I love the lights that brighten our homes and communities this time of year. It's so dark this time of year. In spite of the few homeowners who go a little over board for my taste, the lights brighten my spirit! Years ago, as a seminary student, I served a church nearby Colonial Williamsburg. Eileen and I attended the Great Illumination there that December. It is the rare event that attracts the locals. People go and walk the streets. Church choirs sing carols at street corners. However, to our surprise, the only lights were single candles lit in each window. It was so dark you couldn't see the face of the person next to you, yet the lights in the windows oriented us to the direction of the street.
This advent season we await and at Christmas celebrate God's coming to us in Jesus, the light of the world! He brightens our lives, and guides our way. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus invites us to join him saying, "You are the light of the world....let your light shine for others, so that they many see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14,16).
I give thanks to God for each one of you, for your love of God, for your witness to God's love and light that we know in Jesus, which shines brightest in the darkness, and which over comes evil and despair. I praise God for your love of the Church, for your struggle to understand brothers and sisters different from yourself. Praise God that "the Church's life" does not center around us, but that the Church's "life and mission are a joyful participation in Christ's ongoing life and work" (Book of Order F-1.0202). "Christ gives to the Church its faith and life, its unity and mission, its order and discipline" (F-1.0204). "He is its hope, and...the Church as Christ's body, is bound to his authority and thus free to live in the lively, joyous reality of the grace of God....In Christ the Church receives its truth and appeal, its holiness, and its unity" (F-1.0205). Praise God for the collective impact we have on the communities where our light shines to God be the glory.
Your presbytery staff, which you support so graciously all year long, wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year!
John
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2 comments:
Thanks, John, for all you and the staff do for us all year. You are appreciated! Blessings this season to all of you.
Blessed and joyous Christmas and all the staff in your office. After a stint as Condo President here, may become ore active in Presbytery. Ned P. , HR Holland
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