Thanksgetting

A friend of mine recently told me that his son, commenting on the crazy crowds each Black Friday, said, "Thanksgiving is followed by Thanksgetting".  You may have seen this meme:

This coming Sunday, November 29th, is the beginning of the Christmas season according to the traditional Church calendar. Actually, it's known as the Advent Season. Advent is an English version of the Latin word "adventus" which means "coming". It consists of the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas and is a time of looking forward to the coming of Jesus into the world.

For most of the United States the coming of Jesus is of little interest and the Christmas season began a few weeks ago.  It was ushered in by decorations, music, TV movies and specials, and plenty of advertisements. In the words of Lucy from the Charlie Brown Christmas special, "Christmas is a big commercial racket."
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So how can we avoid being swept away by the secular version of the Christmas season? It starts by taking a moment to stop and consider why Jesus came to earth in the first place. What does the gift of Jesus mean and what do we have to gain? Let me tell you: it makes the Black Friday deals pale in comparison! 
I hope you'll be able to join us this Advent season as we'll be using the Charlie Brown Christmas special as a way to look at the Christmas story and what it means for all of us no matter what time of year it happens to be.  You may want to invite friends or family to come with you. Many people are more open to invitations to church during this time of year and you can tell them we'll be watching cartoons as part of the morning!