Greetings Holy, Healthy and Happy People of God,

As I write this eNote to our faithful and devoted community of radical and contextually conscious followers of Jesus Christ, I am awaiting with eager anticipation the coming of our Messiah, Jesus Christ!  Some 2,000 years ago, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Israelite people waited for their King to come.  Mary and Joseph and family members, like Elizabeth and Zechariah, and maybe their immediate families understood, but very few really expected a child to come into the world as the Messiah.

Even though the Prophet Isaiah foretold of Jesus’ coming, even scholars today suggest that Isaiah was somehow talking about King David. So hear these words from Isaiah, “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NRSV God kept His promise to deliver humanity from sin into salvation. Mission accomplished!

So what is our response to the greatest gift ever to a people who didn’t deserve it? Giving to each other the Unbreakable Gifts of God through Jesus: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. That’s what God is expecting from us as we come to the manger again this Christmas. By giving these unwrapped gifts away, we will have an impact on human trafficking, poverty and homelessness, domestic violence, mass incarceration, educational inequality, racial injustice and a host of other societal problems.

This Christmas let’s be reminded that God through Jesus is reconciling us back to God through the purity and love of an infant. Give well, Give wisely and most of all Give witness to the newborn King, Jesus Christ! We can change the culture of the day if we come simply as the shepherds did seeking to worship this little, precious King wrapped snugly and lying in the manger. Yes, there is no longer a manger, it has been relocated; it is now in our hearts!

Let us not fear, but remain faithful. Look with wonder and expectancy. And this Christmas, let we who are called by God and saved through Jesus simply glorify and praise God for all that we have heard and seen.

Merry Christmas!

Hear the W.O.W., the Words of Wisdom,
“Jesus is Emmanuel, God is with us always!”

Remember to pray The Lord’s Prayer every day at 12 Noon!

As always, remember, God’s will for us is good, we must do the rest!
Pastor Stephen