Brothers and sisters,
Happy snowy Monday to all! We had a wonderful day worshipping our Lord and remembering the reasons Jesus came. Yesterday’s message was entitled, “Jesus Did Not Come to Save You From Hell.” It reminded us that Jesus came to save us from something and for someone. He came to save us from sin-its presence, its power and its ultimate penalty of death and the second death which separates us from the goodness of God forever. The angel told Joseph that Jesus would save His people from their sins. All of us need to be saved from sin and freed from its power. We need that initially and we need that daily. We learned that sin is progressive, sin enslaves and sin always leads to death. Jesus came to save us from sin. Jesus also came to save us for Himself, that we might know, love, live for and serve Him. When we come to trust in Jesus and confess Him as Lord, we confess that we are no longer our own king, but Jesus is the King, Ruler, Boss, and Lord of our lives. We are subjects of the King of kings and Lord of Lord and are a part of His forever kingdom. We do not live any longer for our own agendas, but we live for Jesus’ agenda and for His purposes. To know, love, and serve Jesus is what eternal life is all about!
We missed those of you who were not here because of the snow storm. We want you to know that we do not want you to endanger your health when the roads and sidewalks might be hazardous. On those days of snow and ice and other weather events, please do not take chances that might endanger your health to be here. We also want you to know that if you need something during those times, please let us know so we can help you. We are family and we watch out for each other!
I hope you are having joy as we approach the celebration of the first coming of Jesus. Don’t get so busy in the season that you miss the joy of celebrating it.
Remember the special events of the season. On December 24, we will have a Christmas Eve service at 5:00 PM. We will have only a worship service on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day at 10:30 AM with no Sunday School on those days.
Love being your pastor!