Friends,
I pray this time of holiday festivities, family visits, and gatherings has brought you much enjoyment. I also pray that in these twelve days of Christmas you also receive the gift of rest and peace! It can often feel like the week between Christmas and the new year is just barren land between the excitement of two holidays, but I truly enjoy this time. Like the classic Christmas carol says, we’re on something like day five of Christmas (if only we all received five gold rings today!), and now is the time that we get to spend with our true loves. Now is the time where we get to live into the joy and love of Christmas and look forward to carrying that love into the new year.
I’m also excited because a new year means new studies! I encourage you to prayerfully consider what ways you want to participate in study and discipleship here at Memorial. We have many, many options, and most of them allow you to put knowledge into practice. To me, January is not a time of resolution but refresh and revitalization. Our desires to know God more intimately are there, but perhaps we need a bit of a push to get us going again. Let this January be that time where you dive deeper in prayer by joining in one of our many prayer studies or our congregation-wide Dynamite Prayer experience. Or let this January be the time that you start reading the Bible in a year. Or let this January be the time where you finally say, “It’s time to become a member at Memorial!” We have a lot of options, and I want to help you find the ways that you can grow more intentionally and fully in your walk with Christ.
I’m also excited to offer Coffee Tuesdays starting Tuesday, January 16 at Amelia Island Coffee from 9-11AM. It’s taken me a few months to get settled into the routine of things and now I want to get to know you better! Drop in any time during those two hours or let me know ahead of time; either way, coffee is on me! I’ll continue every week until the baby arrives in March. Let this be a time where we grow together in relationship, in discipleship and as siblings in Christ.
Wishing you all peace, prosperity, and joy in the new year,
Pastor Rachel
