From Reverend Don Crissinger-Clark                                                 January 2009              

 Don is on vacation but will be back next month.

           Christmas Eve

         On Christmas Eve, Don told the story of The

         Christmas Angel. It was a story he first told in

         1988, and it came from a group of stories collected

         by Jack London who was the preacher at his home

         church when he was growing up. The story was about

         a mother spider that gave a Christmas gift which

         was at first thought to be "ugly", but because the

         gift of her web on a tree was given in love, it turned

         into something beautiful. A lesson that can be a

         gift to all of us. We enter a year that is filled with

         so many questions and so many fears about

         tomorrow, as long as we move ahead with love and

         with Jesus as our guide, we can accomplish great

         things.

         The first service was definitely filled to the brim

         with about 240 people in attendance. The second

         service had fewer but was equally a blessing.

         The choir sang "O Holy Night? at both services.

         Mary Meyer sang the solo at the first service and

         Tory Clark sang it at the second service. A mens

         group sang a beautiful rendition of "What Child

         Is This", Susie Clark and Peter Johnson sang a

         beautiful duet, "Jesu Bambino".

         With the beautiful tree provided by Paul and

         Mardele Nelson, and the beautiful poinsettias,

         the church was a wonderful reminder of the

         beauty of God's word.

         As we closed each service with the lighting of

         the candles as a reminder that Jesus is the

         "light of the world", we know that there is hope

         for the future, as we celebrated the birth of the

         Christ Child.  .