“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). If this one born is not the Savior and not Christ the Lord, then to carry on as if He is, would be delusional. If this one called Jesus is not our Savior, then spreading the news to others that they need Jesus is the worst thing we could do. But if this one born is the Savior of the world, then how can we keep silent?
Olympic gold medalist, Eric Liddell, was favored to win a second gold medal, but decided to leave those chances behind to be a missionary in China. From a worldly perspective, it made no sense to leave the comfortable, prosperous, and successful life to go to China to teach others about Jesus. His words to the crowd of people gathered as he left on a train to China were, “Christ for the world. For the world needs Christ.”
God may not be calling you to leave the comforts of your home and head overseas. He may not be calling you to change vocations to better devote all your time to ministry. But He might be too. One thing is for certain though, since it is true that a Savior has been born, we are called to live courageously and live obediently and proclaim Jesus in word and deed. The world needs
Christ!
Come and celebrate our Savior’s birth this weekend. “Christ Came…Grace Appeared!” Let’s unwrap the greatest gift ever given. Jesus is still God’s gift to the world. When Christ came, grace appeared. Hope to see you this Saturday night at our Christmas Eve and candlelight service at 6:00.
“Pj’s and Pastries.” I would encourage you to take a break from all the rich festivities and celebration to join us for an informal time on Sunday morning at 10:00. Yes! You can even wear your pajamas. When did any pastor ever say that? But if you would rather not wear your pajamas to church, then that is more than OK. Yes, there will be pastries and coffee for all!
Don’t forget that on the other side of Christmas on New Year’s Day there will only be one service at 10:00.
Also, we will stay with the one service for an additional Sunday on
January 8 at 10:00, so we can celebrate together our name change and new affiliation with Evangelical Free Church of America.
Looking ahead into January, Rachel Gilson will lead a conference on “The Gospel and LGBT Questions” on Saturday, January 14 from 9:00-noon (childcare will be provided). Please sign up if you plan to attend and if you need childcare.
Pastor Brian will lead a six-week men’s study on Saturday mornings from 8:00-9:00 beginning January 21. This study will work through some essentials for spiritual growth. A devotional guide will also be provided as a tool to move us along in our journey with Christ and enrich our relationship with Him.
Hope to see you this weekend, but if not Merry Christmas! I count it a privilege to serve as one of your pastors here. As I have shared before, “I don’t have to be your pastor, “I get to!”
With love and thanksgiving, Pastor Brian
Looking Forward
Sermon Direction
Grace Appeared
Christmas Eve John 1:14-18
Christmas Day Titus 2:11-14
Link to This Sunday Worship Service
Mark Your Calendars:
Christmas Eve and Christmas day services
Please join us for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service being held Saturday December 24th at 6:00 P.M.
(There will be no nursery at this service)
Sunday Christmas day we will have one service being held at 10:00 A.M.
“PJs and Pastries”
This is an informal time together of singing Christmas carols and looking into God’s Word together around Christ coming so that we could understand the meaning of grace. You can even wear your pajamas, but you may not want to and that is fine as well! Pastries and coffee will be served.
(There will be no nursery or Kids ministry during this service)
Sunday New Year’s Day & January 8th we will have one service at 10:00 A.M.
We resume to two services on January 15th, 2023
Please take note!! There WILL be live stream for Christmas Eve!! However not Christmas day.
Coming in January
“What in the world are we doing here?” sermon series in Isaiah
“Celebration of Name Change” will be held between services on January 8
“The Gospel & LGBT Questions” conference on January 14, 2023
A Six-week Men’s study, led by Pastor Brian, “Essentials for Spiritual Growth”
begins on Saturday, January 21 from 8-9 a.m. Please sign up at the ministry counter.
(More details for these events will be available soon)
Announcements
Living Hope Kids
There will be no Nursery at the Christmas Eve service, also, no nursery or Kids ministry on Christmas day. Sorry for any
inconvenience.
Trajectory Rec:
Trajectory Rec will be taking a break starting December 26th through January 23rd.
Cancellation Procedure for Sunday Mornings
In the event of bad weather that would potentially impact services, the following will be taken into consideration: the current weather in Laconia, timing of the weather event, and whether roads, walkways, parking areas will be cleared. A decision will be made by 7:30 am to cancel one or both of our services. Living Hope Lakeport will notify of cancellation using the following: WMUR TV*, Church website news feed www.laconiachurch.com, Email (weekly epistle list), and Living Hope Lakeport private and public Facebook pages. *(If 1st service is cancelled, it will say “No Early Services”, if both services cancelled, it will say “No Sunday Services” on WMUR)
Reminder Deacon’s Fund
EBC has a “deacon’s fund” which is administered by the Elder’s. This fund serves our church members as well as the community with financial needs. You can donate to it by marking your envelope “Deacon’s fund” or give online choosing this fund as your option. Go to the website (laconiachurch.com) and click on “give” and proceed from there. If you have any questions, please contact the church office at 524-2277 or email office@ebclaconia.com.