“O Come Church People!” by The Rev. Stephanie Kendell

Beloved Church,

We have reached the fourth Sunday of Advent and if we are to get clues from the rest of scripture this Sunday of “Love” is one to pay attention to. Love is used 538 times in the Bible and is a cornerstone to our faith and understanding of Jesus. Love is a concept and an action, a feeling and a connection. Love is all things and through all things. That is why love is the Sunday before Christmas; the coming of the Christ Child.

This Sunday we don’t have a traditional hour of worship at The Park. Our musicians and worship leaders have cultivated and prepared an hour of worship that weaves scripture, music, languages, and of course love into the story leading up to the birth of Jesus. If you can make it in person, this will be a Sunday you won’t want to miss.

Of course, Monday is Christmas Eve and we want to make sure you’ve marked your calendar to come and worship with us at 11am and 11pm to ring in the birth of Christ. Christmas is a time to give thanks to God who with such love and compassion sent a child to lead us and love us through our lives. At Christmas we gather and give thanks for the abundant blessings that abound in a life with Christ. Both Christmas Eve services will be unique, so come to one or both, we hope to see you there!

Finally, as we take a moment to give thanks to God for all that we have, we want to make sure you know that we at The Park give incredible thanks to you. Each and every person who connects with us in person or online, and who contributes their time, talents, and offerings to our ministries is a blessing to this community and helps us continue to do the work of building the kindom that God has called us to do. We hope that you will continue to journey with us into and through 2019. We cannot do this work without you, nor would we want to.

I can’t wait to see what this future holds for all of us.

Shalom Y’all.
Rev. Stephanie

A prayer for your week: Holy one, small and vulnerable, I give you thanks. Holy One, strong and filled with love, I give thanks for you. Holy One, present in the beginning and the end, I give thanks with you. Amen.