Christmas This Sunday

I know it's not exactly an original thought, but Christmas is my favorite time of the year!

(BJ, my ten year old, agrees: "Dad, it's the time of year when everyone is nice to each other so it's my favorite" - think he has any people-pleasing tendencies??).

But Christmas has a double edge.

For many of us it is a joyous, reflective time of year as we pause to worship the God who came to be with us instead of expecting us to work our way to Him.

But for folks who are grieving or suffering in some way, it can be a dark time.

In any event, Christmas is the time of year when most people are the most spiritually sensitive. Which makes it a great opportunity to pray for and commit to our disconnected friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers. And one of the best ways to commit to them is to invite and then bring them to a place where they can hear the message of Christmas in a clear, compelling, and exciting way.

We're putting all of our Christmas eggs in the Sunday morning, December 23 basket (forgive me mixing Christmas and Easter metaphors there...).

No Christmas Eve service this year because of when it falls and because of our sense that people could use an extra night at home with families in the middle of all the holiday rush.

Which means that this Sunday is high noon for our Christmas outreach efforts. We'll knock ourselves out to make the Sunday morning experience as compelling and exciting as possible and the message as clear as it can be. That's our end of the deal.

Your end of the deal is to do whatever it takes to get people there.

Whom can you pray for? Invite? Bring? Knowing it may make an eternal difference in their lives.

One of my prayer preoccupations this week will be for YOU! That NLC folks will be visionary, bold, and risk-taking in inviting and bringing as many people as possible this Sunday.