BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF...

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, food, and fun. Below is a picture of our crew at my "Little Sister's house" in Sevierville. With my parents going strong at 88 and 84 we felt very blessed. Everyone was there except our son Chad (in California), daughter-in-law (with family from Mississippi) and our niece and her husband in Connecticut. Of course we Facetimed with all of them. Several of us even braved "Dollywood" to enjoy the sights and sounds of a "Tennessee Mountain Christmas" Needless to say, we had one of those holidays that we will treasure for years to come.

Patti and I were proud of Chad. He spent Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's family. He wanted to contribute "a taste of the South" so he made cornbread and a chicken/noodle casserole, all while making his Mom and Dad proud. If you were going to take a dish to represent your heritage, what would it be?

I love this time of the year. Thanksgiving food and festivities, which lead us into the Christmas Holiday season. One of the ways that we celebrate Christmas at FCC is by observing Advent. Advent, from the Latin word adventus means "coming". This is the time that we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We have an advent wreath that has four candles representing various themes of the Holiday, with a white candle, the Christ Candle, which is lit at our Christmas Eve Service. Did you know that we eventually move the Christ candle to the welcome table and light it whenever we are in Worship during the year. This Sunday we will begin the Advent Season. We will light the first candle in the wreath that symbolizes Hope. The first candle is sometimes called the "Prophecy Candle" and reminds us of the many, many years of hope of the coming of the Messiah that existed through the words of the prophets. We can know the Messiah personally and find our Hope in Christ every day. For this we are again, "Blessed Beyond Belief".

Please join us this Sunday as we celebrate the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

And Always Remember...

You ARE Loved!

Pastor Lonnie