“Luck, joy, happiness” in 2013

New Year’s means lots of food and lots of family visiting

Christmas come and gone, now for 2013

Another Christmas has come and gone and soon 2013 will be here.  Here at the Harpers we had a wonderful Christmas day, although it was very bittersweet, as you can imagine.   All of our family including Mama and Daddy were here for our traditional Christmas breakfast, which every one of the grandchildren made it clear that they never want that to change!  After such a breakfast we don't do lunch, but we all gathered back here again for a Christmas supper with Marty and Connie Wilson joining us.  Bertie and Leon stayed home with their brood in Tennessee and Tim, Cathy, and Kacey stayed at their home in Roswell to be with Cathy's mother, Pat, with other of Cathy's family from Louisiana due to come in the day after Christmas.  I hope all of you will have a wonderful New Year.

Luan Hardman is recuperating nicely after having a partial knee replacement last week.  Hattie Bonner is home after having to spend one night in the hospital recently and is doing good.  Nancy Welch was also able to come right before Christmas where she is recuperating from a stroke.  Dean Strange got to spend Christmas at home but is now a patient at St. Joseph's in Atlanta.  We pray all of these people have a speedy recovery.

Pastors preach identical sermons

Bountiful Christmastime worship

Will your gifts be thrown away?

I was recently shocked to learn that each year in America over $5 million worth of Christmas gifts are inadvertently thrown away on Christmas Day. It seems difficult to believe, but many of us have experienced it at one time or another. The hustle and bustle of Christmas morning excitement leaves a trail of torn wrapping paper, bows, boxes, and bags. Sometimes gifts are mistakenly gathered in the collection of the post-celebration trash and are discarded. It is more than a financial tragedy; each of those lost gifts were acts of generosity, given with sentiment from a loving heart.
Such a waste is even worse when it happens spiritually. This year, as Christmas passes and the celebration of the season fades, let me encourage you not to discard the gifts that God has bestowed upon you. Christmas is no less than God loving the world in an incomparable way - so much that He gave His beloved Son to dwell with us, teach us, die for us, and save us from our sin. Make sure that you don’t discard the gifts that come with a relationship with Jesus Christ. What are they?
Joy. Hope. Peace. Satisfaction. Contentment. Mercy. Compassion. Help. Healing. Awe. Wonder. Empowerment. These are gifts that make life worth living! And God loves you so much that He was willing to die to offer them to you. Christmas Day has passed, but God’s generosity extends to His people forever. May His gifts live in our hearts!
(Listen to podcasts of sermons, upcoming worship opportunities or events: centennialbaptist.org)

Printed in the January 3, 2013 edition