December 30

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for helping make this season so meaningful for Cheri and me through your gifts, cards, and most importantly, by being part of our faith community. We look forward to spending the rest of Christmastide with you - Christmastide goes to Epiphany Sunday on January 7th. (Remember, there are 12 days of Christmas.)

Cheri and I were blessed to have all of our children with us for the holidays. Wendell had to fly back to New York today. But our daughter, Chelsea, her husband, Chris, and our grandson, Anson, are still here and are planning on worshipping with us on Sunday. Fortunately our other children, Christi and Wesley, live in Savannah.

As I reflect on the Hesters' many blessings with our children and our church family, I also have to give thanks for Aunt Bethany in the popular Christmas movie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We all owe Aunt Bethany our gratitude for helping revive Asbury Memorial and Wesley Oak. I'll tell you all about it on Sunday.

Speaking of gratitude and Wesley Oak....As many of you know, this will be Rev. Lynn Drake's last Sunday at Wesley Oak before she retires. Lynn started serving Wesley Oak way back in 2001 after having served as the Associate Minister at Asbury Memorial. We will give Lynn several months to relax and visit her grandchild before we celebrate her ministry on Sunday, April 7th. So please circle April 7th on your calendar. We then hope we can talk her into being one our cherished retired clergy who helps us from time to time.

We have been in great need of a pianist and accompanist at Wesley Oak, and I'm excited to announce that our own Warren Heilman will be taking the position. Warren earned a B.M. in music education from Kent State University and holds an M.S. and Ed.S. from Georgia Southern. 

A retired school band director, Warren has been the musical director for Bay Street Theatre, Collective Face Performance Ensemble, Savannah Children's Theatre, and Armstrong State University And, of course, Warren has helped us many times at Asbury.

Warren, we're excited about you being a part of the music ministry and worship at Wesley Oak! Blessings on you and your ministry!

The long-standing tradition of the Anticipation Celebration was started by church member, Janice Gantt, in the 1990s. It will continue at Asbury on January 1st at 3:00 pm. All are invited and welcomed. Simply bring a self-addressed envelope and your dreams for 2024. To see details about the event, click on the following link:

As we are about to embark on a new year, I can't think of a better place to be than church on the last day of the year. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, loved the significance of letting go and starting anew on December 31st and January 1st. He held Watch-Night Services several times a year until they eventually were only held on New Year's Eve. 

I hope you can join us on Sunday as we continue to celebrate Christmastide with hymns like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Away in a Manger, and What Child is This. But our service will also be about moving into the new year. Our closing hymn will be This is a Day of New Beginnings. Soloist Greg Martin will be blessing us for the new year with the song, May Each Day.

In my sermon, I'll be talking a little bit about Aunt Bethany, but I'll mostly be focusing on characters from another Christmas movie, Home Alone. We'll also talk about the Prequel to Home Alone which is actually the only story in the Bible about Jesus as a little boy.

I'm looking forward to being with you on the last day of the year!

Love,
Billy

Aunt Bethany in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
is a big part of Asbury's & Wesley Oak's revitalization.