Joy

Hi, Assistant Pastor Darren Brock here. Christmastime is supposed to be full of Joy. Our cards say, JOY to the world; Our Christmas Eve programs are titled, Everlasting JOY, We sing, ‘tis the season to be JOLLY.

How would you describe a season that ‘tis JOLLY…?
Has it been delightful? Full of humor, you’re laughing, you’re not easily angered…that’s the definition of JOLLY, NO? Not you?
What about, being content? You’re totally satisfied, completely at peace, no stress, no striving, - in your heart, it’s Joy, it’s JOLLY! – No, again? This doesn’t describe your season so far, huh?! Okay, what about this…
You’re just in high spirits. You’re not easily annoyed, things are up, and good. Parking for you is fun, the crowds at the mall, you didn’t even notice ‘em. You’ve found all the right gifts for family & friends, you even had enough money for all your gift giving desires….well, that’s strike 3.

Luke 2:10
Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

Our holidays are not even close to the songs we sing or the atmosphere the season is supposed to bring!
If we’re honest, the holidays have been an endurance, something to “get-though”.
Filled with temper-tantrums and all out whininess – some of it’s even by our kids!!
How can we fill our season again, or anew with JOLLY? With JOY?
Open the gift.
I will be sharing about that gift that a lot of us leave ‘unopened’ and even untouched. That gift of great joy, as verse 10 says, is for ALL people, that includes you! I want you to come share in our Christmas Eve celebration. We’ll celebrate with song, a Christmas Eve message and a beautiful candle-light exercise, with glow-sticks at the Parkfield location. Remember, there are two 60 minute gatherings, but they are in the evening. First one starts at 5PM and the 2nd begins at 6:30.

Christmas weekend

Want to celebrate Christmas Eve? Join us at Calvary Austin! We will have two 60-minute gatherings this weekend. Both will be on Christmas Eve at our Parkfield campus. The first gathering will begin at 5:00 p.m. and the second gathering at 6:30 p.m. Please note that there will be no childcare as the service in the auditorium is designed for the entire family! Merry Christmas!

Big Weekend

We are on the verge of taking the biggest step in our 14-year history! This is the weekend that we’re bringing our special year-end gifts for the build-out of our proposed worship space in Pflugerville. We’re asking everyone who calls Calvary Austin their church home to attend this weekend and to bring a completed Building Momentum envelope with them.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do through us, together. Let’s do this! Let’s lock arms and make the sacrifices necessary to do this thing! Let’s be part of something that’s bigger than us. Something that’s part of what God’s doing in this world! See you this weekend.

Electronic music

Several people have asked about the electronic music we played during part of 1st Wednesday this week. The artist is Apt.Core. A friend recommended their album 2 and I purchased it at the iTunes Store. For 1st Wednesday, I created a playlist of songs from that album and burned the CD we played during Communion on my MacBook Pro.

Want more?

Last weekend we started a holiday message series called Christmas Lights by unwrapping Genesis 3:15 (listen here). In my intro, I mentioned a website where users submit pictures of ugly Christmas lights and I thought you might want to check it out. If you're interested in exploring the cross references I mentioned about the fall of Satan, you might to listen to my overviews of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. We also talked about the passage in Romans where Paul explains why we're all held responsible for Adam's sin. Click here for an in-depth message on Romans 5:12-21. Don't forget to join us for part 2 of the Christmas Lights message series at any one of three gatherings this weekend. Like last week we'll take a few minutes to talk about our proposed new worship space in Pflugerville.