With some of the warmer weather we've had, it might seem a little hard to believe, but Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! I suspect that some of you had your shopping done by September and were all decorated by early November. But I can imagine there are also many more who still have much to do to prepare for Christmas.
Can I offer you some friendly pastoral advice? If you are not quite ready for Christmas, don't sweat it. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get so stressed about the shopping, decorating, baking and the likes, that it robs us of the spiritual blessing that this season is meant to be. If there are a few less gifts under the tree, or a few of the decorations never made it out of the box, or if there won't be five types of pie at Christmas dinner, it's okay. Because this season is much more than the trappings we often get caught up in, and distracted by.
Truthfully, the joy of the season is much more about the time we get to spend with friends and loved ones than it is about the gifts. It is more about who's around the table than the amount of food upon it. And ultimately, the greatest blessing is the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the greatest gift of all. Christmas is meant to be a season of peace, joy and love. Let's decide together that will not allow the busyness of the season to keep us from experiencing all that it is truly meant to be.
I want to take a moment to extend to you an invitation and an encouragement. Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year. So here at Rock Church we will offer Sunday morning services (with a slight schedule modification) as regular Advent Sunday services. Then in the afternoon we will offer our Candlelight Christmas Eve services. The morning services will be at 9:00 a.m. in Sandown and Plaistow and 10:30 a.m. at our North Shore campus. There will be no 10:30 a.m. service in Plaistow on Christmas Eve morning. Candlelight services will be at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. in Plaistow, 4:30 in Sandown and 5:00 p.m. at North shore.
My invitation to you is to join us for one of the morning services as we wrap up our Advent series. And then to join us later in the day for our Christmas Eve Candlelight services. My encouragement is to invite a friend. Christmas Eve is a wonderful time to invite guests. Many people who do not yet have a church home are open to an invitation on Christmas Eve. In fact, there are people all around us who would like to attend, but don't know where to go, or when. They are actually hoping someone they know will extend an invitation. You could be the answer to that prayer. So this Christmas, let's take a step of faith and invite a friend to join us for worship.
Love you all,
Pastor Steve