Remember to breathe this Christmas

Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,
It is well known that I am bad at math, but even I can count the days well enough to realize this is our last newsletter before Christmas. I’m sure many of you are, like my family, feeling the pressure of seemingly innumerable expectations this holiday season. So allow me just a moment to offer some reassurances.

First and foremost, Christmas is the celebration of Incarnation—God present to us and with us in Jesus, Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace. “The very fabric of our existence is where God arrives,” as Dr. Tripp Fuller puts it. Thus, contrary to a few loud cultural voices, the world matters and our bodies matter because physical reality is precisely where God shows up at Christmas.

So, please, breathe. Just…breathe for a moment. It is incredible the difference even two or three slow, deep breaths can make in our body, our mind, and our spirit. Consider trying this breath prayer from our Advent devotional:

Inhale: May I find companionship
Exhale: when I need a hand to hold.

Some times and in some situations, the best we can do is fake it ’til we make it through. Our Longest Night worship experience is the exact opposite of that. It is an opportunity to allow yourself to be honest about whatever you are feeling—especially feelings of sadness, hurt, or loneliness that seem so unwelcome in this holly, jolly season of cheer. But you don’t have to be grieving a loss for this worship service to be meaningful. Maybe you are just down from missing the light of the sun. Maybe you just need some peaceful quiet in this busy season. Maybe you just want to be bathed in the dark beauty of our sanctuary at night. Whatever your motivation, I hope to see you at our Longest Night service tomorrow, Saturday, December 20th at 6:00pm. This service will be live-streamed on our Minooka UMC Facebook page and on our Minooka UMC YouTube Channel.

Helping neighbors meet their basic food needs is the very essence of being a disciple of Jesus—of bringing to life our faith in Jesus. That’s why I invite you to participate in our Christmas Offering: a tithe (the first 10%) of the Christmas Offering will go to our partners at Helping Hands Food Pantry of Minooka. Helping Hands is now serving 61 families each month—more than ever before and up from just last week!
Use one of the Christmas Offering envelopes or simply note “Christmas Offering” on your check. If you are giving online, select Christmas Offering or type “Christmas Offering” in the Notes.

Worship with us on Christmas Eve at 4:00pm or 9:00pm. At both services, there will be many familiar carols, beautiful candlelight, and the story of Love being born in Jesus. 

4:00pm is designed with children and families in mind, featuring a Pop-up Pageant. What’s that? A fun, embodied telling of the Christmas story with a role for everyone present. 

9:00pm features plenty of familiar carols, candlelight, and celebrating communion.
Both Christmas Eve worship experiences will be live-streamed on our Minooka UMC Facebook page and on our Minooka UMC YouTube Channel.

Plotting Goodness,
Pastor Dave