Good People,
 
Every Christmas season, I love the chance to belt out well-known Christmas carols with friends and strangers alike. (Ask anyone who has been to Beer & Carols with me!)  And, Lynn enjoys singing carols, too, even if a little off key!  But my favorite carol is likely one you’ve never heard before. It’s an English translation of a French poem entitled “O Leave Your Sheep.” The line that always stands out to me is taken from the third stanza, in which the poet writes that the shepherds will find a baby in a simple stable, arrayed in “a love so deep, ‘tis able to search the night for you.”
 
We know there is a lot to do over the next few days: presents to wrap, food to cook, worship services to lead. We know there are things, too, that are not specifically of this season but will draw your attention nonetheless: caring for children and parents, worry about work and finances, dealing with illness and hardship. Our prayer for you this Christmas is that you might find yourself in at least one moment in which you sense God’s love seeking you out. No matter how late the hour, or stressful the situation, may you remember and feel God’s abundant, never-failing, never-ceasing, going-to-the-ends-of-the-earth-for-you love, seeking you out this Christmas. Not because we’ve done anything to earn it, but because it’s who God is.
 
Merry Christmas, people of God.
 
-Lynn and Alex
 
P.S. Here is a YouTube video to listen to the carol "O Leave Your Sheep".