Christmas Greetings!

Uppermost on my To Be Done list is to wish you a blessed Christmas.
The season of Advent-the four Sundays leading up to Christmas-has
always been a special and rich time for me throughout the years. This
year especially, I have been delighting in this season and am eager to
plunge into the riches that are woven into Christmas Eve and Christ-
mas Day. In a few hours I will head out into the cold and snow for the
family Christmas Eve service, savour Christmas treats after the ser-
vice, and then later attend a Watchnight Service at 11:30 pm.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I will attend a morning Christmas Day
Family Service and then go with a family to their home for the rest
of Christmas Day. I'll be with good friends Jason and Chrissy and their
four children, with a fifth due in early February. I have been babysit-
ting the children-who range in age from three years old to nine years
old-so that Jason and Chrissy can go out for a date night every so of-
ten. The kids are great and we have a lot of fun together.

The time between the first Sunday in Advent, through to Christmas,
and continuing to Epiphany on January 6 is a special time for me. For
just over 30 days we hear and often see acted out the Big Story of God
sending God's Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for the forgive-
ness of our sins. Behind the Manger is the Cross. Christmas and Easter
are meant to be together. Both are essential themes to understanding
the Big Story. My prayer for us all is that we would come to compre-
hend more keenly God's Big Story.

In my previous blog posting I shared that on December 12 I would be
conducting a service and preaching before a minister search commit-
tee at a neutral pulpit. Let me fill you in on what happened on Decem-
ber 12. After the service, I was interviewed by the committee and then
after the committee voted, I was invited to preach as 'sole nominee' at
the church with the vacancy. I accepted the invitation, and will preach
as sole nominee at St. Fergus Parish Church on January 16. I am ex-
cited about the church and the position, and look forward to preaching
there on that date. After the service, the congregation will then vote
whether or not to extend to me the call to be minister of St. Fergus Par-
ish Church. I am very excited, and am eager to lead in worship at the
church on January 16. As always, I covet your prayers.

Festive Christmas Blessings to you and yours,