NORTH DELTA EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH

– our LPD Church of the Week

Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!

Well here we go again!  Today is “Black Friday” and we are counting down to Christmas. While Christians can decry the commercialism, what are we doing to ready our hearts and the hearts of our people for the Advent and Christmas Season –  yes, Christmas – and Advent?

Seasonal/Christmas music is now heard in almost every store and their flyers litter our mailboxes. Locally, the secular radio station FM 103.5 has already gone to 24 hour “Christmas” music.

We in the EFCC do not consider ourselves to be liturgical, but this does not mean that we should also be unaware of the Church Calendar or of opportunities that the seasons in the calendar year provide for ministry both in our churches and to our communities.

The Season of Advent begins this year on Sunday, December 1, and will continue on through the four Sundays before Christmas through Christmas Eve. It is a time of preparation to celebrate our Saviour’s Coming and to ready ourselves for his return.

Though I was not raised with a tradition of Advent, I have come to appreciate this season, both personally and in the local church. It causes me/us to approach Christmas with more thought and to slow me/us down to be more reflective and focus upon what really matters. I would encourage you to consider the same.

Stanley Grenz coined the term, “Drive Through Christmas,” and in his article by this title, he challenged Christians and churches to take time to wait, to prepare and to He writes, ” I was struck with how we have turned Christmas around—not so much by commercializing the season, but through something deeper. Our McWorld of drive-through expectations has replaced patient waiting, followed by heartfelt joyous celebration, with the idolatry of instant gratification.”

Drive Through Christmas

Karina Kreminski, a Lecturer in Missional Studies at Morling College Sydney in Australia, in her article, “Why Bother With Advent? writes,“This heightened sense of anticipation would, in turn, give way to overwhelming joy and festive celebration when Christmas Day finally came …. As members of the fast-food generation, we have become so eager to get to Christmas that we bypass Advent.“

why-bother-with-advent/

I write today about Advent and Christmas to encourage you (and myself) to take this season to give thanks for God’s gift of salvation through His Son, and to live in preparedness for His return.
As I write this post, Karen and I eagerly await the birth of a grandchild to our son Daniel and his wife Sara. They have obviously been readying themselves in anticipation of the birth, and as the time becomes imminent, are prepared to have the birth at home. While we do not know the moment of birth, Dan and Sara await in readiness, anticipating the signs and “birth pangs” that tell them that the moment of birth is coming.

Just so, we are called to live in anticipation of our Lord’s return. While we look for the “signs,” we can be prepared, and whether He should return today or in the future, we can live in joyful readiness.

We are sojourners here on earth, and our citizenship and home are in heaven. Our hope is in Christ, both for this life and the next. God is Holy, and the only means by which we as sinful people can enter his presence is through the gift of His Son and our Saviour.

We may not consider ourselves liturgical, but we can be both thoughtful and purposeful as we approach the Advent and Christmas Season. Let’s not have our Christmas be a “drive through” one, but let it be an “eat in” one, where we take time to listen, enjoy and celebrate all that our Lord has done on our behalf – and readying for his return.

For information on celebrating Advent this year, please see:
christmas-and-advent/what-are-advent-readings.html
***

P.S. Our grandson, Felix Jake Alvin Stewart was born at 7:43 PM on Thursday, November 21. We are so thankful for his safe arrival, and that he, his mom, dad and big sister Emma are doing very well. It was so good that dad and mom lived in readiness! We look forward to meeting Felix this morning.

Please pray for:

• The LPD Pastor and Spouse Retreat, this weekend at Camp Charis. Pray for a time of refreshment and renewal for these servant-leaders of our local churches.
• Josh and Clara Lok, as they have successfully completed their church planter assessment, and we look forward to moving forward with them toward church planting. Thanks for your prayers for them as they have sought the Lord and undergone the assessment.
• Pray for Matt and Mary Howard, who have been volunteering at Wildwood Community Church in Bowser, alongside Pastor Rick and Sandy McAllister.  Matt and Mary have accepted a call to serve as Pastor of Good Shepherd Community Church in Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, and will begin in January.
• Town + Field Church, in their time of pastoral transition. Pray for Matt (Val) Myers and team, as they provide interim leadership.
• Joshua and Nicole Fast, new Children’s Ministry Intern at Parkdale EFC, who is also now a LPD Missionary, as he begins “Priceless Youth Ministries,“ a ministry to families of special needs children/youth.
• The Steveston Project Team – Allen and Hannah Chang and Daniel and Joyce Wong. Pray for them, as they lead this developing work of God, and give thanks for the lives being touched through the Gospel. Pray for them and their leadership, as they seek the Lord for the next steps in this work.
• New Westminster EFC. The congregation was unanimous on Sunday, November 10, in confirming the call of Jorge and Emily Lin to become the church planting pastor of the church, effective, January 1, 2020. We are thankful for this, and for the transitional ministry of Ralph and Karen Hardy in leading to this.
• Tom and Sandy Ford and family, as he awaits transplants, made necessary through the impact of his diabetes.
• Quadra Island Bible Church. Brent and Lynn Austring have began their service as pastor on November 1.
• Christ Community Church is considering options for pastoral ministry for the future.
• LPD Board. Board members are Randy Lemke (Allana) – Chair, Patrick Chan (Sarah) – Property and Finance, Ben Crumback (Anna) – Island Liaison, Charles Labun (Carolyn) – Church Board Liaison, Rob Stewart (Karen) – D.S., Tim Stewart (Emily) – Innovative Ministries, Paul Yang (Jin) – Korean Church Liaison; Phil Yung (Grace) – Church Planting and Josephine Papp, LPD Office Administrator – Recording Secretary. Please pray for provision of a Chinese Church Liaison.

Upcoming Events:
LPD Conference

at

Grace Hanin Community Church
at
March 6,7 – 2020

“The Heart of Discipleship”
with Dr. Randy Wollf of ACTS Seminaries.