stein's monologue. Brad is a Christian comedian -- though he's not beeing too funny on this one.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Peace On Earth

The angels announced in Luke 2 "Peace on earth, good will to men." Because Jesus was born, people could now have peace with each other, peace with God, and peace in their own hearts.

Read Isaiah 9:6 and you will find a name for Jesus that talks about peace.

Some people are afraid. Others are confused. Some concentrate on wrong selfish thoughts. All of those things stop people from having peace. But, Jesus came to earth to bring peace to everyone.

Here are a couple more verses that help us understand more about Jesus bringing peace:

2 Timothy 1:7
John 14:26,27
Philippians 4:6,7

May God grow the fruit of peace in your heart and in your family!

Christmas Joy!

God wants to grow some sweet stuff in your life! ...like fruit! It's called the "fruit of the Spirit." Galatians 5:22,23 tells us about this. One of the spiritual fruits is JOY. God wants your JOY to grow during this Christmas season and throughout the year.

We love good food. But we should remember Romans 14:17 "The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." The same is true for the holidays. It's not just about eating Christmas goodies and stuff like that. That stuff isn't going to last long, but God's gifts are ETERNAL gifts!

Romans 6:23 lists one of God's eternal gifts. Take a moment and read that one today!

In Luke 10:17-22 it tells us about how Jesus' followers were excited, and Jesus was also full of joy. Do you remember why Jesus was full of joy? (You may read that right now.)

You can also be full of the joy of the Holy Spirit! Remember, at this Christmas season, true joy comes -- not just from gifts and great food -- but from staying tied into the source of eternal joy - Jesus!