How was your week? It’s amazing that the temperature can fluctuate so much from one day to the next. At the beginning of the week at our place it was +6 but by Wednesday it was -11 with the windchill. Spiritually speaking, we all have our ups and downs. Some days it feels like we’re warm in our faith and God seems near and everything is going well. Then there are other times when it feels like our relationship with God is colder than we’d like and we don’t hear His voice. One lesson the Christmas season teaches us is that regardless of how we feel toward God, God never changes how He feels towards us. John 3:16 starts with the words “For God so loved…” God has and will always love us. In fact, He loved us so much that His son Jesus was born here on earth and grew up to show us what God was really like and His life was marked by a humble love and sacrifice. This is what we celebrate at Christmas time! For our service today, we extend a warm welcome to the Bells of Bowmanville, the hand bell choir of the Bowmanville SDA Church under the direction of J. C. Coolen, who will lead us in our worship service this morning. May your hearts be warmed through their ministry of music.

As we enter the 30 day stretch to Christmas, I notice a certain type of chocolaty treat appearing in stores. I’m sure you’ve seen them before, it’s the box with the small windows on it that are a sort of countdown to Christmas. When I was a kid, I loved these treats but shhh!… Can you keep a secret? There were times when I cheated! I guess I was so excited I just couldn’t wait! As we approach and celebrate the first advent when Jesus came to this earth as a baby, one question I think about often is whether we look forward to His soon return as well. Jesus said in the last chapter in the Bible, “Behold, I come quickly…” (Revelation 22:7) but how many of us are looking forward to that day? Is it as exciting to us as waiting for Christmas? Should it be? I’d like to encourage all of us to remember that the same Jesus that came 2000 years ago IS coming again. That matters because it helps me live for something today. Today at Bronte we have a guest speaker who will share a message with us. I’m sure he’s familiar with most of you and we’re excited that Michael and his family will be officially joining our church family soon. If you’d like to consider moving your membership over too, please get in touch with me, we’d love to have you as an official part of our church as well… Welcome!

Last Saturday night a group of us from Bronte joined the Really Living church and went downtown Hamilton to serve food and clothing to those in need. I have to tell you that it was an eye-opening experience for many of us. It amazed me that we have that level of poverty so close to home. It was a cold night and there were people we served in flip-flops simply because they didn’t have anything else. It was a rewarding experience and I recommend going out on one of these events in the new year, it really helps put things into perspective. Today’s message is on the topic of “Legacy”. We’ll be exploring a Bible character that isn’t talked about very often, but his story has an interesting outcome. While we do our exploration today, I’d like to challenge all of us to think about what kind of legacy you’d like to leave for the generations that come after you? Welcome and may our time together bring us closer to God and to each other.

I read a quote this week that was so powerful I was impressed to share it with all of you. It says, “To be noticed is to be loved.” (Ali Smith). This month we are looking at how we can grow closer to our families and I believe simply helping someone feel noticed is one of the easiest ways to make a big impact, not just in our families, but with everyone we are surrounded by. Receiving a compliment feels nice and is one way we can feel noticed but there are other ways as well. In fact, words of affirmation is one of the 5 love languages according to Gary Chapman and so I thought it would be a good topic to explore today. I’d like you to think about how many people, maybe even yourself, who go unnoticed. Think about how God noticed us and how He showed us that we are noticed. Finally, what can you do to help someone feel noticed today or this week?

This quarter we are focusing on family, and one of the things that families need now more than ever is each other. How can we be there for our families? Do you feel as if your life is getting just too busy to stop and listen? Today we are looking at the first message in our series entitled “Simplify” where we will look at how to slow down and really be there for each other. Did you know that the US Navy spends about 1 billion dollars annually in extra fuel and cleaning for the barnacles that attach themselves to the bottom of their ships? What are the barnacles that easily attach themselves onto your life that distract you from who you want to be? That distract you from spending time with your family? Let’s explore this topic and what Jesus’ response is for us today!