Hello everyone,

We sure felt the cold winter temperatures this week didn’t we?

Here we are in the second weekend of December as we prepare for the Christmas season. I know that we usually reference Christmas with the number of shopping days left…but lets look at it differently for just a moment. Last week at church I started a series called, “Wishing You A Simple Christmas” where we looked at Gods plan to come down to earth. Emmanuel…God with us!! Its not just a Christmas story or a fable, but the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus Christ, who is God, came down to earth in a human body (remember the illustration of Lebron James) for our benefit and purpose. Either it was a bizarre  ….or absolutely brilliant plan for God to get down to our level.

This Sunday I am so excited that Sheldon Kotyk will be continuing the series with a message titled, “Christmas, There Has To Be An Easier Way”. Sheldon has such an incredible way of bringing truth in such an understandable and practical way. You will not want to miss.  Again, Christmas time is the most stressful, busy, hectic and intense time of the year. Now lets pause…Is that what God really had in mind? Or is that the scheme of the merchants and retailers of our society? Who are you going to listen to? Who are you going to follow? The God of the universe or the salesperson in the mall?  Lets retrain some thinking (and possibly some practices) and see Christmas for what it really is.

This Sunday we will be celebrating our second week of Advent…and this Sunday we also want to express thanks to the CBC students who are doing their service practicum at Alderbrook.

We have been so blessed with these students: Sierra, April, Joy, Frankie, Austin W, Charissa and Jessica…they have been a gift to the church and we want to thank them. Why not pray for them this weekend as they start their winter finals.

Oh by the way…there are seventeen shopping days until Christmas, but why stress right? Re-align your focus : Emmanuel …God with us!

Pastor Glenn and Cheryl

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! Isn`t that how the song goes??…yeah right! Christmas is also the most stressful, busy, hectic and sometimes intense time of the year. We`re not suggesting that banning Christmas is a good idea, but rather seeing Christmas for what it really is…and more importantly, for what it can become. …we wish you a simple Christmas!