Pastor's E-Letter

Pastor's E-Letter

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Pastors E-Letter 12/18/20

As I was thinking about what to share in this eLetter in anticipation of the 4th Sunday in Advent when we will ponder the marvelous, whole-hearted faith of Mary, I came across this post on Facebook from one of our members who moved away some time ago, Nate Quarcelino, retired pastor an all-around fantastic human. I messaged Nate and asked if I could quote him and like any good pastor, he obliged. Nate wrote,
 
“They say to expect the unexpected. Why? She didn’t expect to be pregnant. He didn’t expect an angel to tell him to marry her anyway. The shepherds didn’t expect the night shift to be anything unusual. God enters our lives in the most unexpected ways, but always with a perfect plan. This year, as Christmas nears, what will you be expecting?”
 
The year 2020 has been an expectation shattering year for most of us. At least it has been that way for me. Again and again, I’ve had to let go of the plans I’d made including a few hopes and dreams. I used to think in terms of plan A and then, usually a backup plan B. This year has been more like constantly having to move to plan X, Y and Z! And it’s still happening! At any moment today or tomorrow or the next day, I could get a text or a phone call that will once again throw me into triage mode. I would imagine that some of you feel the same way. I realize as I say all this that my disruptions have been small compared to the life altering disruptions and pain that so many others have experienced this year. I’m keenly aware of that. So, in all this, I’m trying to learn that the best plan I can have right now is to not depend on any plan! As a Myers Briggs, certifiable “J” (meaning I thrive in being able to plan) this is a hard place to live.
 
But I also know that the miracle of Christ coming among us was and is never according to my plan or any human plan. It was and is God’s gift of grace, unearned, unexpected, unplanned. And that gift has the power to disrupt all our plans. It certainly was not what Mary expected – an angel on her doorstep, telling her that she would have a baby when she was a young, unmarried virgin. It was a disruptive, life altering message, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High…” And how does Mary respond? “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
 
This is my prayer today. That I might have some small measure of Mary’s faith. That I might have enough faith in God’s power to show up and make something amazing, something beautiful, something redemptive out of all the unexpected disruptions of life. My prayer is that I will be able to more gracefully, faithfully, set aside my plans, to enable God’s plan to come to birth in and through me.
 
I’m fond of saying every year that at Christmas, I expect God to show up at some point, in some new way. I expect God to break into my life with some new gift. It never happens the way I plan or expect. And often it’s not the gift I think I want. But it is always the gift that God knows I need.
 
So, wait for it. Expect the unexpected. Be prepared to lay aside your plan and welcome the gift. He is coming and he knows what you need.
 
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Annette
Posted by Annette Stiles Pendergrass with

Pastors E-Letter 12/11/20

Today's the day! Our first ever drive-through Nativity Experience starts at 5pm today and we are so excited!! We decided to put on this event when we realized that all our other annual Advent and Christmas events, like the Christmas cantata and children's play, can't happen this year due to the pandemic. But an outdoor, socially distant, drive-through event is something we can do!
 
As I was thinking about this event, I realized there will be primarily two groups of people who will come through our Nativity Experience. One group will be those who are familiar with the story of Jesus' birth. I hope that they will get a feel for what it was like for Mary and Joseph to make this journey and that they will get more excited about this Advent season as we prepare for the birth of our savior.
 
The other group will be those that aren't familiar with this amazing story. Maybe they are being dragged, I mean, riding along with someone who invited them, or maybe it's a family that heard about this event and thought this would be a good way to get out of the house and still be safe. For the people in that group, my hope and prayer are that they will see that these things that happened 2000+ years ago are still very much a part of our life today and that they feel the desire to learn more about who Jesus was, and is, after driving through this Nativity Experience.  
 
The Nativity Experience follows the story told in Luke 2:1-7, which states:
"At that time, the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria). All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them”.
 
Dr. Michelle Bengston, a neuropsychologist who combines her professional expertise with her faith, shares the following 5 inspiring modern-day lessons from the Birth of Jesus:
 
  1. In Micah 5:2-5, it was foretold that the Messiah would come from the small, insignificant town of Bethlehem. Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5 foretold of the Messiah coming from the lineage of David. Yet, Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Our identity isn’t dictated by our birthplace, or where we grew up, but by our lineage as children of God.
  2. Jesus was born in a small, seemingly insignificant town, and yet He was the greatest man to ever be born. He did greater things for all of mankind than we could ever hope to do on our own. Even when we are born into a seemingly insignificant town or family, God has amazing plans for our lives.
  3. Mary and Joseph were just ordinary people, living an ordinary existence before they became instrumental in the greatest birth in history. God did, and still does, use ordinary people for extraordinary works.
  4. Mary and Joseph travelled 70 miles by donkey, on foot, to return to their roots for the purpose of the census. But if they had not gone back to Bethlehem, the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled. God will often ask us to do seemingly difficult things so that He gets the glory. (Quick side note…2020 was a census year too. Are you glad you didn’t have to travel back to your hometown by foot and donkey to be counted?)
  5. Joseph returned to Bethlehem because he was in the line of David, figuratively a son of a king (in the royal lineage). In recognizing that, he was obedient to that which brought Christ to be born. We have a heritage as a child of God, which is what we were created as originally, and we must live each day fulfilling that legacy.
 
 
So regardless of which group of people you’re in, we hope to see you at our Nativity Experience either tonight from 5-8pm, or tomorrow, Dec. 12, from 5-8pm. As a reminder, you’ll enter from Pinehurst via Spyglass, and exit to the right onto Wickham. 
 
See you then!
Peace,
Ulrike Gonzalez and the team for The Nativity Experience

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