February Message: The Work that God has Begun In and Through Us is Ongoing

by Paster Eliot Fay

“...And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ!” Philippians 1.6

 Late January and early February is usually the time I start thinking about spring. This usually involves staring out the window and thinking about all the outdoor things I’m excited to do when the warmer weather finally arrives. This week I was remembering that some years ago when we lived in Lebanon, as the snow melted and the ground softened, I determined that the small front yard of the parsonage in which we lived needed a bit of sprucing up. There was a space that must have once been a perennial bed across the front of the porch – this had become mostly a weed-patch. This former flower bed was bordered by a line of large stones. A grassy area that was also mostly thin weeds then extended from this line of stones down to a sidewalk. I decided the best thing to do was to tear everything out and start over.

I began one April weekend by removing the line of stones and stacking these to the side. I pulled up all the weeds in the neglected flower bed and dug out the two hostas that had managed to survive – these I also placed aside. We were putting in a raised garden area in the back of the house, so I had extra loam delivered. I re-graded the slope from the porch down to the sidewalk, re-seeded the grassy area, and outlined the edge of what I conceived would be a new perennial bed...and that's as far as I got...

Various other projects came up over the next weeks and months that took priority and filled the limited extra time available. Numerous times a day I’d walk up the steps to the front door and glance to the right only to see an enormous pile of rocks, two now-dead hostas, and my nicely prepped flower bed once again filled with weeds. My neglect of the front yard not surprisingly resulted in it looking, if anything, worse than when I started.

 As the community that makes up Nelson Church, we know there are numerous ways in which we are imperfect and incomplete. We don't always trust and follow God well; we sometimes fail to care and love one another as we have been called to do; and we are sometimes inconsistent and less than sacrificial in our care and concern for our community and world.

 Nevertheless, we can be confident along with the Apostle Paul that the work that God has begun in and through us as a community of faith is ongoing. Scripture assures us that it is God's certain intention to always lead us to grow and mature in faith and love - and unlike me with my front yard, God will not abandon or neglect this work that has been started.

 (As I recall, I did finally get around to re-weeding and planting shrubs and perennials in that flower bed. That pile of rocks though...)

Christmas Eve offering to help Rohingya family immigrate to USA

Each year, the offering taken at the Christmas Eve service goes directly out into the world to support an urgent humanitarian need. The church matches the offering up to $500.

This year the offering will go to Refugee Helpers of Southern New Hampshire, associated with Project Home, to help sponsor a Rohingya family of five through the US State Department’s Welcome Corps program. See page 4-5 of the December Meetinghouse to read more about the family and their cousin who immigrated in 2013 after 20 years in a refugee camp in Malaysia.

You can also make a donation online by clicking the DONATE button at the top of the page and directing your gift to the Christmas Eve offering.

December Message: Not Just Christmas Spirit

by Paster Eliot Fay

Over the coming weeks, as you do your Christmas shopping or listen to the radio or TV, chances are you'll hear numerous references to “Christmas Spirit”. And when people speak of Christmas Spirit, what they usually mean are those feelings and thoughts such as generosity, joyfulness, and selflessness that we think should be particularly characteristic of the Christmas season.

And it is certainly true that at Christmas, we especially take time to remember and be inspired by the beauty of the gift of God that came wrapped in swaddling clothes and was delivered to a Bethlehem manger. And it is true that at Christmas we are moved and awed by the selfless love of God that we recognize in the coming of the Christ child. But let’s also remember that the kindness, selflessness, and goodwill of God that we see so clearly displayed in the Christmas story is in no way limited to just the Christmas story - that God's “Christmas Spirit” continued to be displayed beyond the manger, throughout the life of Jesus, as he fed the hungry, shared meals with his neighbors, and prayed with the scared and hurting.

May it also be true of us that whatever extra measure of Christmas Spirit is birthed in us this season won’t fade, but will continue to grow and mature in us beyond the holidays, displaying throughout the year that much needed generosity, kindness, and joyfulness that is so often set aside with our Christmas remembrances.

Shine on Star of Bethlehem
by Geoffrey Duncan

When we offer a glass of water to a thirsty person

it is Christmas.

When we clothe a naked person with a gown of love

it is Christmas.

When we wipe the tears from weeping eyes

it is Christmas.

When the spirit of revenge dies in me

it is Christmas.

When in my heart I no longer want to stay apart

it is Christmas.

When I am buried in the being of God

it is Christmas.