Pastor’s eNote: Second Day of Christmas

Blessed Second Day of Christmas to You All! Christ Is Born! Glorify Him!

I pray that your Christmas Day was filled with joy, wonder, and love. For many, the day brought time for gatherings with family and friends. For others, it was filled with travel to places near and far. For some, it was a day mixed with joy and grief for loved ones who are no longer with us in this life. God’s Spirit meets all of us in every place in which we find ourselves. This is much of what we celebrate in Christmas. As John Wesley’s final words remind us, “Best of all, God is with us.”

I want to express my deepest thanksgiving to God for our staff and their tireless work leading up to and following Christmas. Each of them has been deeply dedicated to preparing our church for a fantastic celebration of Jesus’ nativity. Due to how the calendar worked this year, the Leadership Team decided to take several other holidays that would normally be observed throughout the year, and instead, moved those holidays to this week. It is for this reason our office is closed this week, except for Thursday from 9:00a.m. – 3:00 p.m. If you have a year-end offering or have other needs, please feel free to stop in.

This coming Sunday is New Year’s Eve, and we will have one worship service at the usual time of 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. I will be concluding our Advent/Christmas series on the “EXTRA-ordinary-LIFE.” We will also share in a long-standing Methodist tradition of renewing our covenant of discipleship with the Lord through John Wesley’s Service of Covenant Renewal.This historic service has been used for nearly 300 years in the WesleyanTradition. It will be a joy to share in it together as the FFMC family.

May your celebration of Jesus’ nativity continue for these twelve days. (Yes, Christmas is a 12-day feast on the Christian calendar, not just a single day.) Let us all share in the thanksgiving of Christ’s first coming as we look toward His coming again.

With Joyful Grace,

Craig+