Hope this little Christmas story will help get you into the Spirit of Christmas!

Thinking of you during this Christmas Season! Looking forward to seeing all that God is going to do for you and through you this coming year!

Pastor Phillip and Teresa

Wally was a 7th grade student who was bigger than any of the other students in his Sunday school class. His mother had been an alcoholic when he was born, & as a result, Wally just did not have all the mental capabilities that the rest of his classmates had. But somehow he managed to get by.

Christmas time came & his class decided to put on a Christmas pageant. Since he was the biggest, Wally was selected to be the innkeeper. After all, the innkeeper is kind of a villain in the Christmas drama. So they coached Wally to be just as mean as he possibly could be.

Well, the night came for the Christmas play. And in it, Mary & Joseph came to Bethlehem, went to the Inn & knocked on its door. Wally opened the door & said, "What do you want?" just as mean & gruff as he could possibly be.

Joseph said, "We need a room. We need a place to stay tonight." "Well, you’ll have to stay someplace else," said Wally, "because there’s no room here. There’s no room in the Inn."

Joseph said, "But my wife’s expecting a baby just any time now. Isn’t there someplace where we can stay, where we are protected from the cold & where she can deliver her child?" "No," said Wally, "There’s no room here."

Then suddenly there was a silence on the stage. It was one of those embarrassing moments when you know that someone has forgotten the lines. From behind the curtains you could hear the prompter saying, "Begone. Begone." Wally was supposed to speak, but for some reason he had choked up & forgotten to say "Begone."

Finally, after he had been coached for several long seconds, Wally managed to say, "Begone." Mary & Joseph sadly turned to leave. But just as they did, Wally said, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You can have my room."

The director of the play was ready to pull out her hair because she knew that the whole Christmas pageant had been ruined.

But had it? Maybe Wally, better than anybody else communicated the real spirit of Christmas.

"You can have my room."

We Love you ALL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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Hello Everyone,

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF RESCUING

God rescued us by His love and mercy. He saved us from perishing.

Without Christ we are without life, and headed for an eternity without God-forever
separated from the God who made us and longs to save us.

He wants us to inherit eternal life. We are all descendents of a dying race. But
for the grace of God, we would all also perish.

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF CHANGING

The Christ of Christmas changes us. He makes us new creatures. All things become new for us. We have new goals, new ideas, new direction, and new hope.

Christ changes people for the better.

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF REJOICING

-rejoicing in God’s unmerited grace
-rejoicing in the release of forgiveness
-rejoicing in a new life with a new mission

Jesus Became Human to save humans. WOW!

Now the question is what does the coming of Christ into this world mean to
you? Have you received Him as Lord & Savior?

Merry Christmas

Pastor Phil

Merry Christmas Everyone,

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF GIVING

For God so loved the world that He gave...

Love cannot look with indifference on the hungry, and the sick, and the lonely, lost
souls of this world. Love must give.

God gave all He could give. He gave His only begotten Son. This gift was freely
given, lovingly given, graciously given to all of us, who were undeserving sinners.

Christ shared our human nature that we might receive His Divine nature.

Day by day, those who receive Him are being transformed into His image, until we all come into the full standing of the perfected children of God, washed in the blood of the Lamb.

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF FORGIVING

God was willing to forgive us. He was willing to show mercy to a sinful, lost, and dying world. Do we possess His forgiving spirit?

Or, is our spirit a judgmental one that looks down on others? Is there someone we need to forgive today?

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

HO!HO!HO! Everyone,

To me, Christmas is...A TIME OF REMEMBERING

Remembering the great love that God had for each and every one of us He loved us so much, that He spared not His only Son that we might be saved.

-remembering the uniqueness of
His life
His teachings
His miracles
His prophesies
His death
His resurrection

Remembering all those humble but great people surrounding the Christmas story
people like Joseph & Mary, Zacharias & Elizabeth, Anna, Simeon, the shepherds, the wise men, etc.

Secondly, to me, Christmas is...
A TIME OF LOVING

People make a special effort to be a little kinder, a little more considerate of others,
and a little more generous during the Christmas season.

They get involved in things like Christmas caroling, toys for the needy,
meals for the misfortunate, etc.

It is a time for reaching out to others with love and concern.

God so loved the world-let us never forget that!!! In all of our preaching, teaching,
evangelizing, etc. let us always remember that the motivation for all this is the love
of God for lost sinners.

He really cares about us. So should we care as He cares. So should we love, as He loves?

Greater Things Are Still To come!

Pastor Phil

Ho! Ho! Ho! Everyone,
If you were asked the question "Christmas Is..."? What answer would you give?
The best answer is given in John chapter 3 verse 16-18.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
How do you explain the meaning of Christmas in just a few words? Well the best way I know is this:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

No one could out do what God has done. No one could give a greater gift than God has already given.
Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of different people. To some it is-
-a time of shopping and spending
-a time of drinking and carousing
-a time of traveling and entertaining
But, what is the real meaning of Christmas? What message should it convey to every one of us?

To me, Christmas is...
I will tell you tomorrow. Just remember greater things are still to come!
Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

The last thing this passage about the Shepherds teaches us is that YOUR FAITH MATTERS, TOO

Shepherds were men of faith. They probably had more faith than some of the scribes & Pharisees who went to the synagogue every day.

They believed in a Messiah.
They prayed over & over again, "Let the Messiah come. Let Him come today!"

They prayed that prayer for hundreds of years, & they must have wondered, "Is our faith worth anything? Does God hear our prayers? Does God keep His promises? Will the Messiah ever come?"

There must have been many who quit praying, & quit having faith.

But when the announcement came to shepherds, God was saying, "Your faith matters, & it is not in vain. I am a God who hears & who keeps His promises. Now the Messiah has come, & I have kept My promise."

How about us? Sometimes we become weary. There may be times when we wonder if it is worthwhile going to church. There are times when we wonder if it is worth sacrificing for God.

Listen: One day He will come. He will come for all of us, shepherds & kings, wise men & peasants. He will come for HIS people.

He’ll dry our tears & take away our pain. There will be no more death, no more good-byes. Then we’ll say, "It was worth it. It was worth it all!

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil