Author: ctpressADMIN

I hope you didn’t miss it.

This past Sunday, our “new” music director, Penny Liston, along with the musicians in our music ministry, presented the annual Christmas Joy worship service. We heard music from the Joy Singers, the Silver Bells ringers, the Joy Ringers, the Geneva Ringers, the children’s Carol Choir, and various other musicians from the church family. Without a doubt, it was one of the best Christmas Joy services in memory, and it affirmed the call we extended to Penny earlier this year, that she should be our music director. If you weren’t able to attend, you missed a wonderful worship service that I am certain blessed everyone who attended.

I hope you don’t miss it.

Christmas is but a few days away. There is always so much to do with this holiday. Like many people, I often reach a place where I feel like I just went to get Christmas over with. When I catch myself there, I mentally walk back and try to focus on what we are celebrating.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ. This past week, it was brought to my attention that when we usually celebrate the birthdays of living people. Christmas is a big deal for it ushers in the plan of God’s salvation, which is realized in the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. He is living, and we celebrate his birth every year!

Maybe you didn’t get to do all that you wanted this season. Maybe you’ve been blessed to do exactly as you planned. But no matter what you do, don’t get so busy that you miss the reason we celebrate.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Warmly in Christ,

Pastor John

Finding Joy

It’s the holiday season, a time of joy and celebration. Everywhere we look, we find bright lights, beautiful decorations and joy, joy, joy! But what happens if we’re just not feeling it? What if we find that we’re just not in the Christmas spirit? What’s wrong with us?

Honestly, nothing. When we feel this way, it is a form of grief. There many reasons people observe grief in the midst of joy. For some, this is the first holiday season without a loved on who passed away earlier in the year. For people experiencing the “first round” of holidays with an obvious absence, the holidays are long and difficult. Almost every part of season makes the absence profound, and people experiencing such grief have to figure out a new normal. For some people, the holiday grief is about transition. When our children become adults and start doing their own thing, we can experience a grief. Again, everything is different, and this is especially true when our children are starting their own families. There are some people who have difficulty when they move to a new area, and the resulting change in the holiday routine leads to a mourning of what used to be. And there are also people who experienced a profound loss during the holidays, and every Christmas serves as a reminder of that loss.

Christmas grief is not dissimilar to grief any other time of the year, but it does seem harder to go through it when all around we hear people wishing one another a Merry Christmas. However, there are some ways we can encounter a little more joy when we are feeling blue. We can become reacquainted with the gospel. Isaiah describes the Messiah as, “…a man of sorrows, acquainted with suffering” (Isaiah 53). Reread the Christmas accounts in Luke and Matthew with an eye to God’s love and care. We can also push ourselves to go to special events. We have one such event this Sunday, the Christmas Joy service, at 3pm. Many churches have similar types of programs. Don’t try to go to all of them; rather, set a simple goal of one to three. Another helpful tool is to share our struggle with someone close to us. A spouse or best friend can be a huge support when we struggle to find joy. Finally, worship can help with grieving. It is common for people to distance themselves from God while grieving, but that is the exact time we must try to get closer. Worship affords us that possibility. If you are grieving, worship will help.

Remember, in this joyous time of the year, not all of us are feeling it. We need to be sensitive to people facing that struggle. We don’t have to abandon our own sense of joy, but we must remember that some of the people around us have a really hard time at Christmas. They will benefit from a kind word and an understanding heart. And we demonstrate that kind of love, we will be sharing the love and grace of Christ in a profound way.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Hello, Church!

I hope early December finds you well! It is a busy time of year for all of us. I want to take some time to tell you about two upcoming events, one this weekend, one beginning in January.

Christmas Parade

2004 marked my first Christmas Parade in Charles Town. I was very surprised that we had neither an entry into the parade, nor any kind of outreach as the parade and spectators made their way past our front doors. I asked around and two things became clear – families usually had kids in the parade in other groups like marching band, and some kind of outreach was a new idea. The reasons for our absence in the parade made some sense, but the lack of outreach on this day when hundreds of people were right on our doorstop – that was unclear to me. I gently pushed for a few years to no avail, so I dropped it.

