Hebrews 2:9-18 - Christmas in different places

 


Another annual Ladies' Christmas Brunch in the books and Stephanie had the opportunity to share about the glory of God at Christmas.  Not all of the ladies above are part of our church but our church puts this event on each year to gather ladies from around the county.  A new lady organized the event this year and all of the women of our church pitched in to help.  

We have returned from our trip to Florida and Illinois.  The mobile is washed and made repairs to for another year.  We were able to catch a grands Christmas program on the way back and also give gifts to the grands in Illinois.  We were so thankful for the good driving weather we had both ways and that our van now with 257,000+ miles got us there and back.  We hit the ground running when we got back with the ladies' brunch being the next day and Sunday service the following day.  The explosion of our stuff back into our living quarters is getting back into their places.

One of the things we brought back from Florida was all of our pictures.  It will be a winter project to scan and organize them so our children can have these memories from their childhood.  It will also be a time for us to be thankful to God for what He has allowed us to do by raising this family to know Him.  We are also looking forward to some of them coming after Christmas to enjoy the snow in the mountains.  I need to get out the snowshoes and get them tuned up.

An exciting development at the church is what is happening next year in June.  We signed a contract to have the roof replaced.  I put out a soft appeal and then later a more solid appeal with more details.  What has been the result so far?  We have raised just shy of 1/5th of the amount!  This is a God-sized project for us and it will be easy for us to point heavenward when it is completed and say it was all because of Him.

Another God-sized project is the crafting of new church guiding documents.  We have completed a new covenant statement and 21 have signed on.  We are now working on a new mission/purpose statement.  Here is what we have so far.


Stillwater Community Chapel

is a body of believers in Christ,

commissioned by the Holy Spirit

to demonstrate the Father's love by

sharing Jesus,

strengthening believers

and serving others.


I am trying hard to just facilitate the discussions and allow the group to come up with their own wording so that it will be theirs and not just something I thrust upon them.  These documents are going to help us convey to our community who we are.

Sunday's message helped us to see what we need to shout about at Christmas time.  We can sometimes get stuck at the manger scene and not give the whole redemption story going backwards and forwards.  Jesus is our substitute.  Our God is sovereign.  Jesus is our sanctifier.  Jesus is the Satan crusher.  Jesus is our sympathizer.  The gift we received at Christmas that first Advent was and is huge!  We will spend a lifetime unwrapping it.

Adam (p.s. - I also included my weekly video that walks through our new mission/purpose statement in more detail)






A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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