Lavonne Baker, member since 1984, TLC Team, Prayer Ministry, Outreach Council

John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Reflection:
During this year’s Advent season not many of us will have our “traditional” Christmas with big gatherings of family and friends. That has made me nostalgic about Christmases from my past. 

One of them takes place in the little Dutch Reformed, country church of my childhood. Almost everyone in the church was related to me in some fashion that only my Grandma Minnie could manage to untangle. 

Every Christmas Eve there was huge excitement for the Christmas Pageant. All the children of the church were involved, and we would nervously gather behind the giant curtain, whispering, rustling, and peeking at the crowd. We all had either a speaking or singing part that had been carefully rehearsed over the previous weeks. Our voices proudly spoke and sang the story of Jesus’ birth. It was thrilling to have a part in it. We would then leave with our gifts of fruit or candy into the snowy, dark night. 

Now, St. Luke’s has woven me into its family of faith through Mission Teams, my dear small group family and other groups. All of these “plus ones” have tied me more firmly to God’s family. We are connected to him in ways that only God can fathom, and his ties are eternal. No one can snatch us out of his hands. 

At Christmas we celebrate the most precious gift, Jesus, God’s Son, and what his birth, death, and resurrection mean to all people. We can show God’s extravagant love by the love we have in our hearts and give it away in generosity to others. We are woven together with the strands of love through Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We are God’s beautiful creation. 

Prayer:
O God, fill us with the wonder of your precious gift to us. We cannot imagine the depths of your love. It is truly a love divine. We thank you for that love, and for including us in your family. We look forward to the plans you have for us, and how you will connect us to those in our world. May the love of Jesus fill our hearts and show itself to family, friends, and strangers this Advent season. To the glory of God. Amen.