December 30, 2023
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Office closed on January 1st.
High School Lock-In, Saturday, January 6th, 6 pm till Sunday, January 7th, 7 am. Friends welcome! Sign up in the Narthex. I need parent drivers for the Scavenger Hunt at 6:30 pm.
No Sunday School on December 31
Crew January 10th and 24th
Annual Reports due on January 14th
First Communion Class for any youth 3rd grade or above on Sunday, January 21 at 10:30 am. Make up class on January 28th at 6 pm. Parents should attend with their child. Please contact PB if you are coming on the 28th.
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
As a new year approaches, you might be sitting on December 31st and reflecting upon 2023 and the year that it was. For some of you, it might have been an incredible and awesome year. Maybe some amazing things happened, things like a wedding, healing from a health condition, a new job, the birth of a child or a grandchild, an incredible vacation, or many other such things. You will look back on the year and see it as an incredible gift and you might even be a bit sad to see it end.
For others, you will look back on 2023 and think of it as one of the worst years ever. Maybe there was a death of a loved one, a terrible health diagnosis, workplace stress and drama, family conflict, and other hardships and suffering. You will look back on the year and see it as an incredible disappointment and you will look forward to the start of a new year, saying “good riddance” to 2023.
No matter where you fall on those two spectrums, as you prepare to say goodbye to 2023 and hello to 2024, I offer you this perspective: your Savior Jesus Christ was there in all of it. Jesus was present in the good of 2023, celebrating with you, rejoicing with you, giving thanks with you. At the same time, Jesus was present in the terrible of 2023, comforting you in your grief, giving you strength in the midst of weakness and pain, consolation in the midst of setbacks. No matter what happened in 2023, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was there with you. Laughing with you. Weeping with you. Lifting you up when you needed it and filling you with joy in the happy moments.
As we start 2024, remember the promise that Jesus is with you always. Always. In the good and the bad. In the joys and the sorrows. In the successes and failures. Jesus is there for you in whatever way you need. That is the promise of Jesus Christ, who dies on the cross and rises from the grave to bring you to eternal life, who promises to carry your burdens and rejoice in your joyful moments. Jesus is there and will always be there for you always.
Happy New Year and God bless!