St. John United Church
195 East 38th Street L8V 4G1 Hamilton, ON, Canada

What are you doing Christmas Eve? You are invited to join us on-line as we celebrate Emmanuel, God is with Us through music, prayers, a special message from Steve Cowley, Communion with Rev. Stephen Huntley and the Christ candle. Christ’s light Shines in the Dark still. God IS with us! Join us on-line by emailing your request to [email protected].

In 1965, Charles Schulz, a devout Christian and creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was asked to create a Christmas special for CBS featuring the Peanuts Chara...cters. He agreed with one requirement, that they allow him to include the story of the birth of Jesus. Although the stations executives were hesitant and tried to convince him otherwise, Schulz was insistent. As a result, for the past 50 plus years, millions of people have watched and A Charlie Brown Christmas and heard the story of Jesus and what Christmas is all about. It wasn’t until a few years back that I realized a hidden message in the film. Linus, a child who seems to have some insecurities as he carries a security blanket with him at all times. In fact, Linus NEVER drops his blanket, except once.... While sharing the message of what Christmas is all about, Linus drops his blanket at the exact moment he says the words, fear not! In this seemingly innocent moment, Linus delivers a powerful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. We are to fear not, for Jesus is born. We needn’t rely on material things for security, we have God with us, Immanuel, (Matthew 1:23) Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior - the true meaning of Christmas. Awhile back, someone informed me, indignantly so, that Linus picks up his blanket at the end of the speech so my interpretation must be wrong. Well, he was right, Linus does pick up his blanket at the end of his speech. However, he drops it again later... Amid big, bright, colorful, shiny artificial trees, Charlie Brown chose the least of these, a little, wooden tree with just a few branches. Shortly thereafter, Linus uses his blanket to wrap about the base of the tree and says, Maybe it just needs a little love. In that moment, the tree awakens, stands tall and firm. A reminder that no matter who we are, how many mistakes we’ve made, a little love can make all the difference. Let’s strive to fear not (Luke 2:10) and love one another (John 13:34), not just at Christmastime, but the whole year through. Borrowed from Charlene M. Speer & ‘Christian Life Ministry’ on Facebook...

...Note to Soul here: Stay with it, stay with doing hard & holy things, stay with believing Him for ImpossABLE things, stay with brazen Hope, just stay with Him... through it all in this season you are in. Where hopes haven't happened yet? The Spirit of God hovers now. Where it's dark & it's deep? Your Divine Helper hovers close. Where it's formless, it's not hopeless - because you have a Father who hovers near, His love spreads over you like wings. Let the weary world rise with the thrill of the unwavering knowing: When we’re tempted to fill with despair, Hope whispers that God will fulfill His promises. God’s making a way, because He is The Way. All that’s happening around you every day is happening to make miracles. Every little thing is going to be okay, because God is working good through every little thing. There is never a night, never a darkness when gifts and miracles and joy aren’t comingcoming right to you. It’s a miracle in itselfhow there’s no buying any Christmas miracle at all! The big miracle of an unbeatable, unfailing, unwrappable love is happening all around us, even us, right now. Jesus is coming-coming like a miracle into all of our ImpossABLE right now. Wait and believe. (What ImpossABLE things are you waiting for? Drop a line below & let someone in the comments know you’re praying for them right now. Give the gift of withness & witness to someone tonight & be His gift.) ~excerpt from #UnwrappingTheGreatestGift #TheGreatestChristmas For all our Advent & Christmas resources: www.TheGreatestChristmas.com

Reminder that we are accepting toys and gift cards for Wesley Centre today from 10-12. Queensdale Ave doors. Come spread some Christmas Joy!

ARE YOU MISSING A LOVED ONE THIS CHRISTMAS? We invite you to join us online in lighting a candle for loved ones who have gone onto glory this year. May you find comfort in the Prince of Peace this Christmas. https://youtu.be/s9iowjMRCPs... www.stjohnuc.ca We invite you to spend Christmas with the family of St. John through our online worship service. If you would like to join us, please email us at [email protected]

ST. JOHN UNITED CHURCH, HAMILTON (PLEASE SHARE POST) DRIVE-BY FOOD DRIVE AND WINTER CLOTHING COLLECTION. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 195 EAST 38TH STREET. Drop off on Queensdale side of building. Please drop off your gently used winter coats, boots and winter wear. All items will be donated to Wesley Centre. ... Non-perishable food items will be donated to the Neighbour2Neighbour Food Bank. Also collections for Socks, Kenya. See more

Another successful food drive at St.John! Thank you to the sew and sews for doing this one!

Toy and Gift Drive By, Drop off at St. John United Church This Saturday, December 12th at 10am-12noon 195 East 38th St, Hamilton Corner of East 38th St and Queensdale Ave.... Bring a toy, gift or gift card (Canadian Tire, Giant Tiger, support Canadian stores if you can)to our Queensdale door location. ALL donations will go to The Wesley Centre, Hamilton

St. John is collecting food tomorrow at the side door on Queensdale Ave. Saturday August 29 from 10am-1pm. Food will go to Neighbour 2 Neighbour and we are also collecting cash for Kenya Socks Program. Hope to see many faces, with masks of course.

Show your love for one another! Wear a mask please! 195 East 38th St Sunday at 10am

...so this is the deal in our No-Stress Holidays this year -- we'll just say it to ourselves like our own little No-Stress Manifesto: I will not be driven by pe...rfectionism or performance -- because I was formed *by Love*...*for Love.* So I will simply LOVE today & *Enjoy the Ministry of Presence* --- God's Presence, People's Presence, this present moment -- the gift of Now. Because, really? The wonder is? "The greatest gift you can give back to our great God is to let His LOVE make you GLAD." ~ excerpt from #TheGreatestGift -> bit.ly/GreatestGiftforyou #TheGreatestChristmas www.TheGreatestChristmas.com [ yep, all of these are FREE for you to download and print -- 25 No-Stress Manifestos for every day of December, so we unwrap *Jesus* & not *stress* ... the whole set of these free Stress-Free Holiday Sticky Notes for Your Soul are right here: www.TheGreatestChristmas.com ]

Reminder we are having Church on the Lawn tonight at 7pm. Bring a chair and your mask!Reminder we are having Church on the Lawn tonight at 7pm. Bring a chair and your mask!

A great morning prayer! An attitude of gratitude is not a cliche it fosters looking to what is good, worthy of praise and HOPE for a better tomorrow. We are so much more than our circumstances during these Covid days. Embrace it!

Reminder we are having Church on the Lawn this coming Sunday September 6th at 7pm Please bring a chair and your smile under a mask! Looking forward to worshiping with you all again.

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