Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O come, let us adore him.
My dear parish family,
We wait and watch for our King and Savior to draw nigh during this season of Advent. We will come together as the body of Christ on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with great fanfare and joy to adore him. But on that Christmas night in Bethlehem, God entered our world and our lives so quietly and with such profound humility that it is almost disconcerting to contemplate. A few angels announced God’s incarnation as a human being to a few shepherds, and that was about it. The wise men came and went and the reality of Emmanuel – God is with us – seemed to have been kept a secret for the next thirty years or so.
But it is a secret no longer. God came to be among us on that Christmas Day over two thousand years ago, and God is still with us. When we peer into the manger, we see the cross. The hope of redemption and resurrection becomes ours because of that helpless baby so impossibly born to a virgin in that rude and primitive stable. When we peer into the manger, we know that God in Christ is still with us. That is why we always find the Word of God in our midst when we draw nigh to adore him. It is through that Word that God continues to become flesh and continues to live within each of us.
Come, let us adore him together. We will celebrate and give humble thanks for the great gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas Eve when we will follow our normal schedule of services. On Sunday, Christmas morning, we will have one service at 10:00 a.m. We will also modify our worship schedule on Sunday, New Year’s Day, with services at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. I hope you will be among us during this very special time in the life of our Church.
The Wardens, Vestry, and staff join me in wishing you a most holy and blessed Advent and Christmastide. Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O come, let us adore him.
