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In October, a team from CTR traveled to Clarkston, Georgia to serve people who are refugees to the US. The team worked with our ministry partners at Envision Atlanta. Over the years, Clarkston, Georgia has received over 40,000 refugees. Envision Atlanta focuses on helping refugees “thrive, not just arrive.” Over the years, adults and children from 90 different people groups have all arrived and lived in Clarkston.

On this trip, the CTR team started by being educated about the circumstances that bring refugees to the US, and typical difficulties as they adapt to living here. During their trip, our volunteers helped with a variety of projects.

Team members spent time organizing donated toys for Christmas, and helped run a gymnastics camp outreach for children in the neighborhood. They also joined refugees for worship, and attended a French African church service,  The CTR team also blessed one of Envision Atlanta’s long-term ministry families by cleaning their apartment.

We are thankful for each person who served and shared the love of Christ — and for work Envision Atlanta does all year long to welcome refugees and share the Gospel and love of Jesus with them.

Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. ~Leviticus 19:33-32

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ~Matthew 25:35

On Sunday, October 17, Christ The Rock attenders and our Elder Team prayed over our new Lead Pastor, Joel Zeiner. While his staff position as Lead Pastor is new, Pastor Joel has been part of CTR for more than 20 years, first as a new Christian, and later as a staff member.

Pastor Joel grew up in Appleton. When he was a teenager, he accepted Jesus Christ while attending a family camp at Green Lake Conference Center. He started attending Christ The Rock with his family when he was in high school.

After graduating from Appleton West, Pastor Joel earned a degree in Comparative Religion from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001 then went to seminary at Yale Divinity School, where he received his Masters of Divinity in 2005.

Joel first joined the church staff as a Youth Pastor in 2005. Then he became our Missions Pastor in 2014, and as such, became part of our Senior Leadership Team. In 2019, his ministry focus shifted, and he began serving as our Teaching Pastor and Weekend Services Director. Joel accepted the role of Lead Pastor when it was offered by the elders in early 2021.

Joel and his wife Jenn have been married for 12 years, and have three children, Finnleigh (10), Ainsley (8) and Bode (5). He loves spending time with his family, and also enjoys golf, fishing, biking, canoeing, and reading. He also serves on various boards for the YMCA of the Fox Cities, where he is a life-long member.

In addition to his educational qualifications, Pastor Joel’s ministry is fueled by his love for Jesus, and his love for this local church and the Fox Valley. He is passionate about introducing people to the Gospel, and seeing them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are excited to see what God has in store as Pastor Joel begins serving as our Lead Pastor — and as always, we invite you to pray for him, our Senior Leadership Team and and our Elder Team as they lead us.

Honoring Pastor Curt

During our October 10 services, we honored our Lead Pastor Curt Drexler on his final Sunday before retiring from staff. It was an honor to celebrate his leadership, which started in 1988 — and was hallmarked by integrity, faithfulness and a shepherd’s heart. He and Marian have blessed so many people in more than three decades  serving our church family. It was an incredible time remembering and worshiping God for all He has done through Pastor Curt’s life and ministry.

We invite you to watch this recap of his ministry, and the profound impact he’s had on the life of Christ The Rock, and on so many individual lives:

Click here to watch “Honoring a Legacy: Pastor Curt Drexler.”

Earlier in the week, the CTR staff had a fun surprise for Pastor Curt before his retirement. After cheering him down the back road to the church, there was a ceremonial unveiling: the road is now officially named Drexler Drive in his honor! Staff shared words of thanks and blessing, and had a time of prayer under the gorgeous blue sky.

In this new phase of life and ministry, Pastor Curt plans to continue pursuing two of his passions. He will keep volunteering with Catch A Dream, which offers hunting expeditions for terminally ill children, and shares the hope of Jesus with them. And he will continue another passion: designing and creating custom log and wood furnishings. If you’d like to know what he’s building, you can see his latest work at Dry Creek Custom Log Furniture on Facebook.

Note: If you’d like read transcripts of a few messages Pastor Curt has shared over the years, we have published six of them here.

This weekend will be my is my last “official” Sunday with you before I retire. I can hardly believe that this time, which we’ve planned for years, is finally here.

It seems when we start out, life is a series of “firsts.” First day of school, first dance, first car (and first car troubles!). First job, house, child.

I still vividly remember my first day in the church office in 1988. There were only a few of us on staff, and I felt overwhelmed. With a small business background, what did I know about being in ministry? And there were other firsts – the first time Pastor Bill asked me to speak on a weekend, my first elder meeting, and being ordained.

In the fall of 2020, I began a new phase: a series of “lasts.” The last weekend I shared from the pulpit, my last elder meeting (at least for a few months), my last staff meeting. And Sun., Oct. 10, will be my last time speaking to you as your Lead Pastor.

But not all lasts are bad – a few weeks ago was an amazing “last.” I had the privilege of facilitating my last baptism: baptizing a 70-year-old man in the beauty of the Wolf River. Hearing him proclaim his commitment to Christ in full view and hearing of all creation was an honor I will carry with me for the rest of my days!

While I am retiring my position from the church, I’m not retiring from life! After a time of sabbatical, you’ll still see me around CTR. And I will continue doing things I love. For 16 years, I’ve had a side business building log and rustic furniture. I will be able to expand that business in retirement. If you’d like to keep tabs on what I’m doing, feel free to follow Dry Creek Custom Log Furniture on Facebook.

It seems fitting that God, the Alpha and Omega, gives us beginnings and endings. I am deeply grateful that God gave me the opportunity to serve Him and to serve you these past three and a half decades! I can’t thank you enough for your patience, grace, and mercy. My wife Marian and I consider you as much family as our own blood brothers and sisters.

Christ The Rock is and always will be God’s church, so please continue to pray for Joel Zeiner, the Elders, the Senior Leadership Team, and staff as they work with you to fulfill the calling God gave us so many years ago. I do believe that our best years are still to come!

I am and will always be “in it with you.” With much love,

Pastor Curt

The question “Who is my neighbor?” launches one of Jesus’ most well-known parables, the story of the Good Samaritan (found in Luke 10:25-37). Like the teacher of the law in this account, all of us who are disciples of Jesus must answer this question. A group of high school students from Christ The Rock traveled to Clarkston, Georgia in June to serve new neighbors in our country: refugees from all over the world who are resettling in the United States.

Working with Envision Atlanta, our students and their adult leaders worked to meet practical needs, and shared the love and Gospel of Jesus in a variety of ways. They prepared food boxes for refugee families, delivered food door-to-door, and cleaned up garbage and broken glass in an apartment complex where refugee families live. Students prepared for Vacation Bible School, and played with neighborhood kids.

The week was also educational. Our students learned about House Church Planting and how to share their testimonies and the Gospel in five minutes. Students were then divided into groups with Envision staff and walked and prayed through the apartment complex. They also got to see and hang out with Kadeem, our speaker for January’s IceBlast retreat.

Students worked hard preparing the grounds of a new site that will provide food, resources, and jobs for refugees in Clarkston. Then they hosted a Friday night Youth Group for refugee teens, serving them dinner and playing games.

They also took time to enjoy God’s creation by hiking on Stone Mountain, and took a trip into Atlanta to see historic Ebenezer Baptist church and the MLK memorial.

We are so proud of these students and their adult leaders who model living for Christ, and reflect God’s concern for foreigners throughout the Scriptures:

He (God) gives justice to orphans and widows. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. You, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

I instructed the judges, ‘You must be perfectly fair at all times, not only to fellow Israelites, but also to the foreigners living among you.’ (Deuteronomy 1:16)

For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me. (Matthew 25:35)

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it….Share in the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies. (Hebrews 13:2)

We thank our High School Student Ministry Director Dave Coulson, and everyone who was part of this trip — you were the hands and feet of Jesus, and also represented the mission of our church family to “seek the lost, love the hurting, and make disciples.”

by Curt Drexler, Lead Pastor

As we reach the one-year mark of being affected by Covid, I have been thinking, praying, and meditating on some things that have emerged during these months, hoping I would come to some helpful conclusions or resolutions. However, with the passage of time, my concerns have only grown deeper. I want to lay out what I’m seeing regarding the church, the faith and what may be happening right under our noses – and what I believe God is calling us to be.

C.S. Lewis wrote a book in 1941 called The Screwtape Letters, which depicted the workings of our enemy. In these letters, Screwtape (a seasoned warrior of Satan) instructs Wormwood (his apprentice) about what he is doing wrong in trying to “turn the patient,” which is how Screwtape describes turning a Christian away from the fellowship of believers and from following Christ. It is a masterful depiction of how easily we can be distracted from what we are called to.

The Screwtape Letters reminds us that Christians are in a real war. It is not just a war to distract us from good – it is a war for our very souls, and a strategy to weaken and destroy His Church. Throughout history, one particular tool has worked with precision and power – and continues to do so in every sphere of human influence, including the church: divide and conquer.

It is not a complicated tactic – it is a simple strategy to turn us against one another. As long as the enemy can make us think the person next to us is the problem, the actual enemy isn’t in focus. It changes us from a unified force to a divided army in our church, community, family, or relationships. It erodes our trust in each other and takes our focus off of God, the only true source of safety and security.

Between the election and the onset of Covid, 2020 was one of the most divisive years I can ever remember. It would have been bad enough if this dissension were confined to the political world, but it also began to seep into churches and into sincere believers’ hearts (including mine) without fanfare or overt detection.

This past year, I have been disappointed in my own responses. I have to admit that I was shocked by how quickly I picked a side, how easily I made judgements about others because they had different points of view. This wasn’t a disruption happening “out there.” It crept into my closest relationships, including my own family. How could this happen?

If “divide and conquer” were a one-time event, we could see it coming and fight it together. But this favorite tactic of our enemy is much more subtle. It’s cumulative and progressive, and with the help of the internet we can find, with a few clicks, scores of people who will reinforce our personal convictions . . . while eroding our trust and shared purpose as followers of Jesus.

Have you not said something like this over this past year: “Who can I trust?”

With that question comes a mic drop from the enemy – as soon as my trust in you is in question, I have begun to be cut out of the flock and am a prime target to be isolated from the very force designed to overcome the gates of hell. Here’s my concern as it relates to us who call Christ The Rock our church home.

When the pandemic hit and we were asked to suspend services, there were immediate reactions on all sides. Not just here, but across the nation. It was the birth pains of an (almost) invisible war. As soon as we made those excruciating decisions to hold services online for a time, sides began to form. I wish it were just sides centered on wearing or not wearing masks. But suspicions and conclusions ran deeper. We (including myself) began to believe the small voice suggesting there must be something more sinister going on. Once that line of thought gets crossed in our minds, trust, unity, and our calling as a church are in peril. The result of mistrust is that the pursuit of a common cause (the Gospel) gives way to every man for himself. When that takes root – the enemy wins!

We are beginning to see the pandemic wane, with infection rates decreasing. By summer, much of our lives will begin to return to more familiar rhythms. What none of us know yet is what damage has been done to our country – to our trust in our leaders, friends, family members, and even our church. On a personal level, I’m afraid I will be tempted to bury what was exposed when I was pressed, and I will want to deny I was part of the problem.

I long for us to get back to “normal” again. But things aren’t the same – we are not the same. God allowed us to see some pretty ugly things this year in our nation, and we would be wasting an opportunity if we pretend we didn’t see it.

He wants us to see something that was always there – not to shame us, but so we would see it and repent. God is giving us a chance to see and repent of any foothold the enemy has in our lives concerning our relationships with others and with Christ Himself.

The root problem isn’t a virus, a mask mandate, an election or differing opinions. The real problem is what it’s always been: sin. The sin that puts our thoughts and opinions above others. The sin that says I am the holder of truth, and I will defend my personal rights at all costs. When our personal truth becomes king, our ability to see and love others is diminished.

To live out the following Scripture passages in our present circumstances it will take humility, courage, and forgiveness. I wish we had never heard of Covid-19 – I wish it hadn’t affected the way we think, live and love others. But it has. I pray that we will not forget what we have learned and that we choose to live differently. We have been called together for a purpose greater than ourselves! We have been called to show what unity looks like in a world being shaken every day. We are called to be His Church! May it be so.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ⁴Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹²Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. • 1 Corinthians 13

I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. • John 17:23

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the LORD’s people. • Ephesians 6:12-18

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. ¹⁴Do everything in love. • 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Christ The Rock’s Elders have announced that Pastor Joel Zeiner will serve as CTR’s next Lead Pastor. He will begin his new role following our current Lead Pastor Curt Drexler’s retirement in October 2021.

Pastor Joel is well-known to our CTR family. He served CTR students as our Youth Pastor for six years, and was our Reach (missions) Director for five years. For just over three years, Joel has been our Director of Weekend Services, a Teaching Pastor, and a member of our Senior Leadership Team. But Pastor Joel first became part of Christ The Rock long before serving on staff.

About Pastor Joel: Pastor Joel first became part of Christ The Rock long before serving on staff. Joel began following Jesus during his high school years, and his family began attending Christ The Rock at that time. After graduating from Appleton West High School in 1995, Joel attended UW-Fox Valley and UW-Milwaukee.  During his college years, he also served and studied at Youth With A Mission in Denver, Colorado, where he felt a call to full-time ministry. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, he enrolled in seminary, earning his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University.

While his education is an important aspect of his qualifications for being Lead Pastor, our Elder team also looked at his character and heart. The Elders deeply respect his love for the Fox Valley, and his commitment to the mission God has for Christ The Rock Community Church.

Pastor Joel is also a devoted husband and father. Joel and his wife Jenn have been married for 11 years, and they have three children, Finnleigh (9), Ainsley (7) and Bode (4).

What to Expect in the Months Ahead

CTR’s Elders and Senior Leadership Team will continue sharing details about the Leadership Transition process with you. Next steps include realigning some of our current staff hours to ensure that all our needs are covered, which may include hiring a position to bolster oversight of the business side of the church. At each stage, those decisions and changes will be shared as soon as they are clarified.

Meanwhile, Lead Pastor Curt Drexler and the Elders will be working with Pastor Joel to create a seamless handoff of responsibilities. As part of the transition, Curt will mentor Joel for the next 8 months, after which time, Joel will begin his new role as Lead Pastor in October 2021.

2020 Ministry Stories & Global Outreach

Even amidst the challeges of 2020, God showed His presence, goodness, and provision in so many ways. Not only did God provide for ministry to continue, but ministry actually expanded in many ways. All of you made that expansion possible through joining God in His work through your prayers, volunteering, and generosity. Thank you for showing that “the church” is not restricted to a building — it’s each of us living out the Gospel of Jesus, no matter our circumstances.

A few 2020 ministry highlights:

• 84 people were cared for by CTR-trained volunteer Lay Counselors, who found creative ways to meet while adhering to Covid restrictions.
• Despite Covid, 34 people went through the membership class and made a membership commitment to Christ The Rock in 2020.
• We expanded ministry by launching the much-needed Fresh Hope support group in September 2020. Fresh Hope is a biblically-based support group for those who struggle with mental health issues, and for family or friends who care about them.
• Starting Point, DivorceCare and other groups met online for the first time in our history.

  

• Our Children’s Ministry families participated in a special Thanksgiving Blessing project for the Appleton Police Department. We purchased 165 paracord bracelets with the inscription “Be Courageous” on them and then attached cards made by CTR children. It was so fun to see the kids’ drawings and the encouraging words that they wrote. What a great way to support those who support and serve our community!
• Our Children’s Ministry and Student Ministry sponsored 83 children through Project Angel Tree this Christmas! This program serves local kids whose parents are incarcerated with a Christmas gift, encouragement and connection. Our original goal was to sponsor 50 children . . . but more and more families kept asking to sponsor, and Project Angel Tree connected us with more local children in need. Thank you!

  

• In partnership with Calumet County, the Wisconsin National Guard and ThedaCare, our parking lot was a drive-through Covid testing site in October, November, and December and beyond.

GLOBAL OUTREACH

India feeding program: India’s abrupt lockdown left many of its most vulnerable people without transportation, without work, and without food. Through our partnership with Impact International, CTR helped provide 3,150 meals to vulnerable children, adults and widows. The portion was generous enough that many ate half for lunch and the other half for dinner.

Peru internet access: Because of Covid, transportation on Peru’s Ucayali River was shut down. RiverWind, our ministry partner, was cut off from the indigenous pastors and church planters they train and support. Your generosity allowed CTR to provide a grant for the technology that allowed them to continue ministry and keep training and raising up indigenous pastors.

 North America: In October, a team from CTR traveled to Clarkston, Georgia to serve with Envision Atlanta. They helped clean up an apartment complex that will be home to refugees from around the world. Due to Covid, this was our only short-term trip in 2020 – and it was also our first time working with Envision Atlanta.

None of this would be possible without God providing through your generosity. We are so grateful for each person who is invested in sharing the Gospel, and follows through with serving and giving to make that happen. You are the hands and feet of Christ to the Fox Valley and far beyond.

For stories of local impact in 2020, read our previous blog post.

2020 Stories of Impact

2020 was a year of hardship for so many due to Covid. And yet, even amidst this challenging year, God showed His presence, goodness, and provision in so many ways. Not only did God provide for ministry to continue through Christ The Rock, but ministry actually expanded in many ways. We want to take a moment to remember some of the stories of God at work through all of you, as you joined God in His redemptive work through your prayers, volunteering, and generosity.

LOCAL OUTREACH

Donations to help the poor locally during Covid

To help our Fox Valley neighbors in need during Covid, CTR’s leadership decided to use $10,000 from local outreach funds to support the Hope Clinic, a free medical clinic serving the poor in the Fox Valley. They also gave $10,000 from the local outreach fund to Pillars, which provides services and shelter for the homeless in the Fox Valley.

Local Outreach Grants

During the initial closure, we needed to get creative about offering the hope of the Gospel outside of our building. We created Local Outreach Grants so that anyone from CTR can be equipped to reach out with the hope of the Gospel. (Anyone can apply for a grant at www.christtherock.org/outreach-grants.) Our first Local Outreach Grant was given to a CTR small group who created 150 care packages for people staying in hospitals alone, as visitors were banned or limited during Covid. The gift bags contained devotionals, Chap stick, gum, puzzle books, and other comforting items, along with an encouraging note from “Friends at Christ The Rock Community Church.”

Thanksgiving Meal

Our free community Thanksgiving Meal went all-delivery this year because of Covid. Double the number of drivers were required to reach all of the delivery locations, and we increased the number of meals by 500. Volunteers packed all 3,500 meals onsite, and they were driven to homes and apartments in a 15-mile radius from The Grand Meridian. In response to increased need, financial donations to the Thanksgiving Meal increased by 51% over the previous year!

This One’s for the Girls, CTR’s outreach to women who are exploited or trafficked in the Fox Valley’s sex industry, helped women directly during months when outreach visits were curtailed because of Covid. Volunteers donated and delivered furniture and toys for a single mom, and worked with police to help another woman and her child get to a domestic violence shelter. Volunteers also donated baby items, diapers, clothing and other essentials for an expectant mother who was exploited in a nearby city. At Christmas, CTR families helped women who have left the sex industry and are struggling financially by donating gift cards, gas cards, grocery cards, and other items, and our outreach teams delivered 55 gifts to women working in strip clubs.

Food Pantry

From March, when the initial Covid lockdown began, all through 2020, our Food Pantry has continuously served 3 to 5 times the number of clients we serve in a typical month. For example, in November 2019, the Food Pantry served 24 families – but in November 2020,  we served 86 families. In December 2019 we served a total of 16 families, but by mid-December 2020 we had already served 56 families, with two more Pantry Tuesdays to go.

CTR people donated food, finances, and other items for our clients. Hats, mittens and blankets were donated to give away as needed. Our clients’ faces just light up when we give them a little something extra during the difficult times they’re going through. Other special donations have been food items and ingredients for soup or casserole packaged with a recipe attached. We never asked for this as a church – it’s completely spontaneous generosity. In fact, aside from Thanksgiving donations, we haven’t made a request for donations since the first few months of Covid at all!

Our neighbors also helped the Food Pantry. For example, in the fall we received a large donation of bread, buns, butter and a few other items from High Cliff Golf Club as they closed their restaurant for the season and gave us everything that was in their freezers.

Amazingly, financial donations to the Food Pantry increased by 4,088% in 2020 compared to the previous two years – you are loving our neighbors in their time of need.

MORE STORIES OF GENEROSITY

It has been more than ten years since anyone donated a vehicle to CTR — this isn’t something we ask for, but sometimes people are prompted by God to donate a vehicle. This year, as many people faced financial hardship, three vehicles were donated.  All were in great condition: one car was appraised at $4,000 and a van that was donated was appraised for $9,500!  It is amazingly generous to donate a vehicle that still has significant trade-in value. The three recipients were overwhelmed and overjoyed about this help.

After those three vehicle donations, another woman called. She is a single mom and had received a donated car through CTR when she was really struggling.  Now that she is doing better financially and no longer needs one of her vehicles, she wants to donate it to someone else who is struggling. What a joy to see generosity go full circle – reflecting the heart of God so beautifully!

Our church family also donated $36,295 in addition to their regular giving for several capital projects, including new snow removal equipment and energy-efficient lighting. And donations to the Benevolence Fund, which helps people in a crisis situation, were up 25% from last year.

We are so thankful for the people of Christ The Rock — you chose to live out our mission to Seek the Lost, Love the Hurting and Make Disciples even during an unpredictable year.

STAY TUNED for another blog post about what God was up to in Global Outreach and other ministries at CTR!

Like most things in 2020, our Christmas Eve services looked a little different than usual. We offered five online services (you can watch on YouTube), and five in-person services (with masks). Instead of cookies and coffee in the lobby, we had packets of cocoa to send home with everyone. But no matter how many small details changed, the reason we celebrate and the One we worship is the same!

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ~Matthew 1:22-23

We are also very thankful for everyone who joined us to celebrate the hope of our Savior, and for the volunteers who made our online and in-person services possbile! A merry and blessed Christmas to you!