Luke 2 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (NKJV)
After a whole lot of prayer and consideration, last summer Bill and I both strongly felt that we were being led to find a new church for our family to attend. It was an extremely difficult decision for us to make…we loved the people at our former church and didn’t have any huge, doctrinal issues that were leading us away. And yet we knew that moving on to find somewhere that better fit the needs of our family was something we needed to do.
Since then we have visited quite a few new churches…and I have to tell you, I was absolutely dreading the whole "visiting a new church" experience. To my surprise I have found that I actually enjoy visiting new churches. I love seeing how they run their worship service, children and teen programs and hearing different pastors speak on different topics.
As we got closer to Christmas though, I became a bit sad because we still aren’t sure which new church we’ll be calling “home” yet and that meant that our kiddos wouldn’t be in a children’s Christmas Program for the first time in their entire lives.
We made up for that by attending my sister, Janine’s, church which put on an incredibly beautiful and poignant Christmas Cantata. (During the nativity scene pictured above, the angel performed sign language throughout the entire song. I had chills!)
Being there in that church, celebrating the birth of Christ while in the midst of (mainly) strangers was an immediate reminder to me that even though we haven’t yet found our new church home, we can find fellowship with other believers in any church that honors and worships Him.
Our entire clan wishes all of you – friends and family both near and far – a wonderful, blessed Christmas today!
13 comments:
Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas eve tonight.
Merry Christmas! I hope you've had a lovely day :D Just to let you know I did send you my email address (you said you need to ask me something), but just in case it got lost in transit, it's pcjjap(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm so curious to know your question. :D
This is a very touching post. You will find your new home soon and it will be a good fit.
Well said. Merry Christmas:)
Thanks for posting about finding a church! I'll be praying that your family finds the perfect fit in the new year.
Merry Christmas!
Looks like it was a great production. It really is nice to have a church and something to rely on in life.
We have moved a lot and every single move has been made so much easier because of my religion, it is like I have family and friends immediately no matter where we move.
I hope you guys are able to find a church soon. I'm glad you enjoyed the Christmas program. I saw you in the crowd but never got the chance to say hi
-Jaszie
I pray your family finds a wonderful church family soon. Take your time. It's there. Just waiting for you:) There are some good ones in your area!
We just went through that last summer, it's tough. But once you find the right church, you will know! It will feel like home, someplace you can go and really become a part of.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Angie! And I hope God blesses you with a great church to call home in the New Year.
Wishing you many happy clicks of the camera in 2010!
Elaine
that gave me chills just imagining it! I think sign language is beautiful, especially when it's to music.
Merry Christmas!
I got chills when I was reading about your experience. I hope you will find a church soon. I know that is such a difficult place to be. At least it was for Kaish and I.
Have a great week with all your kids home from school! I know you are EXCITED to the MAX about the fun you will have!
You LIKE church shopping? Wow, having been through that experience twice I can't imagine doing it again. I'm so thankful to have found a place with lots of opportunity and amazing teaching. Having said that, I'm so happy to hear that you had a beautiful Christmas experience!!! A belated Merry Christmas to you!
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