December 2025

Oh my, Christmas is coming! Where has this year gone??

We have entered our Advent season, so our Sunday School lessons are all about the coming of our Savior. We are learning briefly about the candles of our Advent Wreath each week, and the children are working on their own Advent wreath they will bring home the Sunday before Christmas. Our Firm Foundations class is exploring how God has dwelt with His people throughout history, culminating with Emmanuel, God With Us. The younger students are learning about Jesus' first coming through the Gospels. 

December schedules are always packed full, and the church calendar is no exception. There will be many opportunities to celebrate the season with our church family! There is a Crafts and Cookies Fellowship for women and girls of all ages on Saturday, December 13th at 1 pm, and the Youth Christmas Party is at 6 pm that same evening. Sunday, December 14th will be our 10th Annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service. If you have never attended one of these services you are in for a treat! Pastor Israel and the choir have been working hard to prepare music to sing WITH the congregation, and the elders present the Gospel in passages from Genesis to Revelation. That same evening will be our Cookies, Cocoa, and Caroling night. We gather at the church and split into 2 groups to travel to two local nursing homes where we walk the halls singing Christmas carols for (and sometimes with!) the residents, then return to the church for cookies and hot cocoa. Be sure to wish Pastor Israel a happy birthday before you leave! (His birthday is the 15th) And finally, our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is on December 24th at 5 pm. 

I pray you are all able to make time for the most important things during this season. You could read one chapter of Luke as a family each night of December, or decorate a "Jesse Tree," or any number of Advent calendars and studies. Whatever you are doing, don't forget to instill the truths of this season in your children. And don't be afraid to dive deep with them, they are capable of storing up so much wisdom!

May you be blessed as you anticipate the coming of our Savior!