The Advent Conspiracy

"And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
among men with whom He is pleased" - Luke 2:13-14

"And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
among men with whom He is pleased" - Luke 2:13-14


The picture is of a very large Christmas tree in a public square in Greece
going up in flames as rioters decided to vent their rage against it. The
riots in Greece have continued for several days costing $1.3 billion so
far. Shopkeepers spend the night in their shops hoping that they wonót
be vandalized and lose their life savings, while government officials try
to bring calm by reminding everyone that the purpose of Christmas is for
shopping to help the economy.

Certainly "peace among men" is in short supply, along with "praising God"
and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy to wonder what happened
to this promised peace, but we know that the peace which is promised is
between God and man. Much of the world is in turmoil now with various conflicts
and the rich West is now fearful of losing jobs. And yet there is still
a peace that is available through Jesus Christ.

HIGHLIGHTED PRAYER
The book of Hebrews gives us this prayer: Hebrews 13:20-21

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought
back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip
you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what
is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen.

As we think of Christmas and see violence and fear, may we take some time
to pray for peace. True peace, however, is only possible through Jesus
Christ, so pray that this year would be a time to reflect more on the little
baby who is our living Savior. Let us pray that God will equip our congregation
with everything good to do His will.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION
We are trying to re-enter the story of Christmas and celebrate it differently
this year: Worship More, Spend Less, Give More, Love All. Pray that we'll
find a way to live out Christmas- as a church with our own families- in a
way that will help Christmas "change the world" again.

Give thanks for the new little ones God is bringing into the world and pray
for the health of the children and parents: Little Darius who just arrive,
and there is a little girl who is still comfortably inside of his mother
Kathy. Pray for the Hui's as they are about to have another addition to
the clan that they would all be healthy and able to adjust to the new work
load.

Ponder the Winter Retreat and pray for this also - pray for your involvement
as well as the involvement of others. The experience and memories from
these are always a blessing as we grow closer to the Lord while getting
to know each other better, but it always seems like such an easy thing to
shove aside and say to ourselves, "I will do it next time". How about this
time?

Pray that others from our congregation will join us in by signing up for
the prayer list and participating.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH
The Mandarin group is planning to hold evangelical meetings during the Christmas
Holidays season. Pray that God's hand would be with them as they reach
out to others to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The Cantonese congregation has requested prayer for some of the members
who have attended regularly but not yet been baptized. May the Lord touch
their hearts - along with others from the English and Mandarin congregations
- to make this public statement of a relationship with our Lord.

Time to plan for next year's Taiwan mission trip! Pray for the planning
of this and that God would be preparing His mission field in Taiwan and
our church to participate..

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION

PRAY FOR THREE (3) OF YOUR UN-CHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen