“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10)

As I’ve spent time with you all, I’ve heard the same thing said over and over again… here comes the busiest time of year. When I worked in the horticultural industry, we would ship 200,000 poinsettia plants between Thanksgiving and the 2nd week of December. I was lucky to even get a few days off to get married. My favorite time of year was quickly swallowed up in the commercial busy-ness of the season. I even began to relate to old Scrooge and the Grinch. What do you do when you get overtaken like that? You pause for a moment and reflect on what it used to mean and you allow the Spirit to return you heart back to simpler days.

For me, I remember watching the great Christmas programs like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch That Stole Christmas. But my two favorite shows of all were Scrooge and The Little Drummer Boy. I loved Scrooge because it was the story of redemption. It reminded me every year that no one was too far gone for God to reach. It reminded me that God’s grace was greatest shown at Christmas because it was the time of year when God drew near to man. I loved The Little Drummer Boy because it was the story of a little boy who was too poor to buy a gift for the King of Kings and so he simply gave the only thing he had – himself. That turned out to be the best gift of all.

I have another reason why I love Christmas. Because on December 17, 1983 I married Roxie, the love of my life. We dedicated our marriage and our family to the Lord and today we are happy to say that all our kids know Jesus. We’re not perfect and we have many flaws, but we have Jesus and His grace is sufficient. This year we celebrate 28 years of marriage and the best is yet to come.

Our prayer for you this holiday season is that you will PAUSE, take a step back and reflect on the things that really matter. Reflect on the fact that you’re sins are forgiven, God’s love and favor is on you. Reflect on your family and friendships. Reflect on God’s faithfulness over the years and especially remember the lost, the least and the forgotten.

We are webcasting our services. You can view them at USTREAM. You can also catch up on studies that you’ve missed or perhaps your following us from a distance at VIMEO. JUST FOR FUN… I WROTE A NEW CHRISTMAS SONG CALLED IT’S CHRISTMASTIME.

Roxie and I are praying for you…

Blessings

P.HD

BUILDING UPDATE
We are continuing to receive donations for our building fund. If you would like to give, please place your donation in a white envelope and mark it BUILDING FUND on Sunday mornings. We have a new target amount of $ 130,000. God has provided through the congregation at Worship Life approximately half of what we need. Please understand that this is above your normal tithes and offerings to the church.

RADIO PROGRAM UPDATE
We are thankful for the opportunity to broadcast the gospel on a weekly basis on KWVE 107.9 FM. However we have made the decision to make December 24 our last program unless the Lord provides. We are still available on KIHL 103.7 FM in Hawaii and we will continue the Worship Life Radio podcast on iTunes. If the Lord is leading you to support the continued work on KWVE, please speak with Pastor Holland.