Christmas Cafe 4

By Pastor Joe

We are less than 2 weeks away from our next Christmas Café. I'm very excited about the transformation which has taken place over the last few days and what will take place next week. The Christmas trees always look so spectacular. I’m hoping by this time next week when you read the article the main Christmas trees in the Sanctuary will be up! Our sanctuary, which is one of the many places we meet with God and His people, will be beautifully adorned and prayerfully we will help create eternal memories not only on December 11th, but every time we gather here. As I said last week, very few of us are thinking about someone’s eternal condition during Christmas, mainly because we are so busy with getting things ready for the Christmas season, but we should be just as focused on the LOST as we are on the LIST!

People are worth all the effort we go to, to present Jesus with excellence, and so our Christmas Café is one of those key outreaches where we do our very best to show people the love of our Savior. Obviously, everyone is responsible for the choices they make, yet our most important choice is realizing we can’t make it in this life without Jesus. Emmanuel has come, but what are we depending upon Him for? God gave us His Son for a very important purpose. So, we should be ready for anyone at any time. This year’s theme is “Winter Wonderland”, (The Wonder of Christmas). The music, the message, and treats surrounded by the scenery, is all focused on the biblical message of God coming to us as one of us! We have prepared ourselves through prayer, planning, promotion and practice, and now all of these proactive steps will make this our best Christmas Café celebration ever. Hopefully, everyone who attends will notice the effort placed into this outreach and will see how much we really care about our surrounding communities. Bring your best camera! The scenery will be a great place for a family picture to add to your list of special memories. Don’t forget, the Christmas Café on December 11th is just part of our focused outreach. Come as you are on Christmas Eve at 5 pm, and bring a friend. An hour later we will be singing Silent Night and wishing each a blessed Christmas. Dec 9th, and 24th (Christmas Eve Friday) are key dates to experience the Wonder of Christmas!

Changing subjects briefly, my mission trip was a great success and I want to once again thank everyone who helped in my absence. All of the staff and volunteers at Hawthorne Assembly make our theme a reality: Together is Better! I realize there were a few technical struggles, but I heard great things about both messages and how we overcome challenges speaks to the content of our character.