GBC Community Update: On Christmas Day, come as a child

​Good morning!  We’re finally here, Christmas Eve. I’m not sure about you but there’s a lot of excitement in the Timm household. We’re all going to experience Christmas in different ways but my encouragement to all of you is that regardless of the circumstances and what you will or will not be doing that you take time to reflect on Immanuel, God with US.
I’ll be taking next week off so there will be no updates until the following week.
 
 
Christmas Eve Service
I’m excited for our Christmas Eve service tonight at 7pm in our main parking lot. It’ll be a more casual time to sing some carols and reflect on the importance of the event we are remembering, the birth of Jesus, the savior of the world!  I hope you’ll join us.
 
 
Join us on Sunday
Join us on our livestream on Sunday as I continue to look at Immanuel: God with us.  I’ll be looking again at the idea of celebration but this time from a different perspective and with very different results.
We’ll also be celebrating communion so I’d encourage you to have some elements handy as it’ll be done at the beginning of the service.
I hope to ‘see’ you on Sunday!
 
 
Merry Christmas!
I’ve been talking a lot lately about how different Christmas will be this year yet many things have not changed, as I’ve experienced over the course of the month leading up to tomorrow.  This has been a pretty hard year for all of us and I think this year, perhaps more than ever, I’ve needed the hope that the Christmas message brings. I’ve found a quiet calm around it as I’ve reflected and experienced the season. So, I hope that you will have a very merry, joy-filled Christmas!
I look forward to seeing you again in the New Year, because we will see each other again at some point! 
 
 
Thought for the day:  On Christmas Day, come as a child
Christmas morning is probably my favorite day of the year. While I love getting presents the thing that has been the most special to me for years is watching the reactions of my children.  The joy and excitement is something I can’t describe.  Author Erma Bombeck said: "There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."
We are to be childlike as we come to God on Christmas Day, as we remember and reflect upon Immanuel, God with us and that speaks to our attitude.  Jesus said in Matthew 18: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"
 
I don’t think there’s anything more exciting than being a child on Christmas morning. And yet this is what God asks of us not just on Christmas Day but each day, to change and become like little children, to put our hope and trust in him and enjoy the wonder of what he offers us. Each day approach God the Father as a child, with excited anticipation of his goodness. Humbly trust that your every need will be met and every care will be under his control.  May your Christmas Day tomorrow be filled with the wonder of the Lord.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris