Look To The Light

Obviously, the most wonderful part of this time season is gathering together with family and friends, no matter what level of Christmas you celebrate. Gathering with family and friends, while reflecting on the birth of our Savior, is of paramount importance. Yesterday we presented the gospel to a room filled with believers and non-believers. Our sanctuary was beautifully adorned for our 2019 Christmas Café. It goes without saying that many people did a wonderful job of presenting Jesus with excellence. When you have a chance, take a look around at all of the details which were part of our celebration. There are 20 round tables and approximately 165 chairs in the sanctuary; we hope to have had at least that many, if not more, attending. Last night was an evening of sacred music, twinkling lights, festive foods, traditional Christmas songs and lots of smiling children, parents, family and friends. “Scenes of Christmas,” our theme for 2019 Christmas Café, has come and gone. Sadly, we don’t have another evening scheduled to enjoy the happenings once again. Nevertheless, part of the purpose for our annual Christmas Café is to continue the “Jesus conversations” beyond the two hour event. There will be ample conversation starters throughout the evening that can help you bring up the discussion about Jesus (Immanuel) with your family and friends, or whoever needs the hope that only Christ can bring, especially during this tumultuous holiday season. Unless you’ve been out of the country for the last year and are just coming back, there are so many things that weigh heavy on our hearts and lives. Yes, I would call them distractions, things that take our focus away from the kingdom of God. More specifically, takes our focus off of the True Light! Unfortunately, Christmas 2019 will be remembered by many as the time when Congress chose to impeach the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. This one issue has become so divisive that it separates families, marriages, communities, even churches; it gets our focus completely off the real reason of the season. We at Hawthorne Assembly are going to do our very best to not allow that to be said of us. Our country is fairly evenly divided on what should happen, and my purpose behind this statement is not to take sides, but instead to bring awareness of how easily we can be distracted because of the cares of life. All of us have also been distracted by the 3 feet of snow we’ve had to plow, shovel, and decide where to pile up out of the way. Technically, we haven’t even come to winter on the calendar. Winter officially begins next Sunday, and I’m already ready for spring. Actually, it’s very beautiful and it is part of the fabric of living in Northwest Wisconsin. We should embrace its beauty and blessing as part of living in Northern Wisconsin.

Finally, our fellowship is just days away from gathering to remember our dear sister, Debbie Simenson. This weighs heavily on our thoughts as we enter into the final week of the advent season. Yet, none of these things should take our attention away from the True Light which came into the world 2000+ years ago. We should weep with those who weep; every one of us should plan on attending the celebration of life on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm. Part of our focus will be rejoicing in the fact that Debbie never lost sight of the true light. That True Light needs to be the focus of our Christmas season. Shine Jesus shine!