Dear family and friends of WCPC:

As I drove to my study at the church this morning I couldn’t help but notice all the Christmas trees on the street, ready for pick up.  When I went into the sanctuary this morning I noticed more than a few poinsettias, sitting outside, ready for someone to take them home.  We don’t need them in the sanctuary anymore as decorations.  In homes everywhere Christmas decorations are being taken down, put into boxes, and stored for another year.   But whatever you do, don’t store up for another year the joy and the wonder of Christmas.

One of my favorite comics, “Peanuts,” has Lucy being nice to Charlie Brown just before Christmas.  Charlie Brown asked her why?  “It’s that season of the year.”  Charlie Brown responds, “Why can’t it be all year?”  And Lucy’s response, “What are you, some sort of fanatic?”   

Let’s allow the joy and wonder of the Christmas season to impact every day in the year and the years ahead.  Emmanuel, Jesus, isn’t just with us in December.  Emmanuel is with us always.  That’s the whole reason He came!   That’s what Emmanuel, “God with us,” is all about.  Don’t pack up the joy of the season with the boxes of decorations. 

This Sunday our Confirmation Class will be publicly received into the active membership of WCPC as they publicly declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  They will be received at the 11:00 a.m. worship service, with each of them sharing some of the reasons for their commitment to Christ and their commitment to you, the family of WCPC.  It’s certainly a highlight of this or any year.  At the 8:30 a.m. service I will be preaching a message entitled “Beginning A New Year Right.”  Then next Sunday we will start a seven part series of messages entitled “A Roadmap to the Future.”  In October your Session established a new Long Range Plan which contained seven specific goals.  Each Sunday I will focus on one of those goals. 

If you haven’t picked up your reading guide for the New Testament for ’07, please pick one up on Sunday. 

Your pastor,

David Jones