Affirmation for Advent

I have something that I would like to share with you, my readers. I came across this at the church we attend when we are here in the Little Rock area. The Christ United Methodist Church of Cabot, Arkansas, like many churches, includes in their order of worship each Sunday an affirmation of faith. Frequently this is in the form of that classic affirmation from the early church, the Apostles’ Creed. Often however, our church substitutes either a passage of scripture, or as in this case, an original statement of affirmation appropriate to the time or season that it is offered, such as this one that appeared in our bulletin this Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent:

“We believe that Christmas is more than a time for parties and ornaments;

                It is a time for remembering Christ and the incarnation of God’s love in human flesh.

We believe there are more important gifts than the ones under the Christmas tree;

                The things we teach our children, the way we share ourselves with our friends, and the loving efforts we take to reshape the world in our time.

We believe that the finest carols are often sung by poorest voices, from hearts made warm by the wonder of the season.

We believe in the angels’ message that we should not be afraid- that the Child of Bethlehem is able to overcome all anxieties and insecurities.

We believe in prayer and quiet expectation as a way of preparing our hearts for Christmas- that if we wait in silence we will experience the One born in the stable, for He lives today as surely as He lived then.

We believe in going away from Christmas as the wise men went- “another way.” We want to be different when these days are past- more centered, more thoughtful, more caring.

And we believe God will be with us through it all.

Praise be to our Emmanuel! Amen."

I don’t know who wrote this for sure, probably Pastor Jeff. But he wasn’t there last Sunday, so I’ll try to remember to ask him next week. I’ll let you know. Also, please excuse the formatting. I have always has difficulty trying to get the Blogger.com to accept formatting that has been done on another program.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.

Two important items of note

Hi there! remember me?

I am almost embarrassed to post after so long a time. I won't go into any of the things that have happened that I have let hold me back, but I do apologize that this post, after all this time, does not have anything inspirational to offer. I simply need to make the following announcements at this time:

Item one:     On July 31 of this past summer I delivered the message at Adventureland Chapel entitled "Why do some doubt". This message is available for your listening on the web. As I have noted before, the easiest way to get to the site is to go to the CRM website (www.crmintl.org) and from the homepage, click on "Pastor's Sermons" on the left-hand side of the page. When you are then directed to other site, find the date, and my name on the list on the right-hand side of the page. There are also some good messages there by Bobby Johnson, Jack Gregory, and a host of others that I am sure you will be blessed to hear.

Item two:     My book, Going Forth in the Name, The RVer's Guide to Living the Christian Life, is now available on Kindle, Nook and other electronic formats. The cost is $9.99 for most, and $7.99 on the Nook format.

I have to admit, it feels good to write again. Pray for me that I can find the motivation to let His Spirit lead me to post more often.

As always, thanks for sharing this moment with me today.