Reflections From Sunday Evening

Just back from the Grizzell family Christmas! Had a very enjoyable day with Cindy's family. Picked up a couple of coffee mugs in the guys' gift exchange. No one tried to take them away from me (part of the rules of the game) and I'm not sure where I'll put them - but a family gift is a gift!

Watched the Chiefs take care of business and win in St. Louis. Always interesting when a team controls its own destiny. 1 down and 2 to go.

Not sure how I feel about the Royals trade of Zack Greinke. You hate to trade a homegrown legitimate star. However he seemed to lose interest in K.C. last year and there are no guarantees he will pick up his Cy Young form. So I'd say it was best to trade him. I'm not sure what we get in return. The shortstop hit .235. The other guys may or may not be good. What you'd like is somebody who will be really good. But hey, I'm glad I'm not the general manager who has to make all those decisions.

Which brings me to another point. Decisions. There were a lot of great decisions this morning at church. The large number of people who attended made a good decision. That's because everyone present had the opportunity to experience the presence of God.

Walter made a great decision when he invited Tayla to come and sing with us today. It was great.

The point was made that God entrusts us with free will, ability to make choices and the responsibilty to make decisions. None of this needs to undermine the active work of God in the world and in our lives. But we are not going through life as "robots" simply living out what was predetermined before we ever lived. (Some think this way - we Methodist type folks don't.)

My prayer for you this week is that you find God's grace at work in your life and find his power in your decision making. May your decision make it possible for you to show up at the places where God is interesting the world and the life of people.

Remember our Candlelight services. If you travel or go to Christmas Eve services with family or at other places consider coming this Wednesday, December 22 at 7:00 for our candlelight service. On Christmas Eve we start at 3:00. Curtis and Angie will lead that service with a special emphasis on children. At 5:00 we have two services. There will be a youth-led service in Memorial Hall. The message will be my Christmas Eve sermon shown on video. I hope a number of people will choose to worship in that setting. The sanctuary service will be followed by services at 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00. Plan to make this an important part of your Christmas celebration.

We will receive an offering at each service. On Christmas Eve all our offering goes to help people through the year. Your generosity will make a difference each month as we seek to work with God in redemptive ways in the life of people.

It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.