Christmas 2022 has come and gone. A festive season of special decorations, holiday lights, and gift giving has all been unwrapped. So what do we do in the days between Christmas and New Year’s?
Many of us spend (at least part of) the week taking ornaments down, unstringing lights, and storing away the wrapping paper. Has anyone else’s week looked similar?
If you are like me, there is a sadness that comes when the decorations come down — knowing it is 11 months before you see them again. While it is a bit sad to see a Christmas tree still up in February, it is also sad that these overt expressions of our faith, hope, and love remain in boxes for extended periods of time. Is there anything of Christmas we can leave up all year?
This past Advent season at Wildwood Community Church we have been studying the phrase “God with us.” Looking to prophecy from the book of Isaiah, and Gospel truth from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we have celebrated that Jesus Christ is (in fact) our Immanuel (a Hebrew word meaning “God with us”). Jesus, being fully God (the second member of the Trinity), came to the earth to reveal God to us, to rescue us from our sin and its consequences, and to inaugurate a new operating system (new covenant) to govern the relationship between God and man. It has been great to explore these amazing Scriptures together as a church family in daily devotionals, songs, and sermons. Now that the season is over though, I want to encourage you to not box your spiritual life up for another 11 months. After all, “God with us” does not stop with Jesus’ birth!
At the end of Jesus earthly life, knowing he was just a day or two away from going to the cross to die, Jesus began talking with His disciples about what would happen next. Though Jesus would be ascending to heaven, He would not leave them … He would not leave US … as orphans in this world. But, He would send the Holy Spirit to be with us … to be IN US.
This Sunday at Wildwood, we will have two Sunday services – one at 9:45AM and one at 11:00AM. We will be “all in” the worship services on this day as our children, student, and adult classes will not be meeting. As we gather to start the new year as a church family we will be looking at what it means that “God STILL with us.” Hope to see you there in the new year … and bring friends!