“Precious Memories”

Christmas, more than nearly any other time of year, is a time for traditions.  Families have traditions of when they bake and decorate cookies, when the gifts get put under the tree, where they drive around to look at Christmas lights, who opens the first present, what meals are eaten and even what clothes people wear (matching pajamas anyone?). 

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the movies we watch.  Now, I’m not one for the typical Christmas movies like Miracle on 34^th Street or others considered classics (although, over the past few years my heart has warmed up to It’s A Wonderful Life).  My favorites are National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story.  I look forward to our annual viewing of these movies each year – although, truth be told, I could probably perform both of them as I’ve seen them so many times I have them memorized. 

These aren’t your traditional Christmas movies about discovering the Spirit of Christmas like in A Christmas Carol, or holding onto belief like in The Polar Express.  The movies I love are the ones that show the chaos and craziness of Christmas.  They don’t depict a Hollywood-like experience where everything is magical and perfect.  No, my favorites show what happens when everything goes wrong – the turkey gets overcooked or destroyed, the lights don’t turn on, too many relatives come over (probably not a problem this year), you don’t get what you wanted under the tree and so on. 

You see, part of why I love these movies so much is because they reflect reality.  They depict what happens when things don’t turn out the way you planned or hoped.  They show people dealing with disappointment and setbacks.  Sometimes, that family member doesn’t make it home for Christmas.  Sometimes, the tree isn’t perfect and the meal gets ruined.  Sometimes, you say the wrong thing at the wrong time, you don’t get what you want, and you have to accept that things aren’t going your way. 

In the movie A Christmas Story, we see all this chaos and all these hijinks from the perspective of eleven-year-old Ralphie Parker.  He tells the story of a Christmas from many years ago and fondly remembers all the crazy events – the flat tire bringing home the tree, the year Dad won “a major award,” finally standing up to the neighborhood bully, the neighbor’s out of control dogs, his friend accepting a very stupid dare, and getting ridiculous pink bunny pajamas from his aunt. 

He tells these stories because they are what he remembers.  He doesn’t tell stories of the boring moments, the ones where nothing unusual happens or everything goes to plan.  No, the memories Ralphie shares are the ones of the mayhem and madness that is real life. 

This Christmas I encourage you to enjoy all the moments, the ones where things go as you expect, and the moments you will remember for their chaos and craziness.  Those are the stories you will cherish and share years down the road.  Christmas isn’t about everything being perfect.  It is about enjoying the moments when God enters our chaos and walks with us. 

Merry Christmas! Chris

Christmas Eve

I’m so excited for our Christmas Eve service this year!  This will be my family’s first Christmas in Boonville and with Nelson Memorial.  This will be my first experience with a Living Nativity, and my first ever outdoor Christmas Eve Services.  The forecast for Thursday is promising some appropriate temperatures for the season (meaning cold), so I encourage you to bundle up and bring a blanket. 

The service is going to be a simple one with favorite hymns, a very familiar Scripture reading, celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and singing Silent Night by candlelight.  I want to request to those who are coming, please leave the parking spots immediately adjacent to our lawn for those who will be attending worship “drive-in” style.  The sound system we are using will have an FM transmitter, which will allow those parked close by to tune to a radio station and listen to the service. (The radio station to tune to is 97.9 FM.)

Even though these services are outside, I want to remind you all to remain vigilant in following safe practices – specifically social distancing and wearing a mask (they’ll keep you warmer). 

Worship This Sunday

This Sunday we conclude our Christmas Portraits Message Series.  We’ve looked at the how Christmas is presented in each of the Gospels.  This week we will look at one of the letters of Paul and hear his understanding and description of the Incarnation of Christ.  Our scripture reading for Sunday comes from the book of Titus, chapter 2, verses 11-14:

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

We will begin our service with a video of O come, All Ye Faithful.  Our hymns for Sunday include: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Good Christian Friends, Rejoice, and Go Tell it on the Mountain.  Additionally, our video hymn this week is Angels We Have Heard on High, performed by For King and Country.

COVID Precautions

Cooper County is in the midst of a spike in COVID cases and now ranks (as of 12/22) number five in the state in cases per capita (486 cases per 100k residents) and number twelve in 7-day positivity rate (28.3%).  We must remain careful in all our public gatherings. 

I love seeing so many people in worship, but I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to take advantage of our virtual worship opportunities.  Public gatherings right now are risky, and I am worried about the possibility of you being exposed and potentially infected at our worship services.  Please, if you are not feeling well or for any reason believe you might have COVID, please worship with us virtually until you are feeling better. 

Please remember the new COVID precautions in place at the church: masks are now required for everyone over the age of 2, social distancing is expected, we will be disinfecting pews between services and we have modified our worship schedule to accommodate for having no more than 25% capacity (approximately 50 people) in our Sanctuary.  Our services are now at 8:00, 9:15 & 10:30.  We also request you not hang around too long after the service is over so we can have enough time to wipe down the pews and prepare for the next service.

We know there are many who do not feel comfortable attending worship at this time. Please know that even though we don’t get to see you weekly, we still want to minister to you.  Every Sunday afternoon we will post a recording of our 10:30 worship service on our Facebook page and the message on our website.  We hope this helps you feel connected until we are able to gather again without concern. 

Announcements

Upcoming Office Closure – The Church office will be closed the afternoon of 12/24 and all day 12/25.  The office will also be closed 12/28 & 1/1/2021. 

Year End Giving – As we approach the end of the fiscal year, many will be considering their giving to the church.  Your generous gifts enable the church to be the church – to provide a warm and inviting place for worship and spiritual formation, to provide a place for launching missions and outreach, and to take the gospel beyond our church through our connections in the United Methodist Church.  Our gifts, trusted to God, are multiplied over and over again to do the work God has given us to do.  Thank you for your gifts throughout the year, and for the promise of faithfulness in the days to come!  Please have all offering for 2020 turned in to the church office by December 30, 2020.  Thank you.

Blood Drive – With flu season beginning and COVID hanging around, blood donations continue to be essential to hospital patients.  Donors are needed to come together to help others in this time of need.  We will be hosting a blood drive the afternoon/evening of Monday, February 1 in our Fellowship Hall.  To schedule a time for donation, click here.

Events this week:

Wednesday, December 23: Al-Anon, Noon, Church Lounge

Thursday, December 24: Christmas Eve

Services at 3:00 & 7:00 pm, West Lawn

Friday, December 25: Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 28: TOPS, 9:30 am

Al- Anon, 8:00 pm, Church Lounge

Wednesday, December 30: Al Anon, Noon, Church Lounge

Friday, January, 1: Happy New Year!

Closing Words of Wisdom:

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol