"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10
In one of those situations where emotion kicked into gear before logic, a few weeks ago, just after we had just received the first few inches of snow, as my barefoot daughter opened the garage door in attempts to retrieve something quickly from her car. Her three-year-old miniature Aussie decided to make a run for it to visit my grandchildren who live across the street. Not only is he fast, but his coloring is also mostly black, so when he took off like a rocket toward the house that holds his favorite little people, it was only a blink of an eye before he disappeared into the dark of the night. As a result, my daughter’s instinctive reaction was to drop everything, and chase after him. So there she was, barefoot, no coat, and running through the snow! However, this little Aussie was much faster and by the time she got to her brother’s house, Shiloh was nowhere to be seen. Frantically, she pounded on the front door; when her brother answered, she burst into tears and sobbed, “I’ve lost Shiloh!” Immediately, everyone grabbed their boots, as well as a pair of boots for her, and equipped with flashlights, the search party began calling out his name and combing the woods behind their house.
In the words of my daughter, "Ten minutes felt like ten hours" of calling for him and waiting to hear any noise of hope. Then all of a sudden, Shiloh reappeared, looking very curious about all the yelling and commotion! Immediately, my daughter burst into tears of joy and embraced Shiloh with all of her strength.
So what causes someone to run through snow barefooted and search relentlessly through the woods in cold frigid temperatures to find something that was lost? The answer is simple - LOVE!
What led our Heavenly Father to send His one and only Son to be born a baby so that He would one day be crucified to rescue people so lost in sin? The answer is also just as simple, but even deeper - LOVE!
Last Sunday, we began the church season known as “Advent”, which is when Christians begin to prepare their hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Just as the woman in this story did whatever it took to locate and rescue her dog, the Lord knew that we needed to be rescued from our sin; He sent His Son Jesus to be our Savior. The whole reason for Christmas is that our Savior needed to be born so that He could die for our sins.
So many facets of Christmas require time and thought, but nothing is more important than preparing our hearts for the true reason of the season and focusing on the birth of our Savior.
One exciting way that we would like to encourage and invite families to start their Advent celebrations is by attending “Pancakes and Donuts with Pastors” Saturday morning. During this delicious event on December 9th, families will play a game, assemble their very own Advent calendars, and eat delicious homemade pancakes and donuts, while listening to our Pastors read stories that share the true meaning of Christmas. To sign up, please check the school newsletter, or call the school office.
This will be a very enjoyable event for the entire family, and we hope to see you there!
Wishing you a very blessed Advent season as we celebrate the birth of our "Rescuer".
In Jesus’ Love,
Mrs. Palka