First of all, Miss Jean and I want to extend our heart-felt gratitude to all of you for the Christmas cards, phone calls, text messages, cookies, candy, gifts, gift cards, and monetary gifts. You are all so very special to us. Your love and support and prayers mean so much. We are very blessed to be serving the Lord here at GBC!

I trust you all had a very Merry Christmas this past week. And I trust you all took the time to "ponder" all the various aspects of the real meaning of Christmas ... the birth of our Savior, Jesus. The "Christmas story" is certainly a story to believe in. When I think about Christmas, three things come to mind: purpose, joy, impact. Everything that happened at first Christmas was centered around the Baby Jesus. Nothing brings more joy to people than a new born baby. Jesus is our salvation. And the Bible tells us our joy is in our salvation. With our salvation comes a purpose. We are to share the joy of Jesus with everyone. By so doing, we can make an impact in our lost, sinful world. May we take "Christmas" and share it all year round!