From the Pastor's Pen

Dear friends,

What a great day we had on Sunday at our special service, “The Sights and Sounds of Bethlehem.”  You can see in the picture the cast of characters gathered around our Christmas Tree about 15 minutes before the service began.  It was such fun to  pretend to visit Bethlehem at Jesus’ birth.  We talked to the midwife who helped Mary with the delivery.  We chatted with the shepherds in the field and listened to the song of the Wise one.  We even visited the marketplace and tried our hand at kneading some bread and tested our noses by trying to identify middle eastern spices.

It was a great day, and I’ve been thinking about what made it such a special day.  First, of course, it was really fun to be together.  You can see we were safe!  We wore our masks and went in small groups to the various sights.  But still it was wonderful to go together and to chat with friends on the journey.  But there was something else that made it special.  I think most of us secretly wish that we could have been in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born.  We try to imagine ourselves there each Christmas.  Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to be one of the villagers who took a little fruit or a loaf of bread over to the holy family after the birth?  Wouldn’t it have been marvelous to have been in the crowd of onlookers who were amazed at the words of the shepherds as they described the visit of the angels? (Luke 2: 18) We wish we could have been there to see and hear and smell and taste and touch.  When we have an event like this one, we get a chance to imagine ourselves into Bethlehem and to experience the hope and joy of Jesus’ birth anew.  It’s what we long for at Christmas.

Thank you so much to the many wonderful volunteers who made this special event possible.  Thanks to the actors, musicians and behind the scenes workers.  Thank you especially to our Children and Youth Coordinator, Anna Parkinson.  We are so blessed by your ministry among us.