IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS & DATES 

Parents, please take a moment to mark your calendars. The following are important dates that you do not want to miss:

• December 1st: 4th Grade St. Augustine Field Trip
• December 12th: Lower School Christmas Program Rehearsal
• December 13th: Lower School Christmas Program 10:00AM (Worship Center)
• December 13th: Alternative Lunch for Lower School
• December 19th: 2nd Quarter AR Deadline
• December 19th: Kindergarten Polar Express Day
• December 21st: End of the 2nd Quarter: 12:15pm Dismissal

CHAPEL VENUES, DATES, & TIMES

The following is a list of upcoming chapel dates and times:

• December 7th: K4-5th Grade Chapel-Mrs. Makar’s Class-8:30AM (Faith Hall)
• December 7th: 6th-12th Grade Chapel 9:25AM (Worship Center)
• December 14th: 6th-12th Grade Chapel 9:25AM (Worship Center)
• December 21st: K4-6th Grade Christmas Chapel 8:30AM (Faith Hall)

A NOTE FROM MRS. JACKSON

The Christmas season is upon us and each year I make a commitment to do everything that I can at school and at home to keep our focus on the true meaning of Christmas.    Let’s all admit that this is really challenging.   There are gifts to buy and Christmas card photos that need to be shot (in matching outfits that also have to be bought).   Don’t forget the Christmas parties and the decorating.   None of that is going anywhere but through all that, we can take a few moments each week to reflect on what Christmas really means for us as Christians.

Each year, our family reads the story of Jesus’ birth out of the book of Luke.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

We are all very familiar with this story but I want to challenge you to think about this story in a different way this year.   We think about Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Jesus . . . and it is that.  But it is also so much more than that.    Through the birth of Jesus, God was born into the world.    He was fully human, with all of the same needs and emotions we face but He was also fully God, all wise and powerful.    Paul reminds us of this in Colossians 1:15:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

So as we move into this wonderful Christmas season, let’s reflect on the fact that we are celebrating God coming into the world through His son Jesus Christ.  It’s pretty amazing if you think about it!