Christmas Carol Sing at Clare Bridge
Next Sunday, December 20, at 4:00 pm is our monthly hymn sing at Clare Bridge of Middleton, 6701 Stonefield Road. We will sing Christmas carols for the residents. We would like to have as many of our families with children as possible come and sing and offer Christmas wishes to the residents.
As a bonus, everyone is invited afterwards, children and adults, to the church building for pizza and a movie, “The Ultimate Gift.”Sandy Polcyn is hosting the event as a “thank you” to the children who worked so hard to put on our Christmas play last Sunday, but everyone is invited.
Christmas Eve Service
Our annual Candlelight Christmas Eve Service is at 5:00 pm on December 24. Make this family service a part of your family’s Christmas activities as we worship the Savior who was born to free us from our sins. This is always a special service that will encourage you and help you keep Christ central to your family’s Christmas celebration.
The Manhattan Declaration
On November 20 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, a dozen Christian leaders announced the release of an historic document called “The Manhattan Declaration. Prior to its release it was signed by over 140 leaders representing every branch of Christianity. Since its release over 291,000 individuals have signed it.
Charles Colson said this about the document: “The Manhattan Declaration is a wake-up call—a call to conscience—for the church. It is also a crystal-clear message to civil authorities that we will not, under any circumstances, stand idly by as our religious freedom comes under assault.” You can read his complete BreakPoint commentary at this link.
The Manhattan Declaration is “a call to Christian conscience” in our culture. It begins with these paragraphs:
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:
1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.
Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I want to encourage you to read the entire Manhattan Declaration at this link. You can also sign it online at the same site. It is necessary for Christians in any culture to stand firm on moral principles. Here is one way you can so today.
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