Love All

What a joy it is to celebrate Christmas with you. The Advent season has been one filled with great joy and blessing shared with you. I look around our church and into the eyes of the people and see our faith growing and deepening together. We have had a tremendous year in ministry and mission. We have "Embraced our Heritage" and begun "building our future" in exciting ways. This Fall, 5 Disciple Bible studies took place where people grew in their understanding of God's Word. Missions continued to make a difference in the lives of people serving food, providing material assistance and helping other churches, all in Jesus' name. Our youth ministry has more than doubled in size this year and they have grown deeper in their discipleship. Worship has been a powerful experience each week all year for me and I trust for you as well.
This year we moved forward together to build our future through the Wesley Center, making space for ministry to happen in the decades to come. You responded to all these positive life-changing possibilities with great generosity.
Join with me in praising God for your faithfulness in giving this year. We paid 100% of our missional committments beyond our church. Through what we call apportionments, you supported college campus ministry, scholarships, missions in Africa, missions at home and more. You went above and beyond by also giving to "Fair Share Goals" which are not expected every year. Your giving supported Lakeview Camp, Lon Morris College, and others. On top of all of this, your general giving of course made possible the ministries I mentioned already and we completed the first of a three year pledge campaign to build Wesley Center. We met our general budget, fulfilled these missional apportionment committments and are on track with our Wesley Center committments 1/3 of the way.
Only you know where you are on your personal giving committments for the year 2009. Time still remains for you to fulfill what you feel led to give for this year. If you would like to give for the year 2009 for tax purposes, please mail or bring by your gift before the end of the year. I thank God for your faithfulness and for what He has done in and through us.
Love All. That is the last of the four values for Advent that I lift up this week of Christmas. While that little phrase may sound sentimental and simple, it means so much more. To love all is to take seriously the love of God for all people. In Jesus Christ His only Son, God demonstrated His boundless love for every person for all of time. Young and old, rich and poor, black, white or brown, God loves us all.
Being loved like this causes me to pause this Christmas and gulp pretty seriously and look at others in a new way. Why? Because I'm aware more than ever, that God looks at me with nothing but love and invites me to come to Him and receive the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Of all the gifts we receive this Christmas, may that gift take first place in our hearts.

Merry Christmas to you all,
Tommy