On this 4th Sunday of Advent, the nearness of Christmas is upon us. Everything has been pointing toward the coming Messiah, the One who will make all things new, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the World. The anticipation and longing for Emmanuel is about to become reality. But we will find that this Jesus does not enter our world in the anticipated fashion. He comes in the form of a helpless infant child. His coming is heralded by many, but his arrival does not come in the way many believed. And this baby Jesus enters into a world, filled with hunger and disease, filled with instability and anxiety, filled with tension and despair, filled with reality. And yet He comes as "Savior of the world." Worship with us this weekend as we complete our brief encounter with Advent and now experience the reality and truth of the Incarnation. "All earth is hopeful, the Savior comes at last! Furrows lie open for God's creative task: this, the labor of people who struggle to see, how God's truth and justice set ev'rybody free." (Evangelical Lutheran Worship No. 266)

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

Our Christmas Eve Services on December 24th provide wonderful opportunities for all to experience worship! Our Christmas Eve Schedule is as follows:

Contemporary Candlelight Worship in the Parish Life Center - 4:00 and 5:30 p.m.

Tradition Candelight Worship in the Sanctuary - 4:00, 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 p.m.

"O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord."

If you or your family would like to assist us on Christmas Eve by serving as GREETERS at one of our worship services, please contact Sandy at the Church Office by December 23rd (827-6121 ext. 201)

There will be no Friday Blessings next weekend due to the holidays. Friday Blessings will resume again on January 2, 2009.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER:

"On this day of days we rejoice, dear God. This is the day that you assumed our flesh, took on our life, moved into our neighborhood in order to get to us. We thank you that you did not despise our flesh. You, the one who is eternal, stepped firmly into time. You, the one who created the world, moved to the center of our worldliness. You, the one who is pure power and limitlessness, took on our weakness and our limitation. This day of days, this Christmastide, we therefore rejoice. Amen." (prayer written by Pastor William H. Willimon)

Alive in Christ,