We begin the season of Advent.  Happy New Year in the life of the church.  In the days ahead there will be preparation, lists to check off, presents to by, food to be prepared, a regular cadence of all the activity in the holiday season.  I would challenge us in this season to be still, pause and reflect on the coming of Christ.  In this moment darkness is vanquished and hope is secured. There is a work God wants to do in us.
There is a work God wants to do through us.   We are to be a means of grace, a conduit of hope, a channel of God's love to this world. The good news we bear is life can be different; transformed, made new, healed and redeemed.  This is the message we proclaim in the coming of Christ Jesus.

I challenged us in my sermon to be proactive about the Gospel Message and to think about how we can fulfill the promise we make in the baptismal covenant, to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.  Will you think of one person you can invite to church or to the upcoming coffee house (see below)?    It is a simple thing, but it is something can change a person's life and in doing this we are changed too.  How are you by God's hand to be shaken?  How are you by God's hand to shake things up?