Good Morning Family!
It seems as though many of my letters begin with “thanks”. That’s because there is much for which and many for whom to be thankful. Many thanks to all who worked so hard last Sunday night at The Hanging of the Greens. I am certainly not at my peak lately as far as climbing ladders and so I am grateful for the guys who showed up and took care of the garland hanging. That is always such a big job.
Also, thanks to everyone else who showed up and/or even stuck around after choir rehearsal to help with the rest of the décor, especially the trees. This year, the trees required a complete lighting overhaul. It took several of us pulling the old lights off over the course of a few hours as they were wrapped around every branch... every branch! Those that did that job have the battle wounds on their hands to prove it! 😊 Now, they are relit and beautiful once again. So, one more time thanks to all of the adults and kids that came for The Hanging of the Greens and to those who even came back the next couple of days to finish the job.
So, this year we will be using the standard themes of Advent to look at “The Settings of Advent”. Each Sunday, we will go to a different location and see how the particular theme intersects with the individuals in those places in the Christmas narrative and what that means for us today. And I’ll be spinning a little vinyl along the way for you to spark some Christmas music memories having to do with the theme for the day. I will keep the entire themes set in my letter for the month, that way you can see the progression and where we are going. I’ll bet you can guess the Christmas Carol for this week’s setting…
First Sunday, November 27 LOVE… Love is Born in the City of David
Second Sunday, December 4 HOPE… Hope is Sought in the East
Third Sunday, December 11 JOY… Joy is Abounding in the Heavenlies
Fourth Sunday, December 18 PEACE… Peace is Proclaimed in the Fields
Fifth Sunday, December 25 CHRIST… Emmanuel is Found in the Manger
As always, my prayer is that we would all, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15
God Bless Us… Every One!
Bro. Steven
Dr. Steven Gann
Your Shepherd of the Hills
