Hello parents! My desire for 2020 is to create a vault (noun: a secure room where valuables are stored) of parent resources that encourage and equip you with tools, insights, and practices that will help you vault (verb: jump over obstacles; leap forward) in raising your children to be authentic followers of Jesus! We are living in […]
Today on the blog, Rebecca Rice, the Counseling Center Director, shares her favorite Christmas traditions. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:11-12) A number […]
Today on the blog, Diana Trout, one of our Worship Leaders, shares some of her favorite Christmas traditions. I love Christmas. The family time, the food, the music, the decorations, giving and receiving gifts… it’s all so good! My small, close-knit family back in New Jersey has always participated fully in the Christmas season. We’d […]
Today on the blog, Brian Newman, our Pastor of Leadership Development, shares his favorite Christmas carol. I did not grow up celebrating Christmas, and we did not sing Christmas hymns or carols in my youth. I remember when I first learned Christmas carols I was quickly enthralled with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” There was […]
Today on the blog, Connie Milching, our Director of Women’s Ministry and Prayer, shares some of her favorite Christmas traditions. One thing I love about the Christmas season is a special memory from my childhood. Birth through elementary school took place in Elkins, West Virginia, population 8,307. To put that in perspective, Living Word’s weekly […]
What I really love about the Christmas season today is the same as what I loved as a child. As a child, when December would finally arrive, my 4 older siblings would make their way home for the holiday. We celebrated with meals together, a beautiful Christmas eve church service, simple gift giving, grateful hearts and […]
Today on the blog, Chris Smith, our Pastor of Worship Arts, shares some of his favorite Christmas traditions. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the sights, smells, sounds, and, above all, the story behind this season. I love how everything becomes a little more beautiful when it is strung […]
Today on the blog, John Hilliard, our Pastor of Global Ministry and Local Outreach, shares some favorite Christmas traditions. Growing up in California in a family of four boys always provided for lots of energy and excitement with never a dull moment. Christmas was no exception. Putting up the Christmas tree and decorations after Thanksgiving […]
To Save! Jesus is the English version of the Hebrew word/name Yeshua. Yeshua means “to save.” She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). One of my favorite parts of the Christmas story takes place sometime after the birth […]
Today on the blog, Stephen Grames, our Executive Pastor, shares some of his favorite Christmas traditions. I think many people do not grasp how much our experience of Christmas is wrapped in cultural traditions. I didn’t, until I spent my first Christmas in coastal Colombia, South America. Christmas wasn’t commercialized there as it is here. […]