Pastor's Corner November-December 2021 Pastor Paul Grossman

​“Look, I am sending my messenger who will clear a path before me; suddenly the LORD whom you are seeking will come to his temple.” Malachi 3:1 CEB
 
Just yesterday, it seemed like Fall had barely started and now we are hurtling toward Thanksgiving and the season of Advent before arriving on that eve of Christ’s arrival in this world.  This time can be exciting, but it can also feel like the end of so many things.  Before we know it, 2021 will fade away and 2022 will be upon us.  Winter will have us in its grip, and while we all love the holiday season, it feels like that ends all too quickly and then we only have the bleaker winter months ahead of us.
While it can feel things are ending at this time of year, this season of Advent reminds us that God is never just about endings but always folds beginnings into our lives!  Christmas does not mark the end of things for Christmas, rather it is the beginning, the start of God with us, Emmanuel!  It is no wonder that Advent marks the start of the new year in the church calendar.  While it can sometimes feel like things are winding down, Christ’s birth reminds us that hope, peace, joy and love are just starting as we head into a new year. 
As we head into Advent, I hope you will join me in the preparing the way for this wonderful new beginning.  Preparing the way means clearing the clutter, ending things that stand between us and our God.  This can be sad because it is an end of some things, but it also opens the way to a new start and new things in our lives.  That new start is found in each of us as 1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us by saying, “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit lives in you?”  When we clear out the clutter, when we prepare the way for God to arrive, God will surprise us!  Malachi reminds us that “suddenly the LORD whom you are seeking will come to his temple.”  This Advent season let us ready ourselves for the new ways God is going to show up in our lives and hearts!
Blessings to everyone during this holiday season!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Merry Christmas! 
 
Pastor Paul