El Camino Baptist Church

In Dicken’s, “A Christmas Carol” young Ebenezer Scrooge weeps alone at his school at Christmas because no family members came to get him for the holidays.  This was a startling to me as a child because I loved being with family at Christmas.
 

In “Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean” the lonely Bean sends Christmas cards to himself.  When the cards arrive he happily strings them up in his apartment.  Although we laugh at him, we feel sadness because of the challenge of loneliness.
 

As we enter the holiday season, make friends.  If you don’t have family, let our church be your family.  If you don’t have friends, take the initiative and reach out to others.  Put in the effort now to keep from having lonely holidays.

Jesus is our ultimate friend, but he can use you to make friends who are flesh-and-blood on the planet right now.  People need your love.
 

Sunday I’m preaching on “Celebrate with Others” from Exodus 23:14-20 about the various feasts which God commanded Israel to have yearly.  God loves a good celebration, but he wants us to celebrate in such a way that we won’t regret our actions the next morning or on Judgement Day.  And he wants us to celebrate with others.
 

We’re going to celebrate Saturday, October 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with our Fall Festival.  We’ll have games, classic cars, face painting, craft tables, community booths and hot dogs.  Please bring lots of friends.  Setup is Friday, October 18, from 11:00 till 4:00.  We’d love for you to help us get ready for the festival.
 

Also, sign up to help with our Live Nativity December 13-15, 7:00 till 9:00 wherein we’ll celebrate the greatest birth in history.
 

Women, don’t forget that this Saturday at 8:30 is the Women’s Breakfast.
 

Finally, we have some Celebrations of Life scheduled.  We’ll celebrate Kathy Cooley’s life this Saturday at noon.  We’ll celebrate Jim Moore’s life November 9, at 2:00.  We weep with the loved ones left behind, but rejoice with these dear saints who’re now enjoying Jesus’ tangible presence in a perfect place.
 

Please join us at church each Sunday for Bible Study at 9:00 and worship at 10:30 so we can celebrate God’s grace together.

Love,
Jim Meek