Newsletter

In the sixth month, the angel of the Lord informed Mary that she would give birth to the son of God. She was scared and uncertain, but she trusted God and was prepared for the baby. When Joseph was warned in his dream by an angel of the Lord, he took Mary and the baby immediately and left for Egypt in the night. The shepherds were terrified when they saw the angel but they hurried to see the new born baby. After they had seen him they spread the news that a savior was born. Everyone other than Herod, though surprised or scared, seemed to be ready for the birth of the savior.

When I hear carols on the radio and see the malls and streets lighted, I get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus too. I sit down and think back on this year. Things I’ve done and said, some pleasing and some probably not so pleasing to God. It is the time to prepare my heart for the arrival of the king. Have you swept the dust bunnies from the corners of your heart? Is it ready for the king to reside in? Let’s celebrate with joy and spread the good news. There is no better time to share the reason for the hope that we have. Wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

Yours in Christ,
Preethi Samuel

Wish you all a very meaningful Christmas and The Peace of God which passes all human understanding fill your hearts during this season. Jesus came as a different kind of King. Not the kind that most people expected. A poem by an unknown author explains this well.

They were looking for a lion, He came as a Lamb, and they missed Him.
They were looking for a warrior, He came as a Peacemaker, and they missed Him.
They were looking for a king, He came as a Servant, and they missed Him.
They were looking for liberation from Rome, He submitted to the Roman cross, and they missed Him.
They were looking for a fit to their mold, He was the mold maker, and they missed Him.
They were looking for their temporal needs to be met, He came to meet their eternal need, and they missed Him.
He came as a Lamb to be sacrificed for your sin. Will you miss Him?
He came to make peace between God and man. Will you miss Him?
He came to model servant hood for all mankind. Will you miss Him?
He came that we might have true liberty. Will you miss Him?
He came to give you eternal life. Will you miss Him?

What are you looking for? Lion? Warrior? King? Liberator?
What are you looking for?
When we submit to the Lamb, we will meet the Lion.
Join with the Peacemaker, and we will meet the Warrior.
Work with the Servant, and we will meet the King.
Walk with the Submitted, and we will meet the Liberator.
Concern ourselves with the eternal, and we will have the temporal.
If Jesus is not fitting into the mold you have, then come to the mold maker and get a new one.
Submit to His plan for your life and you will see the eternal need met first; then all the other things you have need of will be taken care of as well.

They missed him. People saw the Christ through their own eyes and missed him. He came as a suffering king and many missed him. During this Christmas season let us look for ways to meet The King and celebrate His Birth.

- Pastor Godwin

Mark Lowry is best known as a singer and comedian who spent more than a decade as a regular fixture of Bill Gaither's vocal band. Lowry's most enduring legacy will probably be the beautiful little song that he wrote 18 years ago as a meditation for a Christmas program at his church. Inspiration came as Lowry focused his heart and mind on the wonder of Christmas. Six years later, harmonica virtuoso Buddy Greene supplied just the right music and "Mary, Did You Know?" was complete.

The words will make you stop and think. I love the irony of it all . . . a poor couple delivered their firstborn baby in a barn and laid him in an animal feeding trough. Did they know that someday He would have the utmost amazing ability to become the king of kings? I'm glad that Jesus had such a humble life because no one could ever think that He was too rich for them to come to. In fact, in the Bible, Jesus spoke the word of welcome to anyone willing to hear. He told us to come to Him when we are weighted down with heavy burdens. Because, He said "I am meek and lowly in heart." I think Mary stated her faith by the first question, "What do you want of me God? What do you want from the handmaiden and servant of the Lord?" Mary, did she know? Maybe or maybe not. It doesn't matter. God knows and she always seemed to be okay with following God's lead. How about us? Are we willing to follow HIM without questions?

- Sujaya Robin

- Joe Kingsly

Congratulations! Israel and Anita for topping the quiz in the book of Esther. No one can deny the fun everyone had preparing for the quiz. But for those of us who did not make it to the final round, it was more fun watching the tensed faces of those who made it, unfortunately!
Next quiz will be in the epistles to Timothy. Date will be announced soon. Esther quiz is available online. Please invite you friends to try it.

Do you believe there is a world out there? If you do, you are right.

This movie is about a wealthy young boy who meets a homeless man, Cleve in the library. Cleve helps him with his project work and they become friends. The boy has recently lost his grandfather and Cleve seemed to fill his place. Cleve’s social worker warns him to stay away from the boy. But it gets hard for them to stop seeing each other. Eventually, Cleve gets rid of the boy by lying to him that he had used him to replace his son.

The movie also captures and contrasts the differences between "our" world and the very real world of the homeless. The boy’s mother baked cookies for him to take to school, for his friends, who probably had enough of them at their homes. At the same time, the people on the streets barely eat at the local soup kitchen. She collects clothes for her church to send to Romania while the homeless around her town shiver in the cold. Another moment early on in the movie that caught my attention (I missed it the first time) was a small homeless girl selling flowers at the railway station. People hurry past her hardly noticing her. She is later introduced as Lupe. The next time we see her, we are able to relate to her and her family. We are almost forced to appreciate and love her.

The movie makes us realize that many times our "needs" are nothing more than careless luxuries. Need is not relative but greed is. Ask any beauty pageant contestant and she’ll say that all she wants is "World Peace". Ask any Christian and he’ll say his most import goal in life is to help the poor. Jesus saw many rich people throwing large amounts into the temple treasury. He also saw a woman cast in two mites. He told his disciples. "They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything".

The movie made me realize that I could help people out of my abundance and continue to increase my "need" or I could drop in everything I have like the woman at the temple.

This is a fairly old movie released in 1991. It is running currently on Comcast On Demand. If any one has not seen the movie and would like to watch it, please get in touch with the editor and we can work something out!

Congratulations! Correct entries for Crossword No. 6 submitted by
Edith Andrews, Chennai, India
Hannah Daniel, Aurora, IL