From the Pastor

When does the Christian year begin? No, it is not the same as the calendar, it is not Jan 1st.

It is the first Sunday of Advent. December 3rd marks the official first Sunday of Advent this year and is the beginning of new Christian year. Why? Because we begin our annual anticipation of the coming of the Christ as an infant.

The Season of Advent makes us ready to break out the Christmas décor, trim the tree, bake the special cook-ies, and gather with special friends. To light the Ad-vent candles at church, sing carols, and hear the story of Christ’s birth once again. Advent is here – and soon it will be Christmas once more. In this season cele-brating the new birth of Christ, we usher in the new year of our church.

A second question: Why do we give presents at Christ-mas? Surely many of us have our own answers to the question, like it is tradition, or it gives a reason to give special gifts to people we care about. Maybe deep in our hearts we remember when we were young and the excitement of wondering what gifts Santa would bring?

Perhaps a more important and overlooked connection to gift-giving can be seen in a word play. Consider the connection between the word “presence” and “present.” God’s presence is with us. And God gave us the ultimate gift (or present) in the gift of Jesus Christ… Then imagine Christmas presents as an ex-pression of the love God has shared. Imitating God’s generously to us, we give gifts (presents) to one an-other, and the greatest gift we give may be our pres-ence in one another’s lives.

Sincerely, Pastor Donna