Merry Christmas, OSLC Family!

We're about 2 hours away from welcoming services-full of people. It's my first OSLC Christmas and I couldn't be more excited to spend it with many of you! Before I join our Worship Team for our sound check and walk-through, I wanted to just drop a short note to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas.

So much has changed since we last sang these carols, lit the candles, and heard the story. Three different homes. Fewer loved ones to wish Merry Christmas. New babies to make "googely-eyes" at for the "perfect" picture. A whole new church family. A cross-country move. New friends to sing "Silent Night" with as we share good tidings of great joy in Jesus.

I think about how our community has changed, too. Just in the last month, we experienced the sudden tragic loss of Officer Cooper Dyson, church family members, and for some - scary medical and financial news, employment and relationships with family and friends.

With all of life's changes, I'm so glad that the Christmas message remains the same. I like how author Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it: And there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his wonderful gift. The baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son (Jesus Storybook Bible, p. 182).

And change the world He does. . . for the better. Sin is forgiven. Hope is restored. We can go through life with God and each other.

Wherever you find yourself tonight, my prayer for you tonight is that you would experience the joy, hope, love, and peace of Emmanuel - God with us in body, mind, and spirit.

Good and loving God, in the middle of life's changes, may we experience joy tonight as we celebrate Jesus' birth. You came as a human being to live among us and bring the riches of your healing grace to a broken world. Surround Officer Dyson's family and all those who are missing loved ones tonight with your song of hope and rescue. In our weakness, give us your strength to sing your song again. As you have given yourself to us, may we continually learn what it means to give ourselves to others. With all of the mountains and trees, the animals and all of heaven and earth, may we repeat the sounding joy because Jesus is here. Amen.

Merry Christmas. Love you more than you know.

Pastor Tim