December Loop Introduction
December,
Beloved,
The final month of 2025 is upon us, and it seems so soon. Just looking at the church calendar and my own planner for December is daunting and can give the vibe of Merle Haggard’s old “If we make it through December” song. Okay, maybe not that bad :-).
There’s much to look forward to: the children’s program caroling, the choir cantatas, signing Christmas Cards, and Christmas Eve Service. These are great opportunities to invite loved ones to come to. We have several who come to special services we don’t see other times, so I encourage you to engage with them in gospel conversations and to seek to connect them to the life of the church, inviting them to regular services.
Recently, our deacons have been discussing the burden of growth and emphasizing prayer within our church family. There are some initiatives planned in that regard for 2026, but one action starts this Sunday. That is the relaunching of a pre-service prayer time to pray with me and for me before the service. We might call it “Pastor’s Prayer Partners.” Anyone is invited to meet to pray in the back section of the overflow room right after Sunday School and before the service (about 10:35). Allistair Begg discusses in this sermon that the lasting results of preaching don’t come from articulation, but from intercession. That ministry is a partnership between those who proclaim and those who pray. This was a pattern of Spurgeon’s ministry as well.
Our Christmas Cantata this year is called “The Ballad of Bethlehem.” A ballad is a song that tells a story, a narrative poem. In keeping with that idea, our Advent season sermon will trace the story of Bethlehem through scripture. This is a sort of Biblical Theology of a place. A place that points from the Old Testament narrative and prophecies that Jesus comes as the Bread of Life, the Lamb of God, and the Shepherd-King. I hope you’ll be out to grow together.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jayson