Rev. Richard Burstall
Senior Pastor
Michelson Memorial UMC
Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Nov. 1 is when I heard my first Christmas song on the radio this year, and I though nothing of it at the time, but it seemed early.
Halloween was just the night before and we still had Thanksgiving coming. It seems that the push to get the right gift, the perfect thing for our loved ones begins way to soon. Black Friday sales were up, Local Saturday sales were up, Cyber Monday sales were up. It appears that getting the right bargain for the right gift is more important then why we celebrate this season.
The church I serve is focusing on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love this year, the traditional celebration and themes for Advent, as we prepare for the birth of Jesus. I was hit hardest by the idea of peace. We used the Ron Howard movie ‘The Grinch’ to show how peace was needed, even for the people of Whoville.
I was struck by how un-peaceful we had become. We are so busy, we have so much to do. It all seems so important but in the end, it doesn’t make a difference. We learned that true peace come from resting in the presence of God, ‘Be still and know that I am God’ the Psalmist writes. True peace comes from resting in the presence of Emmanuel, God with us. As a baby born to give us the only gift that really matters.
We remember, once again, the birth of Christ. The world altering time when God chose to be with us. That is a worthy gift.
May this Christmas Season bring you peace. May you find the time to rest in the presence of God and find that time to remember truly what we celebrate each year.
Merry Christmas,
Rev. Richard Burstall
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Au Sable Media Group, LLC, is a veteran-owned company that owns and operates the Roscommon County Voice, Crawford County Voice, Michigan Boomers and Voice of the Au Sable.
Our focus is on the positive people and events that make Northern Michigan a great place to live, vacation, work and play.
We have been commercial printers and publishers since 2010, specializing in brochures, rack cards, magazines and other newspapers and publications. A new addition to our stable of marketing products are various promotional items such as shirts, hats, mugs, water bottles and much more.
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