“The Style of Christmas” was printed in bold type on the front of the very flashy looking booklet that we received from a local retail establishment a couple of weeks ago. The picture on the front very quickly set the tone of this mailing, and it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t really going to be about Christmas, I mean Christ’s-mas. However, I guess it was about Christmas as the world normally thinks about Christmas.
The booklet was intriguing enough to get me to look inside. I found out that the “style of Christmas” includes such things as $240 sunglasses, a wooden jewelry armoire for $498, a man’s reversible shearling jacket for $895, etc. And for just a little under $200, Judy could get me a silk loungewear set. The main problem is that the robe is “one size fits all.” Those just don’t work for me!
The word “style” as we have come to think of it probably is not a good match with the word “Christmas.” It does seem, though, that it is easy for us to become distracted by those who would try to convince us that “the style of Christmas” is what we are all about at this time of the year.
I want to encourage you and remind myself to make Christ’s-mas the focal point of the coming weeks. There are several opportunities for corporate worship, study and service in the weeks of Advent. Your pastors want to help you make this season a spiritual journey so that when we arrive at the manger we will know that the “time is right” to welcome anew and worship again this One who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
This Sunday, December 2, is the first Sunday of the church year. As is appropriate for many family gatherings (remember Thanksgiving?), we will gather at the table for a feast in the traditional services. The worshipers in the Journey service had this opportunity on this past Sunday. The Lord is the Host. Christ calls us to come eat and drink. Please let this be the most important meal for you between now and Christmas Eve when we will climax the Advent season at the Table once again.
We hope you will be an active part of our church family in the coming weeks. Our style will be that of study, worship, service and fellowship. There won’t be any flashy flyers about our style. Everything we want to communicate is contained within the greater Book that talks not of style or fashion but of sacrifice and the greatest Gift of all.
May we worship God above all else.
- Jim
