GREAT JOY

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” (Luke 2:10-11)

What a greeting the angel gave to the shepherds more than 2000 years ago—”I bring you good news of great joy…." Luke records this “good news” as being directly about a Savior being born in Bethlehem (the city of David). Surely this good news trumps every other greeting anyone in all mankind could ever be told. God Himself came to earth to live a perfect life and then sacrifice Himself on the cross to rescue us from the eternal punishment our disregard for Him deserves. Oh to embrace this good news; this is the source of the only “great joy” anyone can know. Do you know this kind of joy? Does this joy dominate this season as we approach the celebration of the Savior’s birth? If not, take some time to meditate on the beauty and wonder of God’s amazing grace by slowly reading Luke 2.

Ladies of all ages, remember that there will be a happy time of celebration this coming Friday evening at 6pm at Discovery Baptist Church. The Ladies’ Old Fashioned Christmas event includes a wonderful dinner, music and encouraging words from our missionary wives, Rachel Waldock and Rachel Gustafson. There will also be a fun card making craft for the younger girls. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

TIDINGS OF "COFFEE" AND JOY

“And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

Recently when Mark and I stopped by a local Starbucks we noticed an interesting phrase advertising their coffee. “Tidings of coffee and joy!” The wording so closely matched the traditional saying we have heard for years that I had a hard time coming up with what the word “coffee” had replaced. But, a quick googling and I realized a very wonderful word with lots of meaning behind it normally belonged in this phrase. Now you probably already recognize this chorus from “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” but, here you see one of the great verses with the happy tidings attached.

Fear not then, said the Angel
Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure Virgin bright
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's pow'r and might
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

The “tidings of comfort and joy” speak of actually the most amazing and wonderful event in the world—Jesus coming to earth as a tiny baby Who would grow up to give His perfect life in payment for all the wrong things we have done. Talk about “comfort and joy;” this is truly “good news of great joy” as was recorded in Luke 2. Oh that we would not confuse coffee and the beautiful, stabilizing, eternal comfort Jesus came to give to those who would accept it. Nothing in all the world compares to this.

There will be no Ladies Bible Study until January 9th, 2020. But, we have a great event coming up next week. All girls and ladies are invited to come to our Old Fashioned Christmas dinner on Friday, December 13th at 6 pm. This will be a delightful evening with the men serving a delicious chicken dinner, card making for the girls, Christmas music and an interview of our missionaries Rachel Gustafson and Rachel Waldock concerning “old fashioned Christmases” in Ukraine and Cambodia, respectively. Invite your friends to join us and register online, or sign up at church so we can have a good count of the number coming.

BLESSINGS AT CHRISTMAS AND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

Zwingli’s church in Zurich, Switzerland—built in 1100.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”(Isaiah 9:6)

 With cheerful hearts we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus this Christmas. God has blessed us for more than 38 years to serve together with a passionate band of His people at Discovery Baptist Church. As we gather on Christmas Eve by candlelight to remember His humble birth, once again our hearts will be rejoicing together.

During this past year we added to our dear grandchildren two more little girls, Irene and Grace; that makes our total of blessings so far at 28.  A new role for our lives also began with the birth of our first great-grandchild, little Pippa who lives in Chile with her parents Jorge and Naomi.

As we are in the middle of our 50th year of marriage, we took a special trip to see amazing and beautiful Switzerland by train; what an unforgettable adventure. The photo shows us near the Matterhorn. Then we joined our two missionary kids and their families for a conference in Malta.

Resting at Gonergrat, Switzerland at over 10,000 foot elevation with view of the Matterhorn.

Now we look forward to 2019 knowing that God is in control of everything and we trust Him concerning all the days ahead—the comfortable and the difficult.

This is an early Christmas present with the dates of all of our family birthdays and anniversaries.

Blessings to you this Christmas,

Mark and Nancy