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connections: Christmas 2016

December 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

Christmas is a beautiful and lasting gift. In this video, Bishop Hope Morgan Ward speaks of how grateful we are that love came down at Christmas.

REMINDER: All District Christmas offerings this year will be directed to benefit Hurricane Matthew recovery. Please consider during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, where you will invite giving a very special offering for Hurricane Matthew recovery.

May the fullness of Christmas joy be yours.

I love the circular way in which our Haitian artist friend created this Nativity. It’s as if the arms of God are around Mary and Joseph and Jesus, the babe in the manger.

Indeed at Christmas, we sense God’s arms around the entire universe, all creation as God draws us back home to God’s own heart. Christmas is a beautiful and lasting gift.

This year we are blessed. Christmas is a Sunday, and on the first day of the week, as we gather for worship, we will sing the songs of Christmas. We will hear the story read and we will give thanks for God’s all-encompassing love.

Love came down at Christmas. How grateful we are. May our lights always shine with the joy that is God’s Christmas gift to us. May our arms reach out and welcome and embrace the world and may we care for all creation for God loves us. God has not left us alone. God comes to us this day.

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Filed Under: Connections Tagged With: Advent 2016, Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Christmas

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