Christmas is coming!

December 18, 2017 Uncategorized

Dear friends,

Our Advent waiting is almost over; the joyous season of Christmas is just around the corner. The Advent wreath adds a new flame each week, helping us mark the passing time. We wait, as we always do, for our annual remembrance of the coming of God into our midst as a tiny, fragile baby; and for the second coming of Christ, at a time we can neither know nor predict.

And as we wait, in hope and expectation, we practice our faith—not only through our worship but also through our actions. In honor of the newborn babe in Bethlehem whose only shelter was a stable, we reach out to those in our world who live in poverty and lack resources. We volunteer at PORT, gather food for Turkey Sandwich Day, collect socks for homeless veterans, give clothes to refugees. We do these things together because we are church, the living body of Christ in this world.

I am so grateful to be in this part of God’s church with each of you, and I am greatly looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas together. Please come for worship as we move together from Advent to Christmas, transitioning from expectant waiting to joyful celebration and gratitude.

Sunday, December 24^th will be a busy day here at St. Andrew’s.

We will mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent—the last few moments of our waiting!—with Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10 AM.
Our 4:30 PM Family Christmas Eve Service will include a child-oriented, interactive telling of the Christmas Story; child-friendly prayers; Holy Eucharist; and beloved carols.
At 10:40 PM we will have a concert of Christmas music followed at 11:00 PM with a Festival Eucharist Rite II.

On Christmas Day, there will be a service of Holy Eucharist at 10 AM. On Sunday, December 31, we will celebrate the First Sunday of Christmas with a traditional service of Lessons and Carols at 10 AM.

Friends, as Advent rolls over once again into Christmas, may your waiting give way to joy. May you meet again, in new ways, the “God incarnate, man divine” who arrived in our midst 2000 years ago with such vulnerability. And together, may we serve him faithfully—especially as we encounter him in the faces and lives of the most vulnerable in our own midst today.

Blessings to you in this holy season, and always.

Faithfully,

Anne+