A Christmas Blessing
Hello everyone,
I wanted to share a part of a special letter we received from one of our churches. It was a real blessing to receive and I wanted to share it with you.
Keith
"As I was thinking of you, the Lord gave me a real desire to bless you in some way. I wish I could go and visit all of you in your places of ministry. I wish I could fly you all home for Christmas. There are many things I wish I could do for you, but can't. So what can I do? I could send you all fruitcake, but that's really heavy, and nobody likes it
anyway:)
Let me thank you for what you do. I want you to know that we all honor you for your faith, commitment, the risks you take and the sacrifices you make.
And if WE recognize those things, how much more the Lord does.
I imagine that it must be at least a little difficult to be so far away at the holidays. I know you know this, but Joseph and Mary were away from home for Christmas, and Jesus was REALLY far from home. While most of the world sees Christmas as all about going home to be with family, for Jesus it was about leaving home to make the family (God's family) bigger - which is exactly what you are doing. And I am grateful to you for it.
I shared last night at prayer meeting that I was reading in I John 1:1-4, and thinking about John, living 2,000 years ago, speaking of Jesus, whom he "had heard... seen with (his) eyes... (his) hands have touched..." yet Jesus was there "from the beginning", and John is testifying to us, "proclaim(ing) to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us"
- So through time and across the globe, we are one - "And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." And the result of it all?
It makes "our joy complete."
I pray that your joy will be complete this Christmas as you continue to live out the love of Christ in your places of ministry. Think of us here in Huntingdon (it's snowing right now, very cold, and the kids had an early dismissal from school!) - and know that we are thinking of you, praying for you, cheering you on. May the presence of Emmanuel be very real to you."
Shalom, the Peace of God, be yours,
Pastor James Stork
I wanted to share a part of a special letter we received from one of our churches. It was a real blessing to receive and I wanted to share it with you.
Keith
"As I was thinking of you, the Lord gave me a real desire to bless you in some way. I wish I could go and visit all of you in your places of ministry. I wish I could fly you all home for Christmas. There are many things I wish I could do for you, but can't. So what can I do? I could send you all fruitcake, but that's really heavy, and nobody likes it
anyway:)
Let me thank you for what you do. I want you to know that we all honor you for your faith, commitment, the risks you take and the sacrifices you make.
And if WE recognize those things, how much more the Lord does.
I imagine that it must be at least a little difficult to be so far away at the holidays. I know you know this, but Joseph and Mary were away from home for Christmas, and Jesus was REALLY far from home. While most of the world sees Christmas as all about going home to be with family, for Jesus it was about leaving home to make the family (God's family) bigger - which is exactly what you are doing. And I am grateful to you for it.
I shared last night at prayer meeting that I was reading in I John 1:1-4, and thinking about John, living 2,000 years ago, speaking of Jesus, whom he "had heard... seen with (his) eyes... (his) hands have touched..." yet Jesus was there "from the beginning", and John is testifying to us, "proclaim(ing) to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us"
- So through time and across the globe, we are one - "And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." And the result of it all?
It makes "our joy complete."
I pray that your joy will be complete this Christmas as you continue to live out the love of Christ in your places of ministry. Think of us here in Huntingdon (it's snowing right now, very cold, and the kids had an early dismissal from school!) - and know that we are thinking of you, praying for you, cheering you on. May the presence of Emmanuel be very real to you."
Shalom, the Peace of God, be yours,
Pastor James Stork
posted by Keith and Linda Stranberg at 1:38 PM
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