Faith,
This morning, I got to go see our four-year-old granddaughter, Maren, in her preschool Christmas pageant. She had the part of Mary! So fun! She did a magnificent job and wore a string of faux pearls to make sure the Mother of our Lord was duly accessorized.
The pageant took place in an old Lutheran church, and on my lap was my two-year-old grandson, Wes. Wes has begun to speak in 1-3-word sentences, so it’s always fun to see what he might say. As we sat on the pew before the play began, Wes looked up and saw a 1950s-era statue of the risen Jesus above the altar. Over and over again, Wes kept pointing up at the statue, excitedly proclaiming, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!”
Leave it to a two-year-old to point me once again to “Jesus!”
This Sunday and on Christmas Eve, we’ll head again to where Wes was pointing. We’ll follow Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the angels to Bethlehem to experience once again the love of God in Jesus. On Sunday, the kids will don their donkey, sheep, angel, and shepherd costumes, pointing us to Jesus. We’ll sing our favorite Christmas carols, reminding us of Jesus. We’ll even share our annual Swedish Meatball Christmas meal right after the service. We’ll eat in the name of Jesus! Oh, and I’ll preach a sermon. It’ll focus on Joseph, but it’s really about Jesus.
And then on Christmas Eve, we’ll gather at 2:00 and 4:00 PM for our two candle-lit Christmas Eve services. We’ll sing some more songs about Jesus. We’ll hear a testimony from one of our friends whose life has been changed by Jesus. I’ll share a message for your friends and relatives about the love of Jesus. And then we’ll dim the lights, light a candle, and sing once again about that Silent Night when Jesus, our Savior, was born.
As disciples of our Lord, Faith, we have one job over this next week. We’ll raise our hands, point to the manger, and once again proclaim to our world–Jesus!
Merry almost-Christmas!
Pastor Brad
***There will be no message notes this Sunday.
Here are some great videos pointing you to Jesus for this week!