Christmas is almost here. We’re waiting…waiting for the twinkling lights, the songs of hope, the joy of spending time with family, and the precious excitement of little ones opening wonderful presents. But wait, there were shootings just recently in Philadelphia and Australia. There are protests of the police killing of young, unarmed black men. Friends have lost jobs. People are hungry and homeless. Neighbors are depressed. Family members are sick or hospitalized. Where’s our Norman Rockwell Christmas?
The truth is that the Christ-child born in the manger brings love to a hurting world but it is still a hurting world. Christmas doesn’t magically erase the pain of a daughter, just married and just graduated college, dying of leukemia or the tragic auto accident which killed a precious granddaughter. My mentor and friend, Steve Garnaas-Holmes writes of the real truth of the matter when he says, “It is into this darkness that God comes to be with us, into our suffering and struggles, into our brokenness and sin, into our loneliness, into our injustice and even into our distracted shallowness and complacency. Christ chooses to be among us not in the grandeur of the temple but in the rough stable of our real lives.” Come to church on Christmas eve to hear the story of Jesus’ birth in a humble stable as we remember that Christ is with us in the most difficult times. Come to church on Christmas eve and sing carols of joy and remember that Christ brings us new hope in the midst of our ordinary lives. Come home to church on Christmas eve and sing Silent Night with your church family, friends and neighbors and sing of the dawn of redeeming grace. Join us at the Leyden United Methodist Church across from the Town Hall at 15 West Leyden Road on Wednesday, December 24th at 7pm for a Candlelit Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols. Marilyn Kugler will play the keyboard and direct the choir. Rev. Cheryl Meachen and her daughter, Christina Catino will perform a vocal duet. The service will culminate with singing Silent Night by candlelight.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
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