1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
~ Philippians 2:1-11
As we prepare for the church season of Advent, we know that Christmas will soon be here. That proclamation brings about both joy and a bit of terror as we count how many shopping days we have until Christmas, and as we consider how many professional and social gatherings we have between now and then.
As you read through this issue of the Bell Tower, you will see updates on ministry activities for Christmas including a Women’s Ornament Exchange, a Bethel float in the Manassas Christmas Parade, the Christmas Eve schedule, and the plan for Christian Education for December. Please take some time to look through these and add them to your calendar.
All of what we do through the church, not only in Advent, is because of Jesus. At the risk of sounding cheesy: “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Not just that Jesus existed as an historical figure, but that God “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7) – the miracle of the Incarnation. Jesus was the embodiment of Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
As we prepare for Christmas with all of its festivities, as we interact with the Long Range Planning Team on their proposed plan, as we celebrate a New Year, as you go through the trials of your own life, give thanks to God that God was and is Emmanuel, God with us (see also John 1:1-5). God is with us. God is with us whether we are alone or in the midst of community. And God calls us to be a particular kind of community – a community of humility, respect, love, forgiveness, hope, and obedience to God.
I encourage you to copy the Philippians Scripture above and put it somewhere where you are sure to see it daily. Read it. Pray it. Ask that “the same mind [would] be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 