Hope and peace to you, Orchard,
Sunday’s Christmas play, lovingly led by June Foster and Dina Hokanson, invited us into the wonder and joy of Christ’s arrival. Our congregation brings many stories, backgrounds, and cultures together in one place, which is how it will be in heaven but even more expansive and beautiful as God’s beauty is made evident through every part of creation. With that vision in mind, watching the Christmas story be told through those in our church community felt like entering the rich tapestry of Christ’s birth, where a barn keeper, shepherds, and wise men each offered what they could, reminding us that God’s story is always best told through diversity.
My heart is genuinely filled with gratitude for the ways God continues to move through our church. The connections we share, the conversations we hold, and the love we offer one another all reveal Emmanuel, “God with us,” the hope announced in Matthew 1:23. These glimpses of Emmanuel invite us to journey through these Advent days aware of how Christ’s arrival is accompanied by benevolent community. When Christ was born, one of the first things we witness as we read the Christmas bible story is a community drawn together by heaven’s arrival.
All of this points us toward a wider vision of community. It is this vision, centered on Christ’s arrival, that offers direction for our mission as a church and as individuals. We should always seek to be a community where people from many backgrounds can grow, heal, and experience God’s presence together. When we embrace this way of living and loving, we participate in the ongoing story of Christ drawing people toward hope.
As we continue in this season of Advent, may we shine with the same light that gathered people around Christ’s birth. In the gift of community, Christ arrives through welcome and the life-giving offerings we extend to one another. A spirit woven so beautifully throughout the play. There is no doubt that Orchard will continue to be a place where Christ’s light finds room to flourish among us. Keep on keeping on.
In the presence of Emmanuel,
Rev. Tam
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