The Invitation

extended hand

 

 

As Christmas is approaching, most of us end up attending a Christmas party. Some have multiple parties to take part in. It is a great time to get together and visit, exchange gifts, eat good food and escape the mundane day to day stuff. It all starts with an invitation. That is commonly the first step. You get invited, you check your calendar for any conflicts and pencil the time in. The only thing left to do, is to get yourself ready and then go.

invitation

It is the invitation that I would like to discuss today. When we understand that Christmas is interwoven with spiritual meaning. The holiday is meant to be about the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, born in a manger in Bethlehem. He was and is Emmanuel, which means God with us! This celebration of his birth is filled with delight because we know that He was sent here to become the redeemer and savior of a fallen, inhospitable world.

The process of understanding all of this, is realizing that there is an invitation extended by God to all of humanity to come and join in the celebration of the Jesus party. It is the best Christmas party ever!

The invitation is extended to all people, but not all choose to respond. There are many excuses for not attending the party. This year, I would like to ask you to reconsider this choice if you have not come in the past. Sometimes we just elevate our reasoning for declining something without looking at the bigger picture of the value and benefits of showing up.

If you are in the local area of Lebanon, I would like to invite you to another party. It is our Christmas service this Sunday December 22 at the River Center 3000 Santiam Hwy. We will start by serving you breakfast at 9:30 followed by our service at 10:30 It would be a privilege to have you as our guest for this special occasion. I can’t think of a better way to start the week of Christmas than coming together in Community. Please consider spending this morning with us.

 For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon
a]">[a] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6