Last year, though, the Missions and Outreach committee came up with a brilliant idea: To serve hot dogs, chips, and hot drinks to the crowd. We wouldn’t charge anything, but we would take donations. But the money wasn’t the point. We were there to serve and let people know what was happening this Christmas season at the church. And you know how this went. Bad weather shortened the parade and killed turnout. But we are not deterred. We are trying again this year, at the parade this Saturday! Stop by, say hello, welcome people and even help serve the food.

Waking Up White

In 2020 I am leading a book study on Waking Up White, by Debby Irving. Shenandoah Presbytery read this book last year and it made for some very challenging conversations. I will admit that I was reluctant to read this book; I never considered myself racist, and to be honest, I was afraid of what I might find. Waking Up White has served as launching point for me for some incredible learning and self-discovery. The first meeting of this book study will be Saturday, January 11 at 9:30am in the church parlor. Each participant is responsible for obtaining their own copy of the book, which you can find here. This study will be open to everyone, but I do ask that you come having read the material for each meeting ahead of time. For our meeting on January 11, please read the first five chapters and the introduc-tion (22 pages), and think through the question(s) at the end of each chapter.

This is a very exciting time of the year, and I look forward to all our activities!

See you at the parade,

Pastor John

This week’s newsletter is for two weeks, since next week is a short week, with an additional worship service and the beginning of advent. I want to highlight three very important events coming up in the next few days.

1. Thanksgiving Eve Worship – This is one of my favorite worship services of the year. It is unique from all our other services, and it is a wonderful way to get prepared for the days ahead. With Black Friday endlessly creeping into Thanksgiving year after year, this worship service helps us get the right mindset, so that we are worshiping and putting our focus on Christ for Thanksgiving, and the advent season that is fast approaching! I hope you are able to join this Wednesday evening at 7pm.
2. Schedule Change – By now, all of us should be aware of the schedule change that begins next Sunday, December 1.:
   • Sunday School begins at 9am and ends at 10am.
   • From 10-10:30 we have time to visit and talk, and it gives musicians participating in worship and Sunday School and opportunity to practice without interrupting any of the classes. I have it on good authority that there will be coffee in the kitchen! If you have young children in Sunday School, be sure to pick them at the end of Sunday School at 10am. As with any change, there will no doubt be some bumps in the road, but I’m sure we can all be patient with each other as navigate this change.
   • Worship begins at 10:30am.
3. Deck the Halls – On the first Sunday of advent, December 1, following worship, we are going to “green” the sanctuary. Our sanctuary always looks spectacular every advent and Christmas. It takes many people to make this happen. We are going to be ready to switch gears after the worship service and take about an hour to hang the greenery. What a fun way to start the advent season. We hope you can stay and help us “deck the halls!”

We have so much more going on in the coming weeks than just these events, and I am very excited for what this advent and Christmas season.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Golden Rule

This Sunday I am introducing a small, simple idea that Christians all over the country are going to be part of for the next year: Golden Rule 2020.

Most of us know the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat people the way you want to be treated. That seems like something we’ve lost, especially when it comes to discussions about politics.

Not long ago, we could disagree about something and still be friends. Now, it seems, that if we disagree with someone, it’s okay to trash them and their reputation, all because we don’t like what they say or believe. That is not okay, especially if we are Christians trying to shine the light of Christ in the world. We seem to have lost the ability to be respectful of those with whom we are not aligned. We are not following the golden rule.

Sunday, November 3, is exactly one year from the 2020 general election. Churches across the country are taking the opportunity to launch what’s come to be known as the “Golden Rule Initiative 2020.” You can learn more about the initiative here.

The idea is straightforward and simple. In the year leading up to the general election, the initiative invites Christians to commit to prayer for our leaders (even those we do not like), prayer for the election, and the commitment to share our ideas (including social media posts) in way that remembers the golden rule. Christians should always seek to be a light in the world, even in discussions about the leadership of our nation. No matter the topic, idea, or person (even elected officials) should cause any of us to abandon the golden rule.

The political climate is toxic. Those of us committed to this type of respectful discourse are seeking a better way. We are not waiting on our leaders, our political parties or anyone else. We are, rather, turning to the words and example of our Lord Jesus, who told us how to best to treat all people: Do to others what you want done to you.

Let us pray…

Blessings,

Pastor John