Hey Family,

Last week we started a new season that looks forward to Christ's birth, and we learned that a time of waiting can be a great opportunity to help us recognize God's power in our lives. In our second week of the series, we're going to talk about moments of difficulty and great pain, while we're waiting and we don't know the outcome of our present circumstances. In those circumstances, one of the most powerful things that could happen, the most wonderful gifts we could be given, the most beautiful experiences we could have, involves comforting words. Comforting words have real power when we recognize the true nature of the person who speaks them. A child scrapes his knee and hears his mother give him comforting words, and the reason that it means something is because he knows her love is true. A daughter walking down a dark alley holds the hand of her father and is comforted when he whispers to her, "Everything will be okay," because she knows his words are strong. Comforting words are what we need in dark times. And comforting words are what God gives. God's words are comforting because he is able to deliver that which he says.

Come this Sunday and experience this comfort that can only come from God--because he's the only one who can make it so. Bring a friend who needs the comfort only He can provide. I look forward to seeing you at 10 a.m.

--Edwin