Joy to the World!
Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. It’s the Sunday that we say, “Rejoice!” as we look forward to the newborn King. Our Christmas cantata, “Good News from Home!” was certainly full of joy. Thanks so much to all who helped with the cantata. Thanks, of course, to our diligent and persistent director, Betty Zook. She makes sure we practice until we get all of the notes just right. Thanks also to Diane Bostic for providing our narration. We always appreciate Ross Bogue and the way that he runs our sound and visuals. This year Jim McGowan also helped with sound this year and was there on Wednesday nights to help with our practices. It was good to see so many visitors. Let me encourage you to continue
Next week we’ll be considering the old, familiar carol, “What Child Is This?” Many of the carols we’ve been looking at have been written by preachers or theologians. This one is a bit different. Do you know what the occupation of the person who wrote “What Child Is This?”? My hint would be that it’s related to an occupation some people from North Danvers may have had.
Twila mentioned yesterday during the service that the beautiful Christmas banner hanging in our sanctuary is one that was made by Denise Preller several years back. We want to thank Bill Preller for bringing this banner and some others to us. Thanks also to Carol Glick for doing some restoration work on it. It is a beautiful addition to the Christmas decorations in our sanctuary.
Two announcements about next week. Our Adult Sunday School class will be meeting. This will be a special one-session lesson on the Christmas story. It’s not one you’ll want to miss. It will also include some pictures of Bethlehem from the trip some of us took to Israel this past Spring. Also, there will not be a full E-gram next week because neither Terri nor I will be in the office next Monday.
Finally, as our Adult Sunday School classes finishes up its study of The Circle Maker, a book on prayer, I want to call us to a time of prayer. As this year draws to a close and the next is on the horizon, will you please pray in a special way for North Danvers Mennonite Church and for its leadership. Pray that every member of NDMC make seek God’s guidance as we reach out in love to those around us. There are so many in our communities who need to experience the love of Christ. Pray that we might have wisdom of how reflect Christ’s light into the darkness.
Love you all and God bless us all,
Brian