December 21

This will be the fourth Sunday of Advent which means we're getting very close to Bethlehem. Be sure to bring your strip of cloth to the service as we will be placing it in a manger to prepare our hearts and minds for receiving the Christ. 

The choir will be singing two great Mark Miller songs, Come Now, O God, When Our Love is Forsaken and Child of God. Our text is Luke 1:39-45, when Mary comes to talk with her older cousin, Elizabeth, about her pregnancy.

We will not have a Coffee Hour after the service because we will be going Christmas caroling to church members who live in assisted living dwellings. We will have a snack lunch in Holliday Hall for all of those who will be caroling. Then we will caravan to our destinations. We hope you will join us as we seek to bring a little joy into people's lives. In so doing, I guarantee that it will bring joy into your life. 

We thank everyone who got gift lists from the Angell Tree to help support low-income families and children. Thank you for supplying the gifts. You have done an INCREDIBLE job! The stage is full!

If you have yet to bring your gifts to the church, please do so on Sunday as we will be delivering the gifts to P.A.C.K. and to Family Promise soon. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Kincade, Beth Tyson, or the church office. 

One of the highlights of the year is Asbury's special Christmas Eve Service. Included in the service will be liturgical dancers from the Gretchen Greene School of Dance, two soloists from the newly formed children's community choir, S.I.N.G., and of course, Asbury's fabulous choir.

Since it is during the holidays, this is also an opportunity to see some old familiar faces — people who are visiting "home" from out of town. After the service, I look forward to seeing you and wishing you a merry Christmas.

There will also be a Christmas Eve Service at our sister church, Wesley Oak, at 5:00 p.m. Wesley Oak is located in Thunderbolt — on the corner of Victory Drive and Mechanics Avenue. 

The church office had run out of copies of my second book, Wow! Wisdom. Sorry about that. That has been remedied. There are now about 25 signed copies of Wow! Wisdom in the office. 

Unsigned copies can be purchased on Amazon at the following link:

Due to the busy church schedule in December, the Ten O'clock Hour Study Group will not meet during the rest of December. We look forward to starting back again on Sunday, January 5th. Hope you will join us then! 

As we come to the end of the year, the church finds itself fiscally short of its budget need. We will need to use funds from our church savings. As many of you have been thoughtfully planning your year-end giving, we want to remind you that it's not too late to make a tax-deductible gift to Asbury Memorial by 11:59 pm on 12/31/24. Thank you!

Love,
Billy