Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church

I hope that you and your family aren’t too hectic with Christmas just a week away.  I know at the Avazian house preparations are almost wrapped up but there is always something that we forgot or that needs some last-minute attention and then the mad scramble to get it done!

 

One of the things is that I want to invite you, your family and your friends to join us for our “Christmas Eve in Lakeside” celebration!  This year we will be having our celebration at 4:00 PM on December 24 at LCPC.

 

This will be a great time to gather and hear the Christmas story, sing Christmas carols and this year, we will have a special “guest” joining us, as Willie the Donkey will help to explain the meaning of Christmas to us! If you are looking for a place to celebrate Christ’s birth with your family and friends, we would love to have you!

 

One thing to know is that most people will come to a Christmas Eve celebration if they are invited by a trusted friend.  Think about a friend or neighbor who you can invite.  Grab a few of the “Candy Cane” invitations on Sunday to pass along to those that you know.

 

Have a great rest of the week and I will see you on Sunday.

In one of the opening scenes of Season One from the television show

The Chosen, a beggar on the streets of Capernaum asks a passerby if he is the Messiah? His hope was the Messiah would come to save him and all of the Hebrew people.

The hope of the people in first century Palestine was that the Messiah would come to save the people. The political and economic oppression that they endured from the Roman occupation was too much to bear. They needed someone to save them, so The Messiah, the Anointed One, was on their minds.

The problem they had was that the Messiah they were looking for missed their bigger problem. The Hebrew people’s oppression wasn’t from political and economic hardships, it was from oppression of their souls. They need a savior from their sin.

 

 

Sometimes I think that we are looking for the same thing as the Hebrew people of the first century. If only we could get back to the way things were before COVID, everything would be all right. We are looking for relief from our economic hardships. If we just had more money each month everything would be OK. Or if only our government leaders (either on the left or on the right) would make correct decisions, then our everyday problems would be solved but like the Hebrews of the first century, we are looking in the wrong place. It is our souls that are in need of a savior.

 

Jesus is the Savior that can repair our souls. He is the one who corrects our deep-seated soul needs. My prayer is that this Advent Season, you may pause long enough to address your soul’s needs. That you would turn to the Scriptures, to the Psalms, and let God’s Word fulfill your need for Jesus. It is a daily process and something that we all need.

I will be praying for you as you seek God in the midst of this Advent Season.

Have a great rest of the week and hope to see you on Sunday!

 

Pastor Tim

P.S. (Let me encourage you to “binge-watch Jesus,” through the television show, The Chosen. Here is a link on YouTube where you can watch Episodes 1 & 2 of season One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6sHNLmYbAM&t=1800s)