In the midst of our busy lives, decorating, gift buying, and dinner making, God is born to us. A Wonderful Counselor bursts into our lives to help us keep things in perspective. When we worry about bills, what to wear, and if we have planned all that needs to be planned, we experience a Mighty God who makes things out of nothing

That question will be asked millions and millions of times all over the world over the next few weeks. The answer varies a million times. A video game, a big check, a trip to the Caribbean, my family all home for the holidays, or a magic Christmas dinner.

We often consider a large crowd a mark of success. Large crowds at a football game, or a concert, or the opening of a store, or at a church worship service. Jesus had large crowds follow him. And why not?!? He gave them free food, he healed the sick, he told amazing stories and he could do miracles. But Jesus was not always affirming of the large crowds.

Isn’t it amazing that we usually have a positive way to look at things, or a negative way. Some people look at October and see Winter coming, while others see a glorious climax of Summer. Some people travel hundreds of miles to see our Fall colors, while others curse the trees.

Every day God gives us the time. It is ours to determine. There are things that need immediate attention like watering the plants. There are things that matter more for a life time like making memories, staying in touch with friends or keeping connected to God. Or picking apples. Time to wake up my grandson.

Will this decision have unintended consequences? Every decision does. And if we need to make another adjustment, we will. In the meantime, I appreciate all your graciousness as we strive to help everyone have a wonderful opportunity to experience God this coming year. I always wondered if the older brother went in to the party? I hope so.

As I said before, most of the changes are to adjust what we do and make our ministry more effective. You will notice change, but our goal is that everything our church should be will remain and thrive. Pruning leads to growth and to fruit. So long as we stay connected to the vine, which is Christ, God will give us the growth.

We are at a point like that for our church right now. For many years we were a dynamic, growing congregation. We are still a good church, but we have lost a lot of the passion and dynamic we had. We are a good church, but God needs us to be a great church.