From the Shepherd’s Pen

Christmas Eve Service @ 6 PM!

It’s coming, it’s coming! Advent is here! I hope you have made your plans for this season… the tree is trimmed, the wishes are appearing… it’s beginning to look a lot like… wait!

We can easily get caught up in the festivities and forget about why we celebrate. Advent is a time of remembering and preparing. A messenger from God came to Zechariah and said of the child being formed in the womb of Elizabeth, his bride, “…he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the wayward to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:17. The rest of the story… John spends his life preparing others to receive.

It seems like a never-ending journey before we finish all the prep work for the holidays, doesn’t it? Early, before the first cup of coffee, someone has to put the seasonings on the “bird”, yams are peeled and then spiced! The pies are created long before they are consumed. And the holiday punch is mixed hours before the guests arrive. Preparation is just part of the process.

This is Advent! The word literally means coming! While Advent is certainly a time of celebration and commemoration of Christ’s birth, it is more than that. It is only in the shadow of Advent that the tradition of Christmas can be fully understood and appreciated.

And, it is only in the light of Advent that the Christian life makes any sense. It is in light of the fulfilled promise of Christ’s first coming and the yet-to-be-fulfilled promise of his second coming that Karl Barth penned these words: “Unfulfilled and fulfilled promise” as they relate to each other. So go ahead and trim the trees, light the sky with twinkling displays of color, put the topping on the pies, and make the traditional chocolate bonbons. Just don’t forget why all the preparation is needed it is to celebrate!

Are you prepared? Have a look at all our activities for this Advent season.

Stewardship Report:

We are very grateful for the donations that we received during this Covid epidemic. Our needs are up, and donations are low. However, we still are believing in the Lord’s provision. Remember, all your donations are tax-deductible, and we will be glad to receive them (up to December 28th will count toward this year’s giving, for reporting purposes).

Missions:

As you know, every year at this time, we “Light up the Path” with missions-giving. We look forward to your donations as we continue to support our worldwide missions.

Trustee’s Update:

Our new roof is finished. Everything looks bright and new! Thank you for all your prayers, gifts, and support! Our next project is renovating the inside of our greeting area. We are taking all donations as we renovate.

Other areas:

– Taste of Oakwood will be on December 13th with pre-packaged treats only. Bring to OUMC that Sunday morning. We will make sure to distribute them to our homebound.
– Christmas Eve service is at 6:00 pm. All donations left at the alter go to our Missions Fund.
– Our annual Poinsettia sale has started. If you would like to contribute, the cost is $20.00. All proceeds go to the Choir fund. They are going fast! Only a few left now.

Condolences & Prayers to:

Pam Copeland and family on the passing of her Aunt Shelly Conway. Shelly passed away on December 15, 2020.

Preschool:

Despite the challenges of 2020, we have managed to have a fun year. As with the rest of the country, because of Covid-19, we have implemented new health & safety guidelines for visitors to our Oakwood Pre-School, Check-in at the Pre-School front door for more information.
Some Changes we’ve seen:
– Implemented a new curriculum
– Worked to establish a new Sensory Garden
– Replaced the dividing fence on the playground
– Our numbers are slowly creeping back up, We are now approximately 60% of our March
enrollment.

When the angels had left and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15