This past Sunday we spent some time in our worship gathering praying for one of our partner churches.  And yes…they are also named Port City. Port City Church in Norfolk, VA just launched on Sunday, January 21st and like our church they are located in a strategic port city (a little further south and on the east coast of the United States).  Our churches are sister churches as we are both a part of the Mercy Hill family of churches so it is a joy to come alongside them during this exciting season to lift them up in prayer.

This past Sunday, we spent some time looking at Romans 8:28-29 where Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” [italics added]

The New Year is approaching and with it comes the hopeful feeling of newness and possibly much needed change. For many of us there are new habits we want to create and old habits we want to see die.  We look forward to waving goodbye to the disappointments and let downs of 2023 and embracing the opportunities and possible achievements that await us in 2024.

Emphasis matters. We know this to be true in common rhetoric and speech. Emphasising the right syllables in a given word makes all the difference in being able to say it correctly. When we think about our children and the church traditions that we practise involving children we want to ensure that we have placed the emphasis in the right location.

Every kid knows that Christmas Eve feeling of anticipation. The one where you’re laying in bed but it’s not really laying down – it’s more like bouncing around and tossing and turning as you imagine all the gifts under the tree. Every year our family would travel to Prince Edward Island (from Philadelphia) for Christmas. We would arrive at my grandparents late in the evening on Christmas Eve and my parents would quickly usher my siblings and I off to bed… where we lay awake in anticipation for the better part of the night.