The mass of Christ – the day we celebrate “Immanuel” – God with us. John would say it like this, “And the word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory, glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth.” This Sunday we will “imagine the mystic nativity.” I don’t know that we can wrap our heads around the reality that heaven came to earth and all that implies. A 20th century writer wrote, “once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion, I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high.” That’s what I hope we can do this Sunday – to get a glimpse of the higher reality – of glory and God’s splendor.
I’m truly looking forward to our adult and middle school choirs as they present “Imagine” in our 11:00 service. It’s a worship experience – and we’ll engage in worship and the word.
This Sunday night we will be Christmas caroling to some of our shut-ins and nursing homes. We’ll meet at the Family Life Center at 6:00 p.m. and after caroling we will meet back at the church for hot chocolate and cookies. Bring the family and come join us.
Monday night, Christmas Eve, will also be a special time of celebration designed for families. We’ll explore the Christmas mosaic, God’s dream for His kingdom. God designed the church to be an eclectic place. The very first word for the church is ecclesia which means, “the called out ones.” And who did God “call out?” People from every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every walk of life, every age group, people with gender issues (the Ethiopian eunuch), people of wealth, people who live in poverty, and all in between. God calls people into this kingdom. We are an eclectic group with various talents, gifts, interests, passions, skill sets, expressions of self in worship, etc. As a stained glass window is comprised of various colors, bevels, and opaqueness – the goal of one of these windows is to create a beautiful environment using all of the above as a whole. That’s what we’ll explore Monday night in an eclectic way. We will have two services, one at 5:30 and one at 7:00.
Let me say, “thank you” for responding well to our week off in terms of the offerings. We are still running behind as we approach the end of the year – but your response this past Sunday helped. In next week’s installment – I’m going to paint a pretty big vision for Forum and where we are heading. I’m thrilled by what God is doing here. Forum is a beautiful church and you are beautiful people. It’s a joy and blessing to be a part of a great movement of God. Looking forward to worshiping with you this Sunday.
Scott
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