“A Story Only God Could Write” – Christmas Eve – 12/24/23 Worship Service
December 24, 2023
Stephen Streett
What a blessing it is to celebrate the Advent and Christmas season with the Misty Creek community of faith family. I am privileged to be your pastor and serve alongside our beloved Worship Pastor, Doug Allen. I feel incredibly blessed and honored to serve Jesus at Misty Creek. My heart is filled with joy as we prepare to celebrate, once again, the birth of the Christ Child. I know this year has been filled with difficulty on so many levels for so many of you. However, these challenging times have also provided us with the opportunity to exercise our faith. We have witnessed acts of profound kindness and creative ingenuity. We have helped and taken care of each other. My friends, there are many more reasons to be grateful and filled with hope because of our faith. God has and will continue to help us to see all of this through as His promise is fulfilled with our Christmas Hope, Jesus!
The visit between Mary and Elizabeth, one young and unwed, the other advanced in age, both poor and pregnant, is a familiar scene during the Christmas season. Mary proclaims, “the Lord…has been mindful of the humble estate of His servant,” and the rest of her song proclaims that God is working out His plan. This friendship and prophetic song present us with an opportunity to consider what God has done in the past, while encouraging others in the uncertainty of today about what God has promised to do in the future. It is important to keep this friendship and Mary’s song in mind as we spend Christmas with friends and family and know that many of our brothers and sisters around the world are facing so much uncertainty. Our hope is that the eyes of our family and friends are open to see that the Child the angel Gabriel declared would be named “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”.
While much has changed over this past two years, that message of truth is unchanged. What a blessing for us to have our Christmas Hope! As we go about our celebrations and festivities this Christmas, my prayer is that you do not let this story of God’s unfailing love for the world go unspoken, but share this good news with everyone, so that they can find hope, joy, peace, and love in the infant Savior of the world!
I hope you will join us for our Night of Christmas this Saturday at 6:30pm and our Christmas Eve candlelight service on Christmas Eve at 5:30pm.
I am eager to see what God has in store for us in the new year. Our lives and ministries will continue to transform in ways we could never imagine. I am grateful for all the ways you support the ministries of the Misty Creek Community Church and pray that you will continue to do so with your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness in 2024. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
