December 30, 2023

Dear Road Church Friends,

When the angel choir is silent, when the shepherds have gone back to their sheep, when the stable is empty, when the wise men are on their way home, and their guiding is no longer visible, Christmas isn’t over. God intends that the candles of Christmas will not be extinguished by the powers of darkness. Christmas is not just a seasonal celebration; it is a way of life.

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 2:13-23           SERMON: Christmas is a Way of Life

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, and they stayed there until Herod’s death.

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” So, Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. So, the family went to Galilee and lived in a town called Nazareth.

THE OLD YEAR’S PRAYER

by Minna Irving

God of the seasons, hear my parting prayer,

Faint on the frosty air:

Let the New Year take up the work I leave,

And finish what I weave,

Give to the troubled nations lasting peace,

The harvest’s yield increase,

Help the bereaved their sorrows to endure,

Care for the old and poor.

Bid him give patience to all those in pain,

And to the parched fields rain,

Protect the fledgling in its little nest,

See that the weary rest,

And when the midnight bells from tower and town

Send their sweet message down,

Bring faith in God, a beacon in the night

To guide mankind aright. 

Happy New Year to you all,

Pastor Norm

This service on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/sQ4vnYyICk4?si=G1LICDA3DgyAcgMQ