VALLEY VINE Valley Presbyterian Church
December 2015
Volume 60, Number 11
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulder; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6
Dear friends, As the clock ticks, I write this newsletter under the growing pressure to meet a looming deadline. What a telling word “deadline” is! It evokes the picture of a physical line beyond which life, as we know it, comes to an end. Every target time associated with every task becomes a moment tinged with finality, a threatening border of dread. Is it not a strange way to emphasize the importance of timeliness and efficiency, by making the possibility of lateness seem like a mortal failure? The Christian faith, too, has its sense of urgency, but for a believer, deadlines become lifelines. Every task lives not under the shadow of death and failure, but under the hope of never-ending life. Urgency rests not on fear but on excitement and anticipation—our words and deeds are part of the way the Kingdom is coming. Our tasks become offerings to the One who holds time and eternity in His hands.
This Christmas we explore how the hope of Isaiah became real and personal in Jesus’ birth and life. We celebrate the Advent of the Wonderful Counselor, who is also a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. Each of these names brings assurance and blessing. His first arrival strengthens our confidence in his final return, and our current experience of his grace and presence lets us live with a greater confidence than the prophet. As we pray and work toward the peace and justice and joy and righteousness Isaiah envisioned, may all our deadlines feel like lifelines. Yours faithfully,
Our God grants us opportunities to bless and serve, to witness and work, and each one is urgent and sacred. But everything we do is a marching toward God’s gift of peace, already made visible in Jesus, finally and fully known at the end of time. Isaiah the prophet has a hope of God’s future so strong, he used the past tense in 9:1-7 to describe events still to come. “To the people of Israel a child has been born a son has been given!” These words predate Jesus by over 700 years.
Valley Presbyterian Church 6947 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253-5342 Phone: 480-991-6424, Fax: 480-991-6427 Email: church@myvalleychurch.org, Website: myvalleychurch.org
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