 Dear friends,
From one eventful month for our congregation we move on to another since December is of course always eventful. We look forward to the familiar artifacts, music and symbols associated with Christmas all of which contribute to the intangible atmosphere and charm of the season.
Once again I would urge you all to consider the openness of many people at this time of year to God and his love and the Christian message of the incarnation - God coming into the world in the form of Jesus. If you have been trying to bring, or even just hoping to see neighbours and friends come to church, I would suggest they are much more likely to come at Christmas time than at any other time and so would encourage you to invite them beginning with the All-Age service with MAD Ministries on 29th November - Advent Sunday. You may wonder at my use of the term "All-Age" rather than "family". The reason for this is that at a recent conference about worship held in Bothwell Church and organized by the Presbytery one of the speakers pointed out that the title "Family Service" could make single people feel excluded. This is a good point. Even if many single folk are unconcerned by the term it would be more accurate to speak in terms of "All Age" since the idea is of a service which is as inclusive as possible.
Very shortly after the last newsletter was issued I discovered that several people had already volunteered to assist with the distribution of the newsletter and one or two others have done so since. Thank you. We are still looking for one or two people to be responsible for video recording of services.
Finally, I would exhort you to allow the Christmas story as you hear it once again through different media to touch your heart in a new way, not merely by way of sentimentalism which is unlikely to reach beyond your emotions but rather by imparting a new and enlarged vision of the amazing grace of the God of the supernatural who has not changed and who wants to lift you up emotionally and spiritually and fill you with good things (see Luke 1:52,53).
Yours sincerely,
D. Cameron McPherson
